General Information and Documentation
Primer for UITS Financial Managers
Office of the Vice President for Information Technology
University Information Technology Services
Primer for Financial Managers
I. Budgets
Indiana University is on a 12-month fiscal year cycle that begins on July 1 and ends on June 30. Planning and budget preparation is an annual cycle that typically takes place in the Spring . At the Office of the Vice President for Information Technology (OVPIT) and University Information Technology Services (UITS), this period typically begins in late January and concludes in April.
The Finance Office prepares a toolkit that consists of templates, examples, guidelines, references and other information every year. This toolkit is intended to make it easier for Managers, Directors and AVPs to prepare their budgets. The Finance Office also conducts an orientation and training session for each division to begin the budget preparation cycle.
OVPIT/UITS reports to three separate Budget Offices: IU Bloomington, IUPUI Indianapolis, and UA or University Administration. Three separate budget guidelines are distributed from each budget office, and three separate budget conferences are attended by Finance Office Staff . The guidelines oftentimes differ and the on-going challenge has been to extract a common set of guidelines to apply to the entire OVPIT/UITS unit.
II. Definitions:
Base Budget . Budget streams are expected to recur every year. Typically, budgets are funded from campus- or university-level appropriations or student technology fees. Income from services that are billed directly to departments or individual users may be regarded as "base" if there is a history of stability over a period of time. For example, accounts which have recurring expenditures such as salaries, wages and benefits may be budgeted.
One-Time or Non-Base Budget . One-time budget or non-base budgets are allocations that are not expected to recur every year for an indefinite period of time. These budgets are typically allocated for initiatives that have discrete completion periods, or are expected to be absorbed into on-going operations at a definite point in time. These funds may not be committed for recurring expenses such as salaries and benefits unless employment terms explicitly declare the length of time that funding can be guaranteed.
Life cycle Funding . A recurring funding stream that is expected to fully fund the modernization or replacement of technology over its expected life cycle is referred to as life-cycle funding .. The average life cycle for desktop computers at Indiana University , has been established at three years. Other technologies may have an average of four or five years (servers and high-end printers) or 10-15 years (fiber and copper wiring infrastructure.) The simple way to calculate life cycle funding is to establish the cost of a piece of technology and divide it by the number of years of its expected productive life. The resulting number is the amount that needs to be budgeted every year to ensure the technology can be replaced at the end of its expected productive life.
II. Financial Structure
The OVPIT/UITS financial structure mirrors its organizational structure. The smallest budget entity is the sub-account. A sub-account contains a detailed budget showing revenue and expenditure types associated with object codes. A list of object codes and their descriptions can be found in the Budget Toolkit section of the Finance Office web page. A sub-account is assigned a sub-account manager. The subaccount manager is typically the line manager primarily in charge of the service or operation being funded by the sub-account. A list of sub-accounts and managers can be found in the UITS Financial System that is also accessible through the Finance Office web page.
The sub-accounts can be consolidated at the group manager level using reporting codes. These can be consolidated further into campus-division, all-campus-division, campus-UITS, all-campus-UITS, and the comprehensive OVPIT-level of consolidation. This hierarchical consolidation is designed to support all levels of OVPIT/UITS management.
III. Financial Reports
Monthly financial reports are prepared and published by the Finance Office. The reports contain the following information detailed by object code: Budgeted, Cleared, Encumbered, Forecast and Budget Variance. The Budget variance is the difference between the budgeted amount minus actual transactions (cleared), pending transactions (encumbered) and projected transactions (forecast.) Forecast information is incorporated in the reports beginning with the mid-fiscal year period report (December.)
The monthly financial reports are distributed electronically to sub-account managers and directors. This is done via e-mail notification containing the URL for their reports.
Managers and directors are expected to actively manage their budgets. The Finance Office will solicit their input in preparing forecasts. If potential problems are revealed in the budget variance analysis, the Finance Office will contact the managers or directors involved and initiate a process of preventing or solving the problem.
IV. Financial Systems
UITS uses the University's enterprise Financial Information System (FIS.) UITS FS is a sub-environment in the FIS that enables the department to custom-tailor the structures and reports to meet special requirements of the office.
The web-based Electronic Procurement and Invoicing Center (EPIC) system is the university application used to enter, approve and process requisitions.
The Personnel Budget Report (PBR) is extracted from university systems to provide real-time personnel data from a database designed and maintained by the Finance Office.
V. Finance Office Services
The Finance Office offers a comprehensive set of financial and administrative services. Financial services include budgeting, accounting, financial analysis and reports, financial systems, and activity-based costing. Internal procurement and travel arrangement services are also provided. The Directory of Services area on the Finance Office web page lists services in detail, identifies the staff assigned to each service, and provides links to on-line request forms, guidelines and other helpful information.
The Finance Office also includes Facilities Management. For additional information about Facilities Management Services, visit the Facilities link on the FO web page.
The Finance Office also includes Front Desk Services. The Front Desk staff attends to the OVPIT and UITS reception areas and telephone consoles. Receptionists also serve as office supply and office equipment coordinators.
VI. Vendor Solicitations
Solicitations from potential vendors through a Request for Information (RFI), Request for Proposal (RFP) or Request for Quotation (RFQ) should be conducted in accordance with University Policies and Procedures and OVPIT/UITS policies.
VII. OVPIT/UITS Policies and Procedures
1. Submission to Purchasing for distribution to vendors must be approved by the Manager, Director, and Finance Office.
2. An electronic copy of the final document must be submitted to the Finance Office.
3. Any communications or interactions with vendors must be strictly in accordance with University Policies (see University Policies below.)
4. Awards must first be approved by the Finance Officer and the Vice President as necessary.
VIII. Indiana University Policies and Procedures Reference
http://www.indiana.edu/~purchase/fs.html ("Solicitation Procedures, RFI, RFP, RFQ)
http://www.indiana.edu/~purchase/solicitation.html (direct link to the solicitation document)
http://www.indiana.edu/~purchase/appendix.html (Appendix O)
Policies P-1.0, 2.0, 3.0, 3.2, 3.3, 3.4 4.0, 5.0, 5.1, 5.7, 11.0 and 12.0 all cross-reference the document and note it under "Procedure Reference" in each Policy and you can access the document from each of these policies.
http://www.itpo.iu.edu/policies/university.html (IT policies)
