To assign financial accountability and define limits on delegated financial signing authority.

Transcription

1 Title Number Category Financial Signing Authority C1002 Finance 1. PURPOSE To assign financial accountability and define limits on delegated financial signing authority. 2. DEFINITIONS Budget Officer: An individual responsible for developing the budget, monitoring the financial performance, and overseeing the operations of an organization. Contracts: Legal agreements binding the College. Executive: President, Vice Presidents, and Associate Vice President, Human Resources. Executive Budget Officer: A member of the Executive to whom a Budget Officer reports, either directly or indirectly via a Senior Budget Officer. Organization: An operating unit of the College. Senior Budget Officer: A Budget Officer to whom subordinate Budget Officers report. Budget Officer signature sheet: a standard form containing a sample signature of a Budget Officer, approved by the applicable Executive Budget Officer. 3. AUTHORITY 3.1 Related Acts and Regulations B.C College and Institute Act Related Policies Financial Purchasing Signing Authority: Designates 4. RELATIONSHIPS WITH COLLECTIVE AGREEMENTS Not Applicable

2 Page 2 5. POLICY General 5.1 The President or Vice President, Administration and Finance may delegate financial signing authority and responsibility for an organization to an Executive Budget Officer. 5.2 An Executive Budget Officer may delegate financial signing authority and responsibility for each organization assigned to them. 5.3 Each organization will have one Budget Officer as authorized by the applicable Executive Budget Officer (see Appendix 2). 5.4 Budget Officers may not approve their own expense claims. Expenditures 5.5 Budget Officers will process all expenditure requests in accordance with College purchasing procedures. 5.6 When a Budget Officer will be absent from the College, an alternate signing authority may be delegated. The alternate signing authority will require approval of the applicable Executive Budget Officer and must be reported to the Director of Financial Services or delegate. Where no such arrangements have been made, authority will move to the next most Senior Budget Officer. 5.7 Contracts obligating the College can only be executed by the President or the Vice President, Administration and Finance. 5.8 The President or Vice President, Administration and Finance may authorize the use of College-developed standardized contracts within a service area. Once authorized, these standardized contracts may be approved by the authorized Executive Budget Officer. These standardized contract terms cannot be altered unless authorized in writing by the President or Vice President, Administration and Finance. 5.9 Contracts for the purchase of goods and services by the College must be processed in accordance with the College Purchasing Policy. Where a written contract is required in addition to or instead of a Purchase Order, it can only be executed by the President or the Vice President, Administration and Finance Only the President or Vice President, Administration and Finance can approve lease agreements Budget Officers may only approve expenditures within the limits of approval (see Appendices) and may not exceed amounts that in aggregate exceed the organization budget.

3 Page Budget reallocations must be approved in writing by the Executive Budget Officer and the Budget Officers responsible for the organizations involved A Budget Officer s signature is required for an approval of all transactions obligating the College for purchases. 6. GUIDELINES/STANDARDS Not applicable. 7. EXCEPTIONS Not applicable. 8. PROCEDURES 8.1 The Director of Financial Services or delegate will maintain an internally published listing of Budget Officers based upon the current organizational structure. 8.2 The Executive Budget Officer responsible for each organization will immediately communicate any changes in Budget Officers to the Director of Financial Services or delegate. 9. RESPONSIBILITY For inquiries about this policy, contact the Vice President, Administration and Finance. 10. APPENDICES Appendix 1: Limits of Approval. Appendix 2: Roles and Responsibilities of Budget Officers History/Revision Origination Date March 10, 2009 Amendment Date(s) March 19, 2015 Next Review Date [3 years after date of approval]

