Things an Account Manager Should Know

These are the most important concepts for you to know about and understand. The Office of Budgeting and Financial Analysis is happy to help you learn all you need to know as an account manager.

Expand FAQ List

  • Fund Accounting 101

    Texas State, like most universities, uses fund accounting to properly account for all financial resources received and used. Fund accounting classifies all resources into funds according to specific limitations placed on their use by the resource providers.

    Each fund is a self-balancing set of accounts with its own revenues and other additions, expenditures and other deductions, assets, liabilities, and fund balance.

    • A change in a fund's balance represents the difference between fund additions and deductions.
    • A fund balance is the sum of all previous changes for that fund.
    • A fund balance equals the net difference between a fund’s assets and liabilities.

    Not all of a fund balance may be available for budgeting or spending. Some part of it may be reserved to offset non-liquid assets such as inventories and accounts receivable or to offset encumbrances.

    Available Reserves = Fund Balance - Encumbrances and Reserves for Non-Liquid Assets

    Primary Fund Group Defined

    Primary Fund Group is a fund group of accounts that are funded by appropriations and tuition (statutory and designated), as opposed to accounts that are funded by fees, income generated from sales & services, gifts, or grants.  Primary Fund Group includes most State or Educational & General accounts and excludes income-generating accounts and Coordinating Board grants.

    Within Primary Fund Group is Texas State's Designated Method Fund 20000110yy.  Primary Fund Group is the primary focus of the President's Cabinet and the Texas State University System Board of Regents.  Decisions made for Primary Fund Group affect other funds and expenditures, including pay raises and benefits.  Policy is more articulated for Primary Fund Group accounts than for others.

  • An account is usually made up of three identifiable numbers:

    • Fund - identifies the source or nature of funding for the account.
    • Fund Center - identifies the area of the university in which expenditures occur.
    • Funded Program - identifies a particular project within an area of the university for which expenditures occur (some accounts do not have funded programs, so the third number may be NR, for not relevant).

    It is the combination of Fund/Fund Center/Funded Program that make up a unique account.  You may have multiple accounts for different functions and expenses.

    Account managers are fiscally responsible for any accounts assigned to them. Therefore, it is recommended that account managers query on the chart of accounts at least once a year to identify all accounts assigned to their user ID.

    This can be accomplished by using ZCOA transaction in SAP.  Please see the Chart of Account Instructions to learn how to run this report to find your accounts.

    The key to understanding your account is to understand the nature of your fund.

    • Expenditures should be consistent with the nature and purpose of the fund as well as the fund center.
    • The nature of your fund determines the answer to the following questions:
      • How does my fund handle salary review, longevity pay, fringe benefits, and work-study matching?
      • How does my fund affect the way I use the SAP Budget to Actual report (ZBUDACT)?
      • How are reserves or carry forwards handled?
      • What are the transferability rules for my account?
      • How are salary savings treated?

  • Look up funds on this table to determine whether these items are to be paid from your individual account or from a central account:

    Funds Crosswalk for Fiscal Year Funds

    Funds Crosswalk for Multi Year Funds

  • The default Commitment Item Group in the SAP Budget to Actual report is 00BUDALL.  It includes fringe benefits, state longevity pay, and work-study matching.  That's great if your account pays its own fringe benefits, state longevity pay, and work-study matching—and confusing if it doesn't.

    Use the correct Commitment Item Group for your fund.  You can look up your fund(s) on the Funds Crosswalk table to determine which group to use.

    Funds Crosswalk for Fiscal Year Funds

    Funds Crosswalk for Multi Year Funds

  • The Office of Budgeting, Financial Planning & Analysis routinely carries forward the non-personnel budgets for Primary Fund Group program accounts.

    The budgets for non-Primary Fund Group accounts typically are not carried forward.  Instead, unexpended reserves collapse to available reserves.

    • Fund managers can view reserve balances in fund center 1040999999.  See our instructional document to learn how.
    • Fund managers can send a request to budget@txstate.edu requesting the use of reserves, specifying amount and reason.  Requests should be made via appropriate administrative channels.

  • Budget (or spending authority) is transferable only between accounts in the same fund or a relevant fund group.

    • For the Primary Fund Group, this includes funds 10000500XX, 10000600XX, and 20000110XX.
    • For all other funds, budget is transferable only within that fund.

  • There are two types of salary savings:

    • Temporary - caused by a budgeted position being vacant.
    • Permanent or Recurring - due to hiring a replacement for a budgeted position at a lower salary.

    Depending upon your fund, you may or may not retain temporary or permanent salary savings.

    • Primary Fund Group accounts do not keep their temporary salary savings because those savings are used to fund the original operating budget, lump-sum vacation payments, and contributions to reserves.
    • Permanent or recurring salary savings for Primary Fund Group accounts revert to the divisional vice president.
    • Staff salary savings for fee-based accounts typically collapse to reserves.  Exceptions may be approved by the fund manager.
    • For income-generating accounts, salary savings may be reallocated to another line in the budget in the same fund by the fund manager.
    • Fund managers should obtain appropriate administrative approval as necessary.

  • The University Policy and Procedure Statement (UPPS) that governs budgeting at Texas State is UPPS 03.02

    The UPPS contains these relevant categories:

    • UPPS 03.02.01 Reserves, Carry-Forwards, and Other Expenditures
    • UPPS 03.02.03 Student Fee Advisory Committees and Subcommittees: Policies, Procedures, Guidelines, and Planning
    • UPPS 03.02.04  Budget Planning and Monitoring for Income-Generating Accounts
    • UPPS 03.02.05  Higher Education Funds (HEF)
    • UPPS 03.02.10 Budgeting for Strategic Planning Priorities