Fund Attributes

Fund attributes are additional pieces of data that provide further information about the fund to ensure proper accounting and classification.

Gift/Interest Override Attribute: This attribute serves two separate functions.

• It is used to specify both current use/endowment gift deposits to a specified string of coding.
• It is also used to specify what string of coding to post interest earned/charged on unexpended income balances.

For gifts: The ADS system posts gifts to two segments; tub and fund. When the information is submitted to the general ledger, the system looks at the gift override table to determine what org, activity, sub activity and root shall be used to credit the gift.

For Interest: The system uses the string of coding indicated by this attribute when posting interest earned on positive unexpended income balances. It also uses this string to charge deficit balances. The coding in this attribute table is used for current use, endowment, and unrestricted designated fund unexpended balances.

Treasurer’s Distribution Attribute:

This attribute directs the system to determine to which 33-digit code to post the annual endowment distribution.

Both the gift/interest override attribute and the treasurer’s distribution attribute are assigned to endowment funds, however only a gift/interest override is assigned to current use gift and unrestricted designated funds.

The FAS Office of Finance recommends using tub, org, and fund…simpler is better.

While it is not required, it is recommended to use the same coding for the treasurer’s distribution override and the gift/interest override.

Balance Forward Designation:

The balance forward attribute is used to specify to which level of coding the unexpended income or gift balance should carry forward to the next fiscal year.

Best practice would be to use B+0 or B+OR if it’s a faculty gift. Value and descriptions of the available designations are as follows:

Value Description

B+O Basic segments + Org

B+OA Basic segments + Org & Activity

B+OAS Basic segments + Org, Activity & Sub

B+OASR Basic segments + Org, Activity, Sub & Root

B+OAR Basic segments + Org, Activity & Root

B+OR Basic segments + Org & Root

We recommend that you carry balances at the same level of segments as the gift and treasurer’s distribution overrides. This will ensure all segments carry forward in a consistent manner.

If no balance forward designation is chosen, the FAS default of BO (Tub, Org, and Fund) will be selected.

In some cases, the balance forward designation is pre-determined by the department who “owns” the fund (when cross validations are used). For example: If Department (A) has use of another Department’s (B) fund, any unexpended balance in A’s tub and Org will role forwarded as designated by the fund’s owner, B.

If Department B has designated the balance forward attribute of B (tub-fund), then the unexpended income for department A will carry forward to the tub level, in this case, you should contact the FAS Finance Office to resolve the viewing issue of the unexpended balance allocated to your department.

Override and the Balance Forward Designations can be changed at any time however, any gifts and treasurer’s distribution already posted to the general ledger will need to be updated via a journal entry (either by FAS Finance or the Controller’s Office). Balance forward changes may also require journal corrections, which must be done by the FAS Office of Finance.

Please submit a written request to the FAS Gift/Endowment Manager if you wish to change any of these attributes with respect to gift or endowed funds. Changes to unrestricted designated funds should be forwarded to FAS Application Administration at appsadmin@fas.harvard.edu.

Changes to gifts in endowment funds can only be processed by the Office of the Controller, with the approval of ADS. Please submit a written request to the FAS Gift/Endowment Manger if you wish to modify an endowment gift segment.

Department and Centers may reallocate current use gifts and endowment distribution between orgs and activities, within a fund/within their unit, by using the following object codes:

Please note that both the debit and credit entry must use the same object code and the entry must be posted within the same fund.

Local Attribute #2:
 

This attribute gives departments the ability to further classify funds and can be useful for reporting purposes. For example: if a department wishes to group several of its funds together by purpose, a code can be added to this field allowing the department to query on this code. This attribute can be used for gift, endowment, and unrestricted designated funds. For funds under a faculty member’s direction, the faculty member’s root value is assigned so a department can easily report on a particular faculty member’s funds. Departments can also use this attribute to sort their funds. The attribute must be assigned to the fund through a chart maintenance request processed by the FAS Office of Finance. Please contact the Gift/Endowment Manager in the FAS Finance Office if your department has a need to organize funds in this manner.
 

Fund Purpose Code:
 

The fund purpose code indicates the purpose of an endowment or current use fund at a quick glance. This is useful for reporting purposes as it enables a unit to group similar funds using the purpose code. This attribute is defined at the University level and is most meaningful at the University and Tub level.
 

Appendix D lists the purpose codes available to FAS and Affiliates under the GL Code column. This code is assigned by the FAS Office of Finance when the fund is established.