ACCOUNT STATUS – Indicates whether an account can be used or not. The most often used status codes are "A" for active, "F" for frozen, "T" for terminated, and "D" for deleted. There are some other specialized status codes used only by SPA and Contracts and Grants. Only active accounts can be used by the centers for recording transactions.

ACCOUNT STATUS REPORT (ASR) – The monthly report for an account which summarizes and details all account activity for that month and for the fiscal year to date. There are four sections to the ASR: Summary, Transaction Detail, Budget Transaction Detail, and Report of Open Encumbrances, Commitments, and Liens.

ACCOUNT TYPE – There are five account types: Assets, liabilities, fund balance, revenue, and expense.

ADMINISTRATIVE CENTER – A department, or group of departments, which provide centralized support services to the rest of the university community. These centers function as organizational units, which generally do not earn their own revenue, but are supported by indirects charged to the revenue centers. Similar to cost centers in for profit accounting.

AGENCY FUND – The funds in this group belong to someone or a group of persons affiliated with the university. The funds do not belong to the university and are neither an asset of the university, nor are they available to the university to spend. The funds are held by the university, the university acting as custodian, for the purpose of collection and expense for the benefit of the group and to facilitate the group’s use of university services, such as Purchasing or Payroll. Examples could be funds held for a student club, collected from dues paid by the students and spent on club activities.

AIS – Administrative Information Systems, also referred to as FBIS, or Financial and Business Information Systems. The group of systems organized for administrative and accounting purposes. AIS systems include all modules of the Financial System, some of which are: the General Ledger, the Budget Administration System, Financial Accounting Sub Ledger (FASL), Financial Investment Sub Ledger (FISL), Cashiers, Purchasing, Accounts Payable, and the Payroll and Personnel System. This group is different from other system groups, such as SIS, or Student Information Systems.

ASR (see ACCOUNT STATUS REPORT)

ASSET – Funds or other property owned by the university. Examples are cash, investments, receivables, property, buildings, equipment and furniture, and inventory of supplies. Assets can be both short term and long term.

BUDGET – The plan set by a center for the expenditure and the earning of funds. This plan can be altered according to policies and procedures, and is divided among accounts, budget control groups, and object codes.

BUDGET AMENDMENT – The change of budget which increases or decreases the total budget for a program code. This usually occurs only when there is a change in expected revenue.

BUDGET CHANGE – A change in the plan for expense or revenue which occurs in the same center, within the same account or among two or more accounts, and within the same budget control group. A budget change does not alter the total budget for a program code, and the decrease and increase must balance. Budget changes must also occur within the same fund group and cannot create an overdraft in any budget control group or account. The Senior Business Officer can perform budget changes on-line for current unrestricted funds (fund group code CU.) Sponsored projects budget changes can be performed on-line by SPA, Contracts and Grants, or the Principal Investigator for the project, depending upon the restrictions of the project agreement. Restricted Fund Accounting must perform budget changes for all other restricted funds.

BUDGET CONTROL GROUP – A group of object classes which are grouped together to indicate a relationship in general purpose. These groups are used to help monitor budget performance, change budgets, and control expenditures. Compensation and current expense are the two main budget control groups at the university.

BUDGET MODIFICATION – Similar to a budget change, but it is a change that occurs between two or more different budget control groups. It can happen within the same account, or among accounts within the same fund group and the same program code. It does not change the total budget for the program code and it must balance. These require approval from the Office of Budget and Planning and/ or Financial Administration and Performance.

BUDGET VS. ACTUAL – In the Financial System, these terms used together refer to contrasting transactions according to whether they were changes in the plan (budget) or changes in expenditures or revenue (actual.) When funds are transferred in or out of an account, the transaction is "actual", and can happen when cash or checks are deposited, when checks are issued from the account, or when a debit or credit is generated by a journal voucher. If the budget of an account is altered in any way, whether increased or decreased or simply shifted between object codes, this represents a "budget" transaction. Both actual and budget transactions effect the balance of an account. When a financial report prompts for "budget" or "actual" it will give you data according to your choice, and exclude the other. The ASR combines both budget and actual data to calculate the budget balance available.

