FINANCIAL PROCEDURES

1 BUDGETS

A budget proposal must be prepared for each budget period. The budgets for the two periods in a committee's term must be submitted together to the Office of Financial Services and the Office of Student Affairs for approval.

Once approved, the Honorary Financial Secretary (Hon Fin Sec)/Treasurer must monitor the expenditure and ensure that expenditure is within the limits of the budget. Union/Club must write to OSA to seek approval if it wishes to transfer an amount of $1000 or more from one activity to another within a budget period.

If a project or activity is not provided for in the approved budget, a statement of budget must be submitted to the Office of Financial Services and the Office of Student Affairs for approval. The Budget Template can be used to prepare the statement of budget.

2 REQUEST TO USE ACCUMULATED SURPLUS

Request for use of Accumulated Surplus must be signed by the Hon Fin Sec/Treasurer and countersigned by the President of the Union/Club and submitted to OSA for approval. The request must be copied to OFS. Guidelines for use of Accumulated Surplus can be found in Annex A.

3 PURCHASE OF GOODS AND SERVICES

Please refer to Annex B for the procedures pertaining to the purchase of goods and services

4 PAYMENT TO SUPPLIERS/REIMBURSEMENT FOR EXPENDITURE

All claims for payments/reimbursement must be signed by the Hon Fin Sec/Treasurer and countersigned by the President of the Union/Club.

For sub-committees, all claims for reimbursement should be made by the Chairperson of the committee of the Union/Club. Where the Chairperson is claiming for himself, the Treasurer of the committee/project will have to countersign the claim and vice versa. It is the responsibility of the President and Hon Fin Sec/Treasurer to authenticate the signature of the Chairperson or Treasurer of the committee.

The Reimbursement/Payment Form should be used for payments. All claims must be properly supported with original invoices/receipts.

Official receipts/invoices should have a clear description of the items purchased or services rendered. "NETS" receipts are not acceptable.

All invoices from suppliers must be submitted to the Office of Financial Services for payment within two weeks from the date of invoices. All reimbursement for expenses must be submitted to Office of Financial Services for payment within three weeks from the date of receipt.

5 CASH ADVANCES

Request for cash advance must be signed by the Hon Fin Sec/Treasurer and countersigned by the President and submitted to the Office of Financial Services for processing, giving five working days' notice. The Request for Advance Form can be used for this purpose.

Quotation documents must be attached together with the completed Request for Advance Form.

The cash advance must be properly accounted for with the following:

a. All original invoices/receipts endorsed by the President and Hon Fin Sec/Treasurer of the Union/Club

b. Any balance of cash advance.

The receipts and balance of cash advance must be submitted to the Office of Financial Services at the end of the event/activity or within one month, whichever is earlier.

6 COLLECTIONS

All monies collected from sponsors, students, donors and sales must be handed to the Office of Financial Services on the same day or if not possible, the following day. The Chairperson will need to provide relevant information like the name of sponsor/donor, amounts collected, the project/activity so that the appropriate account can be credited.

The Deposit of Collection Form and the Deposit of Donation Form can be used to fill in the information.

The monies collected must not be used to pay or reimburse any expenses incurred.

The Office of Financial Services will issue official receipts to the sponsors or donors for cash or cheques collected. The official receipts will be handed over to the Treasurer for onward transmission to the sponsors or donors. All cheques should be made in favour of "NATIONAL UNIVERSITY OF SINGAPORE".

7 RECEIPT BOOKS

The Union/Club is not allowed to buy receipt books off the shelf. If the Union/Club needs to issue receipts for small value transactions like FOC Camp, official receipt books must be issued by the Office of Financial Services.

8 GOODS AND SERVICES TAX (GST)

The Goods and Services Tax (GST) Bill was passed by Parliament on 12 October 1993 and implemented with effect from 1 April 1994. Under the GST Act, NUS is a taxable person, liable to charge and collect GST on all taxable supplies as well as pay GST on all taxable purchases made from a taxable supplier.

Hence, the Union/Club is liable to charge and collect Goods and Services Tax (GST) on all revenue generating activities organized like camps, dinner and dance, bash and sale of t-shirts, souvenirs etc. except those specifically exempted by the GST Act.

Example: Union/Club receives a sum of $10,000 from a sponsor whereby the sponsor specifically requested that publicity be made in return.

Sponsorship (GST exclusive): $9,345.79

Output Tax: $ 654.21 ($10,000 * 7/107)

Total (GST inclusive): $10,000.00

Note: Only $9,345.79 is credited to Union/Club's account as revenue. The Output Tax of $654.21 will be paid over to the Comptroller of GST.

