Académique Documents
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OF
DESIGN
AND
COMMUNICATION
FINANCIAL PROCEDURES
(2008)
INTRODUCTION
To conduct its business effectively Ravensbourne College of Design and
Communication (the College) needs to ensure that it has sound financial
management systems in place and that they are strictly adhered to. Part
of this process is the establishment of financial procedures to set out the
how financial policies of the College are implemented.
Funding Council audit services are required to give an assurance that the
College has fully documented financial procedures in place and the
Funding Council may withhold grant where this cannot be shown to be the
case.
AUTHORITY
The Board of Governors approved the Financial Procedures on the 19th July
2006.
CHANGES
Any changes made as above will be communicated to all staff by way of a
reprint of the affected page(s) with an updated issue number and date.
Any such new page(s) will completely replace the existing page(s).
WAIVER OF PROCEDURES
Where full compliance with the procedures can be shown to be
impractical, or would cause undue delay in dealing with a matter of
urgency, two of the senior members of the College (Director, Director of
Finance, Director of Diversity and Progression) may jointly agree to waive
specific regulations for a specific purpose, providing that a proper record
is kept of the reasons and is reported to the Audit Committee.
TERMINOLOGY
THE BOARD OF GOVERNORS
The Board is ultimately responsible for the affairs of the College.
AUDIT COMMITTEE
The Committee with delegated responsibility for regulatory matters. This
includes, but is not restricted to, financial matters. The Audit Committee
is independent of executive responsibility.
DIRECTOR
The Officer with the ultimate executive responsibility for the management
of the College and he / she is the Accounting Officer for the College.
DIRECTOR OF FINANCE
The chief financial officer of the College.
MANAGEMENT COMMITTEE
The Management Committee is the formal meeting forum of the senior
members of the College’s executive team and comprises :-
The Director
Deputy Director: Finance and Support Services
Deputy Director: Strategic Development, Innovation andPost Graduate
Studies
Director of Quality and Student Services
Director of Information Services
Director of Resources
Director of Human Resources
Head of Faculty – Media
Head of Faculty - Communications
The Financial Memorandum between the Funding Council and the College
sets out the terms and conditions on which grant is made. The Board is
responsible for ensuring that conditions of grant are met. As part of this
process the College must adhere to the Funding Council’s Audit Code of
Practice which requires it to have sound systems of financial and
management control.
The Financial Regulations of the College form part of this overall system of
accountability.
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Financial Memorandum with the Funding Council and the Funding
Council’s Audit Code of Practice.
A3 FINANCIAL PROCEDURES
A3.1 BUDGETARY VIREMENT
A3.1.1 General
The Director and the Director of Finance may, at their discretion,
make variations in the approved budget.
A3.1.2 Conditions
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The Director of Finance can approve the virement of expenditure,
within or between budgets,
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A3.2 PAYMENTS
A3.2.1 General
1.1 Cash withdrawals from the College’s Bank account are only
permitted to replenish the Petty Cash float and to withdraw cash for
use in the College’s Cash Machine (ATM).
1.2 Payments which are made by direct debit, and bank charges, must
be posted to the relevant accounts on a daily basis using the bank
statement as a posting source.
A3.2.2 Procedure
2.1 Cash book balances must be checked at regular intervals to ensure
they agree with the corresponding control accounts in the general
ledger. Any differences must be investigated and correcting entries
made.
2.3 Run and print Purchase Ledger remittance advices and cheques. The
suggested payment run schedule report must be retained and the
cheque numbers written clearly against each account.
2.4 Where other cheques are issued via the Purchase, Sales or Nominal
ledgers a photocopy of the cheque should be retained. All cheques
produced by the system are posted automatically to the relevant
accounts. The use of a hand-written cheque is only permitted to
draw down cash for replenishing the college ATM.
2.5 All documents against which payment has been made will be
impressed with the dated “PAID” stamp and the cheque number.
