About your finances

Society finance basics

Things you need to know to get you started:

  • Every society has one account. It doesn't work like a typical bank account (e.g. there isn't a bank card).
  • The Treasurer, President, and Secretary are the only people who can authorise spending from this account. They will need to contact activitiesadmin@shu.ac.uk if they would like a copy of their updated balance sheet.
  • All society funds must be kept in this account. The only exception is money that has been fundraised for charity, there is a seperate process for this detailed below.
  • You cannot go overdrawn.

  • All the money in the account is the society's, we don't take any of this money, and all remaining funds are available the following academic year.

Income generation - SU funding and external sponsorships

There are different ways that your society can generate income:

  • Your membership price: Setting your membership price is a way for each member to contribute to the society. You must make sure the price is reasonable and is a worthwhile expense for your members.
  • Fundraising: Your society can host events or activities for your members and guests to attend with a ticket price attached. Running low-cost events with a ticket price can be a way of raising money for future society activities. Check out events and trips for more information on event planning.
  • SU Funding: For one-off events and activities, your society may be eligible to apply for funding from the SU. Check out our funding information to see which activities are eligible.
  • External Sponsorships: Some societies can benefit from a sponsorship agreement with a local organisation or business. Check out our sponsorship guidance for more information on the sponsorship process.
Spending society funds

Spending society funds is a great way to enhance your experience, whether it be on new resources or towards an event, however, it's important to really consider the use of your money. If your members pay a membership fee, ensure you are honest about how those funds will be used in the society. The President, Treasurer, and Secretary have responsibility for society money but we hold the right to question society spending where it isn't inclusive or connected to society aims.

You can spend your society funds in two ways, by using a claim form or purchase order.

To use a claim form, a committee member can make a purchase and be reimbursed directly from your society account. We recommend this for small, one-off transactions. You must be able to provide evidence of the purchase.

The second way you can spend funds is through a purchase order. We recommend this for larger or more regular purchases that you wouldn't want to use your own money for.

Claim forms

We recommend using a claim form for small purchases. A claim form is where you pay for the item yourself and claim the cost back. They need to be authorised by the President, Secretary, or Treasurer and submitted within three months from the time of expenditure. We recommend claim forms when the total expense is under £150. Claims usually take 2-3 weeks to be reimbursed if all required steps have been completed. 

Claim forms are digital and proof of purchase must be included for us to authorise it.

Process of using a claim form
  1. Check if there are enough funds in your society account. Remember: Don't buy anything if there are not enough funds as we won't authorise a claim form if it makes a society overdrawn.
  2. Go to the shop or online and buy the items with your own money. You must get proof of payment; this can be a receipt or a confirmation email that shows the price.
  3. Fill in the claim form. It will ask you to upload the proof of payment. View claim form guidance for help completing the form.
  4. This will be sent to the President, Secretary, or Treasurer to sign off. If you are the President, it will be sent to the Treasurer or the Secretary to be signed off and vice versa.
  5. It will be sent to your coordinator to sign off.
  6. The money will be paid into your bank account usually within 2-3 weeks. There can sometimes be a delay with this (bank holidays, etc.) so we wouldn't recommend using a claim form if you need the money back straight away - we are unable to fast-track payments.

 

Complete a claim form

Claim form guidance

Purchase orders

A purchase order (PO) is a legal guarantee that your society will pay a supplier a set amount for a product or service.

Using a purchase order

You should use a purchase order for larger purchases over £150 such as catering for an event, booking a minibus, etc. Once you have given a PO number to a supplier, you cannot back out of paying them the amount you've committed to. 

When requesting an invoice from a supplier, it must be addressed to:

Hallam Students' Union

6 Paternoster Row

Sheffield

S1 2QQ

 

Please allow 4 weeks for purchase orders to be raised, approved, processed and paid.

Process of using a purchase order

 

  1. Find a supplier. You can search for what you would like to buy but we may have a suggested supplier that we know offers a good quality service/those that don't, so feel free to contact us at activitiesadmin@shu.ac.uk beforehand!
  2. Get a quote. Before you agree to anything you should get quotes from suppliers. We recommend getting 3 quotes from different companies so you can compare for best value. Remember: check for any add-ons not included on the quote such as delivery, VAT, etc. and check your society account balance. We will not raise a PO if there are insufficient funds in the account.
  3. Request a purchase order number from us and send us the company details. You can do this via our purchase order request form. If you have used them before to order through us, we will have their details already. If they are a new supplier, you will be asked to input their details so we know who to pay. Remember: this should be done before you confirm anything and you get your invoice!
  4. Receive purchase order number and share to the company. Once your purchase order has been raised you will be sent the purchase order number. This should be sent immediately to the company you are purchasing from.
  5. Pass on your invoice. You should receive an invoice from the company. Remember: check the price on the invoice matches your quote and that it includes the purchase order number you were sent by us. Once this is all correct, send a copy to hubsfinance@shu.ac.uk and activitiesadmin@shu.ac.uk.
  6. We'll organise the payment!

 

Raise a purchase order request

Fundraising

Fundraising is a popular and worthwhile activity for societies, but it needs to be done correctly to ensure compliance with charity laws, rules and regulations.

If your society would like to fundraise you must submit an Event Proposal Form with the charity name and number, and wait for the Societies Team to approve before confirming with the charity. All societies wanting to fundraise must attend a training session with the Societies Team, you'll be invited to this once you've notified us of your fundraising event.

Some things to consider:

  • Events must clearly state that they are fundraisers when being advertised and you can only raise money through Native ticket sales or card donations using an SU-provided card reader.
  • No cash, no Go Fund Me or Just Giving and no personal accounts are to be used to collect money.
  • Any funds raised through ticket sales or via the card machine will go into a separate fundraising account. At no point should fundraising money go into personal or society accounts.

For more information about our finance processes, view the following sections: