A variety of different factors can lead to groups overspending their budgets and going into debt. When this happens, SAC will work with you to help bring your group back within its budget. With a combination of administrative assistance, and budget redirection, the SAC debt policy is designed to help groups live within their means while continuing to bring their work to the Penn Community. To this end the debt policy consists of two elements, with different degrees of application at different levels of cumulative overspending. The first is budget redirection- larger and larger portions of a groups budget will be redirected during B&A cycle to help pay down any over spending. The second is administrative oversight- SAC exec will take a number of steps to help your group prevent over-spending. The chart below shows the graduated system of budget redirection and oversight.
| Overspending | Budget Redirection | Administrative Oversight |
| <$500 | 0% | - |
| $501-$1000 | 10% | - |
| $1001-$2000 | 20% | Pro-card usage suspended |
| $2001-$5000 | 40% | Expense report and liaison counter-sign required for SAC expenses |
| $5001-$9000 | 70% | - |
| >$9000 | - | Group account suspended until debt is brought to sustainable levels |
| Additional Penalties | ||
| Group overspending persists for two consecutive B&A cycles | 5% | - |
| Group overspending increases for two consecutive B&A cycles | 15% | Pro-card privileges revoked |
| Group fails to provide required counter-sign one B&A cycle | 30% | - |
| Group fails to comply with administrative penalties for two consecutive B&A cycles | - | Group account suspended until debt is brought to sustainable levels |