Budget Management
Budget Management
At the start of every fiscal year, each department is provided with a budget. Please review the University of Houston-Downtown Budget and Procurement website for detailed information on policies, practices and people
Budget and Procurement Department
Chartfield Action Forms (Commonly used by departments)
Please understand the following terms which is commonly used in budget discussions, you will come across these terms frequently.
Original Budget: The original amount of budget approved during the budget development and allocation process.
Base Budget: The original budget plus or minus any permanent transfers or adjustments.
Current Budget: The original budget plus or minus any temporary or one-time adjustments.
Budget Journal: The document used to establish or modify the spending authority in a cost center.
Budget Balance Available (BBA): The amount of budget that has not been spent or is not committed.
Budgeted: Refers to planned level of expenditures, performance, or number of positions for a particular fiscal year.
Encumbrance: A financial transaction which reserves funds for a specific purpose
Expended: Refers to actual dollars or positions utilized during a completed fiscal year
Fund Balance: The difference between realized revenue and actual expenditures, net of any other fund additions or deductions.
Maintenance and Operations (M&O): A basic expenditure category represented in the university operating budget, which details the cost of postage, telephones, travel, consumable supplies, and non-capital equipment.
Salaries & Benefits: A basic expenditure category represented in the university operating budget, which details funds to pay faculty and salaried employees.
Fiscal Year: A twelve-month period of time beginning in September of one calendar year and ending August 31 of the next calendar year, and specified by the calendar year in which the fiscal year ends, e.g. September 2014 through August 2015 is fiscal year 2015.
Academic Year: A nine-month period within a fiscal year beginning in September and ending in August and containing the academic sessions held during consecutive Fall and Spring terms.
Full Time Equivalent (FTE) Positions: A unit of measure that represents the average number of state personnel working 40 hours a week. A nine-month faculty position (the academic year) is equal to an annual .75 FTE. A University Support Personnel or Administrative and professional position for twelve months equal is to 1.0 FTE. Includes all faculty positions, full time exempt positions, full time classified positions, and full time hourly and seasonal positions. In addition, it includes those positions which are not full-time regular positions, but are converted to full-time equivalents.
Term FTE: The Full Time equivalent which should be reported on the Personnel Action Request (PAR) for the duration of the assignment. It is equal to the standard hours per week divided by forty.
Annualized FTE: Equal to the Term FTE times the duration of the assignment. The duration of the Fall or Spring semester is 4.5 months/12 months which equals 0.375. The duration of the three month summer is 3 months/12 months which equals 0.25. The Annualized FTE is the calculated amount which is reported to the State on a quarterly basis.
Personnel Action Request (e-PAR): The form used to initiate an employee change usually resulting in a payroll action.
Position Request (e-PRF): The form used to create a new position or change an existing one, frequently resulting in a budget action