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Operations Fund for All Organizations

As per SBA policy, every organization properly registered with the Law School will be eligible for $200 in administrative costs for use as a general operations fund in the fall semester. This includes the $100 the organization is eligible to spend for "recruiting events". There is $200 available for the semester if the $100 recruiting money is spent by September 17. All requests for reimbursement against the $100 'recruiting event' allocation must by received by September 17. This money may be used for an organizational meeting, supplies, postage, or to help offset minor cost overruns for organization events. Each student organization has discretion with regard to how these funds will be spent, subject to the restrictions printed below. This list is not exclusive or inflexible. The SBA reserves the right to amend, alter, delete or supplement any or all of these restrictions at its discretion. Please address any questions to the SBA Treasurer. These restrictions are provided for guidance only and should not be construed to discourage creativity or novel ideas. If you have an extraordinary idea for the use of these funds, please contact the SBA Treasurer as soon as possible.

• The event must be open to the entire student body.
• The event must be advertised on campus.
• No funds can be used for private parties or private social events.
• No funds can be used for events for only the officers of an organization.
• The event must be on campus unless the group has received prior SBA approval to hold an off campus event.
• The funds cannot be used to print newsletters.
• The funds cannot be used to print stationary for the organization's use.
• The funds cannot be used to make charitable or political donations.

Unbudgeted expenditures exceeding the allocation will not be reimbursed. To receive reimbursement, vouchers must be completed with original receipts or vendor invoices attached. See page 11 for voucher. The SBA treasurer will not accept memoranda or copies. The organization should maintain copies of the voucher and receipts for its records. The SBA treasurer will only accept documents from the student organization treasurer. Do not spend more than $200 before the SBA has allocated additional funds under the budget procedures.

The SBA reserves the right to refuse reimbursement for events or expenditures within these guidelines.

If you have doubts regarding whether the event you are planning is within these guidelines, seek prior SBA approval. If you have a request which the SBA may find questionable, bring the request to a SBA meeting before you spend any money. Questionable expenditures on which the SBA has not voted will not be reimbursed until after the SBA votes on the issue at the next scheduled SBA meeting. Please note that this may delay reimbursement or preclude it altogether. Obtaining prior approval will streamline the process and speed reimbursement.

Specific examples of attempts by students to spend funds in the past which have not been allowed, and will continue to be prohibited, include:

• use of funds for printing resumes of group members;
• transportation to political rallies;
• dinners for graduating members of the group;
• dinners for officers of the organization;

These are set out as examples of expenditures for which the SBA might not provide funds. The funds which the SBA has to disburse to student organizations are from the activity fee charged to students each semester. As such, the expenditure of these funds should be for activities from which the entire student body benefits.

Budget Process

In order to receive money in excess of the $100-200 allocation, the organization treasurer must submit a budget request for additional money to the SBA treasurer before the budget request. Students will be notified of this deadline at the beginning of the fall semester. This budget request covers events for the entire academic year.

If an organization was extravagant in how it spends its first $100-$200, the organization can expect the SBA to be hesitant in supplying additional funds. For example, spending the initial allocation on a single brown bag lunch would be considered extravagant. Spending the initial allocation on an organizational meeting and a lecture where nacks are served might not be considered extravagant.

When spending any additional money allocated by the SBA subsequent to the initial allocation, all spending guidelines listed above remain in force. The SBA reserves the right to reallocate any money unspent by the student organization.

Expenditure of Budget Funds

Organizations are not to spend money in excess of their allocation until they receive their approved budgets from the SBA. The SBA will not reimburse money spent before the organization receives its approved budget.

Do not spend more money on an activity than has been budgeted. The SBA will not allocate more money to cover cost overruns on an activity. Any cost overruns will have to be funded from money already allocated to the student organization at the expense of other planned activities.

Student organization treasurers must keep a current account of the amount of allocated funds the student organization has spent. The SBA treasurer will not be responsible for informing student organizations of this information.

Do not spend money on an activity which is not in the budget. If additional funds are needed for an activity which is not included in the budget, additional funds must be requested at a SBA meeting.

Before an individual buys alcohol for an organization, prior approval must be received from the SBA or the individual buying/charging the alcohol is personally responsible for the cost.

The cafeteria on campus is Truffles (570-5304). It has the right to bid on catered events sponsored by the Law School.

