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  • In order to ensure accuracy in financial transactions, current chartfield information is required. It’s also important to ensure that employees have updated their contact information, particularly their email address.

    How to update your email address

    It’s important to have an updated email address on file so you can receive the notifications send out in the financial system. Each department head, account executive, principal investigator and liaison need to have their appropriate email listed in the Campus Information System (CIS). There are two ways to accomplish this. The employee can update their information under the Personal Bio/Demo Information in the employee section of CIS or your department’s payroll reporter can make that change.

    Org Head Information

    Department – also known as org – information can be found in the campus directory and is used in various business processes across the university and stored in a central database. Each org has one title, address, phone number and a single org Head who is ultimately responsible for the department’s business transactions, including financial and personnel transactions.

    If your team needs to update their org head, they can complete the Request to Update Org Directory Information form or send a change request to sandy.hughes@utah.edu.

    Project Liaison Change

    You can quickly and easily change the Liaison on a Project. Navigate to the Project Lookup page and search for a Project or List of Projects, then select the “Change Liaison/Phone” button to enter the application. Start typing the Employee ID or the last name, and it will begin filtering a list of employees to choose from. Select the Projects you would like for that person (Liaison information will highlight in yellow when row is selected), and then click Submit Change.

    • Check All button—appears if there are 50 or less Projects on the screen.
    • Uncheck All button—deselects any check boxes.
    • All of the columns, including the Select column, can be sorted.

    Notice in the upper left that it tells you how many rows are returned, and keeps track of how many check boxes you select. If you see a red “X” icon in the Select column on a row, that means you either do not have access, the Project is inactive, or both. Hover over the icon to see information.

    Activity Liaison Change

    You can quickly and easily change the Liaison on an Activity, or simply update this Liaisons phone number. By navigating to the Activity Lookup page and searching for an Activity or List of Activities. Select the “Change Liaison/Phone” button to enter the application. Enter (or search for) the Employee ID. If an ID is typed directly into the input box, tabbing out will display the employee’s name and default phone number. Enter a new phone number if necessary. Select the Activities you would like for that person (Liaison information will highlight in yellow when row is selected). Click Submit Change.

    • Check All button—appears if there are 50 or less Activities on the screen.
    • Uncheck All button—deselects any check boxes.
    • All of the columns, including the Select column, can be sorted.

    Notice in the upper left that it tells you how many rows are returned, and keeps track of how many check boxes you select. If you see a red “X” icon in the Select column on a row, that means you either do not have access, the Activity is inactive, or both. Hover over the icon to see information.

    Activity Account Executive: Contact Jennie Hale at jennie.hale@admin.utah.edu

     

  • New Activity Request Form

    • Make sure to save and download this form and open it on your computer for it to display correctly.
    • Do not fill out the first section. It will be completed by Financial Reporting and Accounting. You will fill out information from your specific department in the second section.

    Instructions for Second Section:

    • Definitions: Use the drop-down menus to select the appropriate function and sub-functional groups.
    • Purpose of Activity: Describe why a new activity is needed. This should include a description of the business activity and will require accounting records that are independent of existing activities. "To record revenues and expenses" is not a valid purpose.
    • Specific Source of Revenue: If the funding source is coming from outside of the university, please indicate that. If the funding source is coming from university customers, please share the services being provided. If the funds are being transferred from a different activity, please include the appropriate chartfield. Also, provide the requested fund number.
    • Signature: Once the form is completed, you will be responsible for gathering the signature from the appropriate dean or vice president.
    • Email: You can email the completed form as an attachment to jennie.hale@admin.utah.edu.

    Activity/Project Set Up Request Form

  • OVERVIEW

    System Maintained Descriptions
    Each Account value in the system has associated with it two descriptions, a long one that is 30 characters in length and a short one, an abbreviated version of the long one, which is 10 characters in length. Financial Reporting & Accounting maintains these descriptions.

    The long description (30 characters) is the one that appears on both the Web and hard copy Management Reports and will continue to be the default description if a custom description has not been created.

