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Student Journals: Allowable expenditures

What contsitutes an allowable expense?

Journals earn revenue from subscriptions, royalties, reprint permissions, and fundraising.  This money is held by the University, and as such, subject to university policy and regulations.    Expenditures from these accounts must have a clear connection to the business purpose of a scholarly journal.

Even if an expenditure is 'allowable' you must have the funds available in order to purchase it!

Allowable expenditures

Examples of allowable expenditures with a clear business purpose include (though are not limited to):

  • printing your journals
  • refreshments for editorial meetings and trainings
  • editorial office supplies
  • editorial retreats*
  • symposium or speaker events*
  • end of year banquets*

* though these type of expenditures are 'allowable', there are a lot of variables for which UC and Law School policies regulate what/ how/ and when they must be handled.  It is imperative to discuss these events AHEAD OF TIME with the Journal Administrator to ensure that they are planned in a manner so that expenses/ purchases/ reimbursements will be made.

Allowable versus fiscally responsible expenditures

With reduced incoming revenue, just because something is an ‘allowable’ expenditure under UC Policy, is it a smart use of your funds?

Offset less (or zero!) incoming revenue with smarter fiscal spending habits:

  • Editorial Meeting lunches-   brown bag it once in a while   (#1 JOURNAL EXPENSE!)
  • Editorial Retreats – do something local on non-holiday weekends  ($2K FOR LODGING?)
  • Symposium Events- hold every other year, get sponsors, fundraise  ($8K FOR A DAY?)
  • Journal swag-  have journal members partially contribute towards t-shirts

Declining revenue is never going to ‘rebound’, so keep in mind that you’re spending your journal’s reserves and against your journal’s financial future

Non-allowable expenditures

Though the following items CANNOT be purchased using your university funds, they may be purchased using membership dues which are held in your journal's external checking account:

  • Alcohol (alcohol permits/ chaperon must be in place ahead of time!) 
  • Social events with no or only incidental business purposes:  happy hours, softball games, camping trips, retreats over holiday weekends to destination locations (Tahoe/ Yosemite)