2.6 The bank statement is printed daily from Barclays Business Master
and all outstanding entries (e.g. direct debits, bank charges and
electronic receipts) must be posted via the Cash Book manually.
Once all entries for the day have been posted, the bank
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reconciliation is completed and checked by the Assistant
Accountant.
2.7 At the end of each month, the bank reconciliation must be printed
and checked to ensure that there are no bank statement entries
outstanding. The Financial Controller will review the bank
reconciliation monthly and endorse the printout accordingly.
3.3 A list of all Budget Centre Managers and delegated officers is held in
the Finance Department and available on the intranet.
3.3 All invoices are then sent to the Finance Department for payment.
4.5 Where a purchase order exists, the invoice must be matched against
the purchase order when being entered into the Finance system.
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Where no purchase order exists the budget code must be entered
into the system.
4.6 The invoice will then be paid on the next payment run appropriate
to the due date of the invoice.
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A3.2.5 Payment
6.1 Purchase Ledger suggested payment runs must be prepared at
regular intervals depending upon the level of unpaid invoices.
Purchase Ledger cheques produced by the system but not through a
suggested payment run are to be kept to a minimum and may be
drawn as and when required.
6.2 When the cheque and remittance advice is passed for signature,
they must be accompanied by the relevant invoices and the
suggested payment run. Cheques and BAC payments will be signed
in accordance to the Cheque Signatory List, a copy of which can be
found on the intranet
6.3 Cheques with a value of more than £5,000 require two signatures
6.5 After signing the cheque, all of the paperwork is returned to the
Finance Department.
6.6 The cheques and remittance advices are then sent to the supplier.
The invoice is stamped with the date and cheque number and then
filed in alphabetical and date order.
6.8 Suppliers with queries should not be put into direct contact with the
originator at any time as this may cause a weakness in financial
control. The Director of Finance should be informed of any serious or
protracted disputes.
A3.3.1 General
1.1 The term ‘cash’ used in this procedure applies to all forms of money
that may be paid into a normal bank account, i.e. coins, notes,
postal orders and cheques.
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Invalid cheques should be returned to the sender and a note made
of the relevant details.
1.4 Receipts of cash must be entered immediately into the Cash Book
via the “Cash Receipting Session option on QLX”. Receipts must be
printed on Ravensbourne Letterhead, signed by a member of
Finance Department Staff and issued to the remitter. Each member
of staff with the authority to accept payments has their own
username and password. Once the receipting session has ended, all
the receipts produced are printed and filed as the College copy and
all entries are posted to the relevant account.
1.8 At the discretion of the Financial Controller, surplus £10 notes may
be used to replenish the College ATM. A transfer between Cash
books must be recorded in the accounting system and the
transaction shown on the Cash Banking Sheets.
1.9 The Finance Department safe is insured for cash (i.e. coins and
notes) up to a total of £5,000. If that figure is exceeded at any time
the Director of Finance must be informed immediately.
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A3.4.1 General
1.1 All Sales invoices are normally issued by the Finance Department
and must be sequentially numbered.
1.2 Should other departments within the College require a sales invoice
to be issued, they should contact the Finance Department with the
request.
A3.4.2 Procedure
2.1 Complete the sales invoice, making sure that invoice is sequentially
numbered.
2.2 The particulars of the charge should be made clear to the recipient.
2.4 Invoices for fees are raised from the Class lists; this is normally
carried out in November of each year after all the students have
enrolled and the course listings are complete.
A3.4.3 Admissions
3.1 The Financial Controller is responsible for following up late or
delayed payments from the Student Loan Company and sponsors.
The Registry Department provides assistance concerning matters
arising from the confirmation of Student attendance to the Student
Loans Company. The Director of Finance will review matters
regularly.
3.2 The Financial Controller is to ensure that adequate Finance staff will
attend the enrolment and re-registering to collect moneys from
students. Only in very exceptional circumstances must a student be
allowed to re-enrol without first clearing all debts from the previous
academic year.
