Finance
Budget Development Process
The Budget Development process consists of two stages: Stage I (Budget Development due September 1st) and Stage II (Budget Annual Confirmation in April and Budget Realignment through mid-July).
In preparation for Stage I, the Office of Research leadership team schedules a Stage I budget hearing meeting with each area to discuss the area’s budget. This meeting provides an opportunity to discuss the area’s current operating budgets, activities, and use of funds in the current year, as well as anticipated plans for the next fiscal year. Early in the summer Linda Martin, the Associate VP of Research Operations sends an email to Centers & Institutes directors that explains the process and timeline. Annual reports are also due on September 1st, and these are discussed in the budget hearing meeting.
Stage I materials submitted to the Office of Research:
- Cover memo with a summary of budget materials.
- Unrestricted Accounts – worksheet with columns for final budget and actuals from previous fiscal year; beginning budget of current year and requested budget for following year by GL category. Provide the information for each funds center with a strategic justification for additional requests.
- Restricted Accounts (designated funds, gift, and endowment spendable) – worksheet with beginning balance of July 1st with columns for projected income and expense by account. Provide a list of strategic initiatives that were funded in the previous fiscal year and/or are planned/committed for current and future years.
- Provide a list of positions BY cost center (SAP – position management report).
The Stage II process begins with a notification in March/April of approved unrestricted budgets for the upcoming fiscal year and allows departments to realign budgets among GLs to better meet actual expenses. This process also requires position budget reconciliation to ensure that all positions are properly and fully funded and reconciled against the Funds Management Budget (per cost center and GL).
Quarterly Confirmation Reports
The University’s Quarterly Confirmation process allows all units, in collaboration with the Office of Budget and Planning, to summarize and report on factors impacting their forecasted performance for the current fiscal year. This process provides an opportunity to review centers’ and institutes’ current unrestricted budgets and expenditures, understand the financial status of their area, and project available funds on a quarterly basis. All major budget variances should be identified and explained in an accompanying memo. Internal quarterly confirmation materials submitted to the Office of Research:
- Complete quarterly report template (provided by the Office of Research) by projecting income and expense by GL category through the end of the fiscal year and provide a brief explanation of the variances in the notes section.
- All major budget variances should be identified and explained in an accompanying memo including justification for non-routine expenses.
- Provide position management report by cost center. Ensure that position budgets match Funds Management report by GL category.
- Provide restricted accounts (IOs) balances and anticipated income and expenses through the end of fiscal year.
- For variances, which do not change the budget’s bottom line, submit a budget re-alignment form (enter link for budget-realignment template) by the deadlines provided by Budget and Planning.
Position Reconciliation
As part of the periodic account review, position budgets should be reconciled on a monthly basis. The first step involves matching the position budget to the individual salary. For any positions where the position budget on the OM form is above or below that of the actual employee salary, a Maintain position form should be processed. Once all position budgets match the actual salary or the maximum recruitment salary in the case of an open position, the total position budget needs to be reconciled to what is budgeted in the salary GL associated with regular full and part-time faculty and staff positions. In the event that there is a discrepancy between the two numbers, where the total amount of the position budgets (found on the Position Management reports) exceeds what is budgeted in the salary GL, a Budget Adjustment needs to be completed to move funding to the salary GL so that it is fully covering the budgeted salaries. Please note that if funding is being taken from an operating line, you will also need to cover fringe benefits. In the event the salary GL is higher than what is needed to cover all salaries, excess funding can be moved into the Uncommitted Salary GLs (500249 and 500299) which will allow you to track how much extra funding you have in salaries for future hires.
Accounts Reconciliation
An effective review and reconciliation process should happen every month, as close to the end of the month as possible.
Operating Expenses:
- Review monthly and year-to-date (YTD) actuals
- Compare current budget to projected available balance
- Review outstanding encumbrance amounts
- Expenses and income should comply with all internal or external policies and procedures
- All expenses should appropriately reflect items received or any services rendered
- Investigate and resolve any erroneous items
- Review open encumbrances
Payroll Detail
- Confirm effort and payments are accurate based on the person’s salary
- Investigate and resolve immediately any erroneous items
Detail Inter-Departmental Billing (ISRs and FSRs)
- All expenses should appropriately reflect items received or any services rendered
- Investigate and resolve immediately any erroneous items
The most recent University policy on accounts reconciliation is described in the Memorandum To: Department Financial and Research Administration.
