If the expense occurred in the current fiscal year, then typically yes. Complete the
online Expense Transfer Form.
This form requires that you enter both the cost center where the expense was incorrectly
posted as well as the cost center you would like to transfer the expense to. You will
also need to enter G/L accounts and descriptions Some items we would like to note
are as follows:
- Locate the expense in BI while you are filling out the online form
- Make sure you are using the correct information in the transfer FROM and SOURCE information.
- For partial transfers, please note the amount and the reason why in the additional
information section.
(Note: There is a separate form used to transfer funds. See Budget Transfer Form.)
You will first need to complete a deposit form. You will need to know what the check is for in order to complete the form. If your
department is being reimbursed for an expense that was previously incurred, you should
locate which GL account that expense was originally posted to and select the same
GL account on the deposit form. If the check is not reimbursing expenses, please contact
the Accounting office to discuss how the deposit should be applied.
Please bring the deposit form and check in person to the Bursar’s office cashier window
located at 25 University Avenue, Suite 50.
If you are looking to transfer budget money from one cost center to another, please
use a Budget Transfer form. However, if you are looking to transfer an actual expense to another cost center,
please complete the online Expense Transfer Form. This form requires that you enter both the cost center where the expense was incorrectly
posted as well as the cost center you would like to transfer the expense to. You will
also need to enter G/L accounts and descriptions. Instructions are also found on the
form.
The G/L account must describe what you are buying. Often, the material group is a
good clue as to which G/L account you would like to use, but please note that material
group and G/L account are unrelated and do not have identical drop-down options. Please
review the G/L list for all available accounts as there are some very descriptive
accounts that we encourage you to use. For example, if you are purchasing an office
chair you should use 660130 Furniture & Furnishings (noncapital). This account is
preferred over the use of 660100 Office Supplies for this type of purchase.
Also, please be mindful when using accounts related to professional services (beginning
with 625xxx). If you are purchasing a tangible item, you should not use professional
services.
Lastly, please use only accounts beginning with a ’6’. All G/L accounts are reported
according to their first digit and this series of accounts is reserved for your operating
expenses. At their discretion, the Facilities and Accounting Departments will use
accounts beginning with a ’7’ for capital related purchases.
Complete the online form to submit a request for a new fund/cost center.
Please Note: To request a cost center for a grant or gift, please reach out to the
Restricted Funds office at extension 2518 or email ksmith3@wcupa.edu.
This is the 12 month period measured for budgeting and financial purposes. For WCU,
our fiscal year runs from July 1-June 30. This means that a new budget is distributed
on July 1 for spending through June 30.
SAP is our financial system where budgets are loaded, purchase orders are generated,
vendor payments are processed, and many other financial transactions are recorded.
This is the system where you enter e-requisitions. It’s also the system that the accountants
work in most regularly. It is the system where we obtain most of the information needed
for our financial statements.
BI is where you log in through ESS to view our internal reporting system. This is
the system where you can go to check your department’s budget and expenses for any
given period of time. Please keep in mind that SAP’s information is fed into BI. Therefore,
the information in BI will always be one day behind while the systems interface. To
gain access to BI, you must first attend training which can be scheduled here.
GL stands for “General Ledger” which is accounting terminology for the records that
capture all financial transactions. GL accounts are a six digit number. As a rule
of thumb, they describe the item or service being bought. It tells us the general
classification of what was purchased so that financial reports will properly reflect
transactions in distinct categories such as travel, services, supplies, food, etc.
It is very important that when you complete an electronic requisition (e-Req) or payment
request form, that you select a GL account that properly describes what you are purchasing.
It’s especially important to get the GL right because GL accounts roll up to our financial
statements, so our stakeholders can see what WCU spends its money on.
Finally, if you’ve ever seen the term “commitment items”, they are the same as a GL
account. The term is used mostly on BI reports.
Fund centers are where the individual budgets live and they identify the department
paying for the purchase They operate as your department’s mini bank account within
WCU’s larger bank account. Cost centers are the same 10-digit number as a fund center.
The difference in name has to do with SAP and the way it captures information in separate
modules. On budget-related reports and documents, you’ll see the term “fund center.”
On accounting-related reports and documents, you’ll see the term “cost center.”
As a rule of thumb, fund centers/cost centers describe who is paying for the item
or service.
Finally, you might also hear some people refer to these as an “org” or “department.”
If you are responsible for a fund center that begins with 7511xxxxxx, it is considered
EG, which stands for “Education and General.” The funds budgeted in an EG fund center
come from state appropriations and tuition revenue.
A budget transfer is when actual budget dollars are moved from one fund center to
another. It is not based on actual expenses. It’s as if you have two bank accounts
and transfer money between them. Budget transfers are handled by the Budget department
and there are specific guidelines for those types of transfers as well. One being
that restricted funds are not permitted to have a budget transfer. Once money is applied
to a restricted fund, it must remain and be spent there. For more information on budget
transfers, visit the Budget Office.
An expense transfer is the movement of an actual expense either from one cost center
to another, or from one GL account to another. For example, you pay for an item with
your p-card which gets posted to your 7511, but you actually bought it for a faculty
member who wanted to pay for it using their faculty development funds. We would transfer
the p-card expense out of your 7511 and into the faculty development cost center.
The same concept goes for a GL account. Say you purchased a book and it got posted
to office supplies, you would want to request a transfer to move this book out of
office supplies and into the correct GL account.
If you haven’t already done so, you should begin by attending a BI training. You will
learn how to run a budget report and how to interpret the information.
It’s a good idea to look over the entire year’s activity for anything that might not
have posted correctly. However, we recommend that you create a regular, monthly process
to review your budget and expenses in BI. This will help you realize in a timely manner
if something is missing, or posted incorrectly within the budget. If you discover
any discrepancies, you can request an expense transfer to correct. Please note that
you should request expense transfers in a timely manner – it’s best if it’s within
90 days of the expense posting. For externally funded grants, 90 days is the baseline
for cost transfers. Anything more than that will require you to provide us with additional
information. The only exception to that 90 day rule is at year end, when everything
must be done by the close dates listed in our year end email. Finally, do your best
to make sure to only transfer an expense once. It does not look great to auditors
or us if we keep moving expenses around.
Please remember that it is important to submit expenses immediately. If expenses are
not submitted timely, they do not show up on budget reports and your budget does not
reflect current information. Not having the whole picture can lead to confusion or
even misinformed financial decision making.
Remember that fiscal years are very important. Please look over Accounting’s year
-end emails and follow the instructions listed in that email. Timelines are short
for the accountants at year-end and every day matters.
We keep track of fixed assets, which are long-term assets used throughout campus with
an initial cost of $5,000 or greater. When your department purchases equipment that
is classified as a fixed asset, we will send you a barcode label to affix to the equipment
along with a form to complete which includes the location/room and serial number We
will come around every three years and perform inventory on these assets. Some examples
include copiers, science equipment, audiovisual, or lawn equipment.
If your equipment moves locations, even if just from one office to another, please
notify the Accounting office. In addition, please notify the Accounting office if
you dispose of or trade-in this equipment.