    Example:

    Account – 60000
    Long Description – TRAVEL-DOMESTIC, OUT-OF-STATE
    Short Description – TRV-DOM OS

    Custom Descriptions
    A Custom Account Description can be established for each unique Activity/Account or Project/Account combination. The same Account value used in separate Activities or Projects may have different custom descriptions. Each Custom Account Description will consist of the system maintained short description for the specified Account value (10 characters) followed by a “:” followed by up to 19 characters determined by the Responsible Person (or designee) of each Activity or Project.

    Examples:

    Activity – 12345 Account – 60000
    Long Description – TRAVEL-DOMESTIC, OUT-OF-STATE
    Short Description – TRV-DOM OS
    Custom Description – TRV-DOM OS: PROF. SMITH

    Activity – 12345 Account – 60001
    Long Description – TRAVEL-DOMESTIC, OUT-OF-STATE
    Short Description – TRV-DOM OS
    Custom Description – TRV-DOM OS: PROF. JONES

    Activity – 45678 Account – 60000
    Long Description – TRAVEL-DOMESTIC, OUT-OF-STATE
    Short Description – TRV-DOM OS
    Custom Description – TRV-DOM OS: SEMINARS

    Project – 51012345 Account – 60000
    Long Description – TRAVEL-DOMESTIC, OUT-OF-STATE
    Short Description – TRV-DOM OS
    Custom Description – TRV-DOM OS: PAPER PRESENTATION

    Accounts in the following ranges are administratively controlled and are not allowed to have custom descriptions.

    10400 – 12092
    20099 – 20099
    22000 – 39999
    49000 – 49085
    90000 – 99999

    FORM INSTRUCTIONS

    Purpose
    The purpose of the Web form is to prepare a request for Custom Account Descriptions that will be sent to either Financial Reporting & Accounting or Research Accounting who will setup the custom descriptions. A separate request must be sent for each Activity and Project. Up to 15 Accounts may be listed on each request. If more than 18 Custom Account Descriptions are needed for an Activity or Project, a second request will need to be sent. It is not necessary to create Custom Account Descriptions for all Accounts in each Activity and Project. Please be judicious with your request.

    Process

    You will need to provide information on 2 pages.

    Page 1

    Steps:

    1. Identify yourself by providing your name, department name, your phone number and optionally, your email address.
    2. Type in the Activity or Project number.
    3. For Activities, identify the Business Unit the Activity is in. This defaults to Business Unit 01.
    4. List only the Accounts for which custom descriptions are to be created, changed, or deleted. It is not necessary to list them in any order.
    5. Click on the “Go to Descriptions Page” button. (Clicking on the “Go to Descriptions Page” will make sure you have entered all required information and that the Activity or Project and the Accounts listed are valid values.)
    6. Clicking on the “Reset Activity (Project) & Account” button will retain the Person Requesting information and clear the other fields.

    Errors:

    1. If the error is an invalid Activity or Project, a message will be displayed indicating the invalid condition. The Activity or Project number and all Accounts entered will be cleared and you will start over at step 2.
    2. If an invalid Account(s) was entered, the invalid Accounts) will be listed in an error message at the top of the page. Valid Accounts remain in the “List of Accounts to customize” at the bottom of the page. Invalid Accounts are those that do not exist in the Account table or are specifically excluded from being customized (see Overview).
    3. You can add other Accounts to the list at this time. To revalidate the revised list and advance to the Descriptions Page, click on the “Go to Descriptions Page” button again.

    Page 2

    Steps:

    1. Information provided on the previous page will be brought forward to this page. Accounts will be listed in numerical sequence.
    2. The user-defined portion of the custom description will be in a box on the far right of each line. Blank boxes indicate that a custom description currently is not defined. If there is a current custom description, it will appear in the box.
    3. Change the content of the custom description box to what is desired. Please enter information in upper case.*Filling in a blank box will create a new description.*Changing the content will change the description.*Deleting the content (making it blank) will delete a description.
    4. Print this page and send or fax a copy to the office indicated at the bottom of the page to have the Custom Account Description created.
    5. If you need to submit another request, click on the “Reset and Re-Enter Activity (Project) and Accounts” button at the bottom of the page and repeat the process.

