FINANCE REPORT...Zero-based budgeting “Zero-based budgeting (ZBB) is a method of budgeting in which all expenses must be justified for each new period. Zero-based budgeting starts

Where students lead, institutions are reimagined;

MID-TERM

FINANCE REPORT

For the Period 1 November 2015 – 29 February 2016

Prepared for

Student Parliament

Prepared by

Marcus Gawronsky

Treasurer General of the University of Cape Town Students’ Representative Council of 2016

2 | P a g e


i. TABLE OF CONTENTS Message from the SRC Finance Committee ............................................................................................ 6

Treasurer-General’s Report .................................................................................................................... 7

1. Introduction .................................................................................................................................... 7

Subject............................................................................................................................................. 7

Background ..................................................................................................................................... 7

Objectives of Report ....................................................................................................................... 8

Procedure for gathering information .............................................................................................. 8

Scope and limitations ...................................................................................................................... 8

Plan of development ....................................................................................................................... 8

2. Structure and duties of SRC Funds and the Treasurer General ...................................................... 9

3. Pre-budgeting Expenditure ........................................................................................................... 10

Background ................................................................................................................................... 10

Metric for decisions ...................................................................................................................... 10

SRC Induction and Strategic Planning ........................................................................................... 11

Vacation Committee Expenditure ................................................................................................. 11

2015 SRC outstanding debts ......................................................................................................... 14

Income statement for the period 1 November 2015 – 31 January 2016 ..................................... 14

4. SRC Finance Committee ................................................................................................................ 15

Roles and Standing Rules .............................................................................................................. 15

Selection and constituting ............................................................................................................ 15

Achievements to-date ................................................................................................................... 17

Strategic Goals for the year-ahead ............................................................................................... 17

5. Budget ........................................................................................................................................... 18

Principles ....................................................................................................................................... 18

Analysis of Previous Year’s Expenditure ....................................................................................... 18

Process of allocations .................................................................................................................... 24

Allocation of Fund ......................................................................................................................... 26

Risks facing budget ....................................................................................................................... 27

Ratification .................................................................................................................................... 28

6. Expenditure-to-date ...................................................................................................................... 29

Management Accounts for SRC Operating Fund .......................................................................... 29

Forecasts ....................................................................................................................................... 31

6. Projects of Strategic Importance .................................................................................................. 33

3 | P a g e


SRC Assistance and Plaza Funds .................................................................................................... 33

#FundingFutures Campaign .......................................................................................................... 36

There is No Excuse Campaign ....................................................................................................... 39

7. Strategic Goals for year-ahead...................................................................................................... 42

SRC Finance Committee ................................................................................................................ 42

Asset Register ................................................................................................................................ 42

SRC Crisis Fund .............................................................................................................................. 42

SRC Fee Proposal ........................................................................................................................... 42

Preamble ........................................................................................................................................... 43

Consolidated Income Statement ...................................................................................................... 43

REFERENCES ...................................................................................................................................... 45

Appendixes ............................................................................................................................................ 46

Appendix I: SRC Budget Proposal Form for period 1 February -30 April 2016 ................................. 46

Appendix II: SRC Travel Budget Proposal Form ................................................................................ 54

4 | P a g e


ii. LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

Figure 1: Organizational Structure of the UCT Students Representative Council ................... 16

Figure 2: Extract from "SRC Budget Guidelines 2016", a report by the DSA Finance

Manager ............................................................................................................................................... 19

Figure 3: Models tested on 2015 expenditure ............................................................................... 21

Figure 4: Graph of variances between actual and predicted expenditure of models .............. 21

Figure 5: Summary of projects proposals submitted .................................................................... 25

Figure 6: Operational Expenditure Time-Series Forecast ........................................................... 31

Figure 7: Expenditure Time-Series Forecast ................................................................................. 31

Figure 8: Expenditure Time-Series Forecast since 2014 ............................................................. 32

5 | P a g e


iii. GLOSSARY

Incremental budgeting

“In traditional incremental budgeting, departmental managers justify only variances

versus past years based on the assumption that the "baseline" is automatically

approved. “

Zero-based budgeting

“Zero-based budgeting (ZBB) is a method of budgeting in which all expenses must be

justified for each new period. Zero-based budgeting starts from a "zero base" and

every function within an organization is analyzed for its needs and costs. “

(Investopedia, n.d.)

iv. LIST OF ACRONYMS AND ABBREVIATIONS

SRC Students Representative Council

CRRC SRC Conduct Review and Recommendation Committee

SPMC Student Parliament Management Committee

CSC Commerce Students’ Council

SBTT Special Budgeting Task Team

SAP Is used to refer to the SAP Accounting Package implemented by UCT in its

management accounting and financial reporting processes. It is an international

standard for use in enterprise level accounting information systems and is produced

by SAP SE.

6 | P a g e


MESSAGE FROM THE SRC FINANCE COMMITTEE

To whom it may concern

The SRC Finance Committee constituted on the 29 January 2016 with, under its current

membership, the aim of forming a participatory and objective governance structure aimed at

managing and deciding upon the financial resources of the SRC, under the chairmanship of

the SRC Treasurer-General.

Key goals of this committee have aimed at budgeting for the 2016 SRC year and other cost

control mechanisms. This has being realized through the development of new budgeting

procedures and the analysis past SRC expenditure through a number of updated reporting

tools.

This year the SRC Finance Committee has reoriented its involvement in the SRC Finances,

viewing resource allocation as much of a strategic decision as a management and political

one, aimed at providing value-to and serving students.

Over the next year, the SRC Finance Committee are confident that, under the guidance of the

chair, that the committee will look to reforming policy and protocols within the SRC to ensure

the long-term performance and stability of SRCs to come.

The committee, will provide input on a number of strategic projects along with the SRC such

as the SRC Fees Proposal, as well as other projects and research throughout the year.

The committee remains confident in the decisions and value it has provided so far in the year

and looks forward to productive year ahead, as we look to reimaging the University and it’s

Student Governance Structures.

Yours sincerely

XMarcus Gawronsky

Singing in his capacity as Chair of the SRC F...

7 | P a g e


TREASURER-GENERAL’S REPORT

1. Introduction

Subject This reports aims to provide financial information about the University of Cape Town’s

Students Representative Council to existing and future students and members of student

governance regarding the performance and objectives of the Students’ Representative

Council.

It will aim to outline key-decisions made by its structures and provide recommendations as to

future policy and decision-making.

Background In year past, information regarding the SRC Finances were reported as part of the SRC

Organizational Report to Students Parliament.

Often this has resulted in under-reporting of crucial information and has fitting poorly with a

report aimed at addressing portfolio projects, organizational restructuring and operational

performance.

With this is mind it was a decision of the Presidency, that a separate Financial Report would

be drafted for presentation to Student Parliament.

8 | P a g e


Objectives of Report The objectives of this report are to:

a. Outline to members of Student Parliament the process, decisions and outcomes of the SRC

Budget for 2016.

a. Outline the role, vision and duties of the SRC Finance Committee.

c. Report on the Financial Position and Performance of SRC Special Projects and expenditure

of the period.

Procedure for gathering information The information on which this report is based was gathered by means of

- Interviews with members of the SRC and staff of the DSA and Finance Departments.

- Analysis of General Journal transactions of the various SRC Funds, dating back 5

years.

- Financial Reports provided by the DSA Finance and Deputy Finance Managers.

- Data sourced and made public by the UCT Finance Department.

- Handover reports produced by the 2015 SRC Treasurer-General and the DSA Finance

Manager.

- Minutes, proposals, reports and correspondence from the SRC and its various sub-

structures.

Scope and limitations The scope of this report is limited to the period 1 November 2015 – 29 February 2016, the

term of office of the 2016 Students’ Representative Council.

The report limits it’s analyse to performance of SRC’s dating back the past five years- this has

been done due to the relevance of data produced further than this period and the changes in

SRC Operations which have taken place over than period.

Plan of development This report begins by describing the process and decisions of budgeting by made by the SRC

Finance Committee and Treasurer-General. It then describes the role, visions and structure

of the SRC Finance Committee for 2016. The report then outlines the performance and

challenges presented in the SRC Strategic Projects as of the given reporting date, and will

provide recommendations for policy and performance over the next six months to the SRC

and Student Parliament.

