Type of Policy
Administrative
Review Date:
Policy Owner
Budget, Planning and Administration
Contact Name
Jamie Fernandes
Contact Title
Executive Director
Contact Email
jamie.fernandes@business.gatech.edu
Reason for Policy

The Office of Institute Budget Planning and Administration (“Budget Office”) is responsible for the development, implementation, maintenance, and control of Georgia Tech’s non-sponsored budgets, based on allocations approved through appropriate academic and administrative processes. The budget consists of funding from general, departmental services, special funding initiative, research consortium, lottery, sponsored, auxiliary, student services, and agency operations. In addition, budgets are maintained for a large number of capital projects.

Policy Statement

The budget for each department or project should be amended to reflect the current estimate of expenditures and income (if applicable) for the fiscal year. The following list shows some, but not all types of transactions that would require a budget amendment:

  1. Establish a budget amount or change the amount budgeted for non-personal services expenditures, such as travel, operating supplies and expense, and equipment.
  2. Establish a budget amount or change the amount budgeted for anticipated income (revenue and departmental sales and services) for the fiscal year.
  3. Establish or change the amount budgeted for a vacant position.
  4. Make an approved increase or decrease to your original budget amount.
Procedures

Steps in Budget Amendment Process

  1. Log into the IBS System
    • Enter your Operator ID (GT ID number).
    • Enter your password.
    • Click “enter.”
  2. Check Totals
    • Go to Totals Page
    • Verify approved budget for all funding sources.
  3. Check Amendment
    • Go to Review and Submit Page
    • Check Salary Planning and Distribution for any changes automatically generated by IBS.
    • These changes are driven by and reflect the SPD system the day the amendment was run. Delete/correct accordingly.
    • If increasing or decreasing budget, make adjustments to your personal services and/or non-personal services to reflect the change. After each entry is made make sure you click “Save.”
    • Complete “Amendment Notes” and “Comments” fields (see “Use of Comments Fields” section below)
    • If there is no change to the “bottom-line” budget and funds are being transferred between personal services and non-personal services, there must be a zero balance.
  4. Check Request Prior to Budget Submission
    • Go to “Review and Submit” page.
    • Verify funding source totals for any increases or decreases.
    • Verify total.
    • Make sure funding is not transferred from one source to another. For example, do not move funds from General Operations to Departmental Sales and Services (DSS).
  5. Budget Submission
    • Click “Submit” button.
    • Your department is locked out to allow the Budget Analyst to process your changes.
    • An e-mail is generated and sent to the Budget Office to process your request.
    • Your budget amendment is updated. An e-mail notification is sent to you that your budget amendment is ready to print.
  6. Printing Reports
    1. Go to “Reports” page.
    2. All reports are available in MS Excel.
    3. Note that Bud802 and Bud805 are generated after the BA is submitted.
    4. Print report for use by your unit’s financial administrators in review of authorized monthly budget activity.

Use of Comment Fields in the Amendment Process
Department Level Comments – provide a description of your budget changes.

  • This page differs from the detail level comments on the Personal Services and Non-Personal Services pages in that here you must include any high-level description to document why you made budget adjustments. The description should be similar to the information previously provided on the cover sheets.

Detail Level Comments (on Personal Services and Non-Personal Services pages)

  • Your department is either receiving or giving out a mixture of funding (example: both Tech Fee and Research Consortium funding).
    • Enter totals by funding source in comment.
  • Funding to or from more than one other department/project.
    • Enter each of the other departments’ org numbers and amount in comment. Don’t just enter a lump sum total by department.

Actions that result in a NET change to your department’s budget require comments

  • SPD adjustments or transfers from one account to another within a department do not require comments. Within comments, always include the project number org # or the name of the department that is either providing additional budget to your department or receiving funds from your department. Your analyst can help you with the transition to paperless documentation within amendments.

Any BA submitted with a net change in a department’s budget but without any documentation in the comment fields will need to be corrected before it will be processed

  • Your analyst will contact you to request that you submit the missing information and resubmit the amendment.

Budget Amendment Close-Out Process

  • Budget Office balances the changes to the Original Budget.
  • The files are processed and submitted to update the PeopleSoft General Ledger.
  • The Budget Office notifies the unit budget contacts that IBS is available for your use and the next budget amendment due date.

Please contact your Budget Analyst if you have any questions about these policies and procedures.