UAMS ADMINISTRATIVE GUIDE

NUMBER: 8.1.03
DATE: 10/01/93
REVISION:

PURPOSE

The purpose of this policy is to notify departments within the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS) of the procedures to be followed when requesting a transfer of funds, or a transfer of fund balance. The UAMS Controller’s Office must comply with Arkansas State law, the UAMS Expenditure Control Policy¹, and the UAMS Balanced Budget Policy² when approving the transfer of funds or fund balances. State law prohibits the transfer of funds which are restricted by certain State purchasing regulations.

PROCEDURE

1. Departments requesting the transfer of a fund balance from one fund/center to another must complete and submit an Interdepartmental Transfer Form³ to the Controller’s Office at Slot 545. Copies of this form are available from the Stockroom, #33-130.
2. Funds cannot be transferred from a fund which is restricted by certain regulations established under state law. A general rule is that funds may be transferred only from one fund to another fund having similar restrictions. Questions regarding which funds may transfer to other funds may be directed to General Accounting, at extension 66810.
3. Departments in the 111 and 113 funds requesting resource transfers to or from their centers must also submit a Request for Budget Revision⁴ to reflect changes of resource allocation. If centers in other funds have their resources budgeted, a budget revision reflecting changes of resource allocation is required. The Request for Budget Revision (available from the Stockroom, #33-100) must be completed and submitted along with the Interdepartmental transfer form in order to process the fund balance transfer and to revise the budget.
4. When completing the Request for Budget Revision, the budget entries must be made in both the transferring and receiving debit and credit funds. This usually involves making four entries, as demonstrated on the two sample Budget Revision Forms on pages 3 and 4.

Sample 1: (For funds other than 111 & 113) The sample budget revision found on page 3 shows the correct procedure for transferring $10,000 from fund 116 to fund 115.

1. The first two entries show that the transferring fund/center is moving budget authority from the Budgeted Expenditure object (7xxxxx) to the Transfers Out object (690092), thereby reducing expenditure authority in that fund/center.
2. The second two entries show that the receiving fund/center is adding budget to a planned expenditure category. The Transfers In object (690091) shows that incoming budget authority has been transferred into the receiving fund/center. The expenditure object (7xxxxx) indicates which object has received the expenditure authority.

Sample 2: (For funds 111 & 113) The sample budget revision found on page 4 shows the correct procedure for transferring $2,000 from fund 111 to fund 117.

3. When funds 111 or 113 (General Operating Funds) are involved, the Transfers In and Transfers Out object codes are not used. Instead, the Budgeted Transfer object (795000) is used. This reduces the expenditure authority of the fund/center, without changing the overall balance at fund level.

5. The Request for Budget Revision form will be forwarded to the UAMS Budget Office for approval and processing. The Budget Office will review for completeness and forward the request to the Controller’s Office for approval and processing of the transfer of funds. If errors are found or if the fund balance transfer cannot be made, both documents will be returned to the requesting department. Upon approval and processing of the transfer of funds by the Controller’s Office, the Request for Budget Revision form and copy of the Journal Voucher supporting the transfer of funds will be returned to the Budget Office.
6. The Budget Office will then process the Request for Budget Revision to transfer the budget authorization to the appropriate accounts, and will forward a copy of the approved Request for Budget Revision from to the requesting department.
7. In reading the fund balance transfer object codes, the second digit of the code indicates whether the fund/center is receiving or transferring funds. The number "1" in the second digit slot indicates the transfer is received from other funds (3-1xxxx). The number "2" in this position indicates a transfer is moving to another fund (3-2xxxx). The next three digits of the fund balance transfer object codes indicate the fund number of the other half of the transfer.
8. Fund balance transfers concerning renovation or construction projects are initiated automatically. After the Renovation/Construction Checklist⁵ completes the required approval process, authority to release the funds is granted.
9. Fund balance transfers resulting form the termination of a capital project are initiated automatically when Campus Operations initiates the Request for termination of Capital Project Accounts⁶. The completion of this form provides the authority to make the transfer of funds.

DEFINITION

10. In fund accounting, "fund balance" is the same as Net Assets or Equity. In the General Accounting department’s Chart of Accounts, all object codes beginning with a "3" are fund balance object codes. For example, the object code of 3-341000 represents the fund balance for a center or for a fund. In the 111 and 113 funds, the object code shows the fund balance at the fund level only. For all other funds, the object code is at the individual center level.

REFERENCE
1 UAMS Policy 6.1.01
2 UAMS Policy 6.1.03
3 UAMS Policy 8.1.02
4 UAMS Policy 6.1.02
5 UAMS Policy 11.2.01
6 UAMS Policy 8.1.05

SAMPLE BUDGET REVISION FORM #1: TRANSFER $10,000 FROM FUND 116 TO 115

SAMPLE BUDGET REVISION FORM #2: TRANSFER $2,000 FROM FUND 111 TO FUND 117