For monthly reconciliation training and tools, please visit the bu.edu/tech/support/buworks/help/finance/buworks-fi-reconciling-tools/ and bu.edu/cfo/comptroller/resources/after-the-fact-review/ websites.
Journal Entries
Periodically journal entry “adjustment” transactions to the University’s General Ledger (GL) are required to correct errors, transfer funds, and accrue or defer revenues and expenses. The University’s journal entry policy requires that all journal entries be created and approved by authorized and trained users, be consistent with the University’s accounting policies and be posted to the appropriate cost object and GL account, incorporate sufficient supporting documentation, and comply with sponsor and donor restrictions.
Journal Entry Creator Responsibilities:
- Ensure that the journal entry is the right transaction to use for the transaction (for example, payroll distributions should be changed through the Payroll system).
- Incorporate or attach appropriate supporting documentation for each journal entry posted.
- Verify that entries are coded accurately in SAP and are in compliance with University policies and procedures (SA, YC, ZJ, KZ, and ZU document types in SAP).
- Ensure journal line-item descriptions and explanations clearly document to readers the purpose of the entry (do not use: “correction error,” “transfer,” “recovery,” etc.).
- For cost objects being charged, ensure that the owner of the cost object is aware of the charge, and has authorized the posting.
- For grant, gift, and endowment cost objects, ensure the related restrictions by the sponsor or donor are being met.
Journal Entry Approver Responsibilities: Provide a “double-check” through a final review, ensuring that the journal entry under review meets all the tests described for the Journal Entry Creator, as described above
Please see bu.edu/tech/support/buworks/help/finance/ for detailed instructions on creating and tracking journal entries.
Year-End Close
Each fiscal year, Boston University is required to prepare consolidated financial statements per Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP).
These financial statements provide an overview of the University’s activities for the fiscal year (July 1 through June 30) and reveal important information about the financial health of our Institution.
To prepare financial statements, accounting procedures are undertaken throughout the year to ensure that all transactions posted are accurate and recorded for the appropriate period. Year-end accounting procedures are similar to the processes you already perform on a daily, weekly, or monthly basis, but are particularly important during this period as they provide one last opportunity to record all your departmental activities and make any necessary corrections.
The Fiscal Year End Closing Memo 2022 provides information on the various processes and related deadlines for the fiscal year close.
The Fiscal Year End Webinar slides and additional materials are available from BU TechWeb.
Please keep in mind that you should allow extra time for certain deadlines like Concur reports as they go through a multi-stage approval process. If you are submitting journal entries, you may want to call or email the approver and alert them to the item in their work list.
Funds Management Reports (FM/SAP)
This BU TechWeb page provides a table of contents for the various resources related to Funds Management (FM) reports and data available among the Help Guides and reporting training sessions.
DSA
Departmental Security Administrators (DSAs) are responsible for managing the mainframe accounts of schools, offices, or colleges and for requesting access that is appropriate for the business role of that account. The DSA is the liaison between the end-user and Information Security. All issues and concerns regarding access to the mainframe should be directed to your DSA. These responsibilities include but are not limited to the following tasks:
- Maintain user accounts and access in the mainframe and SAP systems
- Define accounts for new staff members
- Make requests for mainframe applications, facilities or data for your users
- Suspend a user leaving your department or office’s employment and opening their position
- Remove the suspension of a user within your department when it is merited
- Assist in replacing a user’s forgotten or expired password with a “default” password
Here is a list of current DSAs for the Office of Research and its areas:
- Lena Tamutiene, Director, Finance & Administration; Office of Research
- Mia Bott, Executive Director, Finance & Administration; Research Compliance Administration
- Cara McCarthy, Executive Director of Finance, Administration & Personnel Management; Photonics Center
Sourcing & Procurement
Sourcing & Procurement is dedicated to helping departments maximize their budgets through the strategic purchases of products and services. The link to the main page is here.
Ariba Guided BUying overview can be found here.
Helpful Links:
Contracts/Consultants policy
If you are planning to use consultant services, please refer to the Engaging a Consultant at Boston University flowchart created by BU Sourcing team.
For ordering and contracting policy, please visit this page.
