Finance Certification Content

[Pages:31]2018-2019 Finance Certification Content

Table of Contents

INTRODUCTION ..........................................................................................................................................................3 Contacts ..................................................................................................................................................................4 RIT EVENTS .............................................................................................................................................................4

BUDGETS.....................................................................................................................................................................5 CREATING AND MAINTAINING student club and ORGANIZATION BUDGETS ........................................................5 RECONCILING Student club and ORGANIZATION BUDGETS: .................................................................................6

Expenses .....................................................................................................................................................................7 Expense Approval Form (EAF) ....................................................................................................................................7 SALES TAX EXEMPTION...............................................................................................................................................8 RIT VISA CARDS...........................................................................................................................................................9

Online Purchases with a visa: .............................................................................................................................. 10 Purchases....................................................................................................................................... 11 PURCHASE ORDERS (PO'S): ..................................................................................................................................... 11 CHECK REQUEST to pay a vendor ............................................................................................................................ 12 PAYING A STUDENT FOR WORK DONE:................................................................................................................... 12 REIMBURSEMENTS (TO STUDENTS) ........................................................................................................................ 13 REIMBURSEMENTS / payments (TO ADVISORS) ..................................................................................................... 13 RIT HUB.................................................................................................................................................................... 14 FREE COPIES PROVIDED BY THE TIGER SUITE.......................................................................................................... 15 PETTY CASH ............................................................................................................................................................. 15 CASH BOXES............................................................................................................................................................. 16 STUDENT CLUBS/ORGANIZATIONS CASH MANAGEMENT AGREEMENT ................................................................ 16 TRAVEL..................................................................................................................................................................... 17 LOGO & DESIGN APPROVALS FOR T-SHIRTS and ALL CUSTOMIZED PRODUCTS..................................................... 19 FOOD & CATERING PURCHASES .............................................................................................................................. 20 CONTRACTS ............................................................................................................................................................. 20 Prizes, Awards, and Giveaways ............................................................................................................................... 21 Donations given....................................................................................................................................................... 21 TRANSFER OF FUNDS............................................................................................................................................... 21 INCOME ................................................................................................................................................................... 22

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CASH & CHECKS ................................................................................................................................................... 22 FUNDRAISING & DONATIONS received ................................................................................................................... 23 DROP-BOX................................................................................................................................................................ 24 NELNET .................................................................................................................................................................... 25 TIGER BUCKS CARD READER .................................................................................................................................... 26 student government Awards................................................................................................................................... 26 IMPORTANCE OF SEGREGATION OF DUTIES ........................................................................................................... 27 Accountability Matrix .............................................................................................................................................. 28 FINANCIAL HOLDS.................................................................................................................................................... 30 Student club and organization unrecognition......................................................................................................... 30

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INTRODUCTION

Welcome to the Center for Campus Life at Rochester Institute of Technology!

Clubs and organizations bring students of similar interests together and foster social interaction, leadership development, school spirit and affinity to RIT. Student clubs and organizations promote activities, diversity, service, and learning outside of the classroom. When students are actively involved in running student clubs or organizations, they acquire many skills that will be beneficial in other areas of their life. For example: negotiation and compromise, event planning, budget forecasting, fiscal management, accountability, and adapting to change when things don't go exactly as planned.

The Finance Certification is a training opportunity for RSOs, SSOs, the Greek community, Advisors, and the Center for Campus Life (CCL) recognized student clubs and organizations to enhance their understanding of financial processes and policies. By completing this training, students and advisors gain valuable knowledge regarding requirements, expectations, and available support. This training information also serves as a resource to reference before engaging in any financial transactions to ensure compliance with RIT policies and procedures.

PLEASE NOTE: As a new policy starting July 1st, 2018, the following are required to pass the financial certification before they can make any financial transactions:

1. Designated members of RSOs, SSOs and their advisors 2. Designated members of the Greek community and their advisors 3. All advisors of student clubs and organizations

This certification is required annually (July 1st ? June 30th) for the 5 members who will be completing financial transactions for student clubs and organizations, as well as all advisors for these student clubs and organizations. These 5 members who will complete transactions for the clubs will be the same 5 members who are registered to create events for the club. The treasurer must be one of the 5 members financially certified and the remaining 4 members can be chosen by the club, but they will have to be the same members who are registered to create events for the club. Only these 5 members will be allowed to complete transactions for the student clubs and organizations. This certification must be completed prior to making any financial transactions, and must be completed each academic year, not each semester.

