Transportation

We follow Calvin College Financial Services designated transportation reimbursement policy.

If you drive a Calvin College vehicle: You will ONLY be reimbursed for the amount of fuel put in the vehicle, so in that case, keep you receipts.

If you drive a personal or non-Calvin vehicle: You will ONLY be reimbursed by the mileage drive, not by the amount of fuel put in the vehicle. You will be reimbursed $0.15 per mile driven. Additionally, you will not be reimbursed for transportation expense incurred inside the greater Grand Rapids metropolitan area.

Tipping

We follow Calvin College Financial Services designated Tipping policy. As an institution Calvin wishes all of those participating in college sponsored activities to be more than willing to tip appropriately and respectfully.

For non-delivery tips: Calvin College suggests tipping 15-20%. You WILL NOT be reimbursed for any tips exceeding the 20% limit.

For delivery tips: Cavlin College suggest tipping 10-15%. You WILL NOT be reimbursed for any tips exceeding the 15% limit.

Retreats

Retreats are to be budgeted as individual line items within a student organization's budget. A retreat shall be defined as a one day, or overnight excursion attended by a majority of the members of the student organization. Retreat expenses will be reimbursed by the same guidelines as other student reimbursements.

Conferences

Any organization is eligible to apply for funding to attend a conference, appropriate to that student organization. Student organizations can not budget specific line items for conferences. The Finance Chair, under the advisement of the Finance Committee, controls an account containing funds that are to be used for conferences.

Is there a form to fill out? There is NO FORM to fill out. Instead, the Finance Committee requires the following information to be submitted at least two weeks prior to the conference:

How much funding can I expect from the Finance Committee? The funding approved by the Finance Committee usually varies on a case-by-case basis, but usually, if approved, the Finance Committee will fund approximately 40-60% of the conference expenses; however, the Finance Committee has the right to deny any conference request at any time and its decision can not be appealed regarding the status of the conference application or the amount of funding.

How long will I have to wait to know the status of my conference application? The Finance Committee usually meets roughly once or twice a month, depending on the volume of activity. The Finance Chair can give you a rough estimate of the amount that may be approved; however, he or she can not promise what the decision of the Finance Committee may be. The Finance Committee will try to render a decision in as timely a manner as possible, usually within one to two weeks after the receipt of the conference information. Please submit all conference requests to the Finance Chair.

Deposits / Revenue

Any time money is received by an organization, either by cash or by check, it needs to be submitted to the Finance Chair. Should your organization have a revenue line item, with a designated revenue amount, it is expected your organization will raise the required funds. All checks should be made payable to Calvin College.

Sales Tax

Calvin College is a tax-exempt insitution, meaning no purchase made for college purposes is subject to sales tax. Student organizaiton's are strongly encourage to take advantage of the tax-exempt status when making purchases for their student organizations. The use of the tax-exempt number saves the organization and the College 6% of the expenditure. Failure to use this status is a waste of your resources. To encourage the responsible use of your organizations resources Calvin's tax-exempt status must be used for any purchase above $25.00. Should you fail to comply with this policy, the individual who made the purchase will not be reimbursed for the sales tax charged on the purhase.

When are they? Audits typically occur during the first few weeks of November, usually prior to Thanksgiving.

What are they? Audits are a way for the Finance Chair as well as the Finance Committee to get an early picture of what student organization finances look like prior to the end of the semester. Doing audits early in the year, rather than at semester break, allows us to anticipate any problems, prior to their occurance. Audits also serve as a more intimate check on an organization's accountability and stewardship of its resources.

What do I need to do? A member of the Finance Committee will contact you and ask you to set up a meeting with him or her. During that meeting the committee member will ask you various questions about your budget and your spending thus far. First, make sure you communicate with the committee member who contacted you about dates and times to meet. Second, bring any financial records you might have to the meeting, including, but not limited to, excel spreadsheets, monthly statements, etc.

Sample Questions: - Do you have any written financial records? - Are they updated regularly? - Do you have a rough spending plan for the year? - Do you anticipate overspending on any line items? - If so, how do you plan to compensate for that overspending?

When is it? Additional Funding happens during the later few weeks of January and the first week or so of February.

What is it? Additional Funding is a process designated to help student organizations whose budget has proven too small for the rest of their resources. This process helps those student organizations by granting them small increases in depleted line items, in order that the student organization may continue to operate without significant constraint.

What do I need to do? Beginning on January 9, 2006, additional funding request forms will become available. You will be able to access those forms both online and from in front of the Student Senate office. Just complete the form and submit it like you would a reimbursement. Beginning in the first week of February 2006, the Finance Committee will meet and review all additional funding requests. Any amount of additional funding received is at the discretion of the Finance Committee. In addition, there is no appeal process for additional funding. The amount of funds the Finance Committee has available to grant as additional funding is entirely contingent upon the amount of funding cut from organization budgets by the 40% rule.