3.3 The Financial Controller is to ensure subsequent debts are paid and,
if necessary, to advise the student to contact the Student Welfare
Department over use of the Access Fund and/or compassionate
cases.
A3.4.4 Residences
4.1 Students are required to provide cheques prior to arrival to cover
the first term of residence and the deposit, and post-dated cheques
for the remaining terms. Students moving in mid-term must make
full payment due (including post-dated cheques) before being given
room keys.
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A3.4.5 Finance
5.1 Invoices for Tuition Fees, Registration Fees and consumable charges
are saved electronically and, in addition, can be reprinted through
QLF. Invoices are not issued for Halls of Residence unless specifically
requested by a student. Copies of all other invoices are retained in
the Finance Department.
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A3.5 SALE OF MATERIALS
A3.5.1 Definition
1.1 Sale of Materials - the sale of consumable materials held as school
or departmental stocks.
A3.5.2 General
2.1 Staff and students may purchase for their own personal use
materials held in stock at the discretion of the Head of Faculty.
A3.5.3 Pricing
3.1 The price paid will be the replacement cost plus VAT if applicable,
plus a sum to contribute to administration costs at the discretion of
the Director of Finance, this will normally be 5% of replacement
cost.
A3.5.5 Procedure
5.1 Payment must be made at the time of receipt and entered
immediately in the relevant receipt book.
A3.6.1 Definition
1.1 Sale of Equipment - Disposal of College Assets
A3.6.2 General
2.1 VAT is chargeable on items of equipment sold as the College is
registered for VAT. If this changes a further notification will be
issued.
A3.6.3 Pricing
3.1 The Director of Finance and the relevant Head of Faculty will fix the
sale price.
A3.6.4 Procedure
4.1 Equipment for disposal will be entered on the form supplied and
write off approval obtained
4.2 The Director of Finance will ensure that the Asset Register is
amended where appropriate.
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4.3 Budget Centre Managers are responsible for seeing that inventories
are amended as required.
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A3.7 FACILITIES HIRE
A3.7.1 Introduction
1.1 The resources and studios at the College are an extremely valuable
College asset. Use of these by individuals or groups other than
those pursuing existing curricular related activities within
designated hours must be charged at market rates. There may be
occasions when the users of these facilities are not charged at full
cost; these will be at the discretion of the Director of Finance and
will be exceptional.
A3.7.2 Definition
2.1 The use of any facilities (including staff and their time) for the
production of, or in support of the production of art works, artefacts,
films and videos or any other product or process (which is not part
of an approved teaching programme) for personal or commercial
purposes and for externally funded or sponsored events.
2.2 The hiring out of artefacts, artworks, films and videos or any product
or process which can be determined to be linked with
Ravensbourne.
A3.7.3 General
3.1 Individuals or groups who use the resources and studios at
Ravensbourne other than those pursuing existing curricular related
activities within designated hours must be charged at market rates.
A3.7.4 Procedure
4.1 The Director of Strategy and Commercial Development or his/her
nominated officer must issue full details to the Finance Department.
4.2 Upon receipt of this information, the Finance Department will then
raise an invoice to be sent to the user.
1 Student invoices are raised during November from the class lists
after all students have enrolled. The Student assessment form is
used to determine the split between fees invoiced to the Student
and the Student Loans Company (SLC).
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2 Credit control work is carried out by contacting Students by letter,
mobile phone and e-mail. The Student Loans Company is contacted
by e-mail. Student Statements are sent out each term, during the
first term and shortly before the commencement of the second and
thirds terms as a reminder that payments are due. Letters are sent
to students who are in arrears or default with their fees.
4 The Finance Department will review the Tuition Fee Position report
from the SLC once it has been received and will raise the required
credit notes and re-invoice where the levels of fees to be paid by the
student and the SLC have changed. Action may also be required
where a student has failed to produce an assessment form.
5 The College uses firms of solicitors and debt collectors who will collect
outstanding balances owed by former students for a small
commission.
