Student Toolkit - Budgets

Hart House’s C&Cs are entrusted with operating budgets with which to create meaningful activities and events for members of the university community. That funding comes from student fees paid by every U of T student. You are, therefore, investing and accounting for those monies on behalf of all students. Financial planning, monitoring and reporting are some of the most valuable life skills you can learn at Hart House, and we are prepared to support that learning. Your Treasurer will lead your committee’s financial undertakings, but the overall responsibility for money resides with the executive committee as a whole. Your Staff advisor must sign off on all expense and revenue paperwork.

• Annual Operating Budget
• Committee on Budgets
• Contingency Fund
• Fundraising Guidelines
• FAQs

Annual operating budget

Quite simply, your budget is your activity plan expressed in numbers. Your plan must "add up" on paper to be viable. As you track your activities and the monies available, your executive may decide to shift funds within a project. You may not, however, shift funds from one project to another. If, out of necessity, more than a $500 shift is required, the Committee on Budgets (CoB) must be consulted in advance via E-mail michael.deangelis@utoronto.ca. Hart House C&C budgets are approved on a specific time line that corresponds to the University’s budget process and fiscal year. Here is a list of important dates of which you should be aware:

Committee on budgets

This is a subcommittee of the Board of Stewards made up of student representatives whose primary responsibility is to consider C&C funding requests, to allocate annual C&C operating budgets and to set associated policies. Each C&C presents their funding request to the CoB in early April, and final allocations are presented to the Board of Stewards for acceptance. Throughout the year the CoB responds to C&C requests for contingency funding.

Contingency fund

If you have an exciting opportunity for a new activity or event, or if an unforeseen expense arises, you may approach the Committee on Budgets for contingency funding. A concise and complete project plan must be submitted to the CoB a minimum of 2 weeks prior to the funds being required. Proposals should be sent via E-mail to michael.deangelis@utoronto.ca.

Fundraising guidelines

In addition to operational budgets, your group may wish to undertake a fundraising plan to support a special project.

The merits of your fundraising proposals will be evaluated against the following set of goals, which are consistent with the goals of Hart House and the Universityof Toronto.

• All fundraising initiatives must be verified and approved by the Advancement Office at Hart House.
• Fundraising revenues should provide for enhanced programming; activities such as tournaments and trips [outside of regular annual programming]; and help to promote the long-term viability of House’s programmes and activities.

Fundraising efforts must be project specific, and are not intended for generating operating funds.

FAQs – Frequently Asked Questions:

1) Where can we get copies of our monthly financial statement ?

- The monthly statements are now provided to your Staff advisor through Financial Link. Please request copies of these statements from them.

2) How can I get my music deposit refund?

- All music refunds are now processed at the front desk/HUB. You are responsible for returning your music in entirety to your club and confirming that you are eligible for a refund. At the end of the term, your treasurers/group executives will forward a list of eligible members to the front desk, where they will begin to refund the deposit by debit/credit to you. If you originally paid by cash then you can visit the HUB between 7 -11:30, 7 days/week to obtain your refund once you have been notified that a list has been submitted to the HUB.  Please do not go to pick up your refund prior to being notified of your eligibility.  If you have questions about your eligibility please consult your treasurers/group executives before inquiring at the HUB.

3) I made purchases on behalf of my club. How can I obtain a reimbursement?

-  If you have been ask to buy food/supplies for your club then kindly keep all of your receipts. You will need to submit these original receipts, along with a completed cheque requisition (see FORMS/TEMPLATES) to your Staff advisors for approval and to the Accounts office for processing. However, if your purchase is less than $50 then you can request a petty cash voucher from your Staff advisor. When you take this voucher to the Accounts office, we can reimburse you immediately with cash.

4) I submitted my cheque requisition on time, why has it taken so long for me to receive payments?

- In general, it should take about 2 weeks for your cheques to be ready. However, this is conditional on your cheque requisition being submitted on-time and that all your supporting documentations (e.g. original receipts, credit card statements, boarding passes) are attached.  Please be advised that during April to September, we may change the payment schedule as the Accounting department will be undergoing annual audits. However, your Staff advisors will be advised of these changes in advance so you can contact them for more information.

5) My club requires a cash float for a weekend event. How do I obtain a float?

- In order to obtain a float, you must ensure that your Programme advisor submit a signed copy of the Float Request form to the Accounts office (see FORMS/TEMPLATES). This form must clearly state the name, time and date of the event, the float amount and when the float will be returned. You may pick up the float Monday to Friday from 9 to 5 from the Accounts office. However, arrangements can be made with your Staff advisor to pick up the float outside of these hours.

6)  We found an error in our accounts. How can we request an adjustment?

- Mistakes do happen so please do not hesitate to ask for clarifications or request an adjustment. However, the request must come directly from a Staff advisor as we cannot make changes to student group accounts without approval. In fact, we recommend that you always check with your Staff advisor first because they are usually much more aware of the details in your account.