9 | P a g e


2. Structure and duties of SRC Funds and the Treasurer General Crucial background information to the functions and structure of the Treasurer-General

Portfolio and SRC Finances are provided below:

Role of Treasurer-General

The role of the Treasurer-General is highlighted accordance to Schedule C of the SRC

Standing Rule, as follows:

“The Treasurer General, being the Chief Financial Officer of the SRC, shall:

a) Head of the SRC Finance Committee;

b) Be responsible for compiling the SRC budget;

c) Compile all SRC Financial Reports and account on all finances of the SRC;

d) Be a chief custodian of all SRC resources and SRC Financial By-Laws;

e) Deal with all matters of SRC contract with vendors. “

Fund Structure

The University of Cape Town, implement a package of SAP which allows different

entities to open funds- as a cost control mechanism.

Bodies within UCT can only spend money which is in their fund, or has been budgeted

for their Cost Centre, else will no longer be able to withdraw money or process

purchase orders.

The SRC has six funds, outlined as followings:

a. SRC Operating Fund

The SRC Operating Fund, is a long-standing fund used in the day-to-day operating of SRC

projects and office space. This fund is used when allocating out annual grant from the

university and is used to paying for our operational expenses, which include printing,

maintenance and telephone charges.

b. SRC Operating Projects Fund

The Operating Projects Fund, is a fund opened at the end of last year by staff members of

the Department of Student Affairs.

Although not in use yet in 2016, the fund was opening as a control mechanism in the wake

of over-expenditure by last year’s SRC, to ensure money is set aside for operating

expenses- as highlighted above.

c. SRC Jammie Plaza Fund

The SRC hold an Assistance Fund, managed by Financial Aid, which is used each year in

clearing applicant’s debt from the previous year, allowing them to register and graduate

from their students.

Money is raised through the sale of Jammie Plaza space to corporates by the SRC, as per

policy of the University.

The Jammie Plaza Fund is used in collecting money received and funding other fundraising

initiatives held throughout the year by the Fundraising and Corporate Relations Co-

ordinator of the SRC.

d. SRC Crisis Fund

10 | P a g e


The SRC Crisis Fund is a small fund used in providing short-term relief to students without

food and toiletries. This is a small fund, which has in the past created a huge deal of value

for those in need.

e. Debtors Control Fund

The Debtors Control Fund is used as a control mechanism in receiving money from

corporates for the use of Jammie Plaza.

f. SRC Funding Futures Fund

The Funding Futures fund was an old and unused fund re-appropriated for use by the SRC

in its #FundingFutures Campaign, the aim of this new fund was to allow for the separate

management and disclosure of financial information with regard to this special project of

the SRC.

This fund would look to be used in the future for fee-related fundraising initiatives of the

SRC. This fund differs greatly from the plaza fund, as it looks at donation income as

opposed to profits from corporate and alumni events and advertising.

3. Pre-budgeting Expenditure

Background Historical SRC Budgets are traditionally set in February, allowing for members to be

inducted and work with students in forming portfolio-related goals and projects.

With this in mind, this serves as a challenge to the treasury to assign resources of the SRC

prior to any budgeting process being set.

Metric for decisions At the SRC Strategic Planning Workshop, members were informed that resources would be

allocated to operating expenses and projects prior to the yearly budget setting would be done

following consultation with members under the following criteria:

a. Operating Expenses

The use of telephones, printers and other resources are crucial to the basic function of

the SRC in providing consultations to students, organizing campaign, attending and

holding meeting with student organizations and staff.

b. Historical expenditure dating-back the past 5 years

From records, expenditure would be set based of previous year’s allocation to

particular projects, such as the SRC Induction and Strategic Planning.

c. Students and institutional expectation of level of service at time of year

11 | P a g e


A number of projects such as O-week are expectations of students that the SRC will

organize, collaborate and support. This event is organized long in advance of budget-

setting and is a project which requires the commitment of SRC resources for its

success, as many other departments in the institution assume our commitment in their

yearly planning.

d. Value-to-students and Contact-to-students

Principally, funds would be committed towards projects which showed the potential of

reaching as many students as possible and providing the greatest value-to-students.

An example of such a project, the SRC Freshers’ Guide, is a project which reaches

over five thousand students, assisting them in their acclimatization the University and

Student Governance. It arguable, contacts many students and provides immense

value to them.

e. Savings towards 2016 projects

Costs towards historic expenditure would be cut as best as possible to best fund future

expenditure aimed at projects of SRC members towards students and student

organizations.

SRC Induction and Strategic Planning The SRC participate in an Induction and Strategic Planning Workshop, during which SRC

members go through an intense training in the operations and protocols of the University.

These workshops cover a broad range of topics from University Finances and Students

Treasury, to Financial Aid and Readmission Appeals. These sessions traditionally take place

after the examinations in December, and are crucial to training members in assisting students

in consultations throughout the year.

For this to take place, accommodations and food needed to organize for members stay during

this time. As shown in the table below, expenses had been cut significantly from the year

before:

Vacation Committee Expenditure

Roles of Committee

The role of the vacation committee serves to uphold the duties and function during

the vacation.

These during include, but are not limited to:

a. Consultation hours with students

b. Planning of O-week, sale of plaza and other SRC projects

c. Committee meetings held during this time

d. Communication with students

12 | P a g e


e. Meetings with staff, students and other student governance structures

f. To handle all official SRC duties in the Graduation

Selection

Selection is made by the Vice-President External- the chair of the committee.

Members were asked apply in November of 2015 by means of a motivation under a

number of criteria.

Consultation was made with the Treasurer-General regarding the resources committed

to the Vacation Committee, and it was agreed that preference would be given to

members who had existing residence in Cape Town, as part of a cost-cutting measure

to reduce the costs associated with placing members in residence. It was also decided

that the size of the committee would also be limited to six members.

Housing

To reduce the costs associated with Vacation Committee, it was decided that unless

members were ordinary residents of catering residences, they would be placed in self-

catering residences- this saving amounted to R 148 per person per night.

Stipend

Consultation took place with two members in particular, who although passionate

about serving of the vacation committee argued that due to their circumstances- would

not be able to serve unless with the support of a modest food and toiletry stipend.

This request was broadly discussed with members and staff at the DSA and it was

agreed that a small stipend would be set, in line with that provided by NFSAS, for these

students with special consideration for the hours required by the Vacation Committee

and a number of other factors. The justification for this stipend is provided as follows:

a. Financial Means

Not all members have the means to stay in Cape Town and support themselves, and

although many members would otherwise be under the support of their

guardians/parents this cannot be assumed and the costs of living in Cape Town and

providing for oneself differ greatly from that which they would experience living at

home.

b. Foregone income

Members highlighted that given their particular circumstances, they would often find

some other form of income in helping supplement their living expenses during this

vacation time and would not be able to do so by serving on the vacation committee.

c. No members should be unfairly discriminated against in the ability to serve students

based on their circumstances.

d. Where savings exist, member would in come way incentivized towards cost-saving

activities.

13 | P a g e


Budget

The budget was set for the period as follows:

Late request for accommodation expenditure

A late request was made by a members for housing so that they may tie up various

duties outstanding due to the student protests. It was decided along with the

presidency that as per the principals and constitutional provisions underpinning the

SRC, the allowance would not be given for the sake of fairness to other members.

Other arrangement were made by other members of the SRC to house this member

privately.

14 | P a g e


2015 SRC outstanding debts A number of debts were outstanding from the previous year’s SRC. These expenses

amounted to a total of R10 692.23, but do not include an additional roughly R4 000 committed

by the SRC to Trophies for the Residence Leadership Awards- which remain an item of dispute

among departments at the University. These expenses can be attributed to the following

factors:

a. Late processing of transactions

Due to the University shutdown, a number of transactions were only able to be

processed weeks after they were technically accrued.

b. Overspending

The 2015 SRC overspent, due to the lack of any adequate budgeting process or other

cost-control mechanism. These debts needed to be settled in our term in order to

satisfy debtors.

Income statement for the period 1 November 2015 – 31 January 2016

15 | P a g e


4. SRC Finance Committee

Roles and Standing Rules The standing rules for this committee last existed in the 2013 SRC year, and have since

needed to be reviewed and formalized.

This standing rules contained a number of redundancies and errors from this previous

treasures term and clauses which limit the limit the scope of the document itself. Despite this,

these standing rules played a persuasive role in the constituting and operating of this year’s

committee and were provided to all members prior to its constitution.

