The Student Activities Financial Services Office maintains accounts for all student organizations registered with Student Activities. All organization transactions must take place through these accounts, and organizations may not maintain any financial accounts outside of this office and Barnard activities. The Student Activities Financial Services staff records all transactions and monitors the official University account for each organization. Treasurers are expected to maintain their own records of expenses and income and meet periodically with the Student Activities Financial Services staff to update their records. The accounting staff is available to help treasurers devise procedures for maintaining records for their organizations and to review accounts on an appointment basis.
Accounts hold both student activities fee funds and self-generated funds.
Student activities fee funds are allocated by USO and are subject to its policies. Self-generated funds are raised by student groups and are subject to the policies of student governing bodies. Groups jointly recognized by Columbia and Barnard maintain a second account with Barnard's Student Government Association. USO organizations must complete Event Approval Forms for all events and publications. In addition to adhering to all student government expense approval procedures, all organizations are required to have their advisers' and treasurers' approvals prior to expenditures of funds.