Payment/reimbursement

When the Union/Club makes payment to taxable suppliers, tax invoices should be submitted together with requests for payment. Similarly, tax invoices indicating cash terms of payment on the invoices should be submitted together with request for reimbursement of expenses.

Sponsorships

The Union/Club will have to issue tax invoices for sponsorships received whether in cash or in kind as sponsorships attract GST.

Donations

Donations received whether in cash or kind do not attract GST.

9 DINNER AND DANCE FUNCTION/BASH

The Chairperson and/or the Treasurer of the Dinner and Dance/Bash committee must be familiar with the tendering procedures and seek clarification if there are any doubts. Please note that sale of tickets must commence at least one month prior to the function.

Compliance with the above would help minimize the risk of functions running into a deficit.

10 PAYMENT FOR STUDENT PERFORMERS

Students who perform at the functions of any student club should not be paid. Payment, if any, should be made directly to the student club concerned.

Token allowances for student performers are as follows:-

i) Individual Performance		: $50.00
ii) Group Performance	2 persons	: $100.00
	3 persons	: $150.00
	4 persons	: $200.00

(Subject to a maximum of $200.00 for group performance of more than 4 persons)

11 PAYMENT FOR STUDENT SERVICES IN CERTAIN SPECIALISED SERVICES

Students who provide such services at functions of their own student club should not be paid.

The rate of payment for services is $6 per hour subject to a reasonable limit within the Director of Financial Services' discretion.

For Student Photographic Services, a maximum of $30 (5 hours) per project is allowed to a maximum of 2 photographers. This is provided that a minimum of 2 hours is spent per project.

For Choreography of Music and Dance Performances/Competitions, the payment for each session shall not exceed $12 (2 hours). Each project should be within 5 sessions, that is, a maximum of 10 hours ($60) per project.

12 TRANSPORT CLAIMS

a. Students on official work will be reimbursed according to bus fare or MRT fare rates if they use public transport.

b. When making a bus/MRT/taxi fare claim, please state the reason, the time and place of the start and end of the journey.

c. Taxi fare claim for official work must be supported by original receipt.

d. When claiming reimbursement for taxi-fare, receipts issued by taxi drivers must be attached to the claim form.

e. Students are not allowed to rent motorcars for official work. Only goods vehicles or mini-buses can be hired for transporting goods or ferrying of students.

f. Students may also claim for petrol, if they use rented vehicles for official duties. Original petrol receipts must be attached to the claim form.

g. Students who have to pay Electronic Pricing Fees (ERP) to perform official duties may be reimbursed for these charges. Such claims should be accompanied by supporting documents like ERP receipts.

h. Students may claim for mileage, if they use their private vehicles for official activities at the following rates:

Motor car : $0.60 per km

Motor cycle/scooter : $0.20 per km

The Transport Claim Form can be used for the above transport expenses.

13 THANK YOU FUNCTIONS/WELFARE ACTIVITIES

Expenditure on Thank you functions and social outings by committee members should be considered and budgeted as welfare activities. Union/Club would cap the welfare budgets at the following amounts:

Membership	Budgeted Amount
Not exceeding 1,000	Up to $400
More than 1,000 but not exceeding 3,000	Up to $800
More than 3,000	Up to $1,200

However, NUSSU's welfare budget will be capped at $5,000. A further cap of $20 per head will be set for welfare activities to check excessive expenditure of both Union and its Constituent Clubs. NUSSU and Clubs have to obtain prior approval from OSA if they need to exceed their welfare budgets.

14 CLAIMS TO REPAIR/REPLACE PROPERTY, EQUIPMENT DAMAGED WHILE ON OFFICIAL BUSINESS

Students are to bear 20% of the cost of repair or replacement to property and equipment damaged while on official business, subject to a minimum of S$50.00.

15 CLAIMS TO LOSS OF MONEY OR PROPERTY

Students are to bear the full cost of loss of money collected or loss of property while in their custody.

16 FIXED ASSETS

a) Criteria

Purchase of items with unit price equal to or greater than $200 will be capitalized as equipment and subject to depreciation.

b) Depreciation method

Depreciation is calculated on a straight-line basis and the cost of the equipment will be written-off over its estimated useful life. A list of asset types with corresponding useful life can be found in Annex C.

c) Qualification

In circumstances where the unit price of the item purchased is less than S$200 but the nature of the item justifies capitalization, the item will be capitalized and depreciated accordingly.

17 MINUTES OF MEETINGS

All copies of minutes of meetings are to be submitted to the Office of Student Affairs after each meeting.