4 Page 4 APPENDIX 1 Limits of Approval Expenditures within Budget Amount Category Authority Up to $10,000 Goods and Services Budget Officer $10,001 to $35,000 IT related services Associate Director, Operations Associate Director, Development Associate Director, Product Management $10,001 to $50,000 Bookstore items for Supervisor, Bookstore Operations resale $10,001 to $100,000 Goods and Services Executive Budget Officer Chief Information Officer Director, Facilities $10,001 to $100,000 Copyright Licenses Chief Information Officer $100,001 to the total organizational budget Goods and Services Executive Budget Officer And one of: Vice President, Administration and Finance Over $500,000 Goods and Services Vice President, Administration and Finance and

5 Page 5 APPENDIX 2 Roles and Responsibilities of Budget Officers ROLES & RESPONSIBILITIES OF BUDGET OFFICERS In order to fulfil the role as the legislated signing authority for the College, the President has delegated signing authority to Executive Budget Officers, who in turn may delegate signing authority to a Budget Officer responsible for each operational unit of the College. A listing of the Budget Officers of the college is located at Budget Officer Hierarchy on the employee portal. Budget Officers may not further delegate signing authority without the written approval of a Senior Budget Officer. EXECUTIVE BUDGET OFFICERS Executive Budget Officers ensure that Budget Officers reporting to them fulfill their duties and also that the published listing of Budget Officers is accurate. To fulfill this role, their responsibilities are as follows: 1. Communicate immediately to the Director of Financial Services any changes to Budget Officers within organizations assigned to them; 2. Ensure that the published listing of Budget Officers reflects the current organizational structure; 3. Where appropriate, delegate the role of Budget Officer for organizations assigned to them; 4. Ensure that Budget Officers for organizations assigned to them fulfill their responsibilities. BUDGET OFFICERS The role of the Budget Officer, in addition to their other duties, is to ensure that commitments and expenditures made within their organization are consistent with the operating plan and within budget, while conforming to College Purchasing Policy. To fulfill this role Budget Officers responsibilities are as follows: 1. Assist in the development of the Budget; 2. Review requisitions, expense claims, invoices, contracts and personnel being charged to their organizations and authorize them when they are required for delivery of the operating plan and are consistent with the budget; 3. Monitor charges made to their organization and ensure that they do not exceed the budget; 4. Where budget reallocations are required, to obtain the Executive Budget Officer s approval and initiate those changes through the Director of Financial Services or their delegate. Where other Budget Officers may be affected their approval must also be obtained; 5. Periodically review expenditures for their organizations and ensure that all charges are complete, accurate, proper and are required for the delivery of the operating plan; 6. Where charges that may be excessive, incomplete, unknown, improper or inconsistent with the delivery of the operating plan have occurred in their organizations, to investigate them; 7. After investigation and where no satisfactory explanation can be obtained, to report them to the appropriate Budget Officer to whom they report; 8. Monitor revenues to ensure that they are completely recorded; 9. Report any significant excessive charges, unknown charges, or unusual transactions to their Executive Budget Officer and the Director of Financial Services. Where the

6 Page 6 Executive Budget Officer is the Vice President, Administration and Finance significant excessive charges, unknown charges, or unusual transactions must be reported to the President or their delegate. LIMITS OF APPROVAL Expenditures within the Budget may be approved by Budget Officers up to the following limits: Amount Category Authority Up to $10,000 Goods and Services Budget Officer $10,001 to $35,000 IT related services Associate Director, Operations Associate Director, Development Associate Director, Product Management $10,001 to $50,000 Bookstore items for Supervisor, Bookstore Operations resale $10,001 to $100,000 Goods and Services Executive Budget Officer Chief Information Officer Director, Facilities $10,001 to $100,000 Copyright Licenses Chief Information Officer $100,001 to the total organizational budget Goods and Services Executive Budget Officer And one of: Vice President, Administration and Finance Over $500,000 Goods and Services Vice President, Administration and Finance and CHANGING BUDGET OFFICERS Budget Officers may be changed by requesting the change and a Budget Officer Signature Sheet for approval through the Manager, Budget Analysis and Planning. The Budget Officer of record will be changed once the change has been authorized by the applicable Executive Budget Officer. For further information contact the Manager, Budget Analysis and Planning or the Director of Financial Services.