General Ledger Accounts

Commonrevenue and expenditure objects (last five digits of the account number) are:

39000 Balance Forward

This is the carry forward balance from the previous fiscal year(s). This balance is automatically carried forward and is available unless you have exceeded the termination date of your agreement. The contract/grant/agreement stipulates what is done with any unexpended balance at the termination date. PLEASE DO NOT CHARGE EXPENSES TO THIS OBJECT NUMBER.

4XXXX Revenue

Initial and subsequent payments are credited to this account. An account receivable is established when the contract/grant/agreement is signed and your account is credited with the fiscal years (April 1 - March 31) monies receivable. Any cheques received must be forwarded to the Office of Research and Graduate Studies for recording. Monies that are not part of the original agreement cannot be processed to the account without an addendum to the agreement. PLEASE DO NOT CHARGE EXPENSES TO THIS OBJECT NUMBER.

5XXXX Salaries

These expenditures are broken down into several different numbers. The different numbers are necessary for the reporting requirements of most government agencies, including the main granting councils. These numbers also assist the University in recording the significant contribution research grantees make by employing students. Salary forms to pay research assistants are available from the Human Resources web site. The forms must be sent to the Manager of Fund Accounting who will sign and forward them to Human Resources for processing. Please allow sufficient processing time to meet payroll cutoff dates. Please ensure the salary stated meets or exceeds minimum wage requirements, including vacation pay at 4%. Example: Current minimum wage rate is 10.30*1.04=10.71. This is the lowest hourly rate that can be used to pay staff.

Please direct payroll inquiries to the Human Resources Department in Bancroft House or refer to the Human Resources web site. The Manager of Fund Accounting signs the authorization to pay research assistants form to indicate the account number is active and monitors spending on research accounts. Inquiries concerning deductions, tax forms, salary payment type are best handled by Human Resources personnel.

Please do not pay any person yourself  for salary, wages and /or professional services and then request reimbursement from the Business Office. This is not approved procedure and you will not be reimbursed.

59100 Canada Pension Plan and Employment Insurance.

If you hire employees, you are an employer and as such you are required to pay the EI and CPP employer’s contribution. Human Resources will automatically charge these contributions to your account. PLEASE DO NOT CHARGE EXPENSES TO THIS OBJECT NUMBER.

52230 Management Fee

This is the account where the management fee for administrating the contract/grant/agreement is charged. PLEASE DO NOT CHARGE EXPENSES TO THIS OBJECT NUMBER.

6XXXX Supplies and Equipment

As a general rule, if it is consumable within the first year of purchase and under $100.00 it belongs in the supply object, if not it should be considered equipment and charged to the equipment object code. The University must comply with the Atlantic Procurement Agreement and maintains quotes from suppliers for large dollar purchases. The University is also a member of Interuniversity Services and has several agreements in place with selected suppliers to receive reduced pricing. These compliance regulations and agreements make it important to use the Purchasing section of the Business Office when procuring supplies and equipment that are not purchased using an internal service department.

Goods and services supplied by internal departments e.g. Bookstore, Printshop, and Computing Services can be purchased by the researcher. Please provide the internal service department with the appropriate expense account code.

Most contractors/granting agencies strongly recommend that the University purchasing department be utilized when procuring goods. This is to ensure that the procurement is at arms length and meets all federal and provincial regulations. Please do not make purchases for your grant and submit claims for reimbursement of supplies. This is not the proper procedure and the Business Office has the right to refuse to reimburse these expenses.

61XXX Travel

The University will reimburse the researcher by way of the travel claim form. Original itemized hotel bills, original air tickets, taxi chits and registration receipts are audit requirements. Credit card and debit slips are not acceptable tax rebate receipts. The purpose of the trip must be stated, details of daily expenditures, persons or organizations visited and the dates of each visit are required. If an original document is required please contact accounts payable staff. The original document must be stamped with the reimbursement amount indicated and a copy of this document is retained in our files. The original will then be returned to you. This stamping authorization must be done by assigned personal within the Business Office.

