General Student Services Fund Budget Alterations
Last Updated: 6/30/2022
Budget Alteration Requests are used when an organization needs to move money within their budget to other areas to complete programming objectives.
A fully complete budget alteration includes two forms:
Before submitting, please review the Budget Alteration Policy.
All Budget Alterations must be submitted via the Budget Alteration Request Form. You will receive either an approval or denial regarding the budget alterations.
As a reminder, Budget Alterations must be done before Co-Sponsorships to ensure that you have the funds to co-sponsor an event.
Budget Alterations are due 3 weeks prior to the event you're requesting the movement of funds for.
Instructions
We always recommend starting with the Budget Alteration Request Narrative so you are clear on what exactly you're requesting and why. You want to be clear on the justification and how it meets your mission before you focus on the logistics of the movement of money.
- Instructions to complete the Budget Alteration Request Narrative are found within the document. The most important aspect is that if you're requesting an entirely new program that was not in your most recent eligibility and budget application, you absolutely must fill out the final page of the narrative document.
When it comes to the Budget Alteration Request Excel, the important thing is to think about what programs or salaries you're looking to move money between and making sure it meets the requirements of the Budget Alteration Policy. For example, you cannot move money from programming to salaries.
- The GSSF Budget Alterations Tab is going to be your "summary" to make sure your math is coming out correct and that the movement of money is accurate. If you're moving a total of money across several different lines into several different other lines, it can get confusing so this allows you to see it all laid out and make sure the total difference will be $0 so all of the altered money is accounted for.
- Any time you see a "difference" column, it will be auto-populating. This is showing you what the amount was before, what you're changing it to, and what the total difference is between those two amounts.
- "Existing Program Alterations" are for any programs that are in your most recent eligibility and budget application. If they exist there, you merely need to copy over the lines you're moving money between.
- "New Programs" are for programs that did not exist in your most recent eligibility and budget application. A common mistake is that people think the "new programs" is just the new movement of money and they will put existing programs on this tab. If you are putting a program here, you should make sure you've filled out the New Program questions in the Narrative.
- "Budget Alteration History" is important because it allows you to keep track of how many total budget alterations you've done. As a reminder, once you've reached a 10% total cumulative movement of money, the SSFC must approve all alterations you make thereafter. Each time you have an alteration approved, the SSFC Chair will send you your current history so it's easier for you to keep track.
If at any point you have questions or would like to walk through your first budget alteration with an ASM staff member, please email Abbie Wagaman-Hartzell: awagaman@wisc.edu