budget | AUCSA

How do I use the pin machines?

aucsa — Mon, 18 May 2020 21:18:25 +0000

If you want to use pin machines for ticket sales for an event, always reserve them first by sending an email to the Quartermaster (Alexander) to prevent clashes. Additionally, always bring the pin machines back to the AUCSA office after using them.

At the beginning of the year your CAO should have sent you a manual, otherwise contact the quartermaster.

How do I sell tickets for my event?

aucsa — Mon, 18 May 2020 21:17:12 +0000

If you are doing an online ticket sale, you can use EventBrite. The AUCSA has a centralised account on which ticket sales are managed. You need to update your CAO to use eventbrite because they will set-up the organiser part. You can then log in to create your event. To get going, you need a banner, name, time and location, and a description. Make sure you connect your facebook account to the event you are creating, you can automatically create the event from there which saves you time. It also gives the possibility to sell tickets on facebook itself which increases ticket sales. Contact your CAO to set it up.

How Do I Approach Sponsors?

aucsa — Mon, 18 May 2020 21:09:39 +0000

The AUCSA Acquisitions Team consists of 6 team members, including the AUCSA Treasurer (Julien). If you want to get sponsors for you committee, approach him first so he can discuss it with the AUCSA Board and he will see if the Team can help you. Contact him by sending an email with your proposal to julien.vandermosten@aucsa.nl.

Please note that it is not allowed to approach potential sponsors on your own without written approval from the AUCSA Board.

For more information about the Acquisitions Commission click here

What is the AUCSA Acquisitions Commission?

aucsa — Mon, 18 May 2020 21:08:32 +0000

The AUCSA Acquisitions Team was set up by the AUCSA Board of 2017-2018 as a pilot, and has since grown to now continue for its third’s year during 2019-2020. Its main goal is to acquire sponsorship deals for the AUCSA budget, meaning that these deals will indirectly also benefit all committees. Since the AUCSA is a non-profit organization, and therefore not allowed to make an overall profit, all sponsorships will be used to strengthen the financial health of the organization and, eventually, to make sure all committees have more funds to organize their events. Updates will be provided at the October Budget GA and upon request via acquisitions@aucsa.nl.

What are unforeseen costs and when are they used?

aucsa — Mon, 18 May 2020 21:07:51 +0000

Both the AUCSA and all its committees delegate approximately 10% of their overall expenses to their unforeseen costs. This is a reserved amount of money that is meant to be used in extreme unforeseen and unpredictable circumstances, and you should always consult with the AUCSA before wanting to use these unforeseen costs. Please note that they are meant for emergencies, such as when rented equipment goes missing or breaks. They are not meant to be an extra buffer to use when you realize one of your events is going to turn out more expensive than you initially planned for, in which case you should always send a preliminary budget proposal to the AUCSA requesting more money or a reallocation of your budget.

The bottom line is: if you need more budget for an event, do not use your unforeseen, but request more budget by emailing a preliminary budget proposal with written justification to your CAO. Additionally, always consult the AUCSA first if you are unsure whether an unexpected cost falls under unforeseen.

Who Can Sign Contracts?

aucsa — Mon, 18 May 2020 21:06:46 +0000

As the AUCSA is a legal body it can engage in legal agreements. This is handy for say, you want to rent a venue. However, under dutch law it is specified that only certain people can act on behalf of the AUCSA as legal representative. This means that you, as member, are NEVER allowed to sign a contract.

If you do sign a contract ment for the AUCSA, you as person accepts the duties bound to the contract. This means that if you on your own sign a contract with a venue, you might get held personally accountable for any damages, or for example the rent. This is not supposed to happen, so do not sign any contract.

The Treasury’s Golden Rules

aucsa — Mon, 18 May 2020 21:03:58 +0000

If you sent in a preliminary budget proposal, it is not allowed to start your promotion or ticket sale before you have received written notification (via email) from the AUCSA Board mentioning your proposal was approved.
Any expenses you make that have not been budgeted for, or in other words have been approved neither by the Budget GA nor the AUCSA Board, will NOT be reimbursed.
Reimbursement forms with the incorrect budget code or without receipts or invoices will not be considered for reimbursement.
It is not allowed to contact sponsors on your own for a committee without written approval from the AUCSA Board.
It is never allowed to sign contracts on your own on behalf of a committee. Only the AUCSA Board members are allowed to sign contracts. The AUCSA Treasurer is the only one who can sign contracts on their own.
It is never allowed to let people pay cash for ticket sales, drinks, classes, products or anything else. The AUCSA only works with transactions and transfers, since cash is very untransparent.

