Finance Committee

Founded in 2008, following a call for increased accountability and help with a high volume of funding applications and allocations, the University of Toronto Engineering Society Finance Committee is a standing committee of the Engineering Society Board of Directors. Members of the FC, whose terms last for one year, reserve no particular authority but are mandated to recommend to the Board of Directors funding recommendations and assist Engineering Society members and clubs who seek financial help or guidance.

For the 2023-2024 year, the Finance Committee will be comprised of 2 Officers (VP Student Life and VP Finance), 4 members at large and 1 member of the Board of Directors. The following document provides a short introduction to the Engineering Society Finance Committee for those unfamiliar with their work. For more information, please refer to this.

Application Process

The Finance Committee for the 2T3-2T4 year has been struck.

Generally, the application process starts every May. Check back here for the applications in 2024!

Note that all finance committee meetings are open to the public and their minutes are publically available. If you are interested in joining a meeting, check the Skule calendar or governance newsletters emailed from the Vice President Communications, or email vpcomm@skule.ca for the date and location.

Finance Committee Internal Guidlines

Below are some general rules of prescription of how much funding can be approved by the finance commiee for these common items.

Food for in person events:

• Case by case based on size of club/event
• Generally $5/person for food (except dinner dances)

Internal engagement such as exec team socials:

• $200 max for the entire year; if over $200, it must come from other sources (sponsorship, personal to cover the rest)

Rewards/prizes/gifts:

• $20/person (student) up to $200 max for the entire year
• $25/person (speaker / industry partner / judge)
• REWARDS/GIFTS SHOULD BE PHYSICAL GIFTS/NOT GIFT CARDS

Alcohol:

• Engsoc cannot purchase alcohol , so we cannot approve any spending on this, as we do not hold a LCBO license (only SUDS does).

Furniture and equipment:

• As long as furniture/equipment is demonstrang utility for the majority of the student body, it is appropriate to approve.

Stationery:

• Generally stationery such as paper, pens are not considered as justifiable expenses as that reserves budget away from other clubs/entities that is in need of funding.

Levies:

• Levy application/renewal approval should be reserved for entities that have major expenditures, but don’t generate enough revenues to cover it.
• Levy groups do not qualify for conference funding and special projects as levy groups should have accounted for such costs forecasted.

Miscellaneous expenses:

• Miscellaneous expenses that are not defined with an explanaon of what’s specifically within the line item will not be approved, typically contingency would act as your miscellaneous expenses.

CPSIF:

• If the enty/club is projecting a massive surplus by the end of year, funding may not be approved.

How Finance Committee Meetings Will Be Conducted:

• If attending the Finance Committee meeting, an applicant can present about 1 to 2 minutes giving an overview of their application and why the funding is needed.
• After the applicant’s presentation, the Finance Committee shall deliberate the applicant’s application at a cap of 8 minutes discussion. During this time interruptions from the applicant will not be recognised; the applicant may only speak during this period if additional information is required by the Committee.
• Once a decision/conclusion has been made, there will be a 3 minute period to discuss with viewing members about the decision and take questions about the proposed recommendation.
• Discussion may be shorter or longer depending on length of application and size of funding request.

How to complete a budget:

On a high level, reasonable and complete applications during the summer months of a year can be comprised of quotes easily pulled from the internet, previous quotes with an inflation factor, or average/previous actual numbers.

Reasonable and complete applications during the fall/winter semesters can be easily pulled from the internet and hard quotes from suppliers/producers. Applications may also be submited as a tracker of total expenses/revenues up to date of application. For more information watch this video.

Contact

If you have any questions about the Finance Committee, please contact the VP Finance at vpfinance@skule.ca.