SRRT Budget Cheat Sheet

When building a budget

First think about moneys coming in (special events, buttons or T-shirts sales, books, etc.) assign to appropriate line item account number
Then think about how you plan to spend the money (awards, annual program, postage, etc.) assign to appropriate line item account number
The difference is the budget request made of ALA through SRRT action council; provide documentation for request so voting members have enough information to support the budget requests
SRRT "administration" is charged with approximately 5% overhead of total SRRT budget
Remember that budget approved at midwinter will be for following fiscal year (approved in Jan 1999 for fiscal year 2000)
Task forces need to be prepared to modify requests if full budgets are not approved or if a shortfall is anticipated, etc.

When submitting checks

When requesting reimbursement

Always submit request with a completed reimbursement form; debit appropriate account number
Attach receipts and other documentation
All requests should go through task force chair (or other designated person) so that one person per task force is responsible for knowing what comes in and what goes out

Oversight

Task force chair (or designated person) should pay attention to what is coming in and going out
This person may need to say stop spending if it look like task force will soon go over budget
Any "surplus" will revert to SRRT at end of fiscal year although task force chair and SRRT treasurer should keep track of which task force is contributing what moneys

Notes

Fiscal year runs from September through August
Line item-numbers include those that identify SRRT, the individual task force, and a descriptive number for different expenses such things as photocopying, programming, etc.
Reimbursements do take some time and ALA will question if something is not clear (which further delays the process)
Always make copies of everything submitted