Operating Budget Savings - Policy

TO:                           Directors of Finance & Operations, Program Administrators

FROM:                     Jim Henry, CFO, H&S

SUBJECT:              2020/21 Budget Savings Policy & Process

DATE:                      April 30, 2021

I’m writing to confirm that the FY 2020/21 budget savings policy will be the same as it has been for the past two years.  Departments and programs will be allowed to move all operating budget general fund surpluses to their Budget Savings account.  This policy will be reevaluated for FY 2021/22 as our financial situation becomes clearer. 

Does this new policy have limitations?  Yes; in a fund accounting environment, only true general funds may be added to Budget Savings.  The annual Dean’s Office funding allocation is a mixture of general funds and Dean’s Office-controlled restricted gifts and endowments.  The amount of restricted funds varies unit-by-unit depending on the number and size of gifts that have been made to the school. 

You can identify the amount of general funds supporting your operating budget by running the H&S Operating Budget Report in the OBI H&S Financial Dashboard Directory (Portal).  This is the same report used for closing operating budgets at year-end.

The Transfer – Net General Fund Amount column indicates the amount of general funds supporting each OB project.  This amount is also the limit for adding restricted funds to support the OB.  

Departments/programs may add additional restricted fund support to the OB during the year-end closing process by providing transfer instructions to your Finance liaison.  Of course, fund restrictions must be met by the expenses supported.

This policy extension represents an ongoing opportunity for departments & programs to replenish unrestricted budget savings, which may have been depleted during the past few years.  Please direct questions to Jim Henry and the Finance team as you prepare for this year’s fiscal close.