According to this document, these duties include:

“The Finance Committee’s primary role is to evaluate and constantly review the financial

health of the SRC budget. This pertains specifically to:

5.1. Operational expenses: telephone and printing expenses will be reviewed every month.

Catering for events and meetings must be approved by the Committee before being ordered.

In the case of disapproval, an appeal may be lodged with the SRC.

5.2. Portfolio budgets, working group expenditure, conference participation: must be motivated

for by submitting a written summary to the Committee in due time, upon which the Committee

will give its recommendation to the SRC.

5.3. Bank reconciliation: The Committee will also be required to approve the monthly account

reconciliation executed by the SRC Treasurer to be published to the SRC for final approval;”

Selection and constituting According to the 2013 Standing Rules membership was to comprise as follows:

“3.1. The SRC Treasurer

3.2. A member of the SRC General-Secretariat;

3.3. The SRC Vice-President (Internal Affairs);

3.4. Three other members of whom at least two of these shall not be members of the SRC

Executive Committee;

3.5. Co-opted members as decided by the Standing Committee.”

Discussions with Ryan Duncan Prithraj, Vice President External and Chair of SRC

Constitutional Committee

Following meetings and discussions with the Vice-President External regarding the

governance of this committee. It was decided the jointly, that in the interests of fair

governance, the Committee would aim to comprise of a minimum of three non-SRC

members who would provide objective and honest decision-making to the committee.

In many instances conflicts of interest arise when allocating expenditure arise when

deciding upon expenditure relating to accommodation and refreshments and so it was

16 | P a g e


through that it would be of value to the committee that these members have power and

participate. This membership would comprise as follows:

1. A member of our Student Governance Substructures

2. A member of the SPMC

3. Any student of the University, preferably one not directly involved in the

immediate substructures of SRC

In line with the strategic goals of the SRC, and its Treasurer General, the committee

would also mirror the structure of line-management of the SRC and would comprise of

the line-managers of the SRC, shown below:

Figure 1: Organizational Structure of the UCT Students Representative Council

This was implemented in order to provide insight into the status of the projects taking

place and inform the committee of the level of support needed, following regular target-

setting and consultations between line-managers and portfolios. This would ensure

effective execution and implementation of the mission and vision of the SRC.

Discussions with Aneet Daji, Chair of the CSC, and SPMC

As per the standing rules and custom of the CRRC, the Chair of the Law Students’

Council sits on this committee to provide insight over an area of expertise which they

are most comfortable in.

It was decided with this in mind that a member of the substructure with expertise in

Commerce and in particular Management Accounting would be of use to the

committee. The Chair of the Commerce Students Council was approached and

President

Vice-President External

Societies

Sports

International Students

Undergraduate Academics

Postgraduate Academics

Day Students

Residence (Governance)

Vice-President Internal

Transformation

Labour and Services

Residences (Projects)

Health and Safety

Treasurer General

Corperate Relations and Fundraising

Secretary General

Deputy-Secretary General

17 | P a g e


consulted with and agreed to form part of the committee. Aneet Daji is a third year

Business Science Student in Finance with Accounting and provides invaluable skills in

this regard to this committee.

The SPMC were formally approached for a deployment to the committee, Changa

Chungu, with his immense experience in Student Governance, his deployment has

provided immense value to the committee and the decision being made.

Nomination were taken from the Chair of the Commerce Students Council and SMPC,

for the final member of the committee. These were provided and later ratified and

endorsed. James Crombrink, a Master Student in Statistical Sciences and Chair of

the Golden Futures Project, formed the final member of the Committee.

Constituting

The Committee was constituted at its first meeting, held on 29 January 2016. The

duties held within the committee fell as follows:

1. Chair: Marcus Gawronsky, Treasurer General of the UCT SRC

2. Vice-chair and whip: Chanda Chungu, Whip of Student Parliament

3. Secretary: Louise Bestbier, Deputy-Secretary General of the UCT SRC

Achievements to-date So far the committee has made a range of decisions regarding the strategic allocation of SRC

resources, the arbitration of numerous finance related matters and the endorsement of the

initial work being done in the SRC Fee Proposal Research Committee.

The Committee has also successfully processed and awarded the short-term budget,

mentioned below.

The Committee, must be applauded for their responsiveness to the challenges faced by the

SRC to-date and their acumen in finance-related matters.

Strategic Goals for the year-ahead The primary goal of the SRC Finance Committee has and will remain both the budgeting and

the approval of unbudgeted expenditure over R1000, as decided at its sitting held on 1

February 2016.

Finance Policy

The SRC Finance Committee, in line with its goals and objectives for the year, has

already formed a working group aimed at amending the standing rules of the SRC to

include Financial Policies of the SRC. This is aimed at regulating and binding

member’s behaviour to governance measures in place to regulate expenditure. It also

aims with this legislation to better empower the Treasurer General, Finance Committee

and policies of Student Treasury, in line with measures of good governance.

18 | P a g e


5. Budget

Principles At the SRC Strategic Planning Portfolio Presentation Workshop, underlying principles

regarding the budgeting process were discussed and made open for debate. At this stage it

was agreed the at the following principle should be used in our budgeting decisions:

i. All funds are trusted to the SRC by students to serve their interests

ii. Contact-to-students

As many students as possible should receive some form of value from the

budget of the SRC.

iii. Value-to-students

The allocation of our budget should aim to maximize the value to students.

iv. Funds are allocated in line with the 2016 SRC vision and mission

v. Funds should be allocated equitably and in line with past precedent

Analysis of Previous Year’s Expenditure

DSA Finance Manager and Treasurer-General’s Handover Report

At the beginner of the 2016 SRC’s term reports were provided by the DSA Finance

Manager and 2015 Treasurer General regarding the role of the treasurer and advice

for the 2016 SRC term-of-office.

Although no formal budget existed in the 2015 SRC year, analysis done by the DSA

Finance Manager, David Morgan, in his report which suggested the following

breakdown of SRC Budgeted Expenditure:

19 | P a g e


Figure 2: Extract from "SRC Budget Guidelines 2016", a report by the DSA Finance Manager

Although not adjusted for inflation and other exogenous factors, this report, as well as

the previous year’s 2015 report from the DSA Finance Manager, formed an important

basis for the analysis and work which followed in the setting of the SRC budget.

Discussions with Christine Immenga

Preliminary and ad hoc discussions took place with the SRC Coordinator, Christine

Immenga, regarding the operational requirements of the SRC. In these discussions,

statements of the SRC Funds were looked at and individual accounts were debated

as to their role in contributing to either operational or project-based expenditure.

These discussion, also outlined previous processes in SRC Budgeting and the needs

of the organization in strategic financial planning. She pointed out the shortfalls of

previous years and aided in highlighted the importance of scrupulous planning and

budgeting.

Per Annum Incurred in

Income

Grant - operating income 421 000

Grant - SAUS affiliation grant 11 000

432 000

Expenses

Affliliation fee 15 000 Sept

Strategy planning workshop 35 000 Nov

Refreshments - induction 4 700 Nov

Refreshments - office 8 200 monthly

Telephone line rental 16 000 monthly

Telephone calls 22 000 monthly

Stationery - office 3 000 monthly

Photocopier rental 8 400 monthly

Photocopying & printing - office 9 000 monthly

Motor vehicle fuel 2 500 monthly

Motor vehicle service/ repairs 6 200 Nov

Motor vehicle licence 335 monthly

Motor vehicle insurance 4 000 July

134 335 31%

Activities/ Projects (Grant Transfers) 282 782 65%

Vac accomodation

Surplus/ shortfall 14 883

surplus % of grant income 3.5%

20 | P a g e


Investigation

An investigation was done into the changes in SRC expenditure and income over the

past five year. This was done in order to determine mechanism for predicting future

expenditure and, as such, setting the 2016 budget.

Key areas of interest looked at the relationship between total revenue, other income

and individual and aggregated accounts, as well as the testing of various models for

forecasting expenditure.

Sourcing of Account Information

In order to analysis the expenditure of the SRC, ZUCT02 SAP statements were

source from the DSA Finance Manager to look at changes in income and expenditure

over the past five years, 1 November 2010 to 31 December 2016.

These statements produced a details breakdown of every transaction which took

place during this period, along with the details of these transaction and vendors with

which these transactions took place.

Sourcing of Inflation Data

On an annual basis UCT produces and reports on annual and expected internal

inflation number. As is to be expected this number sits, year-on-year, at over double

that of CPI due to the particular basket of goods consumer by the University and our

particular exposure to exchange rate risk. Hardy Maritz, the Head of Financial

Information Management, was contacted for advice and access to this data for use in

the modelling of SRC expenditure.