Overspending is something the AUCSA Board actively tries to prevent, always inform your CAO if you find out some of your expenses are going to be higher than anticipated. If you neglect to do this, you will not get fully reimbursed for the costs you make. The AUCSA can only reimburse what has been approved by the Budget GA, and thus is not allowed to reimburse any costs exceeding that established amount. Exceptions from this rule are cases in which the AUCSA Board as an executive power has approved a committee’s preliminary budget proposal before a GA or in between GAs.

What are Preliminary Budget Proposals?

aucsa — Mon, 18 May 2020 21:02:28 +0000

Preliminary (or pre-GA, or interim) budget proposals are budget proposals which are sent in separate from the total budget proposal of a committee, and can be sent in throughout the year. For instance, if your committee is handed an opportunity to organize an amazing event, but you have not budgeted for it for the October GA, you can send in a preliminary budget proposal to your CAO. In this email you have to include the overview of specific costs and incomes – like you did when you send in your budget proposal for the October GA – and a written justification explaining why your committee needs this budget. To improve your chances of getting approval for this proposal, it is best to send in a budget allocation with this proposal as well. This means you propose to spend money that was meant for event A on your new event instead. You can only reserve a date, start your ticket sales and promote the event after you have received written approval from the AUCSA Board.

What is a Budget General Assembly?

aucsa — Mon, 18 May 2020 21:00:12 +0000

All AUC students are automatically AUCSA members. They pay a EUR 55 fee with their tuition fees, the total of which makes up most of the AUCSA Budget. All Committees are assigned a budget during the first Budget General Assembly (GA), held in October. The procedure for this GA is the following:

AUCSA Committees send in a Budget Proposal, asking for money for their events planned for the whole year. This Budget Proposal is either approved or adjusted by the AUCSA Board during their Budget Weekend.
The AUCSA sends all the approved or adjusted budget proposals to the Audit commission who will review these and make comments.
If a Committee’s budget is adjusted (by either the AUCSA or the Audit), the CAO of said committee will communicate these adjustments to the committee and explain why these changes were made.
Committees can then send reallocations (moving money from one event/expense to another event/expense) if they wish. Please note that these reallocations also need to be approved by the AUCSA Board.
All budgets of the committees and the AUCSA are up to a vote during the Budget GA.

If all the budgets are approved during the GA, the AUCSA and its committees officially have a budget and assigned budget codes.

During the second Budget GA, held in February, the Committees can send in adjustments to their initial budgets. Reasons behind adjustments could be that committees realize they want to organize more events requiring budget, or if they realize certain events turn out to be unfeasible to organize, requiring less budget. The procedure for the February Budget GA is the same as for the October Budget GA.

What is a Budget Code and How Do They Work?

aucsa — Mon, 18 May 2020 20:59:33 +0000

A budget code is a reference to the specific cost you make as a committee. It is linked to the AUCSA Budget 2019-2020 document which will be sent out to all AUCSA members. In this Excel file, the sheets which explain the expenses of the AUCSA and all its committees are put in alphabetical order and numbered. AUCSA Events is sheet number 1, AUCSA Other is sheet number 2, and RAW is sheet number 23 for example. Make sure you know what sheet number your committee is!

A budget code consists of 4 digits and looks for example like this: 1.c.3.2.

The first digit in a budget code refers to the sheets in the AUCSA Budget 2019-2020. In the example, the ‘1’ in the budget code refers to the first sheet in the AUCSA Budget 2019-2020 excel file which is AUCSA events.
The letter in a budget code refers as ‘c’ to ‘Costs’ or as ‘i’ to income. In the example, the ‘c’ then refers to the cost part of AUCSA events.
The second digit in a budget code refers to a section of the budget in particular. In the example, the ‘3’ refers to the third event specified in the AUCSA Events sheet (Intro Weekend in this case).
The last digit refers to a specific expense made in the specific section. In the example, the ‘2’, refers to the specific expense ‘Transportation’ that was made for Introweekend.

In summary, the example budget code 1.c.3.2 refers to the transportation costs for Intro Weekend by AUCSA.