Alphabetical List of Commonly Used Acronyms and Terms in BRP

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ACTUALS
Costs that have been incurred, as opposed to costs that have been projected, or budgeted. An example of actuals would be the expenses a unit is currently paying for an individual’s salary.

ADJUSTED BASE SALARY
The Adjusted Base Salary is the Gross Salary, less the average amount of leave within a given employee’s rate group, and any excluded earn codes. For OPE cost calculations and budgeting purposes, the Adjusted Base Salary will be used.

ADMINISTRATIVE OVERHEAD
A structured rate schedule units are assessed for administrative support (e.g., HR, IT, media, purchasing, contracts, etc.) within their organizations.

AGENCY FUNDS (begin with 91, 92, 93, 94)
Used to account for funds of persons or external organizations while the funds are in the custody of the University. The University acts as the fiscal agent for the owner of the funds.  Examples include trust funds held by the ERB Memorial Union and payroll deduction funds held by the Business Affairs Office. Currently, the Federal Direct Student Loan Program is also classified in this group, as federal regulations guide the issuing of the loans and once lent, the receivables are the responsibility of the federal government.

AUXILIARY (ENTERPRISE) FUNDS (begin with 1)
Sometimes referred to as "proprietary Funds," these funds are used to account for operations that are financed and operated in a manner similar to private business enterprises and not directly related to the educational mission of the University. Examples include the ERB Memorial Union, Housing, Student Health Service, and Athletic Department. Goods and services are provided on a self-supporting basis.

AVERAGE LEAVE
The percent of an employee’s actual leave to that employee’s salary, averaged across employee classifications. Example: “Faculty 12 month employees, on average, take 10% of their salary as leave”.

AVERAGE LEAVE ADJUSTABLE RATE
This is the percentage that the Gross Salary must be adjusted by to properly account for average leave, not to be confused with regular Average Leave.

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BANNER
Enterprise system of record for HR, student and financial transactions and history.

BEGINNING BUDGET (PROCESS)
The process which units build budgets for the following fiscal year inclusive of permanent budget only for allocated and revenue bearing funds (no grants or plant funds) for all revenues and expenditures anticipated.

BLENDED OPE
Other Payroll Expenses as a blended rate rather than an actual charge, based on previous fiscal expenses.

BLENDED OPE RATE
This refers to all of the costs included in Other Payroll Expenses for any given employee, including leave, which is then totaled to one number. This total OPE number is then divided by the employee’s salary, which is equal to the Blended OPE rate.

BUDGET
An estimate of income and expenditure for the Fiscal Year; allow or provide a particular amount of money in a budget.

BUDGET CHANGE (BC)
Use to move budget between the same funds (identical fund number).

BUDGETED OPERATIONS (Fund type 11, E&G)
Fund group that falls within state authorized expenditure limitations.

• General Fund
• Income & Expense Funds
• Indirect Cost Credits
• State Match Endowments
• Continuing Ed for Credit

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CARRY FORWARD (PROCESS)
Carrying forward the remaining budget from one fiscal year to the next whether positive or negative.

COMPENSATION TIME
Eligible employees who may elect to receive compensatory time for overtime worked.

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DESIGNATED OPERATIONS (DES-OPS) (Funds begin with 05, 060, 065)
Account for self-sustaining activities related to instruction, community education, public service and student aid activities.

• Designated Ops
• Unrestricted Gifts
• Royalties

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EARN CODES
An Earn Code is a number used within the Banner system to track the different types of compensation at the University of Oregon. For example, an earn code will differentiate between a bonus, car allowance, or regular salary and wages.

EXCLUDED EARN CODES
These are specific earn codes that OPE costs do not apply too. When calculating the cost of OPE or the associated rate, these are deducted from Gross Salary.

E&G (EDUCATION & GENERAL) (Fund Type 11, Budgeted Operations)
General Fund, ICC, Income & Expense, State Endowment match & Continuing Ed for credit.

ENCUMBRANCES
Commitments for future payments; such as payroll, benefits, and service contracts.

ENDOWMENT FUNDS (Fund begins with 6)
These funds are generated by gifts from donors and the original principal must remain intact in perpetuity (unless it is a quasi-endowment). The income from the principal may be restricted or unrestricted as designated by the donor or the University.

