General Information

Deposit and Expenditure of Funds

All deposits of funds, purchase and check requests, and student travel requests are to be routed through the Campus Life Business Office. The Business Office will accept, identify, and code all funds deposited by student organizations and credit the organization account. A receipt of deposit will be furnished to the student organization indicating the date, amount, and source of funds.

The Campus Life Business Office will supply the necessary deposit forms at the Tate Center Cashier’s Window.
Expenditures must be reviewed for compliance with the University Policies and Procedures applicable to student organization accounts and, where applicable, the Student Activity Fee Allocation Guidelines. Routinely, expenditures are subject to the organizations uncommitted cash balance, budgetary compliance, and the University procedure as follows:

1. Purchases totaling less than $2,499.00 may be made by the student organization in consultation with the Business Office. Purchases expected to exceed $2,499.00 must have prior approval from the Business Office, using a “Special Purchase Proposal” form.

2. Purchases which require competitive bids, purchases of equipment or purchases which are expected to exceed authorized spending limitations must be requested on a “Purchase and Check Request” form, routed through the Business Office and on to the Procurement Office.

3. Any purchase, regardless of amount, in which the seller requires a written contract, purchase order, letter of acceptance, or other type of written commitment shall be requested as in (2) above.

4. Payment in advance for any type of goods or services is prohibited with the exception of subscriptions to periodicals and conference registration.

Sales and Excise Taxes

Student organizations which receive a student activity fee allocation are exempt from the payment of Georgia Sales Use Tax and Federal Excise taxes. However, many vendors will routinely add sales tax to purchases. When paying a vendor by University check request, the sales tax should be deducted from the amount due when preparing the check request. If a vendor adds sales tax to a petty cash purchase, the full amount, including the tax, will be reimbursed to the individual who made the purchase.

Student organizations which chose to maintain an agency club account with the Campus Life Business Office will be required to pay applicable taxes on purchases.

All ticket sales, as well as goods and services sold by the Department of Campus Life on behalf of student organizations, are subject to sales tax. Individual tickets generally will have the applicable sales taxes included in the ticket price. The Campus Life Business Office will calculate sales tax, deposit ticket proceeds into the appropriate account, and file the necessary monthly sales tax reports on ticket sales.

Organizational Budget

The University Accounting system requires that the student organization accounts be budgeted for income and expenditures within specific budget categories. The budget categories for student organizations receiving an Activity Fee allocation will be governed by the nature of the allocation. Budgets for non-allocated student organizations are established on a fiscal year basis by the individual organization in consultation with the Manager of the Campus Life Business Office.

Examples of the budget categories utilized for the student organization accounts and the types of expenditures within each category are as follows:

A.Operating Supplies and Expense

Office Supplies
Postage
Telephone
Printing and Copying
Advertising
Facility and Equipment Rentals
Honoraria and Fees
Student Travel
Food, Receptions and Hospitality

B. Equipment and Books

Equipment: Items which have an initial acquisition cost of $100 or more, have an expected normal useful life of three years or more, and are not consumed in the performance of its use. Chairs, tables, and stools are classified as equipment regardless of costs.

Books: Purchased as part of a set or with a value of $15 or more

C. Personal Services

Payments for services rendered to the student organization in an employee relationship to the organization or the University.

The university will purchase services from employees only through the payroll system. This precludes any type of contractual arrangements with any University employee for payment of services other than through established payroll procedures.

Payments for personal services will be made on regularly scheduled pay dates only. State regulations prohibit any advance payments.

Consult with the Campus Life Business Office concerning proper budgeting procedures and specific instructions for expenditures within budget categories B and C prior to committing organizational funds.

Budget Amendments

All amendments to the student organization account budget are processed through the Campus Life Business Office. Non-allocated student organizations may amend the organization budget upon written request to the Campus Life Business Office. The request should include the amount to be increased or decreased for the total budget for both revenue and expense as well as explaining the purpose of the amendment.

Student organizations receiving an Activity Fee allocation must submit a written budget amendment request to the Vice President of Student Affairs and forwarded to the Business Office. The purpose of the amendment request is to be fully explained detailing and justifying proposed changes in the budget. Once the Manager of the Campus Life Business Office reviews the request it will be forwarded to the Vice President. Upon approval, the Business Office will process the necessary budget amendment forms.

Forms

All forms referenced in this manual are available at cost from Central Office Supply and/or are on the University of Georgia or Campus Life web site. The “Request for Authority for Student Trave”î, “ìPetty Cash Expenditure Reimbursement (PC-1)”, “Permission to Use Group Travel”, and “Group Travel Expenditure Summary” are available from the Business Office at no charge. The Business Office will furnish each student organization with a small supply of each of the forms upon request on as needed basis.Central Office SupplyEach student organization should obtain as soon as possible a supply of “Purchase and Check Request” forms from Central Office Supply (COS) and other referenced forms for which the organization may have a continuing need. A purchase form COS will be automatically charged to the organizational account. All purchase orders, including COS orders, must be routed through the Business Office for fiscal review and approval. The Business Office will deliver the order to COS.

Contact the Campus Life Business Office for access to a COS catalog and specific instructions for completing the COS order form.

Student Activity Account Number

Each student organization that is budgeted within the Student Activity Budget, as well as those organizations that chose to have the Campus Life Business Office maintain their funds, is assigned itsí own twelve digit account number. This number should be used in all deposits, expenditures, and correspondence with the Campus Life Business Office.