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Student Group Finances

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Understanding the basics

Understanding your Student Group’s finances is key to your success throughout the academic year.

The Treasurer is the primary lead for the financial management of your society, however it is the responsibility of all committee members to have at least a basic awareness of the Student Group’s finances.

The FAQ's below expand to give you more specific information about different areas connected to finance.

Your society 'account' is a pot of money, allocated to your student group within our main Union bank account.

It's not a standalone bank account which can be accessed like your own current account and you can't withdraw money from it to make payments. It holds money raised through activities including membership fees, ticket sales for an event or fundraising. 

The money in your account rolls over each year and can be spent on things that benefit all members of your society. There are a couple of restrictions on what you can buy - you can check these with your coordinator.
 

This pot should be used to process all financial transactions your group makes. 

Any society making transactions in other ways, including using a personal bank account to process society funds, are liable to being suspended immediately and will be subject to the Union's disciplinary process. 

If there are other platforms you're keen to use, speak to your coordinator who will be able to establish if it's possible to do so.

We have a number of 'Sum Up' card readers that we can loan to societies as an alternative way to take payments in certain circumstances. These can be booked through your coordinator.

Any society wishing to use the machine will need to have an account set up for them so please factor this into the booking process. One member of your team will also need to download the Sum Up app (Android/iOS) to their device.

NB: For each transaction made using the Sum Up card reader, there will be a deduction of around 2% to cover costs/ The latest rates can be found here.

All of our societies are self-funded which means that running costs are financed 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.

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, such as displaying a logo on clothing 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 coordinator.

Your coordinator will work with you to complete a simple sponsorship form which will then be authorised by our Head of Central Services and Union President. This can take some time.

Please be aware that a sponsorship is a legal contract with a company and, as such, you should be confident you can fulfil your side of the deal.

BCUSU is a registered charity and, by extension, so is your society. It is against the law for us to donate money directly to other charities, however you can fundraise for a specific cause and this how to guide explains how you go about doing that.

Before you begin fundraising, you must ensure that the charity you wish to fundraise for has a registered UK Charity Number and is listed on the Charity Commission Website. BCUSU does not allow fundraising for non-UK registered charities.

In the first instance, you should work through organising your event with your coordinator and let them know you want to raise money for charity. If your event is being held on campus, you should ensure it's clear which charity you're raising funds for and what the aims and intentions of that organisation are.

 

Taking donations
  • Donations should ideally be made via a Sum Up card reader. If you wish to take donations in cash, this must be done using a sealed charity bucket, available from the Activities and Representation Team.
  • The card reader and/or donation bucket should be secured at all times, and returned to our reception desk within 24 hours of your event finishing.
  • Any instance of tampering with the seal of a collection budget will result in an immediate internal investigation.
  • Societies can use platforms like JustGiving to accept donations. This should be organised with your coordinator.

 

Making payments
  • Payments to charities will be made by your coordinator using either a credit card or bank transfer. 
  • We can only make payments through a secure, online platform and directly to the organisation - not via a third party or to an individual.

 

 

 

Member reimbursements and paying invoices

Members can make a reimbursement claim for items bought for their society, or can process an invoice on behalf of the society. However 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. This means you will not be reimbursed or invoices will not be paid until the correct information is submitted.

For any reimbursement request or invoice payment, the following criteria need to be met:

  • Any item(s) or service(s) purchased should be offered to, or be beneficial to, all members of your society.
     
  • All events associated with your purchases must be advertised through the 'What’s On' page and be attached to any claims submitted.
     
  • When submitting a reimbursement request, the person submitting must be the person who bought the item. This must then be approved by the society Treasurer or President. The person submitting the form can not approve their own submission.
     
  • You must ensure that your society has enough cleared funds to purchase the items. Money you have earnt, but which has not been put into your account, cannot be used to make payments. 
     
  • When purchasing items to be reimbursed, you should ask for an itemised receipt. This should include a list of the items purchased along with the cost of each item - much like you'd get from a supermarket. 

    A receipt without itemisation will NOT be accepted.

This is the procedure used to claim back money you have spent on items for your society. Ideally these should be lower value claims - for larger value purchses, please speak to your coordiantor who will advise on the best method to use.

To make a reimbursement claim:
 

  1. Sign in to the BCUSU website.
     
  2. The Student Group Finance Module ('Finances') can be accessed by visiting the admin tools section of your society webpage.
     
  3. The dashboard will show you all of the current claims you have submitted - you can submit a new claim by pressing the New Money Request button.
     
  4. Select reimbursement from the Request type dropdown and complete the fields, making sure you associate it with an event at the top of the form.
     
  5. In the Item description field, let us know what the item(s) are. For example, 'Multipack of sweets'
     
  6. In the Justification field, let us know what the items were for, This could be specific, or more generic like 'food items for our event'
     
  7. If you have multiple receipts to upload relating to different purchases for the same event, you can click 'Add another item' at the bottom of the form and submit everything together.
     
  8. Once you've completed the form, press submit.
     

Following submission, your request will go to your society President or Treasurer to authorise before being sent on to the Activities and Representation team and then the Union's Finance team.

You can follow the progress of your request on your dashboard - if you can see that a claim has been referred back to you then have a look at the explanation and re-submit where appropriate.

If you are submitting an invoice on behalf of your society, follow the details in the 'Reimbursements' section above, however at step 4, select 'Invoice' instead.

Ensure you complete the details of the invoicee, then upload the invoice and select the event that this invoice is related to, where applicable.

Some important points to note:

  • All invoices should be addressed to your society, c/o BCUSU and not directly to the Students' Union. Invoices addressed to BCUSU will not be processed and will be refered back to you.
     
  • The invoice should contain the following fields as a minimum: 

    - the date of the invoice
    - the payee's name, address and contact details
    - the name and address of the society being invoiced
    - a clear description of the goods/services they're charging you for
    - the full amount being charged (stipulating VAT if appropriate)
    - Payment terms for the invoice.
     
  • The payee should also provide their bank details (account name, bank name, account number and sort code) for payment to be made to.
     
  • If the invoice is from a company then the account should be in the company name or there should be a clear link between the name on the account and the company.
     
  • If the invoice is from an individual there must be a statement on the invoice reading "I understand that I am responsible for my own tax and national insurance". 
     
  • The company may ask you to provide a purchase order (PO) number - and for larger amounts we'd ask you to record one regardless. Your coordinator can supply you with this information on request.

 

 

Sending invoices

From time to time, your society may need to invoice a third party for services you have provided.

Student groups are separate entities to the Union itself, and because the money in your account belongs to the society you will need to invoice yourselves.

To help you with this process, you can download a template invoice below. Simply follow the instructions on the first page, then remove that page and submit the document.

Download Invoice Template