Requirements:

• Not a last-year student

• This is an elected position

General Overview of What Needs to be Done:

Process For Managing Financials: 

• 6 Weeks Before Semester

• :

1. 1. Reach out to each project lead to discuss the budget for the upcoming year.
   2. Ask each lead to prepare a rough BOM for their projects in advance.
   3. Plan for
25%
2. 1. variation

Space Race: ~$750 /team: $1500 total
IREC /Avionics: ~$3000-$6000
Propulsion: ~$2000-$5000

3.  2 Week Before Semester
   1. Treasurer Leads Budget Allocation Meeting with All Leads
   2. Teams Leads should discuss direction of team and what are financial needs to achieve
      1. Director of Outreach's goal is to raise $ and create corporate connections to support whether directly or in-kind.
1 Week Before Semester Team Budget is Established 
4. 1. , and the possibility of shortfalls.
   2. During the meeting go through the BOM with the lead and determine a bare minimum, and target budget.

Budgets will of-course depend on what each project team has planned and what funds are available. Some are independently funded using outside sources.

Hypothetical Target Budget:

• • IREC - $4,600
  • Liquid Propulsion - $2,800
  • Solid Propulsion - $4,000
  • Avionics - $3,800
  • Payload - $2,000
  • Space Race: - $1,500
  • Administrative - $500

For record keeping purposes "Administrative" includes other purchases (social events, website upkeep, merchandise, etc.).

There is a general budget, but most project funding must be secured by the project lead. They will work with the Director of Sponsorship to raise funds and create corporate connections for financial or material support. Any funds raised in this manner will go solely to the project team unless told otherwise.

• 2 Weeks Before Semester

1. 1. Treasurer leads budget allocation meeting with all leads.
   2. Teams leads should discuss the financial health of the team and what should be focused on.
   3. Have project leads start to apply for outside project-specific funding (the NY State NASA agency is a good start).

• Financial Maintenance (All Semester) 

Create Spreadsheet to Log All PurchasesRemaining budget should be
1. 1. There are premade spreadsheets from previous years which use various macros to track all purchases.
      
      1. The remaining budget is CLEAR at all times
Treasurer is responsible for
2. 1. 1. Individual purchases are logged by sub team
      2. Credits coming in are shown
      3. Spending is shown in relation to the budget
   2. The treasurer is solely responsible for purchasing and making sure that ALL purchases have been logged for all teams
   The individual making the purchase is responsible for adding the receipt to the
   3. 1. 1. Add each receipt to the financials google drive
   in 24 HRS
   4. 1. 1. within 24 hours
            
         2. This includes both purchases and credits
         3. Receipts must display each item purchased, shipping (if applicable), and tax information (if this number is non-zero you have a big problem).
      2. Team leads are responsible for making sure that they are able to complete their project
   in
   5. 1. within budget.
      2. If a team needs to go over their established budget it
   should
   6. 1. will have to be approved by the treasurer and mentioned at a leads meeting.

   Merchandise:

   Check the Team Apparel page but for a short version email Mark Callari at mcallari@bsnsports.com saying you are with RIT Launch Initiative and want to open up the previous shop. I had issues with the emails sent to him so use a personal email and not your RIT email. He will most likely only want the store open for a week so make sure to advertise that. Screen printed items and embroidered items will need a minimum buy amount but because we have it as a fundraiser that may cover any deficit to hopefully allow for all items paid for to be filled.
   Jackets I did not order but there is information on the team apparel page about it. We used a local place for them last time. I recommend starting the buying process of these EARLY.

   1. 1. The Treasurer has the power to veto purchases. It is the duty of the Treasurer to make sure each subteam is able to make purchases and that one subteam does not take money away from another. Critical purchases requested by critical teams such as IREC, Avionics, and IREC Payload have priority. 

   
   

   Receipts:
   Every month Vanessa will send out an email of the items purchased that month, as well as any credits for the account. Send her back email confirmation PDFs (easy way to download them is to attempt to print it and it allows for download) or just pictures of receipts if it was gotten in person. To keep track of any receipts go into the drive, make a new folder for the upcoming year to get there go receipts for each transaction as pdfs (preferred), or photos. Organize receipts in the drive, by month, and academic year. (Administrative -> Financials -> Receipts and make a new folder then make folders for each month. They will be looking for all of the invoice statements not shipping tracking emails.

