Introduction

The Commercial Transactions Policy of the College shall refer to all transactions in which economic values such as materials, products and services are provided to those who need them, and are exchanged for some type of remuneration, generally money.

All transactions of the College shall be conducted on the basis of truthful representation and in accordance with contract provisions.

Comparison pricing shall govern actual purchases, and the person authorised to make the purchase shall be at liberty to obtain identical items from multiple sources to ensure value for money purchasing practice.

This Commercial Transactions Policy shall address such issues as: * Property and Lease Arrangements; * Banking Arrangements; * Inventory Control including Furniture and IT Replacement; * Student Tuition Fees; * Resource Centre Acquisitions; and * Marketing and Communication

Property and Lease Arrangements

The Chief Operations Officer, on the advice and recommendations of the Governance Board shall be responsible for preparing property and lease contracts, for their proper execution, and for storing the documents in a secure, confidential file storage system.

The Chief Operations Officer, shall be responsible to ensure that the Finance Officer makes any property or lease payments in a timely manner.

The Chief Operations Officer shall also be responsible to arrange the provision of utility services (Electricity, gas, water and telephone supply) to the property and the timely payment of invoices on presentation from the suppliers.

Office Supplies

The Receptionist shall be responsible to identify office supplies needs and to place monthly orders for replenishment, based upon best value for money principles. The Receptionist shall liaise with the Finance Clerk to ensure that purchases of consumables do not exceed budget limits.

Banking Arrangements

All cash and cheques shall be receipted on acceptance and secured in a safe on the premises until banking can be arranged. Banking shall be conducted, generally weekly, by the Receptionist or Finance Clerk

Minor incidental and miscellaneous expenditures shall be transacted in cash drawn from a cash float, rather than a Petty Cash arrangement. The float shall be balanced daily and all surplus funds shall be secured in the College safe until banking can be arranged.

Other operations expenditure shall be transacted by cheques, supported by invoices as appropriate, and counter signed by any two of the Principal, the Chief Operations Officer and the dean of Quality and Student Administration. All cheques shall be prepared by the Finance Clerk and a written record shall be maintained of the signatories to each cheque.

Credit Card Management

The management of Credit Card use shall be conducted in accordance with the Credit Card Use Policy. A limit of $5,000 per month shall be observed for the time being. Credit Card expenditure may be exceeded by prior approval of the Chief Operations Officer through the Finance Clerk.

Inventory Control

An Assets register shall be maintained of all furniture and information technology hardware and other equipment items. This register shall be reviewed and revised at least annually, and shall be audited at least annually by a qualified auditor. The Finance Clerk shall be responsible to maintain the register.

The Resource Centre Manager shall be responsible for maintaining a register of monographs and journals in the Resource Centre, and shall conduct a stocktake of the collection at least annually. The Resource Centre Manager shall be responsible to take recovery action with respect to overdue or missing items from the collection. Fines shall be imposed for overdue items and cost recovery shall be sought for items which cannot be returned to the collection.

Verbal and written quotations

The Finance Clerk shall be responsible to obtain written quotations for major leasehold or capital expenditure requirements. For minor expenditures, generally relating to ongoing minor maintenance matters, verbal quotations only shall be required and the principle of value for money shall be observed.

Resource Centre

The Resource Centre Manager shall be responsible for the acquisition of appropriate monographs and journals for the Resource Centre Collection. The Manager shall also be responsible for all preservation and weeding activities to ensure that the collection is relevant and vibrant.

The Resource Centre Manager shall consult with the College Principal, Chief Operations Officer, Heads of School and Resource Centre Manager as applicable when preparing acquisition plans to ensure that the needs of the College are correctly identified and monograph and journal purchases are processed in a timely manner.

The Resource Centre Manager shall determine the standard price of items identified for acquisition, and shall then conduct a of search of suppliers to obtain best price and postage/delivery costs.

The Resource Centre Manager shall also be responsible to monitor the advertising of collections no longer required by collection holders (e.g. retired clergy, educationalists, psychologists and counsellors), to determine the value and appropriateness of the collection as an acquisition, and to seek approval from the Chief Operations Officer for the purchase especially when significant or over budget amounts are involved.

