ASB Club Expenses

After discussion of a topic, a club member may make a motion to approve. Another member must then second the motion to put the topic up for a vote. If another member seconds the motion, all present club members may then vote to approve or reject the motion, or choose to abstain from voting. All motions and voting results should be recorded in the meeting minutes, as this will be required documentation before the college will issue any payments to a student, employee, or vendor.

Your minutes should be clear and consistent and record all the information below:

• The name of the person making the motion (e.g. "Jane Doe");
• The name of the person seconding the motion (e.g. "John Doe");
• The proposed Account code(s) and name(s) (e.g. "4020 ASB Supplies, 5884 Food," etc.);
• The dollar amount to budget for that Account category (e.g. "$200");
• The results of the vote (e.g. "5 in favor, 3 opposed, 2 abstained");
• Whether the motion passed or failed (e.g. "motion passed");

Note: when planning expenses for events, avoid approving specific dollar amounts (see example 1). Dollar amounts should only be recorded when approving a budget (see example 2). If you record in the minutes that you voted to spend $100 on Club Rush and you spend $150, we can only reimburse $100, even if you approved a sufficient budget.

Example 1 - avoid this method ❌

"Motion by Jane Doe to buy $30 worth of donuts for club meeting on 9/15/23. Motion seconded by John Doe. 7 in favor, 2 opposed, 1 abstained. Motion approved."

The problem with this motion is that it is too specific. It limits the club to only donuts (not drinks or other snacks) and it can only be purchased for the meeting on 9/15/23. If club members buy anything other than donuts, or if they buy donuts for a club meeting not held on 9/15/23, the minutes cannot be used to approve the purchase. We are required to strictly follow what the club approves, so we want the minutes to provide just enough information, without specifying too much, such as in Example 2 below.

Example 2 - Ideal method ✅

"Motion by Jane Doe to approve the proposed budget below for the 2023-2024 school year. Motion seconded by John Doe."

4020 ASB Supplies - $200

5220 Conferences - $1000

5884 Food - $300

8 in favor, 1 opposed, 1 abstained. Motion passes."

This example tells us enough information about what the club is planning to purchase, and the maximum amount they are approving. It is open-ended enough that, should the club decide to get drinks along with donuts, it can still be covered so long as they stay under $300, since both drinks and donuts are food items.

The college uses a sequence of 4 sets of numbers to indicate a budget string, or FOAP, which tells the employees reviewing your request exactly which budget you plan to pay an expense out of. Click here for a more detailed explanation of a FOAP.

The Fund number is a 6-digit number that indicates the club and always begins with "903."

The Org code indicates it is an ASB budget and will always be 39330.

The Account code varies depending on what you are buying (see Account Code Cheat Sheet below). Student clubs always use 8890 for revenue (deposits).

The Program code indicates if it is an ASB expense or ASB revenue and will always be either 690200 (expenses) or 880000 (revenue).

Example Expense Budget:

903941-39330-4020-690200

903957-39330-5884-690200

Example Revenue Budget:

903936-39330-8890-880000

Click here to view the current Club Fund List.

This table contains all of the account codes that may be used to budget expenses for ASB/club activities. Before you may spend club funds, you must approve a budget and record the approval in the minutes. The proposed budget should be based on the account codes below. Be sure to list the account code, the name of the account, and the amount you wish to budget in your minutes.

Account 5887 (Program Contingencies)

5887 is used as a "holding spot" to store unallocated budget. While it is an "expense" account code, it is not an account code that expenses can be charged to. Instead, it is used to store the remaining amount of a budget if the club is unsure of where to allocate it to. For example, if a club has $1000 in total funds and only plans to spend $500 on food (5884) and $250 on supplies (4020), the remaining $250 can be budgeted under 5887 as "unallocated budget." This allows the club to see how much of their funds they haven't planned out. Should the club then decide to allocate another $100 to supplies (4020), they can reduce the budget in 5887 by $100 and increase the budget in supplies (4020) by the same $100. This keeps the overall expense budget balanced while also allocating the budget appropriately, according to the club's planned expenses.

Budget Journals (aka Budget Transfers or Budget Setups) must be submitted by the Club Advisor only. The minutes from the club must be attached to show the budget approved by the student club members. This allows the Student Life Office to confirm that the proposed budget for the semester is approved by both the students and the Advisor. Budgets must be set up prior to making any purchases.

