Overview
As part of the Controller’s Office strategic goals the General Account team will be working with Project Approvers & Departments to periodically identify and resolve Project Deficits. Traditionally this work was saved for the end of the fiscal year, moving forward this work will be done periodically during the fiscal year with the goal of resolving all deficits before the fiscal year end closes. Additionally, more frequent work to resolve current Project deficits will allow for more accurate spending and financial planning year over year. We understand Project deficits can be attributed to timing issues, specifically the posting of expenses versus revenue, if this is the case, please see the Common Scenarios section at end of the article.
This article will address the outreach process campus should expect from the General Accounting team as well as how deficits can be resolved and common situations that may apply for a specific project.
General Accounting Outreach
Throughout the year the General Accounting team will be reaching out regarding Projects that are currently in deficit. This outreach will be done on a project-by-project basis and will currently be via email. These emails will act as a notification of the current deficit in the project, and it will be the responsibility of the Project Approver or Administrative Support to submit requests to resolve the deficit and/or inform the General Accounting team if one of the Common Scenarios discussed below is applicable. In the next section the methods of resolving deficits based on the Driver Worktag type will be discussed.
Individuals and/or Departments can be proactive and check their current Project balances at any time within Workday, using the four Balance Reports. See a brief explanation of how to view available balances and links for more detailed information about each of the four reports below.
Viewing Available Balances
Using the Balance Reports:
There are four balance reports, one for each of the Driver Worktag types (Grants, Cash Projects, Foundation, & Operating Accounts). These balance reports can be accessed via the Financials Dashboard or by searching “My Funds”, “AFBR, or “RPT028” in the search bar within Workday and then selecting the applicable balance report. If you do not have access to these reports and or the Financials Dashboard, submit a Workday-Related Help ticket.
For more details on how to use each of the reports you can access a specific article for each of them linked below or see the diagrams attached to this article.
Using the Find Journal Lines Report:
This second method is ideal if you prefer to view data in Excel and or want to see all financial activity, regardless of type, at once.
- The Report can be accessed via the Workday Search Bar or by navigating to the Financials Dashboard. The report name is: "Find Journal Lines - Reference ID - Campus Copy", which you can pasted into the search bar or it will be the last report listed on the dashboard. Once you select the report a prompt window will open, and the following fields will need to be completed as described below, all other fields can be left blank:
- Company: Colorado School of Mines (Will auto-populate, do not change).
- Year: Type in the current fiscal year.
- Period: Type in “Year”, this will pull all the activity for the year defined above to date.
- Ledger: Actuals
- Book: Common Book
- Status: Posted
- Ledger Account Type: (Select all three) Revenue, Transfer, Expense.
- Worktags: This is where you will enter the Project Number.
- Once all the fields have been filled out, click OK, the report will open. This can be viewed within Workday and filtered by clicking on any of the column headers or it can be extracted to Excel for easier viewing. For more information on how to read the report please download the Find Journal Lines diagram attached to this article.
- Note, unlike the balance report, this report's data is not summarized so each record/line represents a transaction. If you choose to review within Workday and want to drill down to see more information for a specific transaction, it is recommended to right-click on the record and select the option to see in a new tab to avoid losing the current report.
- To request adjustments from Team Finance it is preferred to export the data into excel as opposed to sending screenshots. To "drill down" on a specific transaction using this method use the search bar by inputting the corresponding document or journal number.
How to Resolve Deficits
Once notified that a specific project is in deficit, the first step is to determine the type of activity that has been posted within the current fiscal year. To view the activity and identify expenses that can be moved off the Project in deficit, use one of the two methods detailed in the Viewing Available Balances section above. Once expenses have been identified the resolution method can be selected. For current fiscal year activity, it is best practice to move the actual expense as opposed to transferring calculated sums from one Driver Worktag to another. If the activity is related to a prior fiscal year, see more information below.
Request to Move Expenses:
There are several methods to move expenses which are based on the type of transaction and the type of Driver Worktag. From the reports extracted above, the expenses that need to be adjusted should be grouped and submitted as follows:
- Payroll- Salary Expense, Fringe Expense and Graduate Student Tuition are all examples of Payroll expenses. These expenses must be adjusted by submitting a service request using the link below. Payroll Reallocation Request.
