Treasury Operations

Financial Committee

Refer to http://montreal.ieee.ca/en/about/executive-committee

Before sending an email to the financial committee we please ask that you “carefully read” the FAQ Section below.

Useful Treasury Materials

Key things to remember:

1. Claims can be sent via "email" (claim + receipts + claimant + mailing address)
2. Distinguished Lecturer/Speaker (DL/DSP) >>> Budget: up to $600 CAD.
3. Non-DL Speaker >>> Budget: up to $300 CAD.
4. IEEE Montreal Section will not cover travel expenses!!! Only local expenses.
5. Nature of funding: refreshments, small gift, dinner, and hotel.
6. Hotel accommodations:

DL: up to 2-nights

Non-DL: only 1-night

7. Can we send $ to speaker? YES (NA: cheque, World: Wire)
8. Matching funds - Take advantage of it!! (1:1) or (2:1) by society.

Treasury Made Simple!
Apr. 2015

Activity Record
Jun. 2014 - Present

Expense Claims and Forms

Fillable Claim Form	Example: Claim	Example: Sponsorship Letter	Payment Receipt

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

Question: We hosted an event, how can we claim the expenses?

Answer: Please fill and sign the “Claim Form”. Then, scan the “signed claim sheet” along with all pertinent receipts. Attach all the sheets in a single PDF file ordered as follows: Claim followed by Receipts. Next, email the single PDF file to the Treasurer. Also, we please ask that you indicate the society in the subject line of the email (e.g. “IEEE ComSoc: Expense Claims“). Once the softcopy of the claim is received by the Treasurer, it will be reviewed, and if all seems consistent, it will pass for further scrutiny by the financial committee. Once approved, a Cheque will be issued by the Treasurer, and will be sent via regular postal mail to the claimant; thus, it is crucial that the claimant indicate their preferred mailing address in both the “claim form” and the “body of the email”. Very Important: Despite this new and improved way for claiming the expenses, we still require the original hardcopies of the claim and receipts. Therefore, during the next Board Meeting, claimant must hand-in the hardcopies (all documents stapled together) to the Treasurer.

Question: What is the typical budget that we can claim for a Distinguished Lecturer (DL) event?

Answer: Typically, the travel and hotel expenses of a DL are covered by the particular IEEE Society. For other circumstances, and to cover local arrangement and refreshments, expenses for the “whole event” should in principle not exceed $600 CAD. For non-DL speakers, the support cannot exceed $300 CAD. That being said, Chapter Chairs should nonetheless be mindful that such stipulated support may not always be possible due to financial restrictions and limitations.

Question: What is the budget that we can claim for a ComSoc Distinguished Speaker Program (DSP) event?

Answer: Assuming funding is approved from ComSoc (read), a request can be made prior to the event to the Section. If approved, the Section’s support will be limited between $300 CAD and $600 CAD. Apart from this, the general rules that apply for the DL program will also apply to the DSP program. That being said, Chapter Chairs should nonetheless be mindful that such stipulated support may not always be possible due to financial restrictions and limitations.

Question: Is it permissible to claim the expenses for “the spouse/partner” of a Speaker?

Answer: Expenses of the spouse/partner of a speaker (for restaurants and the like) are “not covered” by the Section. A host is encouraged to use other non-IEEE funding sources for this sort of hospitality.

Question: Are the travel expenses of a (non-DL) guest speaker covered by the Section?

Answer: Transportation expenses (i.e. flight, train, bus, car, taxi) of a guest speaker are “not covered” by the Section. Normally, guest speakers are technical experts that are visiting Montréal (or its surrounding cities) for other purposes (e.g. Conferences/Workshops, Committee Meetings, Visiting Scholars to Research Institutes, External Examiners for PhD Defense, etc), and then extend their stay for “one-day” to give the talk.

Question: Are the “hotel accommodation” expenses of a guest speaker covered by the Section?

Answer: Generally speaking, for a non-local technical speaker, the Section will only cover a “one-night” hotel stay in the city of Montréal. A special case may apply for “distinguished lecturers” visiting our section from oversees. The specific hotel coverage are outlined below:

–DL: “up to 2-nights” hotel coverage in Montréal (especially for EU/Asia/AUS guests), while making sure that the expenses for the “entire event” be within $600 CAD.

–Non-DL: “only 1-night” hotel coverage in Montréal, while making sure that the expenses for the “entire event” be within $300 CAD.

Question: What is the “nature of the funding” that we can request when hosting an event with a speaker (e.g. workshop, technical talk, seminar)?

