Student Group Finances

BCUSU is a registered charity and as such, all affiliated Student Groups are part of the charity too. Because of this, there are some legal requirements we need to take into account when societies are dealing with money.

This section of the Toolkit, alongside your individual training, will give you the tools you need to manage things day-to-day, however your coordinator and our Reception team are able to provide more bespoke information on a case-by-case basis.

Your group will be provided with a fundraising account which should be used to process ALL financial transactions your group makes. We appreciate it might seems 'faster' or 'easier' to do things in other ways, but as a business with audited accounts we have to be able to show all income and outgoings for all areas of the Students' Union.

This means all tickets, merch and memberships need to be bought via our website, or using aone of the approved methods detailed below. Any society making transactions in other ways, or who are using personal bank accounts to process society funds, are liable to being closed down immediately.

BCUSU have bought a number of Sum Up card reader's that we can loan to societies as an alternative way to take payments in certain circumstances. These can be booked through the Equipment Booking Form and should be done as soon as possible after confirmation of your event taking place.

NB: For each transaction made using the Sum Up card reader, there will be a charge of 2%.

Equipment Booking Form

To make a reimbursement claim for items you have bought for your society, there are a few things you need to ensure you take into account. If you don't, we won't be able to process your claim and you will not be refunded.
 

• Before you spend any money, you should clear the expense with your Treasurer who, in turn, should ensure the society has the money available to cover the purchase(s).
• All puchases must be accompanied by an itemised receipt which shows what was bought and the amount you spent. Our finance team will not accept non-itemised receipts or bank/card statements with no individual purchase details.
• If the claim relates to an event which has taken place, you should also provide proof that the event was advertised to all society members. This should also include linking to your event on our What's On Page on the claim form.

To process your reimbursement, you should log into the Student Group Finance module on your societies admin tools link..

If a company wants your society to pay for goods or services via invoice, this needs to be processed via the Student Group Finance module. 

When you log into the module, choose 'invoice' as the submission type and fill in the details. Make sure you attach a copy of the invoice itself in the upload section. Unless explicitly specified, our standard payment terms are 31 days, so requests for 'immediate' payment are unlikely to be processed.

If another student does some work for your society (things like graphic design or performing at an event) then they will also need to supply an invoice for payment. There's a number of things that must be included on it so if they don't regularly invoice for their services, it might be worth sending them a copy of this invoice template. 

All of our societies are primarily self-funded. This means that the money they use to cover running costs is generated through membership purchases and fundraising efforts.

However, every year the Activities and Representation Team have funds to support affiliated Student Groups in their development. This money is awarded on a case-by-case basis to help cover expenses including event costs, campaigns, trips, equipment and more.

It is important that you read through the funding guidelines carefully. When you're ready, you can submit an application.

Decisions on grants will be decided by a panel including representitives from the Activities & Representation team and the Executive Officers once a month.

Application Form

Any affiliated society is able to get sponsorship for all - or part of - their activities. This sponsorship can be:

• Financial where an organisation offers money for a society fulfilling a particular requirement. This could be displaying a logo or holding a specified number of events at their premises.
• In-kind where a company provides goods or services instead of money. This could take the form of branded clothing or specialist kit.
• Promotional where an organisation with a proven 'footprint', particularly on social media, agree to advertise your society (or a specific element or activity).

In each instance, as a committee you're welcome to explore opportunities with companies who approach you, or businesses you seek out yourselves.

However, PLEASE DO NOT AGREE TO ANY ARRANGEMENT without first discussing the offer with your coorinator. As each society is an affiliate of the Students' Union, to comply with charity law, it is BCUSU who are ultimately responsible for the sponsirship agreement. Your coordinator will work with you to complete a simple sponsirship form which will then be authorised by our Head of Central Services and Union President.