Submitting Vouchers

There are two methods for using a voucher to spend SBA allocated funds. A member of an organization may spend his/her own money, which the SBA will reimburse upon submission of a voucher with an attached original receipt from the organization's treasurer. Or, the organization's treasurer may submit a voucher and vendor invoice in advance and request the SBA make the payment directly to the vendor.

The procedures for submitting a voucher are as follows:

• Vouchers must be submitted to the SBA treasurer within 15 days of the date on the receipt or vendor invoice or the voucher will not be paid.
• Vouchers submitted for either reimbursement or direct payment must be accompanied by original receipts or vendor invoices.
• Vouchers must identify clearly the budget item under which the expense was approved by the SBA to be reimbursed for the expense.
• Vouchers should be submitted to the SBA only by the student organization's treasurer.

Instructions for filling out a voucher are included below.

Unspent Funds

The SBA reserves the right to reallocate any allocated money unspent by the student organization. The SBA further reserves the right to review and reallocate any and all funds that were previously allocated to a student group if the SBA determines that the event for which the funds were requested is no longer possible, or if the SBA determines that the group no longer needs the funds. In any event, at the end of the fall semester, any unspent allocated funds will revert to the SBA. At the end of the spring semester, any unspent allocated funds, including full-year allocations, will revert to the SBA. If these funds have been transferred to another account, they must be promptly returned to the SBA account.

Purchase Or Reimbursement Vouchers

To request reimbursement, a completed voucher must be submitted with any necessary specifications or receipts to the SBA treasurer.

Instructions for Completing the Request for Payment Voucher

Vouchers are available on the SBA website.

Under no circumstances will any funds be disbursed without a completed voucher. The state auditors have urged student organizations to maintain adequate and consistent documentation of expenditures. These vouchers, when properly completed, provide satisfactory documentation and accountability for disbursement of SBA funds. Only forms marked SBA-200 are acceptable. No other vouchers will be accepted!

The two blanks on the upper right corner of the form are for the SBA treasurer's use. On these lines the treasurer records the voucher and check number of the approved request.

Mark the appropriate disbursement type in the upper left corner of the form.

• Reimbursement: payment to student or faculty member
• Direct payment: direct payment to vendor for items purchased on credit
• Payment of purchaser order: payment through Storrs for a pre-approved purchase order
• Payment to the Annual Program Fund: repayment of a short-term loan from the Annual Program Fund

The name, address and PeopleSoft ID number or FEIN of the payee, even if the payee is not a law student, must be provided. This guarantees that checks will be delivered to the appropriate individual.

List the amount of expenditure. Remember that the University of Connecticut is a tax exempt organization. For any large expenditure, especially purchases through vendors, the SBA will not pay sales tax on the purchase. Tax-exemption certificates may be picked up in Chase Hall, Room 201. This is the form that vendors need to exempt the purchase from sales tax.

Record the date on which each voucher is completed.

List the name of the organization. Common abbreviations are acceptable.

Print the full name of the person requesting the check. This person does not necessarily have to be the same person designated as the organization's financial officer.

Indicate the date, or proposed date of the event or activity.

Describe the event in several words which sufficiently identify this event with an approved budgeted item. If the activity has a particular theme or characteristic, please so indicate.

Both signature lines must contain signatures. If the requesting person also is the treasurer of the organization, then the president must sign as the financial officer. The individuals signing this form certify that the listed expenditure have been authorized by the SBA in the organization's budget.

The documentation for the expenditure must be stapled to the voucher. Such documentation may consist of an original cash register receipt bearing the name, date and amount of the purchase; a typed receipt on the vendor's stationary; a handwritten receipt listing the items purchased, indicating the name, address and telephone number of the vendor and bearing the signature of the representative of the vendor. Obtaining a proper receipt is your organization's responsibility. Original receipts are required. Second notices and photo copies are unacceptable.

Documentation of financial disbursements is your organization's responsibility. If your organization fails to comply with the requirements set forth herein, your organization will not be reimbursed for its expenditures. Disbursements cannot be made for items not individually included in your organization's approved budget. Unauthorized expenditures become the personal liability of those individuals requesting such payments.

Only the approved voucher (SBA-200) is accepted for payments.

If you have any questions, contact the SBA treasurer.