Financial Transactions
All organization members are asked to realize the importance of making decisions on the reasonable use of funds during the year.
Remember: Consult with your Treasurer before any financial decision is made
- The TREASURER is the only member authorized to sign the financial transactions for your organization! (In some cases, the president or chair may sign these requests).
- Student organizations may NOT set up off campus accounts.
Contracts
- Contractual agreements require special consideration – please read them carefully.
- Organization advisors and/or sponsors must approve any contracts.
- In most cases, the Director of Student Leadership and Service must approve and sign all contracts that obligate Meredith College student organizations.
- Typically, contracts are used for booking entertainers or reserving facilities off campus (i.e. bands/performers, hotels, Convention Center, etc.).
- The Office of Student Leadership and Service has created a sample contract template for your use.
To make your Treasurer’s job easier, please refer to this document.
Every Purchase Order submitted to the Accounting Office must be filled out completely with name, address, and SSN (for individuals) or TIN (for companies) and your organization’s treasurer must sign this form! Incomplete or incorrect P.O.s will be returned, thus delaying processing.
Guidelines for Use of Organization Funds
- All organizations are different in how they use their funds so it is difficult to apply certain guidelines in the same way for all organizations. However, we believe it is necessary to provide some guidelines so that your organization will make the best “reasonable” decisions on how to use its funds throughout the year. If you need more assistance on making these types of decisions, please contact either your organization advisor or a member of the professional staff in the Office of Student Leadership and Service. We recommend the following guidelines to aid in your decision-making:
- General: When spending funds that have been allocated to or raised by a student organization, the expenditure must:
- Fit the purpose of the organization.
- Meet the needs of the organization members.
- Serve an educational purpose.
- Contribute, in some way, to the betterment of the Meredith community.
- Gifts: Please be reasonable when your organization purchases recognition gifts for your officers.
- Socials/Dinners: Please be reasonable when your organization plans socials or “dinners out.” Ask members to make an individual monetary contribution toward payment of their meal (or participation in an event). Our general recommendation is that each student pay at least half of the meal’s cost or ticket cost for an event (if not more).
- T-shirts: Please be reasonable when your organization sells T-shirts to its members. Members should buy their own shirts. The organization may decide to pay a small portion of the artwork or shipping, etc.
- Donations to charities (or other donations): All money for donations must be raised through fundraisers (no college-allocated funds may be used). All expenses related to the fund-raiser must be paid before the donation can be made.
