Payments and Reimbursements

FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT

The complete set of rules and regulations that Student Groups must follow with regards to their finances can be found within the 'Student Group Agreement' (see here), but some key points are also listed here:

• All Student Groups are provided with an allotted financial account by LSESU, and all funds collected by or on behalf of the Student Group must be paid into this account. Use of any other account or platform for collecting Student Grouop funds will be considered as unauthorised activity, and may result in disciplinary action.
• Student Groups can use the money they have available in this account to pay for things associated with their activities and events. It's also the central place where any income will be automatically deposited.
• Student Group funds collected via members, or provided by LSESU, must be spent primarily on the benefit of members / the LSE community, and be done so responsibly in line with LSESU’s charitable status. Use of these monies must not be limited to a minority of members / beneficiaries.
• Overall Student Group expenditure must also align with the aims and objectives outlined within its Constitution.
• We're unable to approve reimbursements of alcoholic spirits, unless they're a specific part of your Student Group's core activities and events.
• LSESU reserves the right to reject payment or reimbursement requests if they contravene its regulations or policies, or if the Student Group doesn’t have the available funds, in which case the individuals who incurred those costs would be personally liable.

STUDENT EXPENSES

Student Group members who have spent their own money on approved Club/Society activities may seek reimbursement, with the primary method for doing so being the Student Expenses platform:

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Reimbursements

As mentioned, the primary way for Clubs and Societies to get reimbursed is via the Student Expenses platform above, so that's the default method, but if there's an issue with certain claims being processed that way, or if there's another reason why an alternative method would be more suitable, you may be asked to complete a Payment Request Form instead. You can see how each of these work below:

PAYMENTS AND INVOICES

Sometimes (usually for larger payments to external individuals or suppliers), you'll need to make payments directly from your Student Group account. In order to do so, you'll need to request an invoice from them, and email it to your 'staff lead' for that particular activity/event, or centrally to su.societies@lse.ac.uk (Societies) / su.sport@lse.ac.uk (Sports Clubs).

• Invoices below £1000 can also be submitted via the Student Expenses platform instead, but you may not be able to initially (unless the supplier is already set up on our system) - if they're not, just send us the details via email.
   
• Invoices can be paid in a foreign currency, but please be aware that international transactions usually incur a fee, which will be charged to your Student Group.
   
• Invoices must be addressed to LSESU, not LSE, and include the name of your Student Group:
  • LSE Students' Union, Saw Swee Hock Student Centre, 1 Sheffield Street, London, WC2A 2AP
• Invoices must also include the following details in order to be eligible for processing:
  • Invoice Date and Number
  • Correct Total Fee Required
  • Supplier Name, Address, Email
  • Supplier's Bank Account Details
  • Overview and Dates of Services
  • Supplier's VAT Number (If Applicable)

Payment Timeframes

The LSESU's Finance team services the entire organisation, not just Student Groups, and as such (like most organisations), they work to a weekly payment run cycle. This is important to bear in mind when it comes to the planning of your activities and events, as you'll need to factor these payment timeframes in when considering what needs to be paid and by when. The same timeframes apply for reimbursements as well - see below:

• They key thing to note is that any payment requests or reimbursement claims we receive before 12pm on a given Monday, will then be paid (by the end of the day) on the following Monday, as long as they're approved (i.e. have the suitable evidence attached, can be afforded by the Club/Society based on their account balance).
• Anything received after this weekly deadline (i.e. on a Wednesday) won't be included on that week's payment run, so wouldn't be processed until the week after, for payment on the following Monday after that.
• The Monday deadline doesn't mean you can't submit claims on another day, as you can, because the team will be checking and approving them throughout the week anyway, so make sure you send anything through as soon as you can in order to avoid delays!