Amazon Business policy
For information regarding Boston University’s Amazon Business policy and to see what training resources are available for Amazon Business, please visit the BU Sourcing & Procurement page.
TerrierTemps Program
TerrierTemps is BU’s Contingent Workforce Management (CWM) program that provides a single source for finding, screening, selecting, and paying for temporary agency personnel.
For more on hiring through TerrierTemps, please visit the Human Resources and BU Sourcing & Procurement websites. To contact the TerrierTemps Program Management office, please email butemps@bu.edu or call 617-358-6421.
New temporary worker guide for hiring managers can be found here.
Purchasing Card (P-Card)
The Boston University Purchasing Card (“P-Card”) Program is designed to provide an efficient means of making routine purchases by reducing paperwork, allowing control and responsibility at the school or department level, and streamlining the purchasing cycle for low-dollar purchases.
To apply for a P-Card and to read the Boston University P-Card policy, please visit the bu.edu/pcards website.
Each P-Card holder has a designated approver, usually within their own center or department. P-Card holders should reconcile their P-Card by reviewing purchases and attaching receipts for each transaction on a monthly basis. Similarly, the P-Card approver should review and approve (or return when required) P-Card transactions on a monthly basis.
P-Card training can be found here.
Travel and Travel Card
The Travel Card is for business travel-related purchases, and only expenses associated with a business travel excursion. Purchases of business travel-related services must be processed in accordance with BU travel policy and procedure.
To apply for a travel card and to read the Boston University Travel Card policy, please visit the bu.edu/travelservices website.
Travel expense reports should be submitted for any business travel that is charged to the Travel Card or that is incurred by the employee and needs to be reimbursed. This is completed through the Concur system which can be accessed in Employee Self Service (ESS) in the travel section. Expense reports should be submitted after the travel took place. Receipts for each transaction need to be attached individually and must include detail on the business purpose of the transaction.
Accounts Payable
The primary mission of Accounts Payable is to process all non-payroll payments timely, accurately, and in compliance with University policy and government and sponsor regulations. To learn more about the Accounts Payable office’s policies and contacts, please visit their website.
Disbursement Request form
Disbursement Form is a formal request to pay vendors and individuals for goods and services that do not require a Boston University purchase order. Disbursement Request Form is available on the BU’s Accounts Payable website.
Honorarium Payments
An honorarium is a payment to an individual in recognition of a special or distinguished service for which propriety precludes setting a fixed price: activities like a lecture, participation in a workshop or seminar, speaking engagement, or appraisal of a manuscript for professional publication. Both employees and non-employees are eligible to receive honorarium payments, however, Boston University employees must be paid through the payroll system Specific instructions on how to process honorarium payments can be on the documentation here.
Payments via wire Transfer
- To process a wire transfer, please complete the Disbursement Request Form and indicate the wire transfer selection from the Disposition of Payment dropdown of the form.
- For reimbursements instructions can be found here.
Required banking information:
- Full name on the account
- Account #
- Name of the bank
- Swift code
- Canceled check or copy of monthly statement
Note: Bank information must be obtained via phone, fax or secure mail. For security purposes regular emails are not allowed.
Internal Service Providers and Facilities Management (ISRs and FSRs)
Internal Service Requests (ISR’s) and Facilities Service Requests (FSR’s) are transactions involving providers internal to Boston University.
Helpful Links:
Information on ISR/FSRs view and reconciliation can be found on these pages:
Cashier Services
Petty Cash
Petty cash can be used to reimburse individuals for non-travel, out-of-pocket expenditures. Petty cash can sometimes be used in place of the university purchasing process where appropriate, for example, as reimbursement for small, incidental department expenses when it is infeasible or impractical to use normal purchasing means. Petty cash should be used in this manner only when necessary.
For petty cash policies, please visit this website.
Accepting credit card payments
For credit card acceptance policy, please visit this website.
Taxability of Gifts to Employee, Non-Employee and Students policy
This policy provides guidance regarding the taxability of gifts, prizes and awards to employees and ensures that 1) proper communication is provided to the employee at the time of receipt, and 2) the University is in compliance with federal and state tax laws and regulations.
Please visit the bu.edu/policies website to see the full text of the Taxability of Gifts, Prizes, and Awards to Employees, Non-employees, and Students policy.