- Non-Payroll- All expenses not included in payroll, some common examples are Accounts Payable Invoices (API), Expense Reports, Internal Service Delivery, Journal Entries and Accounting Adjustments. Of this population there are two subgroups
- Expenses moving to a Project or Operating Account: For non-payroll expenses that will be moved to an Operating Account or Project, a request should be submitted directly to the General Accounting team via email at Co-Accounting@mines.edu. Any approvals/back up documentation should be attached directly to the email.
- Expenses moving to a Grant: Given the additional restrictions and guidelines that apply to expenses posted to a federally sponsored award/grant, requests to move expenses should be submitted directly to the Office of Research Administration (ORA) via their Journal Request in Mines Help Center
For all three types of submission listed above make sure to include a copy of the excel file that was extracted using the Balance Report or Find Journal Lines. On the extracted file highlight the expenses that need to be moved and add a column or comment explaining which driver worktag the expenses should be moved to.
If the deficit in question is related to activity from the prior fiscal year, also referred to as the deficit rolling forward, moving the relevant expenses is no longer an option. In this scenario or other instances where specific expenses cannot be identified a Non-Mandatory Cash Transfer or Budget Amendment, see instructions below, must be requested.
Request a Non-Mandatory Cash Transfer or Budget Amendment
Transfers and Budget Amendments should be used to resolve deficits when specific expenses in the current fiscal year cannot be adjusted. Similarly to moving expenses, the method of transfer or amendment is based on the type of Driver Worktags involved. Below is a matrix explaining which method should be used based on the Worktag in deficit (Driver Worktag A) and the Worktag resolving the deficit (Driver Worktag B). For additional information and submission instructions for each of the methods shown in the matrix continue scrolling.
Non-Mandatory Cash Transfer
Transfers are most commonly used to move specified amounts of available balance from one Cash Project to another. Cash Projects begin with either a 1, 2, or 3; the most common examples are Professional Development, Research Development & Auxiliaries. In the near future there will be a service request in Mines Help Center for this but in the interim please submit requests via email to the General Accounting team at CO-Accounting@mines.edu. In the request make sure to include the following:
- Driver Worktag to Transfer Out/From
- Driver Worktag to Transfer In/To
- Amount to Transfer
- Business Purpose/Justification for Transfer
- Include backup documentation & approvals
Request an Operating Budget Amendment
Used to move a specified amount of the available budget from one Operating Account to another. The Budget & Planning office will work with departments on any current year deficits and at times may complete a budget amendment. Since these requests need additional analysis, they should be submitted via email to Budget@mines.edu. In the request make sure to include the following:
- Operating Account to Transfer Out/From
- Operating Account to Transfer In/To
- Amount to Transfer
- Business Purpose/Justification for Transfer
- Include backup documentation & approvals
Request a Foundation Budget Amendment
The use of Foundation Budget Amendments to resolve deficits is rare. The initial email outreach regarding any Foundation Projects in deficit will come from the General Accounting team. If after reviewing the Project activity the only option to resolve the deficit is to move budget as opposed to expenses, reply to the email with the information listed below. Once this request is received the General Accounting team will work with the Colorado School of Mines Foundation to review donor documentation and see if the request is allowable. Given the additional leg work and review required for these requests, expect increased processing times.
- Foundation Project to Transfer Out/From
- Foundation Project to Transfer In/To
- Amount to Move
- Business Purpose/Justification for the Amendment including why the deficit cannot be resolved by moving current year activity.
- Include backup documentation & approvals
Common Scenarios & Resolutions:
- My project has a negative balance available, but additional money (unrelated to next year’s funding) should arrive:
- Before the end of the current fiscal year- If the additional funding will post prior to June 30th, you may not need to take action to resolve the current deficit. In this scenario reply to the email sent by the General Accounting team confirming no adjustments are required.
- If the anticipated payment will be paid electronically, please use the following link to submit a Payment Notification Service Request. These requests allow you to specify payment details and help ensure the funds are correctly posted.
- After the end of the current fiscal year- If the additional funding will NOT post prior to the fiscal year end, the deficit should be resolved using one of the methods discussed in this article. If the deficit cannot be resolved in the current year reply to the email from General Accounting with as much information as possible about the incoming funds/payment. We need to know if the incoming payment will resolve the entire deficit, when it is expected and what if any specific activity in the current year the payment is related to.