Certain complication did arise in discrepancies the inflation experienced under

particular accounts and what is reported on, which is internal inflation data grouped

by function. As such, proxy were found for the individual accounts in this inflation

data in an attempt to best compute the inflation experiences by that particular

account.

Another issue which was experienced, was the changes in the functions reported on

between years and particular key areas, such as ICT spending changes as a key

focus area for the university and so was not reported on previously. Where issues

arose the average internal inflation figures were used in the computations.

Conclusions

From the data collected a number of different models were explored to decide upon

one which would be most accurate, as shown in Figure 3: Models tested on 2015

expenditure and Figure 4: Graph of variances between actual and predicted

expenditure of models, below.

21 | P a g e


Figure 3: Models tested on 2015 expenditure

Figure 4: Graph of variances between actual and predicted expenditure of models

From this we can clearly see that two broad techniques applied in the different

models show the most accurate results, those being:

i. Models based on accounts which have been inflation adjusted

0%

50%

100%

150%

200%

250%

2013 2014 2015

Time vs Absolute %Variance from 2015 Actual

Expenses Nominal Regression m=2 Expenses Nominal Regression m=3

Expenses Nominal Regression m=4 Expenses Nominal Mean m=2

Expenses Nominal Mean m=3 Expenses Nominal Mean m=4

Expenses Real Regression m=2 Expenses Real Regression m=3

Expenses Real Regression m=4 Expenses Real Mean m=2

Expenses Real Mean m=3 Expenses Real Mean m=4

Operational Expenses Nominal Regression m=2 Operational Expenses Nominal Regression m=3

Operational Expenses Nominal Regression m=4 Operational Expenses Nominal Mean m=2

Operational Expenses Nominal Mean m=3 Operational Expenses Nominal Mean m=4

Operational Expenses Real Regression m=2 Operational Expenses Real Regression m=3

22 | P a g e


ii. Models which consider data over the full 4 year period, rather than over a

shorter 3 or 2 year period

It remains unclear as to whether models which predict expenditure based on

regressions or means of previous years’ data produces the best results, but it is the

intentions that in the future further research can be done using more sophisticated

time-series techniques to better predict expenditure.

This research also serves for use by future DSA staff members and SRC Treasurer

Generals to better partition expenses, with the aim of ensuring that operation-related

debts can be adequately catered for year-on-year.

Recommendations

Prior to the decision-making of the SRC Finance Committee, an investigation was done

into the methods of budget setting done both within UCT (looking at policies and

practises of the UCT Finance Department and the UFC SBTT), management

accounting practise and budgets set by previous SRC Treasurer Generals.

Traditionally, in management accounting practise and at UCT, either a top-down or

bottom-up strategy is taken in setting budgets. These budgets are set in line with cost

drivers, which at UCT would be either the number of students or staff at the University,

or number of courses offered.

From the research provided, it appears, no data exists pointing to clear cost-drivers in

the SRC Operations, and so it would be impossible to set budgets based on projections

of these drivers. From this it is clear that an alternative, participatory and bottom-up

approach would have to be taken.

From discussions the discussions and reports of the DSA Finance Manager and

Christine Immenga, it was clear that in order to set a budget costs would have to looked

at under three main categories, those being:

i. Operational Expenses

For the sake of the investigation this was, in principle, defined as expenditure

incurred in the day-to-day operations of our office and basic functions for which

we have little to no control over and no cost-drivers can be ascertained.

Upon investigation and consultation, this was later practically defined as

expenses incurred under the following general ledger accounts:

CELLPHONE CHARGES

COMP CONSUMABLES

COMP HRDWR < R15,000

EQUIPMENT < R 15,000

FUEL PURCHASES

HEALTH SERV & SUPP

INS - MOTOR

LICENCES M/V

OFFICE & EQUIP MOVES

23 | P a g e


P/COPIER RENTAL

PAPER REAMS

PHOTOCOPY & PRINTING

R&M - BUILDINGS

R&M - ELECTRICAL

R&M - FURN & EQUIP

R&M - MOTOR VEHICLES

SECURITY - SERVICES

SECURITY - SYSTEMS

SUBS & AFFIL

TELECOM INSTAL COSTS

TELECOM RENTALS

TELEPHONE CALLS

PLANTS & SHRUBS

It was decided that an incremental budgeting approach would be taken on

this sub-set of expenditure as both part of cost control and resource planning.

ii. Project Expenses

This was principally defined as expenditure which we have control over and is

driven by certain cost-drivers defines within projects and events held by the

SRC.

With this in mind, a zero-based budgeting approach would be taken on project

expenditure forcing greater interrogation and strategic allocation of resources

(Investopedia, n.d.).

This is applied for on a quarterly basis in the SRC Budget Proposal, which are

considered by the SRC Finance Committee in line with the strategic goals of

the SRC.

iii. Special expenditure budgets

This looked at particular area of the SRC expenditure not captured in either

operational or project-based expenditure of the SRC. These are areas which

would often be considered operational, but are costs which we do have certain

degrees of control over, and so would be allocated outside of the operational

and project budgeting mechanism. These areas included:

a. Travel

b. Vacation Committee

c. Induction and Strategic Planning and

d. Emergency Expenditure, which aimed to capture unforeseen events

and political needs of students at the University and would be decided

upon on a case by case basis looking at individual expenses as they

arise by the SRC Finance Committee.

24 | P a g e


Process of allocations

Formation of Budget Allocations Form

In line with the principles underlying the budget setting process, a form was created in

line with various processes of the UCT Finance Department to get members to

adequately engage with, reflect on, plan and motivate for projects aimed to be initiated

by members of the SRC- this form can be found in Appendixes I.

Important in the budget allocating process was the intended return to students we

would be getting from individual submission. From research into the into innovation in

the public and social sectors, an adapted version of the classic Du Pont Analysis,

inspired by that used by the American Non-Profit KaBoom! was used, this is illustrated

as follows (Epstein & Buhovac, 2009):

Equation 1: Modified Du Pont Analysis

𝑅𝑒𝑡𝑢𝑟𝑛 = 𝑇𝑜𝑡𝑎𝑙 𝐸𝑥𝑝𝑒𝑛𝑠𝑒𝑠

𝑁𝑒𝑡 𝐸𝑥𝑝𝑒𝑛𝑠𝑒𝑠∗

𝐸𝑥𝑝𝑒𝑐𝑡𝑒𝑑 𝑃𝑎𝑟𝑡𝑖𝑐𝑖𝑝𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛

𝑇𝑎𝑟𝑔𝑒𝑡 𝐴𝑢𝑑𝑖𝑒𝑛𝑐𝑒 𝑆𝑖𝑧𝑒∗

𝑇𝑎𝑟𝑔𝑒𝑡 𝐴𝑢𝑑𝑖𝑒𝑛𝑐𝑒 𝑆𝑖𝑧𝑒

𝑇𝑜𝑡𝑎𝑙 𝐸𝑥𝑝𝑒𝑛𝑠𝑒𝑠

Deadlines and Extensions

Notice of the application process and deadlines was given to members on the 10

December 2016 for the 12 January due date.

It was advised that members submit their proposals, if they so wish, the week prior so

that they could get feedback and input on the use of the form itself and whether their

estimates needed revision of any kind prior to submission.

Private meetings were held with number of members to aid them in effectively

budgeting for their projects and advising them on the timeline of their deliverables,

needed by line managers in ensuring the projects stayed on schedule.

Given the Festive Season, extensions had to give to a number of members- the final

applications are provided below.

Applications

The following proposals were submitted by members within the due date.

