Written by Michelle Phillips.
Do you know how to determine if a project is in a deficit? A foundation project is in a deficit if expenditures of the project exceed your funds available at the end of the year. The responsible party for each foundation project is required to ensure that projects are not in a deficit.
Project balances should be reviewed throughout the year. The Procurement & Business Services Year End Planning Guide is beneficial while reviewing project balances in May to resolve any issues with expenditures prior to June 30, the end of the fiscal year. The OMAR Reconciliation and Tracking Guide can also assist you with reviewing and resolving discrepancies within your Project IDs.
The Foundations Accounting & Investments Financial Reports include a Deficit Balances report. This report lists all projects with deficit balances for a particular foundation or by Department ID (OUC) range. This report should be run regularly to ensure that all project expenditures are within the allotted budget.
How to Create the Deficit Balances Report
There are different ways to create the Deficit Balances report. Here are a few examples:
- Use Project ID 059004 to create all deficit project reports under the Engineering Foundation.
- Use Department IDs 140000 to 149999 to create all foundation deficit project reports in the College of Engineering.
- Use Department IDs 140400 to 140499 to create all foundation deficit project reports for the College of Electrical and Computer Engineering.
How to Correct a Deficit Balance
There are two ways to correct a deficit balance in a project:
- Expenditures can be moved to another project with a similar purpose (recommended method).
- Enhancement funds can be transferred to the project with a deficit (This solution is not permitted for endowment income projects).
Remember that certain tuition payments and salary expenses need more lead time than other expenses to move to a more appropriate project. For account code 56519, please work with the Office of Scholarships and Financial Aid (OSFA) to correct the tuition payment projects. You should process a payroll modification per your normal procedures to make any corrections for salary expenses. For more information on deficit balances, please contact Michelle Phillips at mpphilli@ncsu.edu.