A3.9.1 General
1.1 Fee invoices are raised by the Finance Department and an
electronic copy is retained. Copies can also be reprinted through
QLF.
1.2 The split of fees between the Student and the Local Education
Authority is entered in QLS and the invoice is raised. The invoice
is then posted through to QLF to the individual student account.
Any amounts due from the SLC are posted to student’s “A”
account.
1.3 The Finance Department follows up all debts with the appropriate
means of contacting the student.
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A3.9.2 Procedure
2.1By the start of term individual faculties have a list of their new
student intake. The Faculties pass acceptance forms to the Student
Administration which ensures that individual student details match
that on QLS.
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2.6Cash and cheques received are kept in the safe located inside the
Finance Department
2.72.7 All cash and cheques stored in the safe will have been receipted
onto the system. On a weekly basis (or more frequently if required) a
banking sheet is completed detailing all the amounts to be banked,
separating cash from cheques and ensuring that all receipt numbers
have been entered onto the banking sheet.
A3.10.1 General
1.1 Halls rents and the amount of the deposit are decided as part of
the Budget process before the end of the spring term each year
for commencement in the following September.
1.3 Students must pay the full first term’s rent before they are
allowed to move into the room. Cheques may be post-dated to
coincide with receipt of grant cheques at the discretion of the
Finance Department and providing the deposit has been paid in
full. Further post-dated cheques must be deposited for the
remaining terms.
1.4 Until the deposit and rent for the term has been paid in full, no
student will be allowed access to the room without special
permission from the Director of Finance.
1.5 Students undertake to remain in Halls for the Academic year and
will not be released from this obligation unless the room can be
re-let.
A3.10.2 Deposits
2.1 At the end of each term the Accommodation Officer will supply a
list of deductions to be made from deposits, and each line of this
list is posted to the Sales Ledger as an invoice. Deposits less any
deductions or other debts are repaid after the end of the summer
term. Students leaving the Halls prior to the end of the Academic
year may be refunded their deposits less any deductions or other
debts earlier if the room has been re-let.
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1 The Finance Department controls Petty Cash with a float of
£1,000
2 The limit for Petty Cash is £50 on any one transaction unless
authority to exceed this limit has been given by the Director of
Finance. Other claims in excess of that figure are to be entered
on the Purchase Ledger and paid in the next cheque run.
6 The Petty Cash cheque is posted to the Cash Book in the same
way as other system produced cheques and allocated as per the
Petty Cash Reimbursement Form.
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A3.12 PURCHASE ORDER SYSTEM
A3.12.1 General
1.1 The Purchase Order books are a three-part set printed on NCR
(No Carbon Required) paper, padded into sets of 50.
1.2 Numbered order form pads are kept in the Finance Department
and issued as controlled stationery to authorised originators
against their signature in a register. The register records the
name of the individual concerned, the department, and the serial
numbers of the order forms issued.
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In addition, all orders for computer equipment, printers and
software, must be endorsed by the Head of ICT prior to issue.
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A3.12.2 Procedure
2.1 The Purchase Order set is printed on NCR paper and any mark
impressed on the top white copy will appear on the blue and pink
copies. Care must be taken to use an insert to avoid
inadvertently marking following orders.
2.3 Complete the Purchase Order making sure that all relevant boxes
are filled in.
2.5 The originator should complete the ‘Contact Name’ area in order
that the supplier can make contact in the event of any query.
The PINK copy remains in the order book and should be retained
by the Budget Centre Manager. When invoices are received for
approval the Budget Centre Manager should mark them on the
appropriate page in the order book.
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2.9 No official order shall leave the College without previously being
passed through the Finance Department and signed by the
Director of Finance or designated Finance staff.
2.11 Where such a breach has occurred, the Director of Finance will
notify the Audit Committee. This breach may result in disciplinary
action being taken.
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A3.12.3 Finance Department Procedure
3.1 When an order is received in the Finance Department the Finance
staff will ensure that the relevant nominal ledger code has been
entered and that the order has been correctly signed. If not, the
order is to be returned to the originator for it to be amended or
correctly signed.