Project Name Proposed by Net expenditure

1 Conscientise the school child

Zipho Majova -R 1 000.00

2 Freshers' Guide Louise Bestbier -R 4 199.60

3 International Student Forum Gloria Chikaonda -R 10 000.00

4 Visa Information Evening Gloria Chikaonda -R 7 000.00

25 | P a g e


5 Special Initiatives: International alumna phone-athon, International Student Emergency Fund Fundraiser Event and IAPO-collaborations

Gloria Chikaonda -R 7 000.00

6 Gym Upgrade Edward dos Santos -R 8 000.00

7 Postgraduate Roadshow Edward dos Santos -R 6 000.00

8 Café Scientifique – Postgrad Edition

Edward dos Santos -R 15 200.00

9 Postgraduate Indaba Edward dos Santos -R 12 000.00

10 Conference Subsidies Edward dos Santos -R 10 000.00

11 Academic Activism Week Nabeel Allie -R 4 100.00

12 Arrival of Freshers Bulelani Sidyani -R 4 153.60

13 Residence Leadership Awards

Tshegofatso Putu (late and incomplete)

-R 61 000.00

14 Residence Transformation and Awareness Campaigns

Tshogofatso Putu (late and incomplete)

-R 2 000.00

15 Residence Council Meetings

Tshogofatso Putu (late and incomplete)

-R 2 000.00

16 Societies AGM Nthupula Masipa (late ad hoc) -R 2 000.00

17 Deployees Workshop Noxolo Ntaka (late ad hoc) -R 1 550.00

Figure 5: Summary of projects proposals submitted

A more detailed breakdown on the proposals provided have been shared with at SRC

and Finance Committee members, in SRC Budget 2016 Spreadsheet, in the interest

of internal transparency and due process.

26 | P a g e


Allocation of Fund

Process

At the first sitting of the SRC Finance Committee, analysis from the budget

investigations were presented for consideration by all those present. At this meeting,

the budgets for Operational Expenditure, Travel, Vacation Committee, Induction and

Strategic Planning and Emergencies were set, as indicated below in Table 1: Budget

Allocations for period ended 30 April.

All documents and analysis were presented to members long in advance of the

meeting and it was decided at this sitting that Operational Expenditure would be set

using a regression of inflation adjusted expenses dating back to 2011 SRC Term of

Office with 10% padding added. This would adjusted as need throughout the year as

we see expenses accrue.

The final special budget expenses, were set based on a number of factors based on

previous year’s expenditure.

At the second sitting, members were presented with all the budget proposals and

each proposal was discussed and debated in line with our budgeting principles. A

rough budget was set for the different budgeting period and projects were passed in

line with the budget for this period.

Decision

The decisions regarding allocation are listed below:

Table 1: Budget Allocations for period ended 30 April

Provision Amount

Grant R 432 420.95

Operations -R 160 000.00

Travel -R 50 000.00

Accommodation -R 25 000.00

Induction and Strategic Planning -R 38 000.00

Emergency -R 20 000.00

Projects 139420.95

- Feb-April Approval -R 41 503.20

Freshers' Guide -R 4 199.60

International Students' Forums -R 12 500.00

Postgraduate Roadshow -R 6 000.00

Academic Activism Week -R 11 100.00

Arrival of Freshers -R 4 153.60

Society's AGM (Late approval) -R 2 000.00

Committee Deployments Workshop (Late approval) -R 1 550.00

Remainder R 97 917.75

- May-July

Remainder

- August-October

Remainder

27 | P a g e


Recommendations

It stands as a recommendation of the committee, that ongoing research go into the

budgeting process and for each budgeting period, the budget is reworked in line with

expenditure incurred so far in the year.

A recommendation of the committee was to look into implementing better application

and control mechanisms for travel expenditure. At the last sitting, a Travel Budget

Application Form for presented and approved for all travel for which notice is greater

than a week. This application can be found in Appendix II.

Risks facing budget

Adherence to protocol

Adherence to Student Treasury and SRC payment procedure remains a constant risk

to budgeting.

All SRC, members of Societies Executives and Faculty Council Members have

received training from Student Treasury regarding the process for approving

payments with Students Treasury.

Numerous emails have gone out to member’s reminder them of various processes

which the SRC are bound to follow, and procedure has been brought up in meetings

a number of times.

With the recent constitute of SRC Sub-committees and Sub-Council members have

been warned to inform their members of the procedures and permissions requires. A

workshop on this has been set later this semester on SRC and Student Treasury

protocols, and an invitation has been made to all SRC member for meeting to be

arranged individually and with their sub-structures on this issue.

Political action

Although money has been set-aside for political action, this remains a risk to SRC

expenditure. It is clear that if student political action does take place on campus the

SRC would have to be involved and commit recourses as best as possible.

Discussion have been made with members of staff regarding how the SRC could

access funds in the event of a shutdown, and it has been made clear that efforts

would be made in this regard to ensure the function of the SRC.

28 | P a g e


Ratification The Budget was presented to the SRC for noting at the first meeting following the allocation.

All members were made aware and an opportunity for questions and discussion was made.

The SRC are confident in the process that was followed and remain excited regarding the

work which is to come.

29 | P a g e


6. Expenditure-to-date

Management Accounts for SRC Operating Fund Below, in Table 2: Management Accounts to-date, you will find a printout of out expenditure-

to-date for the period. Please note this table shows expenses on an accrual basis for both

income and expenditure and looks at only the SRC Operating Fund. This has been presented

along expenditure to-date of the 2015 and 2014 SRC years to serve as a comparison. Please

that variance may occur due to the timing as to when particular transactions have been

process, and this may distort the data.

Additionally, please note that expenditure of the 2015 SRC accrued in the current SRC term-

of-office has not been removed from our expenditure in the table below.

Table 2: Management Accounts to-date

Year-to-date 2014/02/26 2015/02/26 2016/02/26

Revenue R 432 520,95 R 426 420,95 R 440 380,95

Grant Revenue R 432 420,95 R 426 420,95 R 432 420,95

GOB FUND CONTRIB CR R - R - R -

GRANT TRANSFERS CR R 432 420,95 R 432 420,95 R 432 420,95

GRANT TRANSFERS DR R - -R 6 000,00 R -

Other Revenue R 50,00 R - R 3 980,00

SPONSORSHIPS R - R - R -

SALES REVENUE R - R - R -

OTHER INCOME R 50,00 R - R 3 980,00

DONATIONS-UCT R - R - R -

Expenses R 131 852,81 R 262 402,12 R 154 375,44

Operations Expenses R 35 768,05 R 18 012,00 R 57 261,47

ACCOMMODATION (LOC) R 60 800,00 R 166 303,00 R 50 015,00

AD HOC FEES / SALARY R - R - R -

ADMISSION &ENTRY FEE R - R - R -

ADVERT - PUB & PROMO R 4 079,98 R 3 448,50 R 6 132,63

AUDIO VISUAL MATS R - R - R -

BINDING R - R - R -

BOOKS & JOURNALS R 1 500,00 R - R -

BROCHURES & HANDBKS R - R 32 178,96 R -

BUS & COACH HIRE R 1 380,00 R 6 900,00 R -

CELLPHONE CHARGES R - R - R -

CLOTHING R 5 405,70 R 8 270,70 R 3 441,00

COMP CONSUMABLES R - R - R -

COMP HRDWR < R15,000 R - R - R -

CONFERENCE REG R 5 000,00 R - R -

ENTERTAINMENT R - R - R -

EQUIPMENT < R 15,000 R 2 617,00 R 1 253,20 R -

EQUIPMENT HIRE R 1 400,00 R - R -

FEES/BONUSES PERM R - R - R -

FUEL PURCHASES R 160,15 R 1 000,00 R 500,00

FUNCTIONS R 999,90 R 4 200,00 R -

GIFTS & PRESENT. R - R 8 962,34 R -

HEALTH SERV & SUPP R - R - R -

HIRE OF FAC/EQU/CLTH R - R - R -

INS - MOTOR R - R - R -

INV INCOME XFER DR R - R - R -

JAMMIE SHUTTLE CORE R - R - R -

LICENCES M/V R - R - R 816,50

30 | P a g e


LINEN R - R - R -

MATER & CONSUM R - R - R -

OFFICE & EQUIP MOVES R - R - R -

OTHER INT CHRGS R - R - R -

OVERTIME FXD TM R - R - R -

OVERTIME PERM R - R - R -

P/COPIER RENTAL R - R 2 736,00 R 2 736,00

PAPER REAMS R - R 2 149,47 R -

PHOTOCOPY & PRINTING R 18 997,68 R 679,20 R 19 859,39

PHOTOGRAPHS R 4 424,89 R 4 500,03 R 14 077,63

POSTAGE & DEL FEES R - R - R -

PUBLICATION - DESIGN R - R - R -

R&M - BUILDINGS R 50,00 R 65,00 R 2 065,00

R&M - ELECTRICAL R - R - R -

R&M - FURN & EQUIP R - R - R -

R&M - MOTOR VEHICLES R - R - R 11 455,31

REFRESHMENTS R 7 008,84 R 7 741,59 R 16 793,20

RE-IMB THRD PART R - R - R -

S&T ADVANCES R - R - R -

SECURITY - SERVICES R - R - R -

SECURITY - SYSTEMS R - R - R -

STATIONRY & OFF CONS R 4 085,45 R - R 2 315,09

SUBS & AFFIL R - R - R -

SUBS & TRVL (LOC) R - R - R -

TEACHING CONSULTING R - R 1 000,00 R -

TELECOM INSTAL COSTS R - R - R -

TELECOM RENTALS R 7 415,00 R 5 430,00 R 4 290,00

TELEPHONE CALLS R 6 528,22 R 4 699,13 R 5 539,27

TRAVEL TICKET(LOCAL) R - R - R 12 513,33

TRVL ANCILLARY LOCAL R - R 885,00 R 1 030,00

TRVL CAR HIRE (LOC R - R - R 796,09

VENUE HIRE R - R - R -

PLANTS & SHRUBS R - R - R -

31 | P a g e


Forecasts Time-series analysis has been done on our current expenditure to date in order to best analyse

whether to are on track to meet our budgetary goals. All forecasts were done at the 95%

confidence level. The results of this analysis can be shown below for Operational Expenditure,

in Figure 6: Operational Expenditure Time-Series Forecast:

