Finances

Our accountants, Abunnur and Tracy, are here to help your organization be successful! They are available each weekday from 9:00 am to 4:00 pm.

Below are the most commonly used financial forms:

Registered Student Organization Financial Guidelines
Purchase Request Forms for Below $100 and Above $100
RSO Reimbursement Forms for Below $100 and Above $100
Travel Services/Vehicle Request
Invoice for Services - this form is used when an RSO is paying someone, student or non-student, for services that they are going to perform.
International Student Payment: must submit Alien Collection form, W-8BEN, copies of their visa, passport copy, I-94 and work authorization.
W-9 Form (updated 2023)

If you have any questions, feel free to email, call or stop by the Office of Student Engagement!

Financial Guidelines

Hours of Operation: Weekdays 8:30 to 4pm with limited services on Wednesdays

If you don’t know the answer to something, please ask!
General contact info RSOAcct@siu.eduu
Tracy Lake email: tlake@siu.edu Phone 618-453-2521
Abdelmonaem Abunnur abunnur@siu.edu Phone 618-453-7528

Tax Status

RSOs are not part of the University therefore and ARE NOT TAX EXEMPT
RSOs CANNOT use the University’s tax status as a Non-Profit for the purpose of soliciting donations from companies. They can use their own if they have one, or their state or national chapters tax info. If a donor would like to make a tax deductible donation the have to go trough the Foundation to make the donation. Those donations can be made at give.siu.edu/campaigns/53320/donations/new
RSOs are not able to contract using SIU’s status or utilize SIU’s insurance coverage

Depositing Funds into Account

We accept cash, check or credit card purchases anytime we are open
- Credit cards will be charged a fee if the RSO cannot cover the fee
Checks should be made out to SIU and then your RSO name
Transfer Vouchers – this method is used when SIU departments are donating money to your organization, have the departments accountant email this document to rsoacct@siu.edu
No online cash apps can be used without incurring tax consequences. RSOs who need to utilize an electronic form of payment can sign out a wireless card reader from our office. It must be returned each
Credit card machines can be reserved in Saluki Connects website by choosing forms on the dashboard and filling out the resource checkout form.
Anyone wanting to give a donation to an RSO and they would like a tax receipt will have special handling. Since RSOs are not part of SIU, a donation given to the RSO directly will not be considered a charitable donation. In order to be tax deductible, the doner will have to make the donation to the SIU Foundation and designate it to the RSO that they would like to give it to. Please note that the Foundation is unable to give out donor information is prohibited, so if you have questions about donations please call one of our accountants. The funds are distributed once a month from the Foundation to the RSO by check. The payment will be minus a 6% processing fee The link for donations can be found on the home page of the getinvolved.siu.edu website: give.siu.edu/campaigns/53320/donations/new

Type of Funds - Restricted vs. Unrestricted

All accounts have a 5-year rule – activity must happen in the account within a 5-year period or all funds will be forfeited. Activity can be a deposit, purchase, transfer, etc.
Unrestricted funds are any funds that the RSO deposits on their own. This can include fundraising money, dues, donations, etc.
Restricted funds are any funds given to the RSO from USG or other source where the funds can only be used for a particular purpose. USG funds not used before June 15th in the school year the funds were given will be lost and removed from your account
GPSC funds are unrestricted funds

How to Spend Money from RSO Accounts

RSO must be in good standing with the Office of Student Engagement and campus to make purchases.
RSOs in the Dawg House will not be allowed to spend money or reserve space until the offense is corrected
PCard (Credit Card) – can be used for most things that can be purchased online or with a credit card. RSO must come into the office in order to place their order
Check – Reimbursements, payments of Donations, and taxable income payments must be made by check. Checks can take up to 4 to 6 weeks to process, so you must think ahead in order to process a payment with this method
Reimbursement – items that cannot be purchased with a check or online can be reimbursed.
- Reimbursements must have a detailed receipt
- Food receipts must be detailed and cannot be a summary
- Printouts from a checking/debit or card account cannot be used as proof of purchase
- All items paid for with link card/food stamps CANNOT be reimbursed by law
- Reimbursements are paid by check or put into debit dawg account
- Checks can take up to 4-6 weeks, Debit Dawg 1-2 weeks
Transfer Voucher – this method is used to pay or reimburse other SIU departments. In order to do this, we must have detailed receipts of what is being reimbursed and the department accountant should email the documentation
Car Rentals – must go through the Office of Student Engagement and Enterprise and require an itinerary of the trip and copies of the license for each driver. Must give at least a one week notice to book
Taxable Income – payments to DJs, Entertainers, Photographers, Speakers, Choreographers, Graphic Designers, etc. are taxable income and will generate a 1099 at the end of the year. These items must be paid by check and require tax paperwork in order to pay.
Printing- our office will print up to 50 full color copies of any 8x11 flyer once a week. There is no cost for this printing these. If additional copies are needed copies will be printed through Printing and Duplicating. This can be done by coming to our office with the electronic file of what you want printed.

Purchase Approvals

Items Under $100 – require an RSO officer to approve
Items Over $100 – requires an RSO officer and your adviser to approve
- Adviser approvals can be on the form or by email but must be in writing
- You cannot fill out a stack of under $100 forms to get around this rule. If the total of the purchase/reimbursement to one vendor/student exceeds $100 you will need Adviser approval
Reimbursements to an officer cannot be approved by the same officer who is being paid

Prohibited/Restricted Items: items that have restrictions

Gift Cards cannot be purchased or reimbursed
Printing cannot be paid for from an off-campus vendor, must use Printing and Duplicating. See the accountant to place an order
Car Rentals cannot be paid for with a pcard and must be booked through the RSO accountant
Parking Tickets, Toll Booth fees, and Fines cannot be paid for by Credit card and cannot be reimbursed
Insurance cannot be purchased but can be reimbursed
Wearing apparel with logos is restricted to Silkworm only if we pay for it, otherwise it must be a reimbursement
Alcohol is prohibited and cannot be purchased
Flowers can only be purchased for events and not for individuals
Gifts, Raffle items, Bingo items or Prizes are prohibited due to state and local laws

International Student payment requirements

All international employees and student workers need to complete their Sprintax Calculus accounts immediately upon receiving their invitation email. The email will come from noreply@sprintax.com and may be in their Spam/Junk folder. If they have not received an invitation, they need to e-mail intltax@siu.edu requesting an invitation.
- The invitation email will contain the subject line: “{{ firstName }}, welcome to Southern Illinois University Sprintax Calculus.”
Students should log in using their SIU email address (do NOT select “campus” while logging in or they will receive an error), complete all required questions, and download, sign, and upload all requested documents with signature.
This step is mandatory to ensure proper tax withholding and compliance with IRS regulations. No income payments can be processed until this process has been completed.