3.4 The order is then entered into the QLX Purchase Order System for
the commitment to be generated. The system generated order
number is then written on both the white and blue copies of the
order.
3.5 The white copy of the order is then returned to the originator and
the blue copy is filed in sequential number order in the Finance
Department.
5.2 Where a purchase order has not been raised, the invoice must be
forwarded to the Budget Centre Manager. To ensure separation of
duties between ordering and receipting, two approved authorised
signatories must sign all such invoices
5.3 A coding slip must be attached to all invoices. The coding slip
contains the following information: -
Supplier Code
Order No.
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Invoice No.
Invoice Amount
Nominal Ledger Code and amount (3 lines of this for invoices
relating to more than one code)
Space for initials for Order Checked
Space for initials for Order Complete (if it is)
Space for signatures of Authoriser and Director of Finance or
designated Finance staff.
5.4 Invoices must not be entered into the QLX account system unless
they have been approved by the Budget Centre Manager and
signed off by a nominated officer of the Finance Department.
A3.13.1 General
1.1 It is essential that:-
a) The quantity delivered agrees with the quantity shown on the
delivery note and also on the purchase order, unless a part
delivery.
b) The quality is of the standard or specification stated on the
purchase order.
c) The price, where shown, is in accordance with that quoted on the
purchase order.
A3.13.2 Procedure
2.1 On receipt of goods, ensure that they are in accordance with the
desired specification and are not damaged or defective in any way.
Any queries regarding the goods should be referred back to the
supplier immediately and confirmed in writing. If goods cannot be
examined at the time of delivery but the external packaging is not
damaged, the goods received note should be marked “contents not
examined, external packaging intact” and appropriate steps taken
to examine the goods within the time limits set out in the supplier’s
conditions for acceptance of goods.
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2.2 In the case of services supplied, it is essential to ensure that these
have been carried out satisfactorily before signing any documents.
All disputes should be notified to the Finance Department.
A3.14.1 General
1.1 It is the responsibility of the receiving department to ensure that
invoices are certified for payment and passed to the Finance
Department as soon as possible. The person certifying for payment
must NOT be the person who raised the order.
A3.14.2 Verification
2.1 All invoices are to be received by the Finance Department, date
stamped on the day of arrival and posted on to the Purchase Ledger.
A coding/certification slip will be attached to each invoice.
2.4 There are certain types of invoice for which a purchase order will
not be raised, i.e. non-ordered supplies such as:-
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a) Services such as gas, electricity, water, etc.
b) Legal and statutory charges, rent, rates, etc.
c) Contractual charges, telephones, hire of machinery, etc.
d) Consultancy charges.
A3.15 PAYROLL
A3.15.1 General
1.1 The Director of Finance is responsible for all payroll matters and
the Payroll Officer is responsible for entering the pay amounts
into the nominal ledger and the payroll control accounts. The
Director of Finance or designated Finance staff will check each
month to ensure that the payroll is sound.
A3.15.2 Starters
2.1 Once a new employee is accepted for a position, a letter is
despatched to the individual and the Human Resources Officer
will open a file for the employee. The Human Resources Officer
will notify the Payroll Officer of the appointment.
2.2 All employees sign a formal contract which sets out their terms of
employment. The contract is issued to the starter in duplicate.
The new employee keeps the top copy the other copy is signed
and returned to the Human Resources Office for the file. Every
contract is to be signed by the Director on behalf of the College.
Contracts for short-term staff specify the dates of employment,
together with the hourly rates of pay. Such contracts have a
defined number of hours to be worked and paid. Short-term
contracts are signed either by the Director or the Director of
Finance.
2.3 The Payroll Officer initiates the history card for new employees,
by means of an amendment form sent to the payroll provider.
Details are taken from application forms and P45 to cover such
information as name, address, starting date, age, bank details,
current salary, tax code.
