Contact the Office of Compliance (2-8246) for a hard copy pdf of this document.
Policy Title: Campus Organization & Accounting Structure for UCRFS
Policy Number: 200-22
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Responsible Officer: |
Associate Vice Chancellor of Business & Financial Services and Controller |
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Responsible Office: |
Business and Financial Services – Accounting Office |
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Origination Date: |
01/15/1994 |
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Date of Revision: |
07/01/2017 |
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Date of Last Review: |
08/13/2021 |
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Scope: |
Reference to Campus Organizational and Accounting Structure |
I. Policy Summary
General information and guidance on the Campus Organizational and Accounting Structure.
II. Definitions
- BFS – Business and Financial Services
- FAU – Full Accounting Unit
- FP&A – Financial Planning and Analysis (formerly Resource, Planning & Budget)
- SAA – System Access Administrators
- UCRFS – University of California, Riverside Financial System
III. Policy Text
A. Organizational Structure
The organizational structure is intended to reflect levels of responsibility and accountability, providing a common reference structure for the entire campus. It is comprised of (at minimum) three levels: Organization, Divisions, and Departments. The Resource Planning and Budget website provides a link that outlines the campus organizational structure and purpose.
B. Accounting Structure
UCR’s Full Accounting Unit (FAU) is used to record, control, and summarize financial data in UCRFS. For recording transactions in UCRFS, the Account, Activity Code, Fund, and Function are required FAU components. This data is transmitted to Office of the President and used in preparing UC’s consolidated financial statements. The Cost Center and Project Code are optional to assist departments and/or Organizations to track transactions.
1. Account
The FAU begins with the Account field and provides the primary identification of the type of budget or financial transactions. It identifies assets, liabilities, unexpended balances, revenues, and expenses. Budget categories are a higher level summary of individual account numbers.
2. Activity
The Activity field identifies what area within a department on campus is associated with the transaction. Every department on campus is assigned at least one unique activity code. Some departments segregate their operations into several activity codes. The UCR organizational structure has four hierarchical levels: organization, division, department, and the activity. All budget and financial transactions are recorded at the activity level.
3. Fund
The University receives funds from a variety of sources to carry out its mission of teaching, research, and public service. The monies received are recorded in a distinct Fund number under specific groupings to help identify the source and general purpose of the resource. The Fund field in the FAU identifies the specific source and purpose of monies received.
4. Function
The Function field identifies the general category or purpose of the transaction like instruction, academic support, research, public service, institutional support, student services, auxiliary services, and financial aid.
5. Cost Centers and Project Codes (optional)
The Cost Center and Project Code values established in UCRFS to assist departments and/or Organizations to track transactions. The codes do not have any “institutional” meaning like the Account, Activity Code, Fund or Function and are not required as part of a transaction’s FAU. Proposed Cost Centers and Project Codes and their descriptions will only be reviewed, and changes will only be made to the proposed values as deemed necessary to maintain consistency in the general format and uniqueness in the actual codes/values and to remove special characters (e.g. quotes, asterisk, commas, etc.). In preparation for UC Path, files with UCR’s Chart of Accounts chart field descriptions must not contain any special characters to prevent UCR’s files from being rejected.
a. Examples of how a Cost Center can be utilized to track transactions for a particular project or event:
* New Faculty Reception
* Faculty Recruitment
* Chief Financial Admin Officer
b. Examples of how a Project Code can be utilized to track transactions for a particular project, event, or PI:
* Capital Projects
* Specific PI
* Specific Program
* Specific Conference
By assigning one or both of the codes, transactional data can be monitored for a specific project, event, or PI.
C. Departmental Accounting
Departments are responsible:
1. To ensure all expenses and revenues for their department are recorded accurately and completely in the appropriate FAU values (Account, Activity Code, Fund, Function). The Cost Center and Project Code are optional.
2. To ensure all ledgers have been reviewed for completeness, correctness, and reconciled for accuracy and are in a reportable condition.
IV. Responsibilities
Business and Financial Services and Financial Planning and Analysis.
V. Forms/Instructions
UC Learning Center (LMS) provides access to training such as: Enterprise Accountability, Full Accounting Unit (FAU), and Cost Transfers
VI. Contacts
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Subject |
Contact |
Phone |
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Accounting |
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951-827-3303 |
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FP&A |
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951-827-3241 |
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VII. Related Information
- FAU Tree Maintenance and Modification Policy 300-28
o Valid FAU Combinations (Expenditure & Revenue)
o UCRFS Correction Decision Tree
o SAS 112 Department Controls-General
o Ledger Reconciliation Policy
VIII. Revision History
- Campus Organization and Accounting Structure for DEXPAC Systems-Effective 01/15/1994
- Campus Organization and Accounting Structure for UCRFS-Effective 07/01/1999; updated 06/01/2017