Figure 6: Operational Expenditure Time-Series Forecast

From this forecast we predict an operational expenditure of R 127 798,34 with an upper bound

of R 212 818,38, at the 95% confidence level. With this we can say with certainty that we are

on track to achieving our operational expenditure targets.

Further analysis was on our total expenditure under the same assumptions. The results to

this investigation can be found below in Figure 7: Expenditure Time-Series Forecast:

Figure 7: Expenditure Time-Series Forecast

R-

R50 000,00

R100 000,00

R150 000,00

R200 000,00

R250 000,00

Values Forecast Lower Confidence Bound Upper Confidence Bound

0

100000

200000

300000

400000

500000

600000

700000

20

10

/11

/01

20

11

/01

/01

20

11

/03

/01

20

11

/05

/01

20

11

/07

/01

20

11

/09

/01

20

11

/11

/01

20

12

/01

/01

20

12

/03

/01

20

12

/05

/01

20

12

/07

/01

20

12

/09

/01

20

12

/11

/01

20

13

/01

/01

20

13

/03

/01

20

13

/05

/01

20

13

/07

/01

20

13

/09

/01

20

13

/11

/01

20

14

/01

/01

20

14

/03

/01

20

14

/05

/01

20

14

/07

/01

20

14

/09

/01

20

14

/11

/01

20

15

/01

/01

20

15

/03

/01

20

15

/05

/01

20

15

/07

/01

20

15

/09

/01

20

15

/11

/01

20

16

/01

/01

20

16

/03

/01

20

16

/05

/01

20

16

/07

/01

20

16

/09

/01


32 | P a g e


From this forecast we predict our total expenditure for our term of office to be of R 352 146,59

with an upper bound of R 639 102,32, at the 95% confidence level.

This forecast was then performed again, using expenditure from just the previous two SRC

terms of office, as shown in Figure 8: Expenditure Time-Series Forecast since 2014. This was

done in order to better account for inflationary factors and changes in income which took place

in previous years. From this we forecast R 477 705.83 worth of expenses which appears

exactly on target and within our means.

Figure 8: Expenditure Time-Series Forecast since 2014

With only 4 months of expenditure with which to make these forecasts it remains difficult to

say with certainty exactly the exactly where we are heading. At the moment, from the forecasts

provided, we anticipate to come slightly under budget, however, with our sub-structures

constituted we believe that project-based expenditure will pick up and we will remain on track.

R-

R100 000,00

R200 000,00

R300 000,00

R400 000,00

R500 000,00

R600 000,00

R700 000,00

R800 000,00


33 | P a g e


6. Projects of Strategic Importance

SRC Assistance and Plaza Funds

Amount raised by previous SRC Corporate Relations and Fundraising Officer

At the time of sitting of the SRC Assistance Fund Committee, held on the 2 February

2016, R410540.00 had been collected by debtors for distribution to applicants.

This had been raised thanks to the tireless work of Greg Keal, the 2015 SRC Corporate

Relations and Fundraising Officer, and Christine Immenga, the DSA and Faculty

Council Coordinator in the sale of Plaza spaces to corporates and other such

initiatives.

Improvements to form

This year serious improvements were made to the application form in relation to the

declaration of parent/guardian financial position, as well as their income, with the idea

of being both more inclusive of the diversity of students on campus and being more

clear.

Redress categories outlined in the form were also amended to best capture student

gender-identity- as this was an issue in the past, and disability, which had never before

been a factor.

This year, the form was also, for the first time, made publically accessible to students

through the froms.uct.ac.za portal.

Improvements to process

The processes used by the Assistance Fund were massively improved. This year, as

proposed by Busisiwe, the committee provided individual recommendations and

comments to all the applicants.

We also massively improved the turnaround-time for emailing students with the results

of their applications, which was done in under 48hrs to all 167 applicants.

This was greatly received by all those who applied and was applauded by staff at

Finance Aid.

Outcomes of SRC Assistance Fund

On the 3 February 2016, the SRC Assistance Fund Committee sat to review

applications received for the period ended 22 January 2016.

The committee went through an exhaustive process, having received close to 160

applications, with outstanding debt ranging from R1 500 to R 150 000. The meeting

lasted close to eight hours, after which the funds agree to be allocated were completely

depleted.

By the end of the meeting present felt confident in the decisions made, mechanisms

used and that idea that the greatest number of students were assisted.

34 | P a g e


Sadly, due to the size of the fund, which holds R R4 10540.00, only 30 applications

were helped. The decision of the meeting has been communicated back to members

of the Students’ Representative Council, who remain happy in the process followed.

All decisions were made in consultation with Sindisiwe Ntshongwana, the head of

Financial Aid, and other staff members of her office- who support the decisions made.

Projections

During the time of the vacation committee, an initial investigation was done into the

ideal capacity of Plaza Revenue, shown below in Table 3: Ideal Projects of Plaza

Revenue.

These projections were done under the assumption that the SRC were able to sell

every spot available on every available day, with no room for societies, sports or other

student activities.

Although these projections, by their nature, provide an unrealistic forecast as to the

revenues of Plaza, they do give some idea of the potential plaza has in helping

students.

Table 3: Ideal Projects of Plaza Revenue

Day Details

Zone 1 + Sounds slot (Thur)

Zone 1 (Mon-Wed,Fri)

Zone 2

Zone 3

Zone 4

Zone 5

Zone 6

Zone 7

Zone 8

Zone 9

Zone 10

Details R199,50

0.00

Thursdays, 12:45-13:45 12mx18m

6mx16m

9mx9m

9mx9m

4mx6m

4mx6m

9mx9m

9mx9m

9mx21m

9mx21m

Ideal Capacity

R4,847,500.00

R700,000.00

R336,000.00

R423,500.00

R423,500.00

R423,500.00

R423,500.00

R423,500.00

R423,500.00

R423,500.00

R423,500.00

R423,500.00

Practical Capacity

Total

(*)Assume shifted Consolidation and Exam Times R0.00 R0.00 R0.00 R0.00 R0.00 R0.00 R0.00 R0.00

R0.00 R0.00 R0.00

Price R30,000

.00 R28,000

.00 R3,500.0

0 R3,50

0.00 R3,50

0.00 R3,50

0.00 R3,50

0.00 R3,50

0.00 R3,50

0.00

R3,500.0

0 R3,500.

00 R3,50

0.00

Risks

In achieve, our Plaza Revenue Targets for year, the most notable risk which has come

to the fore has been political action.

35 | P a g e


As much as we may applaud the action which has taken place on campus as an SRC,

we must also be wary of the fears voiced by corporate’s on campus who have begun

pulling out, or moving slots, from Plaza Bookings.

This has had a serious impact on both sales and the marketability of Plaza- we will be

following this issue closely and trying our best to work on the relationships we have

with various companies as best as possible.

Recommendations

A number of strategies remain available to improving the value and revenues from

Plaza, these are as follows:

a. Advertising

In the past, Plaza has received very little advertising to corporate’s. We hold

strongly that we have an incredible differentiated and marketable advertising

platform for corporates.