CAPITAL PROJECTS – Those projects and associated expenses concerned with new construction, renovations, and equipment acquisitions, which are not funded by current operating budgets. Capital projects only include those projects costing $500,000 or more.

CAPITALIZATION – The process of transferring the cost of a completed capital project from the construction-in-progress asset to the invested-in-plant fund asset. This process changes the asset from short term to long term, for accounting purposes, but it all still stays within the plant fund group. Capitalization can sometimes occur on completed portions of a project prior to completion of the total project.

CASH VS. ACCRUAL ACCOUNTING – Two different methods of accounting for revenue. Using the cash basis revenue is recorded when the cash is received and expenses are recorded when the cash payment is made. Using the accrual basis, revenue is recognized during the period it is earned. Expenses related to generating that revenue are simultaneously identified. The university officially uses accrual accounting. Most revenues are recorded when earned, and most expenditures are recorded when incurred.

CHECK REQUEST – A document with an identifying number that is generated by the department and processed by Disbursement Control for the issuance of a check to an individual or a company. Check requests are different from Purchase Orders, and are used for reimbursements to individuals, subscription payments, honoraria, and some other special payments. Most other payments are made against Purchase Orders and do not therefore require a check request. Check requests can be generated by typing a pre-printed form, entering the check request using form processing, or by paperless check request, according to established expenditure policies and procedures.

COMMITMENT – A lien placed on an account by the Senior Business Officer of the unit. The same person can also take this lien off an account, or change the lien.

COST TRANSFER – A term usually used in reference to contract and grant accounts meaning the transfer of an expense from one account to another, either from one sponsored project to another, or between a sponsored project account and an unrestricted account. Most cost transfers require approval of the Sponsored Projects Accounting department (SPA) and/ or Contracts and Grants.

CURRENT FUNDS – Resources that are expendable for general operating purposes, and are anticipated to be spent in the near term (fiscal year or contract year.) This fund group includes two subgroups, restricted and unrestricted.

ENCUMBRANCE – A lien placed on an account by the issuance of a Purchase Order to hold funds for payment to the vendor when the invoice is received. The encumbrance is equal to the total balance of the Purchase Order when issued, and can be increased or decreased if needed after issuance until the Purchase Order is fully paid or closed. (See lien)

ENDOWMENT FUNDS – Gift funds that are invested to earn revenue to support the wishes of the donor. The principal of the fund is not expendable. Only the revenue earned from the investment of the principal is expendable, and then only according to the terms of the gift.

EXPENDITURE CARD – A plastic card with the university logo and the user’s name and operator code that is used for imprinting on paper forms used in financial transactions. The imprint of the card indicates the user’s approval and replaces the need for the user’s signature. The code identifies the approval access of the user for financial transactions. This card should be kept secure in the possession of the user, as the user takes responsibility for all transactions with the imprint of his/ her card.

EXPENSE – Funds spent for any purpose that appears as a charge to a general ledger account. It shows up in the account as a debit.

FINANCIAL ROLLUP REPORT – A report containing data for all accounts for a center. It contains a summary for all the accounts of budget and actual transactions and is distributed monthly to the SBO for each center.

FRINGE BENEFITS – Employee benefits and the associated costs of these benefits. Whenever an account is charged for salaries or wages in specific categories, an accompanying fringe benefit cost is also charged to that account to pay for the benefits. The university has specific rates used to calculate this fringe benefit charge, and it varies for some fund groups and object codes. Budgets for salaries and wages also include the appropriate fringe benefits costs.

FUNCTION KEYS – The keys on the computer keyboard that have the letter F with a number after it. Some of these keys have specific system functions assigned to them in the AIS systems, depending upon the terminal type used when logged in.

FUND BALANCE – The total amount that a particular fund has in its accounts. Since a fund is a self-balancing separate entity with its own set of accounts, the fund balance is the net result of assets and liabilities for that particular fund. It can be compared to owner equity in for- profit accounting.

