Reed College
Reed College

Business Office

FDA-Funds Disbursement Authority

Purpose

Funds disbursement authority (or FDA) is an internal hierarchy structure that ensures the college’s funds are stewarded by the appropriate person/s and establishes accountability.

Policy

All college financial transactions are tracked in Banner through organization codes or ORGNs (i.e. a department code). Each ORGN is required to have a financial manager (or FM) assigned in Banner. The FM has access to all financial activity in the ORGN as well as signing authority. Generally, the FM is responsible for overseeing the budget and stewarding the respective funds. More specifically, the FM is responsible for:

  • all financial activity recorded in their ORGN;
  • preventing any budget overruns for operating ORGNs or year-end deficits in restricted ORGNs; and
  • managing the FDA (i.e. who has access to view the financial activity for their ORGN and who has signing authority for their ORGN).

The process of assigning FMs begins with the president delegating ORGNs to a VP/Dean. The VP/Deans can then further delegate the ORGN to one of their team members. The FM then assigns who has FDA, which has two access types:

  • View Only - able to see budget activity in IRIS, but unable to approve expenditures.
  • View and Signing - able to see budget activity in IRIS and approve expenditures through Etrieve.

The FDA hierarchy is used by the Etrieve disbursement form to determine who can approve expenditures.

Changes to FDA can only be approved by the existing FM, Faculty Administrative Coordinator (FAC) on behalf of a Faculty Chair, or, in the absence of an FM, the position’s supervisor or associated VP/Dean. If an FM changes roles or leaves the college, the FM’s supervisor will be listed as the designated FM until the business office is notified otherwise.

Procedure

General – The college uses the Etrieve budget access form to track changes for FDA.

New hires and staff changes –

  • Whether on-boarding a new hire or a role change, the hiring manager will use the New/Updated Computer Requests Form to grant IRIS access for budget viewing as well as access the Etrieve budget access form.
    • The Etrieve form will guide the FM or hiring manager through the process of adding, changing, or removing access.
  • Access to the budget form in Etrieve is available to all Etrieve users.
    • If access is requested by someone other than the FM, the request will be referred to the FM through the Etrieve workflow for an approval.
    • The FM will approve the request in Etrieve before a change can be made. Alternatively, an email authorization from a VP/Dean or FM may be attached to an Etrieve request.
  • If the FM approves the request and selects signing access, the new hire will need budget/signer training. This training will be provided by the business office.
  • Staff who are changing roles will be treated the same as new hires; training will be offered if the staff person has never had budget access before or if their access changed from view only to view and signing.
  • Faculty chairs – Faculty Chairs are the Finance Managers of their department (ORGN) as well as any restricted funds that roll up under their department.
  • Chair changes occur after the beginning of the new fiscal year.
    • It is up to the chair in coordination with their FAC and the Dean of Faculty’s office to determine the FDA of their department.
    • In July, the chairs will receive an FDA report listing their current FDA for their department/s. It is the chair’s responsibility to inform the business office of any changes using the budget access form in Etrieve.
    • FACs are automatically given both view and sign access to all of the ORGNs within their areas and are able to maintain the FDA for their respective departments.

Reporting – FMs will receive a quarterly report listing the ORGNs for which they are listed as the FM and who has access.

 

 Key Points and Other Information:

  • Etrieve Budget Access Form is the method for adding or removing access.
  • See the detailed instuctions for frequently asked questions.
  • The business office maintains and tracks this information through Banner
    • Change requests are referred to the FM or department chair each time a change is requested by someone other than the FM.
  • Semiannual FDA reports will be emailed to VPs and faculty chairs.
  • Etrieve Disbursement Form is the method for paying invoices, reimbursing for expenses paid on the college’s behalf, or paying vendors for services rendered.
  • IRIS is the Reed app that allows those with the access to view budgets and transaction activity for an ORGN:
    • PCard transactions and all Etrieve payable expenses can be viewed in IRIS.
    • Student wage account lines are visible in IRIS.
    • Staff wage account lines are not visible in IRIS.
    • Internal expenses such as: bookstore, catering, print and mail services are visible in IRIS.
    • Revenue from ticket sales, student fees, etc. can be seen in IRIS.

 Revision date: November 2023