Budget Transfer Guidelines

Op8.02 Budget Transfer Guidelines

Overview

The General Ledger tracks actual revenues and expenditures. The General Ledger is the official financial record of the University and is subject to audit. Both University policy and externally determined regulations influence how transactions must be recorded.

Budgets are management tools that represent estimated revenues and expenditures and are used to delegate "permission to spend". By comparing budgeted to actual activity, variances can be analyzed to assist management in better utilization of financial resources. Financial reports, such as the "Summary of Expenditures" reflect both Budget and General Ledger transactions.

Departments request that funds be transferred to another area for a variety of reasons. Please review the following situation descriptions to determine the proper method to use.

Correction of an Error

If a transaction has already occurred and was charged to the incorrect account or needs to be allocated to various accounts, please send an email or memo to the budget analyst assigned to your cost center and provide the following information:

Transaction date

  • Reference (eight digit field, usually either a check number or an entry number, "JUXXXXXX")
  • Transaction dollar amount
  • FOAP originally charged including 5-digit expense code: XXXXXX-XXXXXX-XXXXX-XXX
  • Correct account(s) to be charged

The correction will be made to the actual transaction in the General Ledger.

Shared Expense

Determined at time of purchase

If departments/units intend to share the cost of a purchase of goods or services, the preferred method is to split the cost at the time the Purchase Requisition is made.

Determined after the purchase

If the purchase has already occurred, the department that wants to pay for part of a cost already charged to another department can send an email or memo to the budget analyst assigned to their cost center and follow the same procedures under "Correction of an Error".

In both of these cases, the expense should be a true expense of both (or all) departments' operations. This is not intended to be a funding mechanism as described below.

Budget Transfers and Funding Support

Sometimes a department/unit (such as a college) wants to financially support an expenditure of another department. Also, some units (such as a college travel budget) hold budget centrally and distribute it throughout the year as needed by other departments. Both of these can be accomplished through a budget transfer. Sometimes a new program is established during a fiscal year or a change in estimated revenues occurs, both of which require a budget amendment. Please contact the Director of Accounting & Budgeting for new program budgets or changes in budgeted revenues.

Budget Transfers should only be used to

  1. Move budget from one budget line to another within a unit
  2. Help fund an expense incurred by another unit and properly charged to that unit. It should not be used as a method to "pay" for an expense.
    • Reserved Personnel Services (Account codes 61XXX, 62XXX, 69XXX) which require Financial Services processing
    • Graduate Assistants (account code 632XX) which require Graduate School approval if funds are being transferred out of this account code and Financial Services processing
    • Carryover (89999) which requires Financial Services approval and processing
    • Transfers between different funds (as determined by the first three digits of an account number)

These Budget transfers can be accomplished by a unit using Self-Service Banner by selecting the Finance option, and then Budget transfer. The "Description" field can be used to provide a meaningful documentation to both units involved in the transfer. Proper authority is required to use the Banner Transfer Option.

Exceptions requiring additional approvals or Financial Services processing include:

If the accounts of both the giving and receiving units are in different funds, you need to request a "JE16" transfer, which will be processed as a transaction in the General Ledger as a "J" entry using the 83000 account code. This is accomplished by sending an email or memo to the budget analyst assigned to your cost center. You will need to include the 20 digit budget number for both the giving and receiving units and the purpose of the transfer. Transfer of funds must support the mission of the University. Transfer of funds for academic purposes exceeding $100,000 must be approved by the Chief Financial Officer or the President. Transfer of funds for non-academic purposes exceeding $25,000 must be approved by the Chief Financial Officer or the President. Transfer of funds that occur on an annual basis should be provided for in the approved annual budget. Transfers provided for in an approved budget do not require additional approval. Transfer of funds in accordance with the Fee Schedule do not require additional approval.

Internal Billings

If your unit regularly provides services to other departments on campus, you need to establish an internal billing process. Please send an email or memo to the budget analyst assigned to your cost center requesting to establish internal billing. Please provide an explanation of the services, the frequency, and estimate of the number of monthly transactions. You will be contacted to discuss and set up the internal billings process.

Questions

If you're not sure which process to use, contact the budget analyst assigned to your cost center.