1.  Do I need to complete a budget transfer form for an operating account in which there is a deficit?

No.  If there is another operating account available to cover the deficit then it is not necessary to make an internal transfer.  As long as the department's bottom line for non-personnel expenses is positive it is acceptable to carry an unexpected negative balance in an account.

2.  How do I Handle an unexpected expense for which there is no budget?

The most important thing is to charge the expense to the appropriate account and not simply to charge it to an account in which there are funds available.  As in the previous answer, even though there may not be a budget in place for the expense, the deparmtent just needs to under spend in another account to cover the deficit.  An example which happens frequently thoughout the year it that of a department needing to replace its fax machine.   The typical fax machine costs $455 and should be charged to 748300 Equipment-Non Capital and not to a generic account such as 704400 Supplies simply because there are funds available there.  In this example, the department would then under spend by $455 in another account.

3. Speaking of deficits, why would I have a deficit in an account when my office records (purchase requisitions, payment vouchers, etc.) indicate that I should have a positive balance?

Many times when an account is in deficit unexpectedly, it is often due to an old encumbrance of a purchase order which needs to be liquidated.  If the purchase order number is missing from the payment voucher, then Accounts Payable does not know that the emcumbrance needs to be liquidated at the time the invoice is paid.  For example, if the transaction is for $2,000, what happens is the $2,000 appears in the year-to-date column AND remains in the Ecumbrances column.  The department has then effectively paid the invoice twice and is being charged $4,000 instead of $2,000.  The Controller's Office can liquidate any old, outstanding encumbrances.

4.  It's May and I am only seeing financial transactions through January. Why?

When doing a Budget Query at the beginning of each month, remember to update the Fiscal Period field.  July is fiscal period 1, August is 2, etc.  In the example above, the user has the fiscal period of 7 for January and simply needs to update that field to 11 for the month of May.

5.  What is the closing date for transactions to be charged against the current year's budget?

In May, the Controller's Office issues a memo with the Accounts Payable year-end closing date.  It may vary from year to year but it is usually some time near June 20.

6.  When is the next year's budget data available?

Budget data for the next fiscal year is available through the Budget Development program in Finance Self Service at the time the department completes its request.  You simply go through the Create Budget Development Query feature of the program and you can access what is in the system at any given point in time.  The data is most subject to change during the period when the vice presidents review and edit the requests for their respective divisions.  You may view the current dollar amounts in each account, text, and any comments added by your vice president and also the data entry history which shows who the user was and when the request may have been modified.  The immediate availability of this data allows for a department to be continuously informed of its next budget and creates a tansparent budget development process.  The budget for the next fiscal year is reviewed and adopted by the Board of Trustees at it's meeting in early June.