Answer: The general purpose of the funding is mainly to cover: refreshments for the talk, small gift, dinner with the speaker, and a one-night hotel. “Pricey venues/gifts” are generally not covered by the Section; other non-IEEE funding sources could be used for this sort of hospitality. Altogether, the expenses should not exceed $300 CAD per event; and the expenses throughout the year cannot surpass the firm limit of $1,000 CAD for each Technical Chapter. That being said, Chapter Chairs should nonetheless be mindful that such stipulated support may not always be possible due to financial restrictions and limitations.

Question: Can the refund be sent directly to the guest speaker? And if so, what is the delivery process?

Answer: Assuming the expense report and corresponding receipts have been submitted to the financial committee by the Chapter Chair, and that it has been approved, then it may be possible to send the refund directly to the speaker. Most often, “regular postal mail” will be used to send a cheque to scholars residing in Canada and the United States. Therefore for Canadian and US speakers, the Chapter Chair is responsible to provide the Treasurer the full mailing address of the guest. For all other speakers visiting our Section, the refund could be sent via “wire-transfer”. If the latter is the case, the Chapter Chair should provide the following fund-transfer information to the Treasurer: IEEE Member No., Bank Name, Swift No., Branch, Branch Address, Account Holder, Account No., Account Holder’s Address, Account Holder’s Phone Number. The Treasurer will then forward the request to IEEE Headquarters in Piscataway/NJ in order to process the request by withdrawing the funds from our Section bank account and transferring it to the account of the guest speaker.

Question: We “would like” to host an event and require some funding; what should we do?

Answer: Please fill the “Event Proposal Form” a month before the actual date of the event and email it to the Treasurer. Once the form is received, the Treasurer will review it and will either recommend it for further scrutiny by the Executive Committee (ExCom) or will send it back to the Chapter Chair because either the submission guidelines were not followed or the form is missing crucial information. Once approved by the Treasurer, the funding proposal will then be reviewed by ExCom Members, and based on a majority vote one of three possible scenarios could arise: either it will be approved as is; it will be resent to the Chapter Chair for further adjustments; or it may be rejected due to financial restrictions and limitations.

Question: We “already” hosted an event; can we now claim the expenses?

Answer: It is strictly required that funding be requested a month before an event. Claiming the expenses after an event “will not guarantee” the coverage. In very rare cases, ExCom may decide to vote on the “late request”, despite this, it is still likely that it will be rejected. Nonetheless, in special cases, “partial funding” could be recommended. That being said, the “safest route” for ensuring financial coverage would be to send an “Event Proposal Form” a ahead of time by a month.

Question: Some IEEE Societies offer support in the form of “Matching Fund”; what does it mean?

Answer: For a particular event associated to a certain IEEE Society, the society will at times “match” (1:1) the funding obtained from the local IEEE Section and in certain instances it may even “double” (2:1) the support. If for example a funding of $1.5k is needed for an EMB related seminar, and given that the EMB Society follows the 2:1 matching fund scheme, then the Chapter Chair should first request $1k from the particular IEEE Society, and then request a funding proposal of $600 from the local Section. We strongly encourage all our Chapter Chairs to take advantage of the “matching fund” with their respective Societies.Important Note: Having a matching fund approved from an IEEE Society does not necessarily guarantee sponsorship from the Section due to financial restrictions and limitations.

Question: The Section already approved the sponsorship of our event; at this point, is it possible to obtain an official letter confirming this?

Answer: Sometimes a letter is needed to officially confirm the funding of an event. This is particularly necessary when a “matching fund” is requested from an IEEE Society, a research institute, or a private firm. If this letter is needed, please do not hesitate to request it before the event by sending an email to the Treasurer (with subject: “Sponsorship Letter Needed“). In your request please inform the Treasurer about: the purpose of the event, the name of the speaker, the venue, and the date. Once the request is received, the Treasurer will normally issue an official letter and will email it to the Chapter Chair within three business-days of the request. The sponsorship letter will be in this format.

Question: We wrote a cheque to the order of “IEEE Montreal Section” for a late registration to the Annual General Meeting (AGM). Can we get a receipt that proves this manual payment?

Answer: Upon submission of your cheque to the Section Treasurer, please ask for a receipt. The receipt will be in this format.

Chapter Chairs

IEEE Conferences

Hospitality (downtown Montréal)

Restaurants:

Hotels: (max: $170/day)

–Japanese: Isakaya;

–Indian: Devi; Asha; Le Taj;

–Middle-Eastern: Honi Rose; Château Kabab;

–Greek: Molivos

–Italian: La Medusa

–Mexican: