Treasurer Tools
Documentation for Expenses

Students should be informed consumers and insist upon estimates for costs prior to payment. Upon purchase all individuals need to make sure
• They first have approval from the Treasurer or Financial Signatory to make the purchase
• They get an itemized store receipt (cash register printout) for materials or services
• If paying for a restaurant bill they must request an itemized receipt from the waiter.

 Supporting Documentation Required for all Transactions

 Checks may not be made payable to cash, issued to a family member nor can we issue a check without supporting documentation. Acceptable documentation includes the following:

• A written or printed original invoice issued from vendor/store
• An itemized original store receipt issued at time of purchase (Note: A credit card receipt without itemization is not a valid receipt.)
• A written estimate or quote issued from vendor (only if check will be made payable to them). If they cannot provide an invoice in advance, the written quote or estimate needs to be on their company letterhead
• Registration forms or supporting material (including price) from a conference or program being attended
• MIT contract should be used when paying anyone to perform a job for your student group
• Giving a donation to non-profit organizations requires that you submit a copy of their mission statement (usually printed from their web page), along with their Federal Tax Identification Number and a signed Student Activities form verifying that the funds being donated were collected independent from the Institute.
• All receipts must be translated into English and amounts converted to US Dollars. Students must show SAFO the conversion rate used and reference the source for the conversion rate.
• All personal expenses must be crossed off the receipt and deducted from the expense total.
• If a group member requests cash back at the point of sale this absolutely must be removed from the reimbursment total. The best practice is to keep personal business separate from group business and pay for those items under separate receipts.

Receipts

SAO advises that the group have some kind of purchase receipt or agreement form, signed registration form, agreement or other written documentation detailing

• Service the funds are paying for
• Group providing the service
• Payment date
• Amount of payment
• Payment type or check number
• Signature of the individual paying for service and group officer accepting the payment (if possible)
• Expiration for refunds
• If refund is guaranteed upon return of item give return due date

This written documentation should be kept on file until the event is over, services have been rendered or until a month after the refund date has passed. If possible keep a copy of the check or receipt given to the customer along with it. These two documents are all that are needed for a check request if you need a refund.
In the case of a residence hall with a house bill where members pay a deposit and spend against those funds, a copy of the house internal accounting system is required along with a signature by the president and Treasurer accounting for the validity of the document.

Phone Reimbursements

Payments or reimbursements for phone service or phone calls are a decision each group must make on their own.

1. Office phones
2. Cell phones
3. Calling cards
4. Reimbursements

Office Phones

Some groups choose to pay for a phone in their office. For more information look at MIT Telecommunication. For information on repair service or calling instructions see http://web.mit.edu/is/topics/telecommunications/index.html

If a group changes offices or wants to cancel their phone service they need to contact SAFO giving us the phone number and office location to discontinue or move services.

The Treasurer should be monitoring phone use when he/she does the monthly reconciliation. Phone calls should be for group business only and the group should have an internal policy to help identify reasonable and unreasonable calls (include length of call, time of day for typical business use, typical regions called, etc.)

Cell phones

Some groups may choose to reimburse for cell phone calls for specific members. It is important to have a clearly identified internal policy (i.e. will only reimburse up to $30 a month per an individual, will only pay for specific calls, will only pay for calls during specific time of year, so on.)

MIT also has negotiated discount rates for renting cell phones and/or pagers. It might be easier for a group to manage cell phone charges if it is a business phone rather than a personal phone used for business occasionally. Groups interested in this need set up the contract with one of the approved MIT partner companies, bring the contract into SAO for approval along with a copy of your group’s internal calling card use policy. Phones will need to be relinquished by officers once their term is over and given to their successor.SAO will get the contract signed by the appropriate MIT representative and payment must be done by blanket purchase order.

Calling Cards

Other groups may prefer to have calling cards. MIT also has a calling card service from Telecommunications where charges may be billed directly to your group account each month. Groups interested in this need to complete the subscription form and bring it into SAO for approval along with a copy of your group’s internal calling card use policy.

Reimbursements

Other groups may prefer to avoid all of the formal means of phone service and let members or officers use personal phones to conduct group business. If the group wants to reimburse an individual for phone calls they again need to have a very clear policy in writing on approved and reasonable expenses. The internal group policy should be available to members and given to SAFO upon request. Any internal guidelines must clearly spell out the group’s expectations (time of day, duration of call, approved regions for calls, etc.)


Checks Payable to Self or Family Members

Vouchers may not be submitted to reimburse family members who have purchased items for a student group.

While it is preferable for groups to use invoices or purchase orders for expenses, some students will choose to pay for expenses on their personal credit card or out-of-pocket. Students may submit receipts in these circumstances, however vouchers submitted for payment must be completed by another Financial Signatory for the group. Financial Signatories may not sign for a voucher for their own reimbursement.