What do I need to know to effectively manage our department budget?
Suggestions to get you started:
- Access for most Financial Systems can be requested on the A&F Information Technology webpage: https://www.umass.edu/afit/
- Financial operations are uniquely administered in each department and college, although the university's annual budgeting process applies to all departments and schools/colleges. These tips may not apply to you if your budget is handled centrally, but here are some suggested first steps if you are more directly involved:
- Create a list of questions and schedule meetings with the people who can help to answer them. If you don't have a staff person you work with on budget issues, assume you will be meeting with a college level finance administrator.
- What are our department financial resources, revenue and other funding, and what should we anticipate this year?
- How do these funds get distributed and what do they pay for?
- What is the base and non-base budget?
- Are there examples of budgets and form templates?
- Who do I go to and when?
- What is the timing of the budget process within our school/college?
- What am I responsible for approving?
- And later questions as you undergo the planning process:
- How do I plan for the future?
- How do I use our department's strategic plan in the budget process?
- What do I need to know about using the institutional data provided by UAIR?
- How do I decide on a set-aside for capital expenses? How do we plan for startup or retention commitments?
- What can I ask for and from whom?
- How is GOF determined in our department?
- How does a department raise additional financial resources?
- Create a list of questions and schedule meetings with the people who can help to answer them. If you don't have a staff person you work with on budget issues, assume you will be meeting with a college level finance administrator.
- You should also try to become familiar with the terminology:
- A chartstring is how various accounts are described within your budget. It's a 'file path' which organizes finances according to activities and sources of funding: e.g. research, instruction, public service, etc. A speedtype number is the technical data entry shortcut for these accounts.
- GOF stands for the department's General Operating Funds which are allocated annually to your department and may vary each year. The annual allocation is determined based on the college's budget priorities, available resources, and university allocations. Other operating funds may come from a variety of sources including other units on campus, Gifts/Endowments, U+ tuition, Graduate Revenue Share, Indirect cost recovery (RTF) and other sales and services (mini-businesses on campus). Meet with your business manager to understand what sources and uses of funds within campus policies.
- Review the timeline for the UMass strategic annual budgeting process and your college, and put those dates on your calendar.
- Get set up in the financial systems that you will need in order to approve financial transactions. Get access to the Summit system for quick access to accounts.
- Review the resources from past LEAD+ sessions on budgeting which has the university overview as well as tips for department leadership.
Work with your finance manager regarding budget planning decisions and (if you are more hands-on) create an excel sheet to model projections and aide in decision-making.
Instructions and Resources:
- Annual Planning and Budgeting Process at UMass Amherst
- University Analytics and Institutional Research (UAIR) provides data for informed decision-making. You can access reports on undergraduate and graduate admissions by department and much more. They will work with you on specific data inquiries. There are also a core set of dashboards you can access.
- LEAD+ has one session devoted to the budgeting process, with resources and presentations.
- Concur is the UMass travel and employee reimbursement system. UMass uses Concur to manage business travel expenses incurred by the University Bankcard and out-of-pocket purchases. There are a lot of procedures that your finance person will be on top of.
- You will need to approve any requests for yourself.
- You may delegate travel preparation and approvals for others for whom you approve.
- Flagship Analytics offers useful information about our student and faculty populations.
Contacts in addition to your college and department staff:
Contacts in addition to your college and department staff:
- For questions about data and reports or help with your annual budget process, please contact Academic Administration and Finance at 413-545-5003.
- Request Data through UAIR.
- Provost Finance & Operations Open Office Hours are on Tuesdays at 10:00 a.m. on Zoom, this is an open hour for questions across academic affairs and is open to faculty, administrators, and staff.