During the vacation, the Vacation Committee, tried using a mailings-list to existing

corporates we have sold to in the past 3 years. This was well received and might

be a potential avenue to look into further this year.

b. Coordinate Packages

A number of current and former staff have recommended coordinating with other

organizations which offer advertising space, either in newspaper or online. This

would decrease the time it takes as is and could pose massive to all organization

interested in getting involved.

c. Automate Bookings and Sales

Following the recommendation of last year’s Corporate Relations and Fundraising

Chair, we have also begun, during the Vacation looking into methods of automatic

the booking process, allowing us to better manage and facility a higher capacity of

bookings using our current resources.

Further work needs to be done in the regard, before any commitment is made, but

it is clear room for growth remains.

36 | P a g e


#FundingFutures Campaign

Goals

Although not in the scope of this report, the SRC #FundingFutures Campaign,

formed out of response to the crisis among students unable to register due to

outstanding fee debt. Although many of these students are covered under the

ordinary Financial Aid Appeals processes, issues persist regarding funding for

postgraduate and international students, and so this remained a key pressure point

driving the campaign.

Projections

At our initial strategy meeting, initial revenue streams and goals were set. These were

later extrapolated in to a rough day-by-day breakdown, under consultation, into our

goals for each day of the campaign.

These projections can be found below in Table 4: #FundingFutures Fundraising

Goals:

Table 4: #FundingFutures Fundraising Goals

Day 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8

Total

0

Total

Wednesday, 03

February 2016

Thursday, 04

February 2016

Friday, 05

February

2016

Saturday, 06

February 2016

Sunday, 07

February 2016

Monday, 08

February 2016

Tuesday, 09

February 2016

Wednesday, 10

February 2016

Percent (excluding Dr Max donation)

100% 5% 15% 15% 10% 5% 20% 20% 10%

Fundraising Target

R 1 000 000.00

R 192 500.00

R 127 500.00

R 127 500.00

R 85 000.00

R 42 500.00

R 170 000.00

R 170 000.00

R 85 000.00

R 1 000 000.00

Profit

R 1 000 000.00

R 192 500.00

R 127 500.00

R 127 500.00

R 85 000.00

R 42 500.00

R 170 000.00

R 170 000.00

R 85 000.00

R 1 000 000.00

Rolling Profit

R 192 500.00

R 320 000.00

R 447 500.00

R 532 500.00

R 575 000.00

R 745 000.00

R 915 000.00

R 1 000 000.00

Margin R -

R -

R -

R -

R -

R -

R -

R -

R -

R -

Revenue

R 1 000 000.00

R 192 500.00

R 127 500.00

R 127 500.00

R 85 000.00

R 42 500.00

R 170 000.00

R 170 000.00

R 85 000.00

R 1 000 000.00

37 | P a g e


Phonathon

R 250 000.00

R 12 500.00

R 37 500.00

R 37 500.00

R 25 000.00

R 12 500.00

R 50 000.00

R 50 000.00

R 25 000.00

R 250 000.00

Dr Price Donation

R 150 000.00

R 150 000.00

R 150 000.00

Staff Donations

R 150 000.00

R 7 500.00

R 22 500.00

R 22 500.00

R 15 000.00

R 7 500.00

R 30 000.00

R 30 000.00

R 15 000.00

R 150 000.00

Box Donations Drive

R 50 000.00

R 2 500.00

R 7 500.00

R 7 500.00

R 5 000.00

R 2 500.00

R 10 000.00

R 10 000.00

R 5 000.00

R 50 000.00

Corperates and members of the Public

R 400 000.00

R 20 000.00

R 60 000.00

R 60 000.00

R 40 000.00

R 20 000.00

R 80 000.00

R 80 000.00

R 40 000.00

R 400 000.00

Box Donors (with R20 Average Donation)

2500 125 375 375 250 125 500 500 250

Expenses

Posters

R 500.00

Stickers

R 2 500.00

Financial Policy and Procedural Changes

In order to facilitate a campaign of this size and operational magnitude, it was decided

and presented to members the need for a separate fund in order to properly track,

control and report on funds raised. Although the aim of a self-sustaining campaign,

was intended, an initial start-up budget of R10 000 was taken out of the SRC Operating

Funding in order fund the posters, stickers and other items needed for the campaign.

Limitations

A number of limitations presented themselves during the course of the campaign,

some organizational and others political. However, one of the greatest challenges

faces was in-fact the time frame over which the campaign took place.

At UCT, campaigns of this size can take months to plan and will be executed of the

period of an entire semester- we had two weeks.

This presented challenges to the campaign, primarily in terms of the collection of

money in time for an initial distribution.

At the time of the first distribution of the campaign, less than a week had gone by since

of the end of the campaign, and with the stress experienced by the Alumni and

38 | P a g e


Development Office, at that time only R17 000 had been processed and deposited into

the fund. Thankfully, some money not claimed by students from the Assistance Fund

at this time and so was able to be redistributed to students, but with larger debts than

the assistance fund, only a small number of students were able to be assisted.

Amount raised

From the Phone-a-thon alone, pledges of roughly R160 000 were given by Alumni of

the University.

As of the 29 February 2016, over R40 000 had been collected, processed and

deposited into the fund of the SRC #FundingFutures Campaign, with an additional

roughly R10 000 being processed in the first week of March.

Since then, a number of large and respectable donation have come in from members

of the Senior Leadership Group of the University, most notably the R150 000 from Dr

Max Price.

From recent correspondence from Cindy De Oliveira, the Individual Giving Assistant

at the Department of Student Affairs who helped manage the campaign, donations

process this far can be broken up as follows:

SLG members donated a total of R6 000

VC ‘s donation R150 000

Council member R 1000

Alumni R 55 562

She iterated that a number of Donations still need to be processed over the coming

month, which will be reported on as best as possible.

In addition to these provide donations of close to a quarter-of-a-million Rand, recent

events have transpired which put us in good stead for a large donation of close to R2

million from Old Mutual, which should materialize of the coming week.

39 | P a g e


Conclusions

It remains clear that although difficulties were faced in the campaign, a huge amount

of value was reaped from the work put in the SRC members and members of the

student body.

This has and will translate to substantive benefits to students at the university both at

the University this year and hoping to register next year. Decisions still need to be

made regarding the processes under which certain portions of this money are

distributed, but as usual consultation with students will remain a key drive in our

mission of reimagining this institution and all its facets.

Recommendations

We recommend, as this Campaign continues into the year, that greater time is given

for preparation and planning.

This was one of the greatest drawbacks of the campaign, but one we remain clear

we can work on into the year.

There is No Excuse Campaign

Process for allocations

Allocations of Emergency Budget, are done for projects in which the needs of students

and the need for SRC action are clear, and where the project could not have been

reasonable foreseen.

In the case of the There is No Excuse Campaign, initiative began on the campaign in

response to the rise in cases of sexual assault on campus and so every condition for

Emergency Budget was met.

It was the decision of the SRC Finance Committee that in relation to the Emergency

Budget, expenses below R 1000 would be passed by the Treasurer General, while

expenses above that would have to brought via email to the SRC Finance Committee

and a twenty-four-hour window given for a quorum to be reached- except in exceptional

circumstances.

Two such expenses sent via these different channels were the art supplies for the

campaign and the stickers for the campaign, which were successfully granted and

together amounted to roughly R 2 500.

Issue arising

A matter arose during the course of the campaign in relation the purchase of t-shirts.

Tasks were assigned to direct members of the SRC and our substructures in relation

to the operations of the campaign. One such task, the procurement of t-shirts was

handed off to a member of our substructures.

Initially at this early stage of planning a number of targets were set in relation to the

campaign and it was decided, by the three SRC members present at this first meeting,

40 | P a g e


chairs and other members of the faculty councils and Patriarchy Must Fall (PMF) that

a desires quantity of 100 shirts should be pursued.

A supplier was contacted for the close to R 10 000 worth of t-shirts were approved

almost immediately. In the procurement process,

i. the quote and invoice were approved by the student without it being

presented to a member of the SRC, a reasonable assumption to be

made prior to final approval,

ii. this quote had circumvented the rules of Student Treasury which

require quotes over R 1 000 be accompanied purchase orders prior to

them being approved,

iii. the quote was also attained incorrectly, and did not meet the standards

required Student Treasury in order to be processed by the SRC and

was made out to their substructure, not their parent body.

During the course of the investigation into this expenditure, over 30 items of evidence

and testimony were gathered from persons involved in the campaign. Through the

evidence gathered, it came to light that not only had this member of our substructure

received training on the processes in approving quotes from Asanda Makumese, of

Student Treasury, but, in fact, the protocols in place by the SRC were similar to that

experiences in their very own substructure.

