Departamental Finances
Budgeting 101
The guidelines and anticipated timelines for your budget planning process are outlined by the AUS VP Finance at the beginning of the year in a memorandum. The memorandum will also outline specific expectations related to the specific year in question.
Budget planning is generally an involved process and requires several days of consultation between the VP Finance and the other executives. Discuss with your VP Events (Social)/VP Internal and your President the events, activities and initiatives your association plans to hold in the coming year.
When you have made a list of all the events you plan on holding, look at previous budgets to find out what the associated costs and revenues were for these events and initiatives. Use these preliminary figures as the building blocks of your budget. Likewise, perform independent costing: seek out estimates from vendors, view costing options online/otherwise?etc.
The budget must be presented on a standard template available from the AUS website. The template is called the ?AUSB Budget.? It is split between two main sections: ?Revenues? and ?Expenses.? Revenues are the money that you bring in. Expenses are anything you spend money on.
You will notice that there are 5 columns on the spreadsheet. They are ?Description and General Ledger Account,? ?Projected,? ?Allocated from FMC,? ?Actual,? and ?Notes.?
This is the category which groups what kinds of revenue and expenses you expect your organization will generate or incur over the course of the year. These GLAs are standardized across the organization. Likewise, when submitting a Cheque Request, you will need a GLA to categorize the expense you are submitting. There is a separate section in the ?AUSB Budget? Format outlining available GLAs for departments/affiliates.
This is the Revenue/Expense number you project at the beginning of the academic year on the given line-item. Sometimes you will end up spending/bringing in more money than your projection, other times less. You will rarely be spot on with your projections. Always be conservative with your projections.
The amount of money you will be requesting from FMC. This is placed in a separate column because it doesn?t represent new revenue for AUS, it is simply an internal transfer. Forecast and categorize these expenses according to same principles you categorize the rest (in line with the principles this document outlines).
That is what the amount actually ends up being in the end. This will be updated by your departmental VP Finance throughout the year. The AUS VP Finance will be able to access this information through the Google Drive editable link.
If you wish to add any notes to describe the Actual number, this is where. Remember, the more detailed you are the better the reporting and more detailed the records.
Likewise, note: the ?Class? section of the budgets (at the top of the budget AUSB format) is your department/affiliate name as an acronym. ?Class? designations help the AUS track which part of the organization is spending/receiving money. Consequently, it is critical to budget spending.
Notes:
All budgets must be in a balanced or surplus position. No deficit budgets will be approved.
Soon after you submit your proposed budget, you will receive final departmental allocations numbers. Using these final numbers, you should update your budget accordingly and notify the VP Finance of the changes.
Once the proposed budget is approved by the VP Finance and received final approval by Legislative Council, it should be updated with every transaction (ie. fundraiser, purchase, requisition request?etc.) by the VP Finance of the respective association.
Any department wishing to update or alter its budget must receive permission from the VP Finance, the Financial Management Committee (FMC) and AUS Legislative Council before doing so. Notify the VP Finance by email before making any budget changes.
IMPORTANT NOTE: You can NEVER use cash from your money box to pay for your expenses. You may never collect money in your personal account. If we find out, your account WILL be frozen immediately. Refer to the appropriate section for your department (Internal or External) to learn about how expenses should be paid for.
Departmental Allocations
Within 10 days of the Add/Drop period, the AUS VP Finance will inform you of the following:
- What amount allocation your department will receive for the academic year
- The requirements your department still need to meet in order to obtain this allocation
Each department will be allocated a base of $2.24 per student registered in the Majors/Honours concentrations. This amount is composed of a $1.49/student base fee and a $0.75/student supplement from the AUS Sustainability Fee. All departmental associations with ten (10) Arts students will receive a minimum allocation of $540.00 for the year with an additional $240.00 from the AUS Sustainability Fee.
Making a Deposit
After generating revenue for your department/organization or obtaining funds from external sources (generally sales for events, samosa, and apparel), you need to deposit these funds with the AUS. In normal operating circumstances, these collected funds would be deposited as either cash or electronic funds. This year, only Electronic deposits will be accepted. Cash deposits should not be collected.
Electronic Deposits
You may collect funds through platforms such as Stripe and Eventbrite for any sales your department is undertaking. Once your event is over, and the online sale is closed, the funds you collect will need to be deposited in a bank account. These funds must be deposited in the AUS main bank account and allocated to your department.
In order to ensure that you correct an accurate amount of funding is allocated to your department, please follow the following procedures:
- When setting up your Stripe/Eventbrite page, please ensure the AUS main bank account is used as the final payout account. Contact the AUS VP Finance for the AUS bank account information.
- Ensure Stripe/Eventbrite processing fees are passed on to purchasers and taxes are added to your registration price.
- Once the event/sale is over, send the AUS VP Finance a ?Payout Detail? for the deposit being made. In that email, please specify which Class and GLA this revenue should be allocated to. Without this information, the funds your organization raised will be allocated to a generic budget class and GLA and will be inaccessible to your department until proof of deposit provided.
Demandes de financement
Internal
The Journal Fund
The Supplementary Fund
The Special Projects Fund
The Ethical Procurement and Sustainability Fund
The Fine Arts Council Fund
The Arts Undergraduate Improvement Fund
External
Please note that all external cheques must be made out to the Arts Undergraduate Society (AUS) and must include the specifics of who in the AUS the cheque is for.
Example: Payable to Arts Undergraduate Society, attn: SSA/Women in House
Supplemental funding for your department/organization is primarily provided by SSMU, McGill (either University-Wide or Faculty Specific), and SUS (along with other Undergraduate Societies/student unions.
Funds Provided by SSMU
Complete information (fund criteria, funding process, how to receive funding…etc.) about supplemental funding from SSMU can be found ici.
Below is a list of funds currently available through SSMU:
- The SSMU Club Fund
- The SSMU Ambassador Fund
- The SSMU Mental Health Fund
- The SSMU Environment Fund
- The SSMU Space Fund
- The SSMU Equity Fund
- The SSMU First-Year Fund
University-Wide Funds Provided by McGill University
Complete information (fund criteria, funding process, how to receive funding…etc.) about supplemental funding from SSMU can be found by ici.
Below is a list of university-wide funds/funding opportunities currently available through McGill University:
- EDSS Funds: Innovation Funding
- Mary H. Brown Fund
- MAA Student Sponsorship Funding
- Sustainability Projects Fund (SPF) of McGill University
- Aboriginal Funding
- Funding for Students with Disabilities
The Dean of Arts Development Fund (DADF)
Provides essential funding for programs, such as internship awards, research internships, student advising, as well as numerous events, research projects, and publications proposed by students and faculty members. Learn more ici.
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