FMS - Journals and Budget Transfers/Virements
Training
Documentation and videos on Journal Entries and Budget Transfers can be found at:
https://strath.sharepoint.com/sites/fms/sitepages/JournalsAndVirements.aspx
Frequently Asked Questions
How to delete a journal
- If a termination is required please contact the Systems Administrator (financial-systems@strath.ac.uk). Include 'Delete Journal' and the Trans No in the e-mail header.
- Once a journal has been posted it is not possible to change it. Instead if the journal is not correct a correcting journal should be raised (e.g. to reverse the journal posted in error).
How to attach backup for a journal
See the guidance (page 21) for how to attach and view a document.
How to delete a budget transfer/virement
The approver must reject the virement (follow steps in the guidance on page 9)
This will send a task to the Systems Administrator who will then complete the rejection/deletion.
Once a virement has been posted it is not possible to change it. Instead if the virement is not correct a correcting virement should be raised (e.g. to reverse the virement posted in error). Please note you must also e-mail the Originator to advise them of the reason for the rejection.
How to attach backup for a Budget Transfer
Same as guidance for journals - note Document Type will default as Virements Backup.
How do I know whether to prepare a journal or a budget transfer/virement?
A journal should be prepared when transferring Income or Expenditure transactions which have already been recorded on FMS. These can be seen in the Income or Expenditure columns on the Budget Statement.
A virement should be used when transferring funds which have already been recorded on FMS. These can be seen in the Budget or Budget Transfer columns on the Budget Statement).
How do I know which account code to use for journals?
You would normally use the same account code for the Dr and the Cr side of the journal and the account code should be the same as per the original transaction which you are transferring (unless the original account code was incorrect).
B account codes should not be used for journals these are for budget transfers/virements only.
If you are preparing journals relating to salary costs, you should ensure that you use the relevant X5001 or X5005 code, in order to preserve the detailed level information within the correct accounts. Any entries to X5001 or X5005 will automatically generate entries to 5100.
Only nominated staff should have access to the detailed salary costs and only those staff should prepare the journals for such costs. See separate guidance re Salary Costs.
How do I know which account code to use for virements?
You would normally use the same account code which had been used for the initial budget allocation or virement. This would normally be a B account code (which is generally a more summarised code).
How do I know whether to use Debits or Credits?
For journals a debit entry represents an increase in expenditure or decrease in income and is shown as +ve when entering the journal, a credit entry represents an increase in income or a decrease in expenditure and is shown as –ve when entering the journal.
|
Purpose of Journal
|
Debit or Credit in FMS Journal Entry Screen |
|---|---|
| Increased Expenditure | Debit (+) |
| Decrease Income | Debit (+) |
| Decrease Expenditure | Credit (-) |
| Increase Income | Credit (-) |
Virements are the opposite (as they relate to allocated funds).
For virements a debit entry represents an increase in funds and is shown as +ve, a credit entry represents a decrease in funds and is shown as –ve.
How to view comments when a journal is rejected
The user must ensure they are sitting in the row which has been rejected (where Workflow status = R). The Workflow log will then display the relevant comments.
Journals relating to Student Costs
For certain student related costs (fees, fees waivers, stipends – see full list here) the student ID must be included. This can only be achieved through the use of an upload template. See here to find out more.
Journals to transfer expenditure into research projects
It is only ever possible to transfer expenditure into a research project, you can never transfer income out.
Please remember to ensure that your expenditure journals have:
- Appropriate documentation attached to the journal using the paperclip icon in FMS. This allows us to check the reason for the journal but also assists auditors when undertaking their sample checks to understand the reason for the journal. The paperclip icon is highlighted in blue and does this when documents are successfully attached.
- An example of this would be “10034789 Bursary 2015 trf from S131020-101 to S160053-101.
- If a journal is returned to you, there will be a reason provided by Research Finance for the rejection. This should allow you to update the journal and resubmit for approval.