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2.4 The Payroll Officer allocates short-term contract staff to a
sessional teaching spreadsheet, which is used to monitor the
total number of hours actually worked against the contracted
hours. Claims made by short-term contract staff are verified by
the respective Business Support Officers and then authorised by
the Director of Finance on a monthly basis.
2.5 The job file contains the original job specification, application
form, employee references, personnel checklist, contract of
employment.
A3.15.3 Leavers
3.1 The Human Resources Officer will liaise with the Payroll Officer
when an employee leaves the College. A copy of the resignation
letter will be passed to the Payroll Officer as authority to process
the leaver on the payroll system.
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used to agree the correct processing of amendments on to the
payroll systems.
4.3 Employee history cards are updated by the payroll provider from
the amendment forms received.
A3.15.5 General
5.1 The Payroll is organised into several departments and codes.
Each department is subdivided according to function viz.
Academic, Sessional, APTC and Technicians. This is used as the
posting source into the nominal ledger.
5.3 The payroll provider will incorporate all the amendments that
have been notified on the Amendment Form. The payroll will be
returned the following day, together with pay slips and printout
detailing amendments and whether or not they have been
accepted. Items not accepted are investigated by the Payroll
Officer and resolved accordingly.
5.5 The Payroll Officer checks the pay slips against the previous
month’s report, ensuring that any differences can be explained
by reference to the amendments list.
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standing data, may not be incorporated in the payroll. This gives
rise to the need to make manual payments and adjustments.
These are known as “off systems” and should be kept to a
minimum. These are notified to the payroll provider the following
month to amend the individual records.
6.4 The Payroll Officer will input the code together with other
employee and payment details into the payroll system.
6.5 The budget code numbers form the basis of the monthly payroll
analysis, which is supplied to and used by the Financial Controller
to input the payroll journal into the accounting system via journal
entries.
A3.16.1 General
1.3 This form may be used for staff of all levels whether permanent
or temporary, full-time or part-time. This form is NOT to be used
for claims by students.
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Finance. No payments will be made for expenses over six
months old.
A3.16.2 Procedure
2.1When all relevant expenditure has been incurred, the claim form
should be completed.
2.3 The form must be approved as per the Authorised Signatory List
which can be found on the College’s intranet.
2.5 Payment of expense claims will be made via the payroll (even
though the items are not taxable).
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A3.17 CASH MANAGEMENT
A3.17.1 General
1.1 The College maintains its bank accounts with Barclays Bank Plc,
Bromley, but on other matters is serviced by Barclays Corporate
Team. The College is on line to the bank (Business Master) and is
able to obtain transaction details. The College is able to move funds
electronically both to other Ravensbourne bank accounts and to
third party suppliers via BACS.
The College also maintains a High Interest Call Account with Bank
of Scotland into which HEFCE grants are paid, and other
investment accounts with Allied Irish Bank.
A3.17.2 Procedure
1.2Annual cash flow forecasts are prepared as a part of the five-year
financial forecasts, which are submitted to HEFCE with the
associated Strategic Plan.
A3.18.1 General
1.1. The Student Union President in conjunction with the Student Union
Treasurer is responsible for maintaining financial control of the
Union.
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1.2. Subject to the constraints imposed by the Funding Councils, the
governing body shall determine the level of grant to be made
available annually to the Student Union.
1.3. The College’s internal and external auditors shall have access to
records, assets and personnel within the Student Union in the same
way as other areas of the College.
A3.18.2 Procedures
2.1 On a day-to-day basis, the Student Union Treasurer will receive
cash and request payments in accordance with the College’s
financial regulations. These are to be recorded in a manner
approved by the Director of Finance.
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A3.19 FINANCE DEPARTMENT AUTHORITY LIMITS
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(student fee income)
Head of Finance / Director of Finance £10,000+
BUDGET VIREMENT – Director of Finance / Head of Finance All
STAFF & NON - STAFF
JOURNAL Financial Controller / Head of Finance / All
Director of Finance
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