It is clear that had due process been followed this expense would never have been

incurred. It also remains clear from discussion with various party’s that the intension

never existed for the SRC to cover the entire expense and in fact that had spoken

regularly about contacting other organizations and structures at UCT about funding the

shirts.

Decisions of SRC Finance Committee

On the 7 March 2016, the ample evidence was presented SRC Finance Committee for

debate on this matter.

From the testimony provided, it was clear that the substructure would not be able to

pay for the entire price of the hoodies. At this meeting, it was made clear that any

support given would be given due to the belief the SRC have in this campaign and on

the basis that some intention existed on the part of the SRC to contribute to this

campaign fairly.

The committee, consisting of non-SRC members from faculty councils, UCT

Committees and the SPMC, decision regarding this matter has been made and are in

the process of being further discussed with the parties involved.

It was the decision of this committee that, on the basis of the evidence provided, that

this matter would have to be sent to the SRC Conduct Review and Recommendation

Committee (CRRC), for further action to be taken. It is clear that more work need to

be done investigating both the conduct of the substructures involved, as well as the

SRC members heading up the campaign. It is however, clear that such an

investigation would be outside on the scope of this committee.

41 | P a g e


Recommendation to CRRC

The recommendation to the CRRC, has be received and a case opened. This matter

will be put up for discussion at the first sitting of this body, for any further action to be

taken.

If following this outcome, the decision of the SRC Finance Committee needs to be

reviewed, it will do so. But in the mind of the Finance Committee, this issue remains

clear in line with both our scope and principles regarding budget allocation.

42 | P a g e


7. Strategic Goals for year-ahead

SRC Finance Committee Over the remaining eight months of our term in office the SRC Finance Committee remains a

key vehicle for driving strategic and decisive action by the SRC.

In this time, the SRC Finance Committee has already begun work reviewing the processes in

place in managing and accounting for SRC expenditure.

A working group has been setup to reviewing the financial policy of the SRC in relation to the

conduct of members, and this looks to bearing fruit for the SRC as a structure for years to

come.

The committee also looks to putting in place a number of important internal mechanisms for

handling money in the SRC, to ensure accountability.

Asset Register Under the recommendation of the DSA Finance Manager, it remains a clear goal that an asset register

be drawn up to allow for greater control, management, security and accountability of SRC assets, like

computer hardware and office furniture.

This is currently a low priority and long-term goal, but one we believe in none-the-less.

SRC Crisis Fund We look to better formalizing the SRC Crisis Fund. In years past a draft application form was produced

but never passed.

In the status quo managing the allocation of this fund has proven difficult without a clear form, which

highlights the role of the fund and the conditions for successful award. This would allow us to better

allocate this money to deserving candidates and, importantly, speed up the time taken in allocating

this money.

SRC Fee Proposal Work has begun already towards the SRC Fee Proposal. A team of predominantly postgraduate and

latter year students in relevant fields has been put together.

Already we have begun work sourcing data and meeting with key staff for access to key research and

institutional knowledge on the matter. At this stage it remains too early to report exactly on the

status of this work.

43 | P a g e


FINANCIAL REPORTS

Preamble No specific requirement remains in place for the kinds of reports deemed material to students

with regard to SRC Financing. Long discussions have taken place with members of the UCT

Finance Department and SRC Finance Committee regarding the requirements of our users

and it has been deemed that management accounts and income statements would be

considered most relevant.

It is to be noted, however that the production of SRC Income Statements remains difficult, as

the SRC term-of-office straddle UCT Financial Years and so reports have to be reconstructed

as best as possible.

Consolidated Income Statement Below, in Table 5: SRC Consolidated Income Statement, you will find a consolidated income statement

of all the SRC Funds. Although, it is difficult to determine the value line items, such as deprecation

hold to users it was decided that this would be included in this report for members of Student

Parliament.

In the future we have already begun discussion with the UCT Finance Department about improving

the kinds of reports we can provide and better formalizing and speeding-up the process by which we

can get access to these reports from SAP.

Table 5: SRC Consolidated Income Statement

Cost element/group November December January February Total

DONATIONS

R -

R 40 100,00

R 40 100,00

GRANTS, CONTRACTS & DONATIONS

R -

R 40 100,00

R 40 100,00

SALES OF GOODS & SERVICES

R 12 263,16

R 16 260,70 R 53 947,38 R 3 865,06

R 86 336,30

EXTERNAL SALES & COST RECOVERIES

R 12 263,16

R 16 260,70 R53 947,38 R 3 865,06

R 86 336,30

INTERNAL TRANSFERS-CREDIT excl charges

R -

R -

R 443 551,20

R -

R 443 551,20

INTERNAL SALES & RECOVERIES

R -

R -

R 443 551,20

R -

R 443 551,20

Total Revenue R 12 263,16

R 16 260,70

R 497 498,58

R 43 965,06

R 569 987,50

ADVERTISING COSTS -R 3 420,60 -R 2 675,00 -R -

-R - -R 6 095,60

44 | P a g e


CATERING & FUNCTIONS

-R 3 814,00 -R 7 430,30

-R -

-R 4 177,30

-R 15 421,60

PHOTOCOPYING & PRINTING

-R 910,27 -R 797,03

-R -

-R 1 493,27 -R 3 200,57

STATIONERY -R -

-R -

-R -

-R 811,60 -R 811,60

TELEPHONE & FAX

-R 3 647,57

-R 1 859,13

-R 4 322,57

-R 3 744,64

-R 13 573,91

ADMIN & OPERATING COSTS

-R 13 997,44

-R 18 075,09

-R 14 322,57

-R 10 226,81

-R 56 621,91

TRANSPORT -R 6 215,31

-R -

-R -

-R 6 556,50

-R 12 771,81

TRAVEL & SUBSISTENCE

-R 27 941,41

-R 39 040,01

-R 10 176,00

-R 600,00

- R 77 757,42

TRANSPORT, TRAVEL & SUBSISTENCE

-R 34 156,72

-R 39 040,01

-R 10 176,00

-R 7 156,50

- R 90 529,23

SAFETY & SECURITY

-R -

-R -

-R -

-R - -R -

REPAIRS & MAINTENANCE

-R 675,00

-R -

-R -

-R 1 390,00

-R 2 065,00

SPACE RELATED RENTALS

-R -

-R -

-R -

-R - -R -

INFRASTRUCTURE, MAINT, REPAIRS & SPACE

-R 675,00

-R -

-R -

-R 1 390,00

- R 2 065,00

ASSETS -R -

-R - -R -

-R - - R -

ASSETS & CAPITAL PROJECTS

-R - -R - -R - -R - - R -

INTERNAL TRF - DEBIT

-R -

-R -

-R 340 000,00

-R 15 000,00

-R 355 000,00

OTHER COSTS -R -

-R -

-R 340 000,00

-R 15 000,00

-R 355 000,00

Total Costs -R 48 829,16

-R 57 115,10

-R 364 498,57

- R 33 773,31

-R 504 216,14

Recur Oper Target (ROT)

-R 36 566,00

-R 40 854,40

R 133 000,01

R 10 191,75

R 65 771,36

DEPRECIATION -R 359,10

- R 359,10

-R 359,10

-R -

-R 1 077,30

Non-ROT Costs/Rev

-R 359,10

-R 359,10

-R 359,10

-R -

-R 1 077,30

Surplus(-)/Shortfall

- R 36 925,10

-R 41 213,50

R 132 640,91

R 10 191,75

R 64 694,06

45 | P a g e


REFERENCES

Epstein, M.J. & Buhovac, A.R. 2009. Performance Measurement of Non-Profit Organizations.

Investopedia. n.d. Zero-Based Budgeting. Available: http://www.investopedia.com/terms/z/zbb.asp [2015, November 31].

46 | P a g e


APPENDIXES Appendix I: SRC Budget Proposal Form for period 1 February -30 April

2016

47 | P a g e


48 | P a g e


49 | P a g e


50 | P a g e


51 | P a g e


52 | P a g e


53 | P a g e


54 | P a g e


Appendix II: SRC Travel Budget Proposal Form

55 | P a g e


56 | P a g e


57 | P a g e


Documents

FINANCE REPORT...Zero-based budgeting “Zero-based budgeting (ZBB) is a method of budgeting in which all expenses must be justified for each new period. Zero-based budgeting starts