The Resource Centre Manager shall be responsible to maintain a financial budget relating to the Resource Centre activities.

The Finance Clerk, through the Chief Operations Officer shall prepare a quarterly statement of expenditure against budget and make this report available to the Resource Centre Manager.

Marketing and Communication

The Marketing and Communications Manager shall be responsible for promoting the College and its services throughout the community. Avenues of promotion shall include participation in Expositions and Conferences, newsletters to churches, schools and the College Alumni, radio and television commercials and College webpage promotions.

The Marketing and Communications Manager shall consult with the College Principal, Chief Operations Officer, Heads of School and Resource Centre Manager as applicable when preparing marketing and communication information to ensure that the needs of the College are correctly identified and promoted in a timely manner.

Prior to the release of any marketing or communication material, the Marketing and Communications Manager shall present to the Principal and Chief Operations Officer a draft and secure their approval of the material, by signatures on the draft copy. All approvals of marketing activities shall be maintained on file.

The Marketing and Communications Manager shall be responsible to maintain a financial budget relating to the marketing/communication activities.

The Finance Clerk, through the Chief Operations Officer shall prepare a quarterly statement of expenditure against budget and make this report available to the Marketing and Communications Manager.

Information Systems

The Manager Information Systems shall be responsible for the acquisition and maintenance of the information technology and telephone systems in operation at the College.

The Manager Information Systems shall consult with the College Principal, Chief Operations Officer, Heads of School and Resource Centre Manager as applicable when preparing acquisition plans for Information Technology Hardware and Software to ensure that the needs of the College are correctly identified and necessary purchases are processed in a timely manner.

The Manager Information Systems shall arrange a search of suppliers to obtain best price and postage/delivery costs. Comparison pricing shall govern actual purchases, and the Manager shall be at liberty to obtain identical items from multiple sources to ensure value for money purchasing practice.

The Manager Information Systems shall be responsible to maintain a financial budget relating to the information technology activities.

The Finance Clerk, through the Chief Operations Officer shall prepare a quarterly statement of expenditure against budget and make this report available to the Manager Information Systems.

Student Tuition Fees

The Registrar shall be responsible to supervise all student enrolment activities to ensure their accuracy. The Registrar shall arrange for the production of tuition fee invoices which shall generally be delivered to enrolling students via email.

Cash, Cheque and Credit Card payment of invoices shall be processed by the Receptionist and receipts shall be issued for each payment. Tuition fee payments received through FEE-HELP, HECS-HELP or Commonwealth Supported Places shall be processed by the Finance Clerk under supervision of the Chief Operations officer.

In the event that an enrolment is cancelled and a refund is applicable, the Registrar shall be responsible to arrange the processing of the enrolment cancellation and the issue of a refund.

College personnel with necessary access to student credit card details, EFTPOS and direct debit arrangements or Tax File Numbers shall ensure that absolute security of this information is maintained. Generally, records shall be maintained in hard copy and stored in a locked filing cabinet under the control of the receptionist. Credit card details on direct debit authorities shall be obliterated when the final transaction has been executed, and the authority filed on the relevant student file.

Accreditation and Re-accreditation, Registration and Re-Registration

The Chief Operations Officer, through the Finance clerk shall maintain forward estimates of cost for Accreditation and reaccreditation, and registration and re-registration expenses. Such costs to Government agencies shall be paid by cheque or direct deposit on presentation of an invoice.

Memberships-industry representatives

The Chief Operations Officer, through the Finance clerk shall be responsible to pay, by cheque or direct deposit membership fees and tuition and course assurance fees to ACPET, COPHE and TAFE Directors Australia, as applicable.

The Café

The Café Manager shall be responsible to manage the cash float on a daily basis. Any amounts exceeding the limit of the cash float shall be delivered to the Receptionist for deposit in the College safe until banking can be arranged, generally weekly.

The Café Manager shall be responsible to collect and collate the delivery invoices from large suppliers with whom the College has arranged accounts. The delivery invoices shall be provided in a timely manner to the Finance Clerk who shall be responsible to pay the accounts by cheque or direct deposit on a monthly basis.