Finances
Guide to Clubs & Societies Finance
Using the Clubs & Societies Finance Office
Accessing the Finance Office online
Location
The SU Finance Office is located on the top floor of the Students’ Union. From the stairs, walk up to Level 3 and then turn left. Walk down the left side of building until you reach the office labelled 'SU Clubs & Societies Finance Office'. From the lift, turn right, walk past the soft seating area, and then walk along the side of the building until you reach the office.
Opening Times
The SU Finance Office is open from 9:30am – 4.30pm each day. It is usually less busy in the morning. The office closes over lunch from 1pm - 1.45pm.
Occasionally, the office door may be closed at other times during the day. This is a necessary security measure, so please just call back later if the door is closed when you arrive.
Using the SU Finance Office
Club and Societies should use the SU Finance Office to manage all their financial activity.
You may not use any external financial services, including external bank accounts, online banks, websites which generate income, and so on. Any Club or Society found to be using external financial services, including bank accounts, may face disciplinary action from the SU and University.
Accessing the Finance Office online
You can email the Finance Office with any financial queries or to submit TAFs on su.clubsandsocsfinance@qub.ac.uk.
Committee members should always use their student QUB emails when communicating with the Finance Office.
To make a purchase remotely, email your TAF to su.clubsandsocsfinance@qub.ac.uk with all of your current committee signatories copied into the email thread. Each one then needs to reply into the thread to clearly say that they approve the payment (including details of the amount and supplier).
So for example, if your Club or Society is emailing in a TAF for a clothing order from Signature Works, you need to email us the completed TAF and ensure that your Chairperson, Secretary and Treasurer are all copied in to the thread. Each one then needs to confirm their approval by replying to the thread to say: "I approve this payment of £XXXX to Signature Works".
The breakdown of your account
Each Club / Society has an account in the SU Finance Office. All money that you have collected or fundraised should be brought to the office and lodged into this account. Grant awards from the University or SU will automatically be transferred to your account. Please note that every transaction, whether it is lodging or spending funds, must come through the Finance Office.
Each account is broken down into three sections with slightly different rules on how the funds in that section can be spent:
1. Own Funds
This part of your Club / Society account can be spent on almost anything as long as the appropriate paperwork has been submitted. Income which you generate yourselves will be lodged in your Own Funds (e.g. formal ticket sales, sponsorship, fundraised monies).
2. Recurrent Grant
This is where your grants from the SU will be lodged. This part of your account has some restrictions on how its funds can be spent. Essentially, you must spend your Recurrent Grant in line with the main aims and objectives of your Club / Society (as listed in your constitution). Alcohol cannot be purchased with this part of your account, and it cannot be spent on social events.
Be aware that a proportion of each membership fee you take will be lodged into your Recurrent Grant section and is subject to the same spending restrictions. Over Freshers', £2 per member will be lodged into your Grant pot. During the rest of the year, it's £3 per member.
3. Special Fund/Grant
If you apply for any particular 'special' grants within the University (e.g. from the Queen's Annual Fund, or a Capital Grant from Queen's Sport), it will sit separately in its own section. You must spend this money on specifically what you applied for in the relevant grant application.
Grants / Special Funds available for Clubs and Societies
Each year your Club / Society can apply for three types of grants from the Students’ Union. These grants must be spent in the academic year they have been received otherwise they will be taken back by the Students’ Union at the end of July after that academic year. The three types of grants are listed and explained below. Charitable, political and religious Societies are not eligible for SU grants.
1. Recurrent grant – Available for any eligible Club / Society to cover their activities and costs for the year.
2. Hosting Grant – Available for any eligible Club / Society which is hosting a recognised intervarsity event at Queen’s in that academic year.
3. Capital Grant – Available for any eligible Club / Society which is in need of equipment repair or upgrade. Please note funds for this particular grant are limited and you must supply a complete inventory in order to be considered. Your inventory should list all of your equipment, along with each item's estimated value and current state of repair.
Application forms are emailed out to all Clubs and Societies after 1st August and can also be downloaded here.
Please note that there is a limited amount of funds available for the grants described above, and that this is distributed across a growing number of Clubs and Societies each year. If you anticipate significant costs, you shouldn't rely solely on grant funding to cover them. Instead, financially effective Clubs and Societies should develop their own fundraising ability and be proactive in researching other funding opportunities.
Within the University, Clubs and Societies are also eligible to apply for the Queen's Annual Fund and the Clifford Arbuthnot Fund. These funds are administered by the University, not the SU, so make sure to send your applications to the correct department in advance of the deadline.
Lodging Money
Cash
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Count up the money and take a record of what you’re lodging for your own records.
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Call up to the Clubs and Societies Finance Office, so we can lodge it in your account.
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Make sure to note the following :
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How the funds were raised (e.g. fundraising from a pub quiz or memberships or sponsorship from local pub)
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All funds raised will be lodged to your Own Funds, with the exception of a portion of the membership money collected from each sign-up to your Club / Society.
Note: It is preferable that all cash is lodged in pound sterling.
Euro notes can be lodged but not coins.
Cheque
If you are lodging a cheque note that they must be made payable to “Queen’s University Belfast Club/Society name here”
If the cheque doesn’t include Queen’s University Belfast then it can’t be processed and if it doesn’t include your Club/Society name then it may not reach your account so make sure both of these are written on the cheque.
It is preferred if the cheque is made payable in pounds sterling but euro cheques will be accepted as well.
