society audits
What is a society audit? Each term, the DSU reviews the financial records of every levied and faculty society. This is called an audit. Levied and faculty societies must be audited by the DSU to ensure that these societies are keeping proper financial records and to ensure fiscal responsibility at all levels of student governance.
Residence Council(s), Faculty and Levy societies audit directly with the DSU. Audits are carried out by the DSU VP of Finance and the Societies Coordinator. You will receive an email with further instructions at the beginning of each Audit period, but all info you will be needing should be here!
Constituent Societies audit directly with the Faculty Societies that reimburse their levies. To find out which Faculty Society you fall under, please scroll to the bottom of the page. The DSU cannot approve Audits for Constituent Societies.
General Interest Societies are not required to complete any Audits.
All audits should be submitted by your group’s Treasurer or VP of Finance and Operations. They can get trained to do so by signing up for Treasurer Training with the DSU VP of Finance.
How do audits work?
There are two auditing periods during the year. You must submit during each period.
▼ Fall Audit
This audit includes financial records from January 1 to August 31. If you didn’t submit in the previous term, you may be responsible for providing additional records.
If your audit is missing information, we will not issue your fees until we have collected all necessary information, so please ensure you read all documents and checklists carefully.
You must submit a complete and thorough audit by November 30 to receive your fees before winter break.
*We are not responsible for delays which are caused by incomplete audit submissions, so we advise that you submit your audit early.
▼ Winter Audit
This audit includes financial records from September 1 to December 31. If you didn’t submit in the previous term, you may be responsible for providing additional records.
If your audit is missing information, we will not issue your fees until we have collected all necessary information, so please ensure you read all documents and checklists carefully.
You must submit a complete and thorough audit BEFORE April 1 to receive your fees before September. We do not assess audits or issue fees over the summer! No exceptions will be made.
*We are not responsible for delays which are caused by incomplete audit submissions, so we advise that you submit your audit early.
Important information before you begin your audit
Ensure that you submit your audit to the correct organization. Faculty and levied societies submit their audits directly to the DSU, but constituent and general interest societies submit to the societies directly disbursing their fees.
Audits will be accepted on a rolling basis, and you must submit your audit at least three weeks before you need to receive your funding. Please let the DSU VPFO know when you need your funding.
Dalhousie does not remit fees to the DSU until mid-semester. We will always aim to assess your audit within two weeks of submission, but your fees will not be ready until the DSU has received them from Dalhousie.
At the earliest, faculty societies can receive their fees in mid-November and mid-February, and levied societies can receive their fees in mid-December and mid-March. If there are further delays from the University, we will be in communication with you.
Auditing with the DSU
The DSU recommends you use Airtable for organizing your Audit. Airtable is the platform that will be reviewed by the DSU VP of Finance when you take Treasurer Training. Read the document below “Upload to Airtable Guide” to learn how to start.
Follow along with the “How to Audit” document available below as you input your data.
Cross-reference with either the “Fall or Winter Audit Review Template” so you are aware of what the DSU will be screening for in your submission.
When you are done, share your Airtable with dsuvpf@dal.ca and dsusocieties@dal.ca. Find the white “SHARE” button on the top right of your completed Airtable.
Finally, submit your Audit Airtable (or any other file type you used for your Audit) using the submission link here: https://airtable.com/shrFNxB5lxkxUV41z (Make it a bolded blank link box)
What is Airtable?
The DSU uses Airtable to complete audits. Airtable is a secure spreadsheet website that you can use to keep track of your society’s finances. To use Airtable, you must first sign up for a free account.
In treasurer training, the DSU VPFO will give you an Airtable template to follow.
Faculty Society Fees
CONTACT US
(902) 494-2205
SUB 3rd Floor, Room 348
Society process and financial inquiries:
dsusocieties@dal.ca
General society inquiries:
dsuvpi@dal.ca