The University has a conflict of interest policy, therefore a researcher must have their immediate supervisor sign the reimbursement claim. The supervisor is signing certifying to the best of their knowledge the travel took place as outlined and for the purpose indicated. The researcher may sign their employee’s expense claims. This account is debited for expenditure after the travel form detailing all expenditures has been submitted and processed.

Statements

The Business Office does not mail out printed statements.  Access to view your accounts can be obtained by requesting a Datatel account. Please note that salary commitments are not encumbered and must be factored when calculating the monies remaining in your account.Also, when running reports in Datatel only those accounts with activity for the fiscal year will show on the report.

Overdraft Occurrences

It is the researcher's responsibility to cover any overdrafts incurred.  If payment is not made in the fiscal year or if the researcher is leaving the University's employ, the overdraft will be deducted from salary payments to the researcher.

Occasionally researchers find that their expenses exceed their financial resources for the fiscal year. A written request should be sent to the Director of Research and Graduate Studies requesting permission to borrow against the next year fiscal installment. Each request is assessed on an individual basis and has to be guaranteed by a Department operating budget.  Most government agencies do not encourage borrowing against the next installment because they are often conditional upon governmental budget approval. It is the responsibility of the researcher to arrange payment of any outstanding balance not reimbursed by subsequent installments to the Department Budget that guaranteed the expenditure. The maximum amount that can be borrowed is $2500.00.

Account Corrections

If an error was made in charging an expense to an account, a correction (journal entry) may be requested to move the expense to the appropriate account. Full details of the charges being moved must be provided. For example, supplier, purchase order number, voucher number, date of the transaction. Please send these requests for transfers to the Manager of Fund Accounting for processing. An IDT (interdepartmental transfer) should not be used for this purpose. An IDT is only used for Internal Service Departments for selling goods and services e.g. Printing Services, Bookstore, Educational Technology, and Computing Services.

Any requests for corrections have to be received before the year end cut-off date for processing at the end of the fiscal year (April 1-March 31); expenses from a previous fiscal year cannot be moved.

Money Transfers/Deposits

Withdrawal of funds other than using proper procurement reimbursement procedures is not allowed. An IDT is not to be used to move funds from one research account to another, or to charge expenses from another general ledger account. This is not a legitimate expenditure on a research account. Please request an account correction (see above) through the Manager of Fund Accounting or contact the Manager for discussion.

Audit

During the term of a contract/grant/agreement and for several years thereafter, the account is subject to both internal and external audit. The auditor examines the University's financial records and documentation relating to the expenditures to ensure consistency to the University's and grantor/contractor policies and procedures. It is essential, therefore, that the contract/grant/agreement stipulations be adhered to and that all claims be supported with adequate documentation. Researchers need to familiarize themselves with the policy and procedures of the University and the contractor/ grantor.

Invalid expenditures

If during the course of an internal or external audit, it is discovered that invalid or fraudulent charges were incurred on an account, it will be the responsibility of the researcher(s) to repay all charges and pay all subsequent fines.

Transfer to Another Institution

A researcher who has an account and who intends to move to another institution must inform the Director of Research and Graduate Studies and the Manager of Fund Accounting of the move. External granting agencies and contractors have different guidelines on the transfer of funds.  Awards from internal grant competitions and/or internal funding, cannot be transferred to another Institution. e.g. Start Up Funding Awards, SSHRC Small University Awards, SSHRC Institutional Awards, AUFA article 25.55, Teaching Innovations.

Termination Through Resignation, Retirement, or Death

Upon termination of employment through resignation or retirement, an employee of Acadia will not have access to any unexpended funds after the termination date.

In the event of death of an employee, the employee's executor may submit reimbursement claims for expenditures incurred or committed prior to death for an amount not to exceed the remaining account funds, within the guidelines of the University's policies and procedures.