SACOG Policy/Procedure

Original Issue Date: 3/21/2014

SIGNING AUTHORITY POLICY

Revision History:

The intent of this policy is to ensure that every expenditure is reviewed by two SACOG staff, one as the recommending party and the other as the authorizing party. Recommending and authorizing authority are outlined below. A current list of Team Managers, Internal Operations Team (IOT) members, and Strategic Advisors can be found on the Intranet for your reference. Invoices Any staff member may authorize an invoice up to $100 without a second signature. Any staff may recommend an invoice be authorized up to $10,000. If the expenditure is over $10,000, the Team Manager must recommend approval to their Strategic Advisor to authorize, or the CEO or COO if the expenditure is over $50,000, or if the Strategic Advisor is not available. Reference the chart below to determine who is able to authorize invoices. Purchase Orders Purchase orders up to $50,000 may be requested by any staff member. Purchase orders over $50,000 may be requested by any staff member, but must be associated with a Board-approved contract or other Board action authorizing the expense. Team Managers, Strategic Advisors, or IOT Members are required to authorize purchase orders, as shown in the table below. All purchase orders must conform to the Purchase Order Policy and be submitted using the Purchase Order Request form. Credit Card Purchases Team Managers shall authorize credit card expenditures for their projects up to $1,000. Expenditures over $1,000 must be authorized by the Finance Manager or an IOT Member. Expenditures billed to Indirect must be authorized by an IOT Member. All purchases must conform to the Credit Card Policy and be submitted using the Credit Card Purchase Request form. Office Supply Requests Team Managers shall authorize office supply requests billed to specific projects. IOT Members shall authorize office supply requests billed to Indirect. Office supply requests must be submitted to the Facilities Coordinator using the Office Supply Request form. Food Requests Team Managers shall authorize food requests if billed to specific projects. IOT Members shall authorize requests billed to Indirect. All food requests must be submitted to the Receptionist using the Food Request form. Petty Cash Any staff member may request petty cash, consistent with the Petty Cash Policy. The Finance Manager or their designee shall authorize petty cash up to $30. The Finance Manager must authorize petty cash disbursements in excess of $30. Expense Reports Expense reports must be submitted by project for Team Manager approval. For instance, if a staff member is submitting a Career Development expense and project-specific parking expense,

SACOG Signing Authority Policy they must submit two separate expense reports. Accounting will combine all expenses into a single check each month. See separate instructions for using Ajera to complete expense reports. Travel, Meetings and Career Development Travel, meeting, and career development expenses have different authorization levels depending on if the expense is for one-day events, overnight events, project-specific events, or general career development events. For one-day events, if travel or meeting expenses are billed to a project, (i.e., not Indirect or Career Development), a Team Manager shall authorize Travel/Career Development Requests for their Team Members. One-day expenditures billed to Indirect shall be approved by IOT Members. One-day Career Development requests shall be authorized by Strategic Advisors, or IOT Members. For overnight expenses, if travel or meeting expenses are billed to a project, the COO or CEO must authorize the expense. Overnight expenses billed to Indirect must be authorized by the Career Development Committee. All travel, meeting, and career development expenses must be requested using the Travel and Career Development Request form. Limitations If a Team Manager is the requesting party, their Strategic Advisor must authorize the expenditure or purchase order. If there is no Strategic Advisor, an IOT Member must authorize. The CEO and COO will counter sign for each other. Employees who have personal relationships with other SACOG employees shall not authorize expenditures for each other, consistent with the Nepotism Policy. Exceptions The CEO or COO may sign for any item within their authority in the event that other responsible parties are not available to approve expenditures, but staff should follow the signature authority table below. SECAT contracts, based on Board-delegated authority, may be signed by the Finance Manager. Pass-through grants authorized by the Board (e.g., JARC, PTMISEA), which otherwise exceed signing authority in this policy, may be recommended by any member of the relevant project team, and approved by the Team Manager or Finance Manager.

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SACOG Signing Authority Invoices and Purchase Orders (POs)** Invoice Approval <$100 Invoice Approval $100 to $10,000 Invoice Approval $10,000-$50,000 Invoice Approval >$50,000 PO Request <$2,500 PO Request $2,500-$10,000 PO Request $10,000-$50,000 PO Request more than $50,000 Food and Supplies Office supplies (billed to Indirect) Office supplies (billed to project) Food requests (billed to Indirect) Food requests (billed to project) Reimbursements Petty Cash <$30 Petty Cash >$30 Expense reports Credit Card Purchases Credit Card Purchases <$1,000 (billed to project) Credit Card Purchases >$1,000 (billed to project) Credit Card Purchases any amount (billed to Indirect) Travel & Career Development One-day travel/conference (billed to project) One-day travel/conference (Career Development) Overnight travel (billed to project) Overnight travel (Career Development)

Recommend

Authorize*

Any staff Any staff Team Manager Team Manager Any staff

Same as recommender Team Manager Strategic Advisor or COO CEO or COO Team Manager or Project Coordinator Strategic Advisor or COO CEO or COO CEO or COO

Any staff Any staff Any staff, but requires Board of Directors action Any staff Any staff Any staff Any staff

IOT Member Team Manager IOT Member Team Manager

Any staff Any staff Any staff

Finance Manager or Designee Finance Manager Team Manager

Any staff

Team Manager

Any staff Any staff

Finance Manager or IOT Member IOT Member

Any staff

Team Manager

Any staff

IOT Member

Any staff Any staff

COO or CEO Career Development Committee

*

If a Team Manager is the requesting party, their Strategic Advisor must authorize the expenditure or purchase order. If there is no Strategic Advisor, an IOT Member must authorize. The CEO and COO will counter sign for each other. Employees who have personal relationships with other SACOG employees shall not authorize expenditures for each other, consistent with the Nepotism Policy.

**

SECAT contracts, based on Board-delegated authority, may be signed by the Finance Manager. Passthrough grants authorized by the Board (e.g., JARC, PTMISEA), which otherwise exceed signing authority in this policy, may be recommended by any member of the relevant project team, and approved by the Team Manager or Finance Manager.