FUND GROUPS – Categories that separate resources according to the restrictions placed on their use by the funding source. Funds with similar characteristics are combined into fund groups.

GIFT RECEIPT – A receipt given to the department to acknowledge gift funds presented to Restricted Fund Accounting for deposit on their behalf. This is not the same as a G-Receipt. The Restricted Fund Accounting Office then batches the deposits for the day, presents them to Cashiers and creates a G-Receipt for those deposits. (There is also another kind of gift receipt, which is the acknowledgement receipt sent to the donor, thanking him/her for the gift, and serving as a receipt for tax purposes. These are sent out by the Restricted Fund Accounting Office directly to the donor.)

GOVERNMENT UNALLOWABLE EXPENSES – Expenses which are not included in the calculation of overhead for the purposes of recovery of indirect costs from government contracts and grants. These include money spent for gifts, alcohol, fund raising activities, and student recruitment. These expenses must be segregated by our accounting procedures so as not to be included in the overhead calculation given to the government when negotiating recovery of indirect cost rates.

G-RECEIPT – A receipt from the Cashier’s Office that indicates the university general ledger account to which the deposit will be credited. This is not the same as a Gift Receipt.

HOLDING ACCOUNT – A general ledger account used to record deposits until such time as they can be transferred to a specific general ledger account. This allows the department to make deposits promptly and follow up later with the appropriate forms or documentation for correct recording of the credit.

INDIRECT COSTS – Another term for overhead. Expenses that are not directly managed by any revenue center at the university. These include support and service functions provided by university administrative centers. Examples of some services funded through the allocation of indirect costs are building maintenance, library operations, payroll, and the registrar’s office.

INTERDEPARTMENTAL INCOME (ID INCOME) – Income received from another university department, not originating from an outside source. It is not considered revenue to the university, and is therefore treated as a contra-expense (negative expense), and recorded in an expense account. Its purpose is to record funds charged to other centers that help offset expenses incurred for services or goods provided.

INTERNAL REQUISITION – A document with a number that authorizes one department to provide goods or service in exchange for payment to another department within the university. Payment is provided through a journal voucher. Internal requisitions provide the information about the request for goods or services as well as the account number and object code to be used when charging the receiving department. They are signed or have the expenditure card imprinted to indicate approval by the authorized signer on the account. They can also be used to authorize transfer of funds from one account to another by JV for the purposes of correcting a previous transaction. They can be issued in pre-printed form or by using the form processing requisition, as long as the words "Internal Requisition" appear on the form.

JOURNAL TYPE – A code that identifies the department who originated or processed a transaction. It also gives some identification of the kind of transaction it was. For example, CD stands for "cash disbursement" and indicates that Disbursement Control processed the transaction. For further identification of what kind of transaction it was, look at the transaction code.

JOURNAL VOUCHER (JV) – The accounting mechanism for the debit of one account and the credit of another, total debits and credits being equal. They are assigned numbers that indicate the month in which they are entered and the person responsible for the information on the JV. This mechanism is used for the payment for goods or services between university departments as authorized by internal requisitions, and for the correction of errors on financial transactions. Only authorized individuals can create journal vouchers.

LIABILITY – Funds that are yet to be paid out for a specific loan or other debt. Examples are bonds, accounts payable, and notes payable. Funds yet to be paid for compensation to current employees are also considered a liability.

LIEN – The generic term for the process by which funds have been identified in an account for future expenditure for a specific purpose. A lien reduces the available balance for spending and is therefore a mechanism for controlling a budget. It insures that the funds are not expensed for other purposes once a commitment is made. The funds are still in the account, and have not yet been expensed, but are not available for spending except for the committed purpose. Specific terms for types of liens are salary liens, service center liens, commitments, and encumbrances.

OBJECT CLASS – The first two digits of the object code. These classes are used to give a general classification to expenditures and revenues and their associated budgets. Some examples are 15 for general project supplies, 17 for equipment, 18 for travel, and 20 for university services.