An additional change to be aware of is the new Expense Approval Form (EAF) that will be used starting July 1st, 2018. We will not be accepting any other prior or altered editions of the EAF as of July 1st, 2018. No transactions will be completed unless requested through the new EAF. For any questions, students are encouraged to meet with The Campus Life Tiger Suite Finance Team.

We look forward to working with you!

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CONTACTS

The Finance Team office is located in the Tiger Suite, Campus Center 03-1610. Office hours are Monday through Friday 8:30am - 4:30pm.

Front Desk Attendant: The first point of contact at the Tiger Suite. The student employee who supports the Tiger Suite staff, answers club inquiries, schedules appointments, receives paperwork, maintains club folders, and manages delivery of packages, crcccl@rit.edu, 585-475-4111

Student Finance Assistant 1: The student employee who handles financial entries and communicates with student clubs and organizations, finccl@rit.edu, 585-475-7519

Student Finance Assistant 2: The student employee who coordinates deposits, petty cash and communicates with student clubs and organizations, sgstnt@rit.edu, 585-475-7519

Sr. Financial Assistant: Dawn Rizzo provides financial support for Sports clubs, Religious clubs, ALANA Collegiate Association, and A-Capella Groups, dawn.rizzo@rit.edu, 585-475-5798

Sr. Financial Assistant: Carol Rouhana provides financial support for WITR, Greek chapters' on-campus accounts, all student clubs and organizations (except sports and religious clubs), carol.rouhana@rit.edu, 585475-6072

Associate Director for Financial Operations: Elaine Kanara provides financial support for Campus Life department accounts, Student Activity Fee accounts, Student Government, elaine.kanara@rit.edu, 585-475-5658

RIT EVENTS

Student clubs and organizations are required to register all events in RIT Events at least 4 business days prior to the event date. This does not guarantee that the event will be approved as certain services may require up to 10 day notice in advance. An event must be entered in RIT Events prior to any transactions being completed related to the event. When you receive an event reservation number, you need to include it in your completed EAFs for any event-related purchases.

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BUDGETS

A budget is an estimate of costs, revenues and resources over a specific period of time, and reflects a financial forecast. It also serves as a plan of action for achieving quantified objectives to help you accomplish your student club's or organization's mission and goals. All student clubs and organizations are highly encouraged to create and maintain a budget by keeping records for every income and expense transaction, such as receipts, invoices, packing slips, etc.

In order to prepare a budget request, members of student clubs or organizations are encouraged to meet and discuss a proposal, and then share it with their advisor for suggestions and/or adjustments. They may also seek their financial contact's assistance for available funds and accounts reconciliation. Every month, the Campus Life finance team generates reports and places print copies in each student club's and organization's mail folder in the Tiger Suite for reconciliation purposes. The Club Budget Process is submitted online in the SPRING of every academic year for the following year, more info about the timeline and procedure is provided in a timely manner. All budgets are allocated by mid-August of the academic year.

The submission of a budget request to Campus Life does not guarantee budget allocation. Please note, these funds are allocated from Campus Life and not Student Government (SG). The SG Finance Committee awards have a separate process, contact SG for more details.

A student club or organization may NOT use the budget to purchase food, clothing, prizes/awards, or pay honorarium. A student club or organization should conduct fundraising to cover such expenses. Off-campus bank accounts and cash boxes are strictly prohibited.

CREATING AND MAINTAINING STUDENT CLUB AND ORGANIZATION BUDGETS

Although the Center for Campus Life finance team maintains the budgets for all student clubs and organizations, they are highly encouraged to maintain their own budget records separate from Campus Life. In order to plan for upcoming events, fundraising and expenses, it is critical for student clubs and organizations to understand how to appropriately budget for all related financial transactions. HERE'S WHAT YOU NEED TO DO:

Routinely discuss the status of the student clubs or organization's budget at club meetings Check-in with the Campus Life finance team to confirm current available balances Continuously review/update the budget to record expenses and revenues accurately

By keeping detailed financial records, student clubs and organizations can have a more thorough understanding of their financial needs throughout the year, and can provide a historical record to new E-board members to assist with a seamless transition to leadership.

