CONSIDERATIONS FOR THE MANAGEMENT OF FUNDS
The following explanation of and approaches to fund management are applicable to unrestricted, endowment, and gift funds. ORIGINAL ALLOCATIONS are input at the beginning of the fiscal year. Transfers into or out of the funds will show as decreases or increases in the Voyager fund records. The final allocation is shown in the NET ALLOCATION.
TRANSACTIONS and EVENTS THAT CHANGE FIGURES IN THE LEDGER
As an order is created and placed, the amount will show as COMMITMENTS-PENDING. Once the order is approved, it will show as COMMITMENTS-TOTAL. Commitments do not adjust the cash total, but remaining spending power shows as the available balance. AVAILABLE BALANCE is the difference between the cash and the total committed.
As an order is created and invoiced, the amount will show EXPENDITURE-PENDING. Once the invoice is approved, it will show as EXPENDITURE-TOTAL . The expended amount is deducted from the cash total, but also deducts the committed amount of the order from the total committed. If the order had a commitment, the available balance remains little changed until new orders are placed. Sometimes, there was no commitment in the order so that as the invoice is paid the deduction from the cash total but not from the total committed makes the available balance drop unexpectedly.
END OF FISCAL YEAR PROJECTIONS
As the end of the fiscal year approaches a question often asked is, “How much money do I have left to spend on new titles?” The answer to this needs to be based on some history. Historical data may be found in previous fiscal year ledgers in Voyager. The ending totals of allocations, expenditures, and ending cash balances are recorded in the ledger fund records at the time of ledger rollover to the next fiscal year. The commitments are not recorded there since the active commitments are rolled over to the next fiscal year. You can see what was spent for monographs, serials, and continuations, as well as online resources. The ENDING BALANCES will be an indication of what you would expect to spend in the current fiscal year, plus a little more given inflation.
A slightly tighter monitoring of the data can be done during the fiscal year by referring to the monthly FUND STATUS SUMMARY REPORT that is emailed to each subject specialist who has responsibility for a fund. Looking at these reports will show the amount of expenditures and balances of cash throughout the year at the monthly intervals. The patterns of spending are similar each fiscal year so these monthly reports may help in determining how much money is expected to be spent at what time of year. These reports may be most useful at the end of the fiscal year.
SPENDING PATTERNS
It has been a misunderstanding that once the big serial agents are paid by the end of the first quarter of the fiscal year, that FUND BALANCES may be spent on monographs. The subscriptions paid through agents represent only about one third of the serial titles. We pay for serials throughout the fiscal year all the way through the payment cut-off date in August. With our online journal packages, we have further removed our serials payment schedules from the first quarter of the fiscal year. It is important to look to the BALANCE-AVAILABLE in the current fiscal year, and to review past spending patterns in the previous fiscal year ledgers and fund status summary reports to have an educated guess of how much money is left to spend.
EXCEPTIONS: -3 REPORTING LINES and EXPENSES SHARED WITH NON-NUL UNITS
Some funds have exceptions to their spending patterns which are difficult to represent in the Voyager fund record. One example is the accounting for continuations, those titles assigned to the -3 REPORTING LINES. Continuations that are received once a year can be adequately represented. It is those continuations that are received more than once a year or irregularly that are not adequately represented in the reporting fund record. Some subject specialists have asked that no commitment be shown for these since the receipts are not always the same each year. The publication patterns may be irregular. Also, the way Voyager functions, once the purchase order is invoiced for a given fiscal year, the commitment is deducted and can not be re-encumbered for the next volume expected. This is where looking back at previous fiscal year reports and records would be beneficial.
Some funds have SHARED EXPENSES with units outside University Library. University Library pays the invoices in most of these cases and is reimbursed by the outside units. The subject specialist’s fund is committed for the fund’s share, but will often be charged the whole amount or a larger percentage of the amount in order to make the payment. Even though the fund is reimbursed later, the available balance and cash will be affected by this charge until the refund takes affect.