  • WHAT IS THE PURPOSE OF THE “A/U” CHARTFIELD

    The Federal Government has mandated in OMB Circular A-21 for Cost Principles for Educational Institutions that certain expenses may not be charged to Federal grants and contracts as an indirect cost. The cost principles in A-21 provide the general accounting “rules” for colleges and universities. These principles define those costs that are allowable and allocable to the Federal Government. Since all University of Utah expenses in Business Unit 01 are analyzed and sorted into pools to calculate the University’s F&A rate charged to contracts and grants, it is essential that ALL university expenses be properly identified as either allowable or unallowable by means of the A/U Chartfield code. By definition, expenses charged directly to Contracts and Grants (Fund 5000) are allowable and therefore the A/U Chartfield for Fund 5000 transactions should be left blank.

    Expenses that are not allowed for reimbursement by the Federal Government are NOT necessarily prohibited and may be appropriate business expenses permitted by the University. In fact, unallowable costs may be essential University of Utah expenses which may be incurred. However, such costs must be coded as unallowable, under A-21 rules, by placing a “0” in the A/U chartfield, to ensure that they may be readily identified and not be used to calculate the University’s indirect costs.

    A-21 defines some functions as unallowable. Fund-raising, for example, although it is an essential University of Utah process, is an unallowable function for Federal reimbursement. That means that Federal funds may not be used to pay ANY of the University of Utah’s fund-raising expenses. In addition, A-21 also identifies some items, i.e., specific types of costs, as unallowable. Alcoholic beverages, for example, are an unallowable item. Regardless of the function with which they are associated, the Federal Government will not reimburse their cost.

    In some instances, it is the purpose of an expense that determines whether it is allowable or unallowable. For example, paper may be purchased as an appropriate business expense either for instruction or for a funding raising event. However, fund raising costs (as mentioned before) are not allowable to be included in the indirect cost expenditure pool. Therefore, the transaction to record the purchase of paper for a fund raising event should be coded with a “0” in the A/U chartfield. The transaction to record the purchase of paper for instruction should be “1”.

    WHICH CHARTFIELD STRINGS ARE AFFECTED

    Use only for Business Unit 01. For Business Units 02 & 04 the A/U chartfield should always be left blank

    The A/U chartfield is valid for expenses only (Accounts 50000 – 69999).

    VALID VALUES

    1 = Allowable Costs

    0 = Unallowable Costs

    Please place a “1” in the A/U chartfield to identify allowable costs and “0” to identify unallowable costs.

    Examples of Expenses Excluded by OMB Circular A-21 include:

    • Advertising costs that are not for recruitment of personnel, for procurement of goods and services, for disposal of surplus property or required by the sponsored agreement
    • Alcoholic Beverages
    • Alumni Costs
    • Bad Debts and related costs
    • Vehicles provided to University Officers
    • Civil defense costs for local projects not on University premises
    • Commencement and convocation costs
    • Contingency contribution to a contingency reserve
    • Donations and contributions
    • Entertainment costs
    • Expenditures that violate University policy
    • Fines and penalties
    • First Class air travel
    • Fund raising costs
    • Goods and services for personal use, i.e., gifts, flowers, drinks, food, etc.
    • Housing and personal living expenses
    • Insurance against defects
    • Interest paid to other University departments
    • Legal costs that the University loses or settles out of court
    • Lobbying costs
    • Losses on other sponsored agreements
    • Malpractice insurance for physicians
    • Membership costs in any country, social or dining club
    • Public relations costs that are not specifically required by the sponsored agreement
    • Relocation costs for new employees who voluntarily resign within twelve months
    • Selling and marketing costs of University products
    • Severance costs in excess of that allowed by University policies and procedures
    • Socials and parties which do not meet University policies and procedures
    • Student activity costs
    • Travel and subsistence costs for Trustees and Regents
    • Unreasonable expenses

    Please remember whenever you order supplies, authorize the payment of salaries, reimburse a student, fill out an expense report or do any of the many tasks involving University of Utah finances, you are providing basic financial data to the University. The University uses this information to manage its budget and to recover indirect costs, called Facilities & Administrative (F&A) costs by the Federal Government, on sponsored projects. To do your part correctly, you need to know:

    • whether an expense is allowable for reimbursement by the Federal Government or not, and
    • how to assign a correct A/U chartfield to your expenses.

