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Introduction
There are a number of account balances which require special
treatment at year end, to ensure that appropriate figures
are brought forward to the new accounting period. The accounts
are listed below under two categories, (a) those requiring
actual balances brought forward and (b) those requiring budget
balances brought forward:
- Accounts requiring 'actual' balances b/fwd:
- Grant accounts (11-98);
- Special purpose funds (04);
- Consultancy funds (05);
- Recovery accounts (07).
- Accounts requiring 'budget' balances b/fwd:
- Recurrent accounts (01);
- Non Award (03);
- Infrastructure funds (10);
- Full fee paying students (ISP) funds (06);
- Technical Infrastructure (99).
The treatment of each category is outlined in the procedures
below.
There is a third category of balances which though requiring
no special treatment are worthy of note. These include:
- University Research Budget (URB) funds (09);
- Capital Construction Project funds (cc 110 to 112);
- Assets greater than $10,000.
Procedures are also included for these items. |
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Principle
Recurrent budget savings/deficits for each year within each
faculty/division will be responsibly managed by the head of
each faculty/division. Budget savings will be carried forward
in a lump sum as an addition to the current year budget. Budget
deficits will be carried forward in a lump sum as a deduction
from the current year budget and will have first call on the
current year budget.
In the case of University Research Budget (URB) funds, it
is expected that all funds will be expended in the year of
allocation. Funds may be carried forward only where specific
application is made and approval given by the Faculty/Institute
Research Committee.
Specific grant funding (including DEST) will be administered
in accordance with the grant conditions, which normally require
that prior approval be sought for permission to carry forward
unspent funds.
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Procedure
15.4.1 Accounts requiring 'actual' balances b/fwd
15.4.1.1 At the end of each year the balances on
grant accounts, special purpose fund accounts, consultancy
funds and recovery accounts will be determined by offsetting
expenditure against income plus previous year carry forward..
15.4.1.2 Once the year end process is complete
balances will be extracted from the retained earnings account
and recorded in individual accounts.
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15.4.2 Accounts requiring 'budget' balances b/fwd
- Recurrent (01) Non Award (03) ISP (06)
15.4.2.1 At the end of each year the unspent budget
balances for recurrent, non award and ISP funds, will be
determined by offsetting actual costs against approved budget
plus previous year carry forward.
15.4.2.2 As soon as the year end process is complete
a file of unspent recurrent balances will be created which
will be consolidated with previous accumulated surplus/deficits
to give a surplus/deficit for each faculty/division.
15.4.2.3 Each accumulated surplus/deficit will
be incorporated into the current year budget for allocation.
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15.4.3 Balances requiring unspent budget balances
brought forward (Research (10) and Technical infrastructure
(99) funds)
15.4.3.1 Once the year end process is completed,
a file of unspent balances will be created which will be
brought forward for each individual project. Deficit balances
will need to be cleared where no further budget allocations
are to be made.
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15.4.4 University Research Budget (URB) funds
15.4.4.1 At the end of each year unspent budget
balances for URB funds will be determined by offsetting
actual costs against approved budget plus previous year
carry forward.
15.4.4.2 As soon as the year end process is complete
a file of unspent URB balances will be created which will
be consolidated with previous accumulated surplus/deficits
to give a total surplus/deficit for each faculty/division.
15.4.4.3 If unspent funds are required to be carried
forward, a request for permission will be made to the Faculty/Insitute
Research Committee.
15.4.4.4 Funds approved for carry forward will
be recorded by the Grants Office via a budget journal into
a carry forward account using account code 9297.
Exceptions
- Professorial Establishment allowance (project range
5050 to 5060)
- Uni Small grants (project range 5061 to 5080)
- Uni Industry grants (project range 5081 onwards)
Normally one year in duration unless applicant makes a
case to the Grants Finance Office to have the funds carried
forward into the new year.
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15.4.5 Capital construction project funds
15.4.5.1 By the nature of capital construction,
projects are not bound by financial years. The treatment
of capital expenditure ensures that balances will automatically
be carried forward until the project is completed.
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15.4.6 Assets $10,000 and greater
15.4.6.1 Equipment, furniture, vehicles and like
assets are treated in a manner similar to operating costs,
although the expenditure is of a capital nature.
15.4.6.2 Acquisitions will continue to be reported
together with operating costs, but the 'account type' within
the Flinders Finance System will be recorded as 'asset'
rather than 'expense'.
15.4.6.3 The 'account type' will enable the item
to automatically transfer from the 'accounts payable' module
to the 'assets' module in the Flinders Finance System.
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