The Carleton University Students’ Association (CUSA) ran a $706,773 deficit in the 2012-13 year, according to the organization’s audited financial statements.
The CUSA executive will be presenting a detailed report of their audited budget in a CUSA Inc. meeting called for Dec. 3, said CUSA president Folarin Odunayo.
The deficit was caused by the full acquisition of Haven Books, the Graduate Students’ Association withholding the Unicentre Fee, outstanding losses from the Rick Ross concert, which was cancelled in 2013, and unusually high labour costs at Oliver’s Pub, Odunayo said.
The largest part of the deficit was the full acquisition of Havens Books last year, which resulted in a $488,000 non-cash loss that appears as a deficit in the audited statements.
A non-cash loss reflects an expense that contributes to an organization’s net income but does not immediately affect cash flow, and so does not generally appear on an operating budget.
Confusion over the audit procedures was brought to council’s attention by a motion presented by arts and social sciences councillor Adam Carroll at a Nov. 12 CUSA meeting.
Carroll’s motion called for the 2012-13 audited finances to be presented and discussed at the next council meeting, since they had not been discussed or presented to council earlier in the year, as required by CUSA bylaws.
The motion was first introduced in October but council moved it to the next meeting due to time constraints. Carroll said he met with Odunayo and vice-president (finance) Reda Zarrug two days before the council meeting, hoping to get their support on the motion.
While he agreed to suggestions to change the wording in the motion, according to Carroll, Odunayo did not indicate any support for calling a meeting to discuss the audited financial statements.
An hour before the Nov. 16 council meeting, an email was sent out to councillors inviting them to a meeting of CUSA Inc. on Dec. 3 to discuss the 2012-2013 financial statements.
Because the meeting had already been called, Carroll’s motion was ruled out of order.
“I find it concerning they only made a decision an hour before the last council meeting. I find that very strange,” he said.
“Following the procedures is what I asked for and I’m happy we’re getting it, but I wish council could have a more thorough discussion on the process and the financial procedures that were not followed,” he said.
Odunayo said the fact the 2012-13 audits were not presented to council in 2013 was an “oversight and error on our part.” He said setting up a separate CUSA Inc. meeting would fix the problem.
In September, Carroll said he filed a different motion calling for the audits to be posted online. He said he was informed the day the motion was presented that they had been added.
“From an outside perspective, looking at all the information, it doesn’t look good. The audit wasn’t presented, it wasn’t put online, and it has a very big number attached to it,” Carroll said. “It could have been an honest mistake, it might not have been, but either way people need to own up to these mistakes whether they’re intentional or not.”
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