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- Get keys to cabinet containing cash box
- Get added as financial signatory in ASA database
- Email "funds@mit.edu" in order to gain access to SAPweb (this might take a few days) (this may be unnecessary due to Atlas being all new and shiny)
- Attend financial signatory training
- Read the financial guidelines on the SAO website
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Cash Box
Money from the cash box can be used to reimburse people for very small expenditures less or for special beverages, and is also a place to store show money for later depositing. Money from the cash box should never be touched without explicit approval from another officer. Insert info on how to get dollar bills and/or 5-dollar bills to put in cash box.Currently there are two cash boxes: one contains only small bills, and should be brought to box office. After the show, move the large bills (20s or above) into the other cash box for storage until it's time to deposit them. The other cash box holds large bills.
Before a show, make sure there is sufficient change in the cash box. About $100 in 1s and $100 in 5s is probably enough. If you bring large bills to the Bank of America on the first floor, they will happily exchange them for you. You can either use money from the previous show for this, or borrow money from yourself or another person, and then return it to them after the show once you've collected more large bills.
SAO will also lend you a cashbox full of change if you need one.
Budgets
Main Stage Shows
Not counting director stipends, we typically spend approximately $2000 on each show. In order of how much we typically spend: sets, costumes, lights, publicity, sound, hair/makeup, other. Before the show, give the producer a tentative budget based on previous years. As the show progresses, work with the producer to adjust the budget appropriately. Usually, this means taking money from a department that does not need it and giving it to a department that does. Almost all show expenses should be covered by Finboard.
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Director Stipends
This process is pretty awfulcan be a bit annoying, and you'll want to start early so your director can get paid in a timely fashion.
First, you need to fill out an Employment Agreement form (found on the SAO website) and submit it to SAO. You then need to pay a visit to contact MIT's HR offices, in the bizarre location seen on the map below. You'll need to . Contacts for this in the past have included Alicja Estabrooks and Graham Haskin. You can find out from SAO who you should contact. They'll need a copy of the employment agreement as well as authorization from SAO. They'll then schedule a meeting for your director with an MIT HR representative; they'll have to fill out an I-9 and W-4 and bring them to the meeting.
Even after contacting the HR offices, keep an eye out to make sure the meeting happens and your director gets paid- not paying people is sad.
Also, try to make it clear to your director that this process often gets delayed, and they shouldn't depend on the stipend to not get kicked out of their apartment or whatever.
Finboard Applications
There isn't really a secret to these. Look at previous Finboard applications and copy as much as you can. Despite what they say, they don't actually care if you submit an itemization for items more than $200, at least when these items are things like props or costumes that are hard to predict in advance. Appeal if anything bizarre happens and you don't get money for something you normally do. Make sure to read Finboard's rules for what money you can and can't have- don't bother asking for things they explicitly deny, like off campus retreats, or more than $100 in publicity money. Definitely look at food rules to make sure you're using them properly- you can classify food as event food or operations food, and there are limits to each, so use them wisely.
Things you should think about asking for:
Show money (sets, costumes, hair/makeup, props, sound, lighting, paint, publicity)
Gaff tape
Rights for any non-Shakespeare show
Food (BOT, EOT, Show Candy, Friendly Toast, Put-in breakfast and lunch, Alumni reception, and possible other random snacks)
Tool replacement (a lovely catch-all category for random things you didn't think you'd need)
Workshops
Capital Purchases
Plotter paper and ink
In general, be nice to finboard. They're pretty awesome people for wanting to spend their free time allocating money, so send them lots of thank yous every time you have to send them a complaint or whatever