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There are several types and layouts of budgets that student clubs and organizations can use. By including detailed information, you will be able to analyze spending and revenue for historical trends, goal setting, and documentation. For example:

How much was spent on food? How much fundraising was done for a particular event? How much has a vendor been paid historically for a certain item or service?

Campus Life strongly encourages student clubs and organizations to use a budget template similar to the sample one below:

Student Club's or Organization's Name

Beginning Balance As of 07/01/2018

Document

Date

Reference

Vendor's Name

Purpose

Revenue Expense

9/1/2018 Invoice # 1234

tape for hanging posters for "Name" event

$23.11

10/13/2018 Check #567

Chipotle restaurant fundraising event on 8/27/2017

$100.00

11/15/2018 Invoice #89

RIT HUB

posters for December "Name" banquet

$25.00

Totals $100.00 $48.11

Current Available Balance = Beginning Balance + Total

$150.00 Balance

$51.89 $201.89

RECONCILING STUDENT CLUB AND ORGANIZATION BUDGETS:

Since data entry errors or other types of mistakes may occur when information is entered into the student club's or organization's budget, it is important to identify them and make corrections in a timely manner. It is not recommended to wait until the end of the fiscal year to research issues since there may not be enough time to resolve discrepancies.

In order to ensure the information entered into the student club's or organization's budget is accurate and nothing has been inadvertently left out, it is essential for student clubs and organizations to reconcile their budgets to source documentation for both revenue and expenses (receipts, packing slips, invoices, checks, etc.). This can be particularly helpful to student clubs and organizations with a high volume of financial transactions, and/or a large number of members involved with revenue and expense activities. It is highly recommended to have several members involved in the financial aspects of running a student club or organization. Refer to Segregation of Duties section in this document for more information.

The Campus Life finance team reconciles all club budgets monthly, and provides a print copy for each club to use in their own reconciliation as well. The print copy is placed in the mail folders by the 15th of every month. HERE'S WHAT YOU NEED TO DO:

Keep a copy of the source documentation to use when reconciling the budget Collect the print copy from your mail folder in Campus Life Tiger Suite once a month Reconcile your budget and correct any discrepancies

You may also meet with the Campus Life finance team for assistance with reconciling

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EXPENSES

Expenses are transactions where money is being deducted from an account because it is being spent. For a student club or organization, an expense ranges from buying supplies, to catering, to paying a speaker for an event.

It is important to accurately track expenses and plan costs for every event or activity in order to have updated records of your student club's or organization's budget.

Expenses may be in different forms of transactions performed by a process that starts with filling out an Expense Approval Form (EAF)

EXPENSE APPROVAL FORM (EAF)

An EAF is a Campus Life form that states the intent of a student club or organization to complete a transaction affecting its budget, and is submitted to the financial contact person for processing. An EAF must be filled out by 1 of the 5 financially certified members, and must be reviewed and signed by the student club's or organization's advisor prior to submitting. If the advisor is not available to sign an EAF, please stop by the Tiger Suite to complete an Absentee Advisor Form, and submit that along with your unsigned EAF to our Tiger Suite Front Desk attendant. The Absentee Advisor Form allows clubs to request our Assistant Director for Student Event Services to sign an EAF in lieu of your advisor. Such requests will only be considered for clubs that are not on hold and are in good standing. EAFs can be accepted via email from the advisor under unusual circumstances, such as the advisor is out for medical reasons, sabbatical, etc. This will only be valid if the EAF has been scanned, signed by the advisor, and sent to your financial contact through the advisor's RIT email. If you do not need an Absentee Advisor Form then you may submit your EAF (with your advisor's signature) to the Tiger Suite Front Desk Attendant.

Additionally, the actual amount spent must not exceed 10% of the original amount listed on the EAF. If purchasing items for an event, the student club or organization must first register the event on RIT Events 4 business days before the event. If the event is not registered, then expenses cannot be made towards the event. This includes personal reimbursements. Please note, the event cannot be registered after the fact. Student clubs and organizations must submit one EAF for each vendor they wish to purchase from. An exception would be if you go to one store and they do not have the item(s) you want. Instead of filling out a new EAF, you may go to a similar store to purchase the same item(s).

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