    Since indirect cost recovery goes into the University’s operating budget as unrestricted funding, our ability to recover those costs affects everyone at the University of Utah

Chartfield Structure

  • 2 numeric characters

    Used to separate legal entities, such as U of U Academic (01) and U of U Research Foundation (04).

  • 5 numeric characters

    Identifies the campus department receiving and spending funds. The value that identifies an Organization is known as an OrgID.

  • 4 numeric characters for BU 01; 2 numeric characters for BU 04

    Identifies the source of the resource and whether there are restrictions in place, such as state appropriations (1001) and grants and contracts (5xxx).

  • 5 numeric characters

    Distinguishes business activities within the same Fund for BU 01 and BU 04.

  • 8 numeric characters for Fund 5000; 5 numeric characters for Fund 70xx

    Identifies the various contracts, grants, or construction projects, usually with Fund 5000.

  • 5 numeric characters

    Qualifies the category of a transaction, such as expenses, revenue, and assets.

  • “1” for Allowable or “0” for Unallowable Distinguishes whether an expense is allowed for reimbursement by the Federal Government. Only used for BU 01 expenses with Accounts 50000 – 67399 and 67600 – 89999 and where the Fund is 1001, 2xxx, or 6xxx.

NACUBO Functional Classifications

Functional Groups

This field holds the funds for the university’s instruction programs, including credit and non- credit courses. These courses could be academic, vocational, technical, regular, special or extension courses. This category does not include academic employees whose primary role is in administration, like deans.

Sub-Function Group

  • 0100 – General Academic Instruction – This subcategory includes expenses for formally organized and/or separately budgeted instructional activities that are associated with academic offerings described by the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS) instructional program categories identified in the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) publication A Classification of Instructional Programs and offered for credit as part of a formal postsecondary education degree or certificate program. Open university, short courses, and home study activities falling within this classification and offered for credit are included. However, this subcategory does not include instructional offerings that are part of programs leading toward degrees or certificates at levels below the higher education level, such as adult basic education.
  • 0200 – Vocational/Technical Instruction – This subcategory includes expenses for formally organized and/or separately budgeted instructional activities that are associated with activities characterized as vocational/technical instruction in the IPEDS instructional program categories and offered for credit as part of a formal postsecondary education degree or certificate program. Open university, short courses, and home study falling within this classification and offered for credit are included. However, this subcategory does not include instructional offerings that are part of programs leading toward degrees or certificates at levels below the higher education level, such as adult basic education
  • 0400 – Community Education (DCE) – This subcategory includes expenses for formally organized and/or separately budgeted instructional activities that do not generally result in credit toward any formal postsecondary degree or certificate. It includes noncredit instructional offerings carried out by the institution’s extension division as well as noncredit offerings that are part of the adult education or continuing education program. This subcategory also includes expenses for activities associated with programs leading toward a degree or certificate at a level below the higher education level, such as adult basic education.
  • 0500 – Preparatory/Remedial Instruction – This subcategory includes expenses for formally organized and/or separately budgeted instructional activities that give students the basic knowledge and skills required by the institution before they can undertake formal academic course work leading to a postsecondary degree or certificate. Such activities, supplemental to the normal academic program, generally are termed preparatory, remedial, developmental, or special educational services. These instructional offerings may be taken prior to or along with the course work leading to the degree or certificate. They are generally noncredit offerings, although in some cases credit may be provided specifically for required preparatory or remedial skills or knowledge. If students may satisfy preparatory requirements by taking offerings provided primarily for other than remedial or preparatory purposes, those offerings should be classified elsewhere.
  • 0600 – Educ Service Agreements – on campus – This subcategory includes expenses for on campus instruction activities that are managed within academic departments. Such activities may have been undertaken as the result of a contract or grant or through a specific allocation of the institution’s general resources.  On Campus, as defined in The University’s F&A Agreement with the Department of Health and Human Services, includes activities conducted at University of Utah owned facilities and rental facilities in Research Park.
  • 0609 – Educ Service Agreements – off campus – This subcategory includes expenses for off campus instruction activities that are managed within academic departments. Such activities may have been undertaken as the result of a contract or grant or through a specific allocation of the institution’s general resources.  Off Campus, as defined in The University’s F&A Agreement with the Department of Health and Human Services, includes activities conducted at facilities not owned by the University of Utah or rental facilities other than those located in Research Park.