EXCHANGE TRANSACTION
An exchange or exchange-like transaction is one in which each party receives and gives up essentially equal values. A nonexchange transaction is one in which a party gives (or receives) value without directly receiving (or giving) equal value in exchange. In contrast to a ”pure” exchange transaction, an exchange-like transaction is one in which the values exchanged, though related, may not be quite equal or in which the direct benefits may not be exclusively for the parties to the transaction. Nevertheless, the exchange characteristics of the transaction are strong enough to justify treating the transaction as an exchange for accounting recognition.

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FACILITIES & ADMINISTRATIVE RATE (F&A RATE)
An F&A rate is the federally approved rate for reimbursement of facilities and administrative costs on sponsored projects. Determining an F&A rate is a detailed, data-intensive, time-consuming process, and is meant to capture as best as possible the actual costs of administration and facilities supporting sponsored projects. The F&A rate is only applied to externally funded projects. The cognizant federal agency responsible for approving the UO's F&A rate is the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS).

FACILITY OVERHEAD RATE
Those units that do not pay for their own utilities, custodial support, and repairs and maintenance needs will be charged the facility rate as well.

FICA (FEDERAL INSURANCE CONTRIBUTIONS ACT)
A payroll tax imposed by the U.S. government on both employees and employers to fund Social Security and Medicare. FICA is a two-part tax consisting of OASDI (Old Age, Survivors and Disability Insurance Program), which is a 6.2% tax imposed up to a specified wage limit (announced annually) and Medicare which is a 1.45% tax. An additional 0.9% Medicare Tax is imposed on employee wages in excess of $200,000 or more in a calendar year.

FISCAL PERIOD
Each month is a fiscal period, July is Period 1, and June is Period 12. There is no period 13, Period 14 is open for several weeks into the next Fiscal Year for any correcting or missed entries.

FISCAL YEAR (FY)
The time period that is used for reporting an organization’s financial status. The University of Oregon uses July 1-June 30 for their fiscal year.

FOAPAL or FOPA
The funding source/string identifying the intended location for the budget or funds.

Fund - Identifies the source of the funds

Organization (Org) - identifies the unit or department

Account - identifies the type of revenue, expense, or transfer

Program - identifies the function (instruction, research, academic support, etc.)

Activity - identifies the specific projects or people

Location - identifies the location (rarely used)

FOUNDATION ACCOUNTS
Outside accounts managed by the UO Foundation. Funds are transferred over to a restricted gift fund within the university dependent on the donor’s designation.

FRINGE BENEFIT
A benefit supplementing an employee’s salary and wages. Synonymous at the University of Oregon with OPE.

FTE (Full Time Equivalent)
A unit that indicates the workload of an employee. At the University of Oregon, an FTE of 1.0 indicates full-time or approximately 40 hours/week. An FTE of .50 indicates half-time.

FUND ACCOUNTING
Higher Education accounting systems are organized and operated on a fund basis.  A fund is a fiscal and accounting entity with a self-balancing set of accounts recording cash and other financial resources; together with all related liabilities, charges and encumbrances, and residual equities or balances. These are segregated for the purpose of carrying on specific activities or attaining certain objectives in accordance with special regulations, restrictions, or limitations. Or, more simply put, it is a system that identifies and classifies resources in accordance with conditions and limitations on the use of the resources.

FUND BALANCE
Fund balance is under control of individual school/department/program/unit (balance found in FGITBAL or FGITBSR).

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GENERAL FUND (GF) (Fund 001100)
State Appropriation and tuition dollars.

GROSS SALARY
Gross Salary refers to the annual amount of an employee’s salary, wages, or total compensation, prior to any deductions.

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INDEXES
An identifier, made up of a unique combination of the FOAPAL elements. A shortcut only.

INTERFUND TRANSACTION
Transactions during the fiscal year between funds, organizations, and accounts. There are four methods for Interfund Transactions, which are all recorded by Journal Voucher (JV): Budget Changes, Fund Transfers, Moving Expense or Revenue, Internal Sales and Internals Sales Reimbursements. Each method has particular rules and guidelines that apply to the way that they are processed within Banner.

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JOURNAL VOUCHER (JV)
A transaction request to move activity or budget from one FOAPAL to another.

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NET INVESTMENT IN PLANT FUNDS (begins with 89)
Used to account for the acquisition value of all the University's capital assets; including land, buildings, equipment, improvements other than buildings, libraries, and museums.