To complete a Budget Journal, please follow the steps below. You do not need an account to submit a Budget Journal.

Examples of Budget Transfers and Budget Setups

1. Complete all necessary fields on the Budget Journal Form
   1. Transfer Type: if it is your first Budget Journal for the academic year, select Budget Setup. If you've already done a Budget Setup this year and just want to make changes, select Budget Transfer.
   2. Department: Student Life.
   3. Explanation: Indicate if you are setting up your budget for the first time or adjusting your existing budget. Please also indicate the date the club met and approved the budget change.
   4. Fund Type: ASB.
   5. The remaining fields will depend on how you want to adjust your budget. Examples of completed Budget Journals can be found above. How you enter the FOAPs and amounts on lines 1-20 should match the minutes. If the club approved $400 for supplies, the form should show $400 for supplies as well.
      1. Fund: the assigned number for your club (e.g. 903xxx)
      2. Org: 39330
      3. Account: follow the minutes to see the approved budget by the students. Use the Account Code Cheat Sheet to determine the code that matches the approved budget in the minutes.
      4. Program: 690200 (expenses) or 880000 (revenue)
2. All ASB/club Budget Journals must be approved by the Student Life Coordinator. Upon submitting your Budget Journal, you will be prompted to answer the question, "Does your request need coordinator approval?" Click "Yes" for this question and select the Student Life Coordinator in the dropdown. Your request will be automatically routed to the coordinator for approval.
3. Once your request is fully approved, Administrative Services will enter your Budget Journal into Banner. It will be reflected in both Banner and MyPortal/SSB9 under the Adjusted Budget column.

Students may contact their Club Advisor or the Student Life Office for a copy of their current budget. Club Advisors may view the club budget on MyPortal/SSB9 by following the instructions below. If you do not have access, please consult your Dean.

1. Log into MyPortal
2. Click on My Finance on the Self Service (SSB9) card.
3. Click on My Finance Query
4. Click on New Query
5. Enter the following:
   1. Fund: enter Fund code
   2. Org: enter Org code
   3. Account: leave blank
   4. Program: enter Program code
   5. Fiscal Year: enter FY code (e.g. 24-25 is "25", 25-26 is "26")
   6. Fiscal Period: always select "14" unless you want to filter results to a certain date range, such as quarterly reports.
   7. Operating Ledger (only have these checked):
      
      1. Adjusted Budget, Year to Date, Commitments, and Available Balance.
6. Click Submit
7. Click the Save button (top-right floppy disk) to save the query results for quick access next time.

Once you've collected the funds after your event, it should be counted and verified with other club officers, as well as the Advisor. Make a note of the total funds raised for your records. The funds should then be brought to the Administrative Services Office (Bldg 1600, Rm 1689, 2nd Floor) along with a completed Deposit Slip. Funds should be deposited to the college immediately after the fundraiser or similar event has ended. Students and Advisors may not hold onto cash or checks for longer than 24-48 hours.

Deposits are processed every Thursday. Approximately 1-2 weeks after the deposit is processed by Administrative Services, the deposit amount will reflect on the club's account in Banner and MyPortal/SSB9 under account 8890 (revenue).

Click here for more information on the deposit process.

Deposit Slip (PDF)

The college follows the guidelines outlined by FCMAT (Fiscal Crisis and Management Assistance Team) for allowable ASB expenses. Generally speaking, ASB-funded expenditures should benefit Las Positas College students (the entire student body). Certain expenditures are never allowed, such as alcohol, gifts or cash (no gifts of public funds), gift cards, etc. Purchases must be preapproved (documented in meeting minutes). We strongly recommend you consult with the Student Life Office Coordinator before making any purchases to ensure the expense will be reimbursed. The allowables guide below serves as a great starting point to help determine if your planned expenses will be reimbursed by the college.

Click here to view the ASB Allowables guide.

The college operates on a "fiscal year calendar" that starts every year on July 1st and ends the following year on June 30th. All expenses, revenue, and budgeting is tracked and recorded within the appropriate fiscal year the purchase was made. In order to process everything within the appropriate time period, Administrative Services will announce deadlines for various processes to all departments in advance. The first deadline for spending occurs around April of each year. Exact deadlines will vary each year. Contact the Student Life Office for more information on deadlines for submitting paperwork.