What are my chances of receiving additional funding? Some of the criteria the Finance Committee typically looks at are: - Was any funding cut by the 40% rule? - How have they spent their funds thus far? - What is their reason for applying for addtional funding? - Is the request reasonable?

When is it? The 40% cuts, or more affectionately named, the Robin hood Rule, takes place at the end of interim.

What is it? The 40% cuts are a way for the Finance Committee to ensure that each student organization is using the funds appropriated to them. As a way of ensuring effective stewardship of the resources granted to the Finance Committee, the 40% rule, ensures that each student organization has spent at least 40% of each line item of their budget. By the end of interim, each student organization should spend at least 40% of each non-exempt line item in their budget, or the Finance Committee will remove the appropriate amount of funds, to make it appear as though 40% has been spent in each line item. This means that if you fail to spend at least 40%, the Finance Committee will cut, up to 40% of each of your underspent line items. Those funds will then be removed and become unavailable to your organization for the remainder of the year. Typically those funds are then redistributed to the organizations which have applied for additional funding, hence, the Robin hood Rule.

What do I need to do? Be aware of which line items are exempt from the 40% rule in your budget. Ensure that by the end of interim, if you don't want a line item cut, make sure you spend at least 40%; however, if you have no use for the line item, don't simply go out and spend, just so you don't get cut. The 40% rule is a way to reconfigure budgets midway through the year, so that funds are distributed more equitably.

Budgets / Budgeting

When is it? The budgeting process typically takes place the last few weeks of April.

What is it? The budgeting process is a formal process which requires a budget hearing set before the Finance Committee. During this time, each organization will present their proposed budget for the next year and answer questions the Finance Committee may have. The budgeting process can be strenuous for some, depending on how well they've managed the current years budget.

What are the budget lines? When creating your budget, consider using the following budget lines:

Campus Store – Things purchased at the Campus Store, such as office supplies.

Copy Center (Printing Services)– Charges for making copies or having things printed in printing services.

Dues and Memberships – Supplement for memberships or dues for an organization with a Calvin chapter.

Equipment– All purchases for equipment to help an organization carry out its purpose. 

Honoraria-  Charges for speakers or gifts for speakers.

Office Supplies – For office supplies purchased at off-campus locations.

Programming– Any expenses related to the programs of an organization with the exception of transportation and food.

Promotional– Expenses related to promoting or publicizing an organization with the exception of Printing Services (Use Copy Center line).

Refreshments– All food expenses.

Retreats– Charges relating to the costs of putting on a retreat such as, lodging, food, and/or transportation. If renting vehicles through Calvin, use Transportation line.

Revenue– All income coming into an organization for dues, income, etc.

Transportation– Charges for transportation according to the SSFC policy.

What do I need to do? As the budgeting process draws closer, more information will be communicated to you about what needs to happen. However, the budgeting process and rechartering process go hand in hand. When you recharter your organization you are asked to hand in a proposed budget for next year. As a rule of thumb we ask that you try and limit any proposed budget increase to no more that 5% per line item per year. Once you have submited your budget, you will be asked to sign up for a budget hearing time. When it is time for the budget hearings, you will come before the Finance Committee in a formal setting, where your current budget will be compared to your proposed budget. The hearing will last approximately ten to fifteen minutes. After your hearing, the Finance COmmittee will deliberate and render an appealable decision regarding your budget. You will then have the option of appealing the committee's decision and they will again review your proposal. After the appeal, the Finance Committee's decision is final and your budget will be finalized for the next year.

Financial Reports

When are they? Financial reports are issued monthly. Quarterly reports are issued at the approximate end of each academic quarter. The Annual Report is issued at one of the final Student Senate meetings, usually the in the first few weeks of May.

What are they? Financial reports are compiled on a monthly basis, so each student organization is issued a monthly financial report summarizing spending up to that point in the year, as well as the appropriate amounts remaining in each line item. Quarterly reports are also issued to Student Senate. These reports are more broad in view and detail the financial state of organizations as a whole. Often times they include other information, such as the Student Senate Booksale and other decisions of the Finance Committee, such as conference requests, etc. At the end of the year a Comprehensive Annual Report is issued to the Student Senate. In this report, organizational financial activities are disclosed in full. This report includes any and all decisions rendered by the Finance Committee, as well as a summary by the Finance Chair of his or her determination of the state of student organizaiton finances. The Annual Report is usually issued in the form of a lenthy presenation to Student Senate. All student organizations are welcome to attend the presentation of the Annual Report.