OBJECT CODE – More specific than the object class, but also a method of classifying expenses and revenue. An object code consists of five digits, the first two being the object class and the next three giving a more definitive classification and description.

OBJECT CODE STATUS – Object codes, like accounts, can be active or frozen or deleted. Only active object codes (Status "A") can be used for recording financial transactions.

OBJECT TYPE – Like accounts, object codes are categorized into five groups: assets, liabilities, fund balance, revenue, and expense. Object codes used must match the account by type, eg., expense object codes must be used in expense accounts.

OPERATOR CODE – The unique code that identifies both the individual and the processes that the individual has access to. In the Budget Administration System, the operator codes all contain the employee number of the individual and have letters that identify the kinds of processes the user has access to.

OVERHEAD – Several kinds of expenses incurred during the general operation of a business that cannot be directly identified and associated with one group or department, and cannot therefore be specifically calculated as to who incurs that expense. Some examples costs of general maintenance in a building, and costs associated with processing transactions through other departments, such as payroll, purchasing, etc. Another term used often for overhead at the university is "indirect costs."

PAPERLESS CHANGE ORDER – The on-line process that allows the user to change an open PO. Limitations and restrictions apply to this process.

PAPERLESS CHECK REQUEST – A check request that is processed on-line by the user and once approved, is then submitted electronically to Disbursement Control for processing. Limitations and restrictions apply to what type of transactions can be processed using this type of check request. This is different from the forms processing check request. (See Check Request)

PAPERLESS REQUISITION – A requisition that is issued online and when completed is transmitted electronically directly to Purchasing. Within certain limitations the user can use this process to generate the requisition and, at the same time, issue the purchase order and fax the order to the vendor. This is different from the requisition that is also generated on-line using form processing.

PASSWORD – A secret word or code entered by the user to be used when accessing the AIS systems. All users on the AIS systems must have two passwords for security, a login password and an operator password. Only the user can change his/ her password.

PCR SYSTEM – The subsystem in the Accounts Payable system that contains the paperless check request process and accompanying reports, and appears on the Budget Administration System menu.

PERFORMANCE PROJECTION REPORT – A report that is distributed monthly to the SBO for each center. The report forecasts the year end financial results of each center based upon previous year and current year data combined with specific formulas used to calculate the expected actual performance to the end of the fiscal year. The report is returned from the SBO to FAP with any changes to the projected information.

PLANT FUNDS – Long-term assets used for institutional purposes. Funds in this group are used to buy, repair, or replace property or other long-term assets, and they include funds used to pay any debt associated with the purchase, renewal, or replacement of property or other long-term assets.

PO (see PURCHASE ORDER)

PROCUREMENT CARD – A MasterCard issued to an authorized individual at the university, which is to be used for university expenses as set by the procurement card policy and by the department. The charges made with the card are posted directly to a departmental current unrestricted account.

PROGRAM CODE – A 10-digit number that identifies Revenue Centers and Administrative Centers and all of their programs and departments within their centers. The digits within the program code identify the kind of center and the reporting hierarchy within the center and within the university. Each account is assigned to a program code to identify the center responsible for that account. The program code appears on the top of the summary page of the Account Status Report (ASR.)

PURCHASE ORDER (PO) – A formal contract between Purchasing and a vendor outside of the university that represents an order for goods or services. The PO is generated in response to a requisition from a university department to Purchasing. A number is assigned to each PO by the Purchasing System once a requisition has been approved. Purchasing must approve all requisitions equal to or greater than $1,500.

PURCHASE ORDER CHANGE REQUEST – The preprinted form used by the department to request that a change be made to a Purchase Order. The form is completed, imprinted with the expenditure card, and then forwarded to Purchasing for processing. This form is used when the change order cannot be processed by the user on-line using the Paperless Change Order Process.

PURPOSE CODE – Accounts in the current funds group have a code attached to them which identifies them as belonging to a specific group according to the function that they serve. The purpose code identifies the reason for the expense or the revenue, such as instruction, departmental research, student aid, etc. These codes help to group transactions for the Statement of Functional Expenses in the Financial Report.