   Accounts:
   Within the last pass account it has basically every single website we have made purchases on just use them and make sure that they have the most recent credit card info and are sending to RIT / The Constructs address, which is 1 Lomb Memorial Dr, Rochester, NY 14623 . If you need to make a purchase from a new website make sure if it is required to register as tax exempt. When filling out the name use Launch Initiative and for the email use launchinitiative@rit.edu.

   PayPal:

   its info should be in the last pass. It is generally only used for things such as paying for IREC which should be done by the IREC lead.

   In Person Purchasing:
   When buying anything in person bring the text exempt form and make sure that we are not charged taxes RIT gets very mad. Keep extra close track of receipts from here, recommended to take a picture of them once you get them so you don't lose it.

   Credit Card: 

   ). The preferred receipt naming convention is [ "company name" - "item purchased".pdf ], this keeps everything organized and makes verifying the monthly statements much easier. Make sure each receipt includes a breakdown of the items purchased, the shipping total (if applicable), and the tax information. RIT is a tax-exempt organization, if we are charged taxes on any purchases you must go to the vendor and get the money back. Usually, the vendor will recognize the credit card and exclude them automatically. If not, you must create an account with the organization and register as tax-exempt (the form verifying our status is in the drive).

   Purchasing:
   Vendor accounts for Launch are organized using LastPass. It has the email, and password associated with each, if you create a new account add it here. Make sure new accounts use the email launchinitiative@rit.edu, and are registered as tax-exempt if necessary (this will take a few days to verify and will require the tax-exempt form). Use the Launch credit card for online purchases and send all items to Launch Initiative's / The Construct's address (1 Lomb Memorial Dr. Rochester, NY 14623). It usually takes RIT about one business day to process mail from the time it arrives on campus until it reaches the Construct. When buying anything in person bring the tax exempt form, keep the receipts (take a photo) and check for taxes. Some companies will require further identification for in person purchases, namely Walmart. There a separate card is required to be presented to the cashier (it is person specific).

   PayPal:

   Information on the team's PayPal account can be found in LastPass, it should only be used for purchases which do not accept credit cards like IREC (the credit card can be linked to PayPal). Refunds are also processed through PayPal occasionally.

   Credit Card: 

   The credit card should only ever be in the possession of the Treasurer or team President. Keep track of who has the credit card if it is let out to do in person purchases, at max loan it out for a week, we are very lucky in that RIT lets us hold on to a personal card so it , and only give out the information if absolutely necessary. Launch is very fortunate that RIT allows us hold onto a university card, this trust should not be abused. Whoever needs to make purchases (project leads) should have the info for the card at hand to lessen the steps to deal with for making general purchases. If anything were to happen All purchases made must be club related. If anything happens to the card contact Vanessa Venessa Mitchell IMMEDIETLY .

   Record Keeping:
   I made a quick financial sheet breaking down monthly purchases you can find in Administrative -> Financials and it's labeled Financial Report 2020-2021. It's easy to follow and keeps track of each team once you put in the purchases at the end of each month. A better way to stay on top of it could be now using a google form to have each lead fill out their total of each purchase and export to an excel spreadsheet after automatically, to smooth out the process of purchases. If there is any potential budget issues make sure to go over them once they come up and do not push them off.

   Potential Team Budgets:
   Use the above guidelines to plan out a team budget, adjust accordingly to the influx of money the team may have. Make sure leads do not go over budget given.IMMEDIATELY. If for some reason the card is being replaced, or is otherwise unavailable, purchases can be made using personal funds and the club will reimburse you. RIT requires that all Airbnb rentals be done through reimbursements, the residence must be preapproved. In the drive there is the RIT reimbursement form. Have the purchaser fill out their bank information; the Treasurer should send the filled-out form along with a receipt to Venessa Mitchell (CC the person on the email). RIT will not reimburse any applicable taxes.
   
   

   Treasurer:

   Current Treasurer

   • Louis Fleisher

   Past Treasurers

   • Gillian Doolittle
   • Carl Kulesza