Committee members can pay suppliers directly from their student group account through our finance module that we refer to as SGF (Student Group Finance). This article will detail how student groups can do this. 

What is an Invoice? 

When liaising with a company to purchase a product or service, they will often send you an invoice to be paid. An invoice is a document given to the buyer by the seller to collect payment. It includes the cost of the products purchased or services rendered to the buyer. Invoices can also serve as important legal records if they contain the names of the seller and client, the description and price of goods or services, and the terms of payment.

Accessing SGF

To access SGF, start by going to the SU website and log in from your personal account by using the drop-down menu in the top right-hand corner. Once logged in, you can navigate to your group's admin panel by using the same menu to select 'Organizations'. 

From your organization control panel, choose 'Finances' to be taken to the student group finance (SGF) dashboard which can be seen below. From this dashboard, you can pay invoices by choosing 'New Money Request'.

To pay an invoice it will need to be uploaded to a request and all details as seen below should be filled in. 

Request type - Pay supplier should be selected for paying invoices

Event - If the request is related to an event created on your SU webpage you can mark it here

Payable to - This will always be a third party for paying invoices

Payment method - This will always be BACS. It's a three working day payment

Payee name - The name of your company listed on the invoice

Contact email / telephone - This contact information listed on the invoice. This may be needed by the SU finance department if there are any issues

Bank Sort Code - The sort code of the company you are paying. This should be listed on the invoice in the format of 12-34-56

Bank Account - The account number of the company you are paying. This should be listed on the invoice and be 8 digits long. 

Item Description - Details of the product or service you're purchasing. This information should be clear for the finance team to be able to understand and should be clear for you to be able to refer back to. 

Justification - Details of why your group is purchasing this product or service. 

Amount - The cost in pounds and pence. e.g. £54.99

Account - This will always be the student group you are on the committee for.

Upload Receipt - Attach the invoice file to the request. Invoices should be sent to you as PDFs.

Create - You can create the request and save it for further editing

Submit - Submit the created request to the next stage of approval. 

Once a request has been submitted it will then go through an approval process before it gets paid. 

Approval Process

All requests go through an approval process once submitted. Requests need to be approved by the committee, by the SU engagement team or relevant elections officer, and by the finance department. 

At each step of the approval process all details should be checked, but each level of approval will have a different insight. Committees will know if the goods or services were agreed upon and a fair price; the SU officers will know if it's a fair use of student group funds and submitted correctly; the finance department will check that the documents are enough evidence to be able to be paid and that the invoice is correctly addressed. 

At any point in the approval process, if the approver sees a mistake or needs further information, the request can be referred back to the original requester. It is the requester's responsibility to address any referrals in a timely manner. The request should be amended and resubmitted where it will be subjected to the approval process again. 

You will not be automatically notified when a request is referred, so it's best to check SGF in the days following submitting a request to review what stage it is at.

A Note on Invoice Addresses

All invoices MUST be addressed to the following billing address, otherwise, the Union cannot pay them on your behalf. Many requests are often rejected as they will be incorrectly addressed to the University instead of the Students' Union. 

Swansea University Students' Union, 

c/o [Student Group Name], 

Faraday Building, 

Singleton Park, 

Swansea, 

SA2 8PP