QUASI-ENDOWMENT FUNDS – Also known as "funds functioning as endowment." Resources temporarily classified by the university as endowment funds, and invested as such. These funds are temporarily designated as not expendable, but can be reclassified as expendable if the university so decides.

REQUISITION – A document with a number authorizing Purchasing to enter into a contract with a vendor outside the university for the purchase of goods or services. A Purchase Order is generated once a requisition is approved by Purchasing or through the Purchasing System. Requisitions can be typed on a pre-printed form or generated from the Budget Administration System either using form processing or the paperless requisition process.

RESTRICTED FUNDS – Funds having a specific purpose attached to them from the funding source. They must be used in compliance with the wishes and directions from the funding source, whether it is a donor or an agency providing funds for a specific project. The restriction may be very general in nature, such as only identifying the school to receive the funds, or very specific in nature, such as identifying both the school and the way the funds are to be spent by that school, such as for scholarships only. Restricted funds are further classified as temporarily or permanently restricted.

REVENUE – Income or money brought into the university from outside sources. It can come in the form of a donation, tuition, fees, grant, contract, be payment for services, or income from sales. Revenue reported at the university on the Financial Report does not include income from other departments at the university, called interdepartmental income, or money received as a reimbursement for expenses, called a reduction of expense.

REVENUE CENTER – There are two subgroups of revenue centers: academic and auxiliary. Academic revenue centers are schools, which bring in revenue from tuition and various other sources. Auxiliary revenue centers are departments, or groups of departments, which provide goods and services to not only the university community, but also to the general public. These services and goods are sold by the auxiliary revenue center.

REVENUE CENTER MANAGEMENT (RESPONSIBILITY CENTER MANAGEMENT) – A management structure used at the university, which expands upon traditional management structures, in that it distributes actual revenues earned along with responsibility for both revenue and expense performance to programs or centers. This decentralized structure provides incentives to attain the financial stability necessary for optimal instructional, research, and service performance.

SALARY LIEN – When the university hires a person and the funding lines for his/her salary are entered in the payroll system, those funds are committed for the payment of the salary. The commitment is the salary lien. Those funds liened are not available for expenditure except for that salary so identified.

SENIOR BUSINESS OFFICER (SBO, Senior Business Administrator, or SBA) -- Chief financial officer of a revenue or administrative center, acting in most financial matters as the contact person on behalf of the dean or director of the center.

SERVICE CENTER LIEN – A lien placed by one university department on the account of another university department for the purpose of holding funds to pay for services or goods provided. The service department places the lien and the department receiving the goods or services provides an internal requisition as the authorization for the lien and the payment. Final payment is made by journal voucher from the service department.

STUDENT LOAN FUNDS – Funds to be lent out to students and funds collected as repayment from student loans. These funds can be used only for that purpose.

TERMINAL TYPE – A code used to identify the software used for connection to the AIS systems. Typing a "?" at the terminal type prompt when logging in to an AIS system will provide a listing of what codes are available for use. The terminal type indicates to the AIS system how your software has defined certain functions on your keyboard so that the system will respond as expected when you hit those keys. It also indicates to the system how the display and printing functions will work. The terminal type must match the software or the system will not work properly on your computer.

TRANSACTION CODE – See TRANSACTION TYPE

TRANSACTION TYPE – Same as transaction code. Indicates the nature of the financial transaction and is used by the processing department to categorize the transaction for processing. Each transaction type has a transaction code that is an abbreviation for the full explanation. An example is REIM for reimbursement.

UNRESTRICTED FUNDS – Funds originating from sources that have no specification as to the use of the funds. These resources generally include tuition, fees, sales and service income, and general investment income. These funds can be used for general operating expenses of the university, and do not have to be allocated to specific departments or schools, except according to budgeting practices and procedures.

VENDOR CODE (VENDOR ID, VENDOR NUMBER) – A unique number in the university financial systems database that identifies a vendor outside of the university. Purchasing and Disbursement Control use the vendor code for all orders and payments to these vendors. No vendor can be issued a PO or be paid until they have a valid vendor code.