Bank Transfer from a Company / Organisation
If someone is paying you by bank transfer, come up to the Clubs and Societies Finance Office to inform us.
We require you to provide the following details of the organisation/company who are lodging money in your account.
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Company name
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Address
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Contact Person
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Contact Telephone Number
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Contact Email Address
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Amount to be received
Once we have these details we will invoice the organisation/company for the amount.
The organisation/company can then transfer the money to Queen’s University by quoting this invoice number.
Online Payments from Members
Clubs and Societies can opt-in to use Fixr to collect payments from members online. See here for more details.
Spending Money
There are a variety of ways you can spend money from your Club / Society account. Just come up and speak to the staff in the SU Finance Office and they will let you know what method best suits your Club / Society’s situation.
Be aware that for purchases or payments valued at £2,500 or more, you will need to source three like-for-like quotations from different suppliers. You must provide the Finance Office with proof of all three quotations. If you cannot provide this proof, your payment will not be processed. For guidance on sourcing quotations, just drop the Clubs and Societies team an email.
Reimbursement via Petty Cash - MUST BE DISCUSSED WITH FINANCE OFFICE IN ADVANCE OF PURCHASE
If an individual has paid for something on behalf of the Club/Society they can get the cash back if the following criteria is met:
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The committee of the Club/Society fill in a Transaction Authorisation form (TAF) provided in the Clubs and Societies Finance Office.
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Note that the TAF cannot be signed by the individual who is due to be reimbursed - it must be two other executive committee members.
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The receipts are provided.
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It is under £50.
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The Club/Society has the money in the appropriate section of its account.
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Don’t pay for goods on behalf of your Club/Society via your own personal card as it more difficult to get reimbursed in this case.
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All petty cash reimbursements must be processed in the same committee year as the purchase, and within six months of the purchase.
Reimbursement via bank transfer / cheque - Also known as a 'Request for Payment' - MUST BE DISCUSSED WITH FINANCE OFFICE IN ADVANCE OF PURCHASE
If an individual has paid for something on behalf of the Club/Society they can get reimbursed for the expense by receiving a cheque or bank transfer if the following criteria is met:
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The committee of the Club/Society fill in a Transaction Authorisation form (TAF) provided in the Clubs and Societies Finance Office.
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Note that the TAF cannot be signed by the individual who is due to be reimbursed - it must be two other executive committee members.
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The receipts are provided.
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It is over £50.
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The Club/Society has the money in the appropriate section of its account.
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All Request for Payment reimbursements must be processed in the same committee year as the purchase, and within six months of the purchase. Requests for Payments can take up to two weeks to be issued in your bank account.
Clubs and Societies Purchase Card (Credit Card)
If a Club/Society wishes to pay a supplier directly they can do so via the Clubs and Societies Purchase Card (Credit Card) located in the Clubs and Societies Finance Office. The following criteria must be met:
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The committee of the Club/Society fill in a Transaction Authorisation form (TAF) provided in the Clubs and Societies Finance Office.
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The supplier can accept card payment online or over the phone.
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The Club/Society have provided an official quote form the supplier.
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The transaction is valued up to but not above £2000.
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Important: The Purchase Card does have some limitations, particularly around data security online. This means that the card can't be used on any website which would store the card details for future charges (e.g. to pay for a rolling software subscription). There are also limitations on using the card on international sites or to pay in different currencies, so we would always encourage you to look for a local / national supplier in the first instance. There may be other limitations (e.g. non-secure websites) so always check in advance whether your supplier can be paid this way. Just drop the Finance team an email before you organise your order or collect any contributions from members.
Non-card payments, including Purchase Orders and RFPs
If a card payment isn't possible, then we can pay a supplier by Purchase Order (PO) or sometimes by a Request for Payment (RFP). Please note that paying this way is a slower process than using the card, and you should allow around two weeks for the payment to go through. The following criteria must be met when paying this way:
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The committee of the Club/Society fill in a Transaction Authorisation form (TAF) provided in the Clubs and Societies Finance Office.
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For purchase orders, the supplier needs to be on the University's supplier list. We can check this for you and help to add them to the list if necessary.
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The Club/Society have provided an official quote form the supplier.
Payment to an individual for their services
To pay a Sporting Coach, see the guidance here.
To pay someone like a one-off guest speaker or workshop leader, you just need to supply the SU Finance Office with their bank account details and agreed sum of payment when you submit your TAF. Please note that you cannot pay someone in this way more than three times a year.
Key things to remember
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Be organised – try to think two weeks in advance for all transactions. Letting the Clubs and Societies Staff know early about a payment means they can help out as early as possible. Please don’t leave it until 2 or 3 days before as this will mean a delay in payment to a supplier and possible reputational damage to your Club/Society and Queen’s University Belfast.
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If you have a question don’t be afraid to ask – the Students’ Union staff and student reps are here to help so if you have a question about anything to do with Clubs and Societies do not hesitate to contact your Student Officer for Campaigns and Engagement on su.campaigns@qub.ac.uk or the Clubs and Societies team on su.clubs@qub.ac.uk or su.societies@qub.ac.uk.
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Make sure your President, Treasurer and Secretary are all signed up online as soon as they are elected. They will become account signatories on 1st August. The committee year runs from 1st August - 31st July annually.
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When spending money, you must fill in a Transaction Authorisation Form (TAF) in all cases.