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OPE (Other Payroll Expenses)
Includes the University’s share of an employee’s medical & dental insurance, retirement, Social Security, Medicare, Workman’s Comp, Unemployment, Lane County Transit tax and the State Accident Insurance Fund (SAIF).  For Classified employees, it includes the Employee Relations Board (ERB). OPE consists of two basic components, Fixed (Insurance and Employee Relations Board) and Variable.

Overhead Assessment
Assessments charged to Designated Operations, Service Centers, and Auxiliaries to cover a portion of the expenses of the university’s central administrative units.

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PAYROLL LEDGER
A payroll ledger is a document used by the university or departments within the university to track how much is spent on payroll. This document also tracks how much the university or department pays in taxes and benefits, such as retirement matching or health insurance premiums.

PERMANENT BUDGET (ENTRY)
Recurring budget for a FOAPAL string.

PERSONAL LEAVE
Eligible Full time classified employees are entitled to 24 hours of personal leave with pay each fiscal year.  Part-time employees are granted such leave in a prorated amount.

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RATE GROUPS/POOLS
The University of Oregon has several employee classifications with different attributes; Faculty 12 month, Faculty 9 month, Officers of Administration, Classified Staff, etc. Each different group, or pool, of employee’s can have very different OPE costs. Employees are assigned to a rate group that best represents their actual OPE costs.

RENEWAL AND REPLACEMENT FUNDS (begin with 83, 84)
Used by service departments and auxiliary enterprises, these funds reflect resources set aside in accordance with OUS policy on a systematic basis to fund future equipment purchases and building repairs. Housing, ERB, Printing, and Student Health Center are examples of organizations that maintain such funds.

RESPONSIBIULITY UNIT (RU)
The financial reporting structure on campus is broken down into Responsibility Units for allocating and monitoring department dollars. Each RU has a Budget Manager.  Each RU is assigned to a Financial Analyst in BRP-Budget and Resource Planning.

Level 2–Vice Presidents

    Level 3–Responsibility Units–Major units of activity across campus

        Academic Units–Schools and Colleges

        Student Affairs–EMU, Housing, Etc.

RESTRICTED FUNDS (Funds begin with 2, 3, 4)
Used to account for resources that are available for current operations, but that are restricted to a specific purpose by the donor, or the granting or contracting agency.  Sponsored research, specific instruction, and student aid are examples.  Grant ledgers also proved accounting data by grant years and life of a grant, as well as the normal fiscal year accounting that is required of all funds.

RETIREMENT OF DEBT FUNDS (Funds begin with 85)
Used to account for funds set aside and disbursed to retire debts incurred to finance the acquisition, construction, or renewal of capital assets.

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SALARY PLANNER
Used for entering salary adjustments to current positions (including currently filled, currently open, and pooled positions) for Unclassified Faculty, Unclassified Admin, Classified employees, and new this year, Retired Employees.

SERVICE DEPARTMENTS/CENTERS (begin with 09)
Service departments are activities established to provide services to other departments within the University and are expected to be self-sustaining.

• Printing & Mailing
• Telecom
• Information Services (IS)
• Campus Ops Utilities

SICK LEAVE
Eligible employees earn sick leave credits and use them for any period of absence from service due to the employee's illness, injury, medical or dental care, or attendance upon members of the employee's (or employee’s spouses) immediate family due to illness or death.

SERVICES AND SUPPLIES (S&S) (generally account codes 2xxxx through 39xxx)
General operating supplies (e.g. pens, pencils, and printer paper) and other items such as; postage and shipping, calculators, office furniture, conferences, training supplies, travel, etc.

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TEMPORARY BUDGET (ENTRY)
One-time budget for a FOAPAL string.

TRANSFERS IN/OUT
Use to move money between different funds.

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UNEXPENDED PLANT FUNDS (Funds begin with 80, 81, 82)
Used to account for resources set aside for acquisition of land, building, equipment; or for construction, remodeling or repairing.

UNRESTRICTED FUNDS (Funds begin with 0, 1)
Resources received that have no limitations or stipulations placed on them by external agencies or donors. These funds represent the resources available in the general operation of the University from tuition and fee revenue, and state appropriations. Included in this category is the General Fund, as well as many departmental specific self-support funds.

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VACATION LEAVE
Eligible employees accrue vacation leave monthly. Full time employees accrue from 8 hours up to 18 hours per month depending on their years of service and employment classification. Eligible employees on a .50 FTE or more 12-month contract accrue vacation in proportion to their FTE.

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