Prerequisites
Prior to reading the instructions on the Multi-Year Fund Balance Report, it is beneficial to review the following sections of the IU Accounting Standards Book to gain foundational information along with report requirements and best practices:
- Accounting Fundamentals Pressbook
- Chart of Accounts and General Ledger Pressbook
- Financial Statements Pressbook
Overview
The Multi-Year Fund Balance Report was introduced to help monitor and analyze fund balances within an entity. The Multi-Year Fund Balance Report provides users the ability to track fund balances for 3 or 5 years with an option to include or exclude current balances. The report is designed to allow comparative measurement and identification of fund balance on the account, department, responsibility center, and campus to the consolidated university level on a fiscal year basis. If not managed or reviewed properly, a unit’s fund balance can result in a negative fund balance due to the unit’s liabilities being greater than the unit’s assets or net deficit. For more information on what makes up the fund balance from an accounting perspective, see the Balance Sheet standard in the accounting standards book.
How the Multi-Year Fund Balance Report Works
The Multi-Year Fund Balance Report is designed to show comparative year-end fund balances for either 3 or 5 of the most recently closed fiscal years. Users also have the option to include the current year fund balance in addition to the 3 or 5 years. If current year is selected, users have the option to select fund balance amounts through any completed fiscal period in the current year. Users are encouraged to select 5 years for a more comprehensive and in-depth review and analysis. The Multi-Year Fund Balance report also comes with a graph for a visual representation of the fund balance changes.
The Multi-Year Fund Balance Report is made up of several essential transactions. It is important that users understand what each of these transactions represents. A brief description of each report line item is included below:
- Fund Balance – This represents the opening balance as of July 1 pulled directly from the balance sheet for the periods selected.
- Operating Margin – This represents operating revenues less any operating expenses and is pulled directly from the income statement for the periods selected.
- Non-Operating Revenues – This represents revenues that have been incurred outside of the entity’s day-to-day activity and is pulled directly from the income statement for the periods selected.
- Non-Operating Expenses - This represents expenses that have been incurred outside of the entity’s day-to-day activity and is pulled directly from the income statement for the periods selected.
Note: If parameter ‘Sum Non-Operating Revenues/Expenses?’ is checked, Non-Operating Revenues and Expenses lines will be summed and displayed in the report as Non-Operating Margin.
- Net Transfer Income (Expense) – This represents the net of transfer income and expense incurred for the period, pulled directly from the income statement for the periods selected. This line item will only display in the report when the parameter ‘Exclude Transfers from Operating and Non-Operating Margins (Required for UCO closing materials)’ is checked.
- Net Capital Purchased and FB Offset – Due to the organizational structure of fund groups within IU, the offsetting entries used to make capital purchases are not recorded within the same fund group (typically the sale is recorded in a general or designated fund and the asset is recorded in the plant fund). This line represent the mismatch between the two fund groups to correctly record the entire purchase within one fund.
- Direct Hits to 9899 on JV Document – This is an entry done internally by UCO using a journal voucher (JV) document. Typically, these entries are done at the campus level.
- Direct Transfers to 9899 on Asset Transfer Document – This is an entry done internally by UCO using an asset transfer (AT) document. Typically, these entries are done at the campus level.
Below is an example of a Multi-Year Fund Balance Report representing 5 years and includes current year (FY 2025) fund balance amounts. In this example, transfer amounts are netted.
The Multi-Year Fund Balance Report can be located at the top of this page - refer to the top right blue button labeled "Go to Report" which will automatically redirect users to the report within the Controller’s Office Reporting Tools.
In addition, the report can be found in One.IU. To find the report, search for “Controller’s Office Reporting Tools” in the search bar, and select Controller’s Office Reporting Tools (Report Center) in the drop down menu. Mark this task as a favorite by clicking the heart icon next to the start button and then select Start or click on the title.
Once in the Controller’s Office Reporting Tools, users will see all available reporting tiles. Navigate to the Fund Balance folder. A new tiles opens, which display all of the available fund balance reports. Select the Multi-Year Fund Balance Report.
Running the Report
Define the search parameters to return results relevant to your organization or to a specific account. The search parameters available in the Multi-Year Fund Balance Report are divided into three parameter types: chart of account report parameters, report specific parameters and display parameters.
If there are questions related to running the report, requirements or reviewing results, please contact your (RC) fiscal officer or campus office. Each campus may have individual specific requirements related to the report, so be sure to reach out to the related campus office or fiscal officer prior to quarter closings.
General Notes: Do not include any special characters other than approved wildcards in any of the below parameters. Additionally, do not run reports by campus as it will take up valuable computing services.
A number of parameters are available to assist users. Users can enter the responsibility center (RC) code, organization code, and account for their respective organization. At this time, all of the parameters are optional; however, this may result in a long report run time.
If unsure, several of the parameters have a valid values function which displays the available codes and corresponding descriptions.
| Parameter | Description |
|---|---|
| University Fiscal Period Code | Selected in addition to the “Include Current Year” parameter; allows users to select the specific fiscal period for the current year. |
| Chart Code | Used to limit report to one or more specific chart of accounts. For assistance determining your chart code, refer to KFS Chart Lookup. |
| Campus | Used to limit report to a specific campus. |
| Responsibility Center Code | Used to limit to a specific RC. Users are encouraged to use this parameter in conjunction with a chart of accounts code. For assistance determining your RC code, refer to KFS RC Lookup. |
| Organization Code | Used to limit report to a specific organization code. Users are encouraged to use this parameter in conjunction with a chart code. |
| Account Number | Used to limit report to one or more specific account(s). |
| Sub-Account Number | Used to limit report to one or more specific sub-account(s). |
| Fund Group Code | Limits report to specific fund group(s). |
| Sub-Fund Group Code | Limits report to specific sub-fund group(s). |
| Include Organization Hierarchy | Check/Uncheck – By selecting the organization hierarchy, users will be able to see all data from the selected organization plus any organizations that report to the selected organization. |
| Exclude 01* Accounts | Check/Uncheck – If checked, excludes all accounts with leading digits "01" from report. |
| Exclude Campus Consolidation Accounts | Check/Uncheck – If checked, excludes all campus consolidation accounts from report. |
A report specific parameter is a parameter that is limited to a single or small group of reports. For example, on the Multi-Year Fund Balance Report users would expect to see a parameter for include current year, but that is likely not going to be applicable on the majority of the other reports.
| Parameter | Description |
|---|---|
| Sum Non-Operating Revenues/Expenses | Check to net Non-Operating Revenues and Non-Operating Expenses. This will be displayed as Non-Operating Margin in the report. Uncheck to show Non-Operating Revenues and Non-Operating Expenses as separate line items. |
| Include Current Year | Allows users to include the current fiscal year fund balance amount in the report. |
Display parameters are parameters that define and restrict the visual presentation of the fund balance report. They are found on the lower part of the parameters.
| Parameter | Description |
|---|---|
| Show Zero Balances | Shows fund balance transaction lines that have been used in the past but have had zero balances in the specific years the user has selected. |
| Include Closed Accounts | Includes the accounts closed during the current and in prior periods. Users are encouraged to check this box especially for comparative periods. |
| Exclude Transfers from Operating and Non-Operating Margins (Required for UCO closing materials) | Check/Uncheck – transfer object codes are pulled from above the Net Income line and presented below Net Income to aid in financial decision-making. |
| Report Style | The report style parameter is used to limit the level of detail required in the report:
|
| Number of Years to Display | Used to limit report to specific period; two options:
|
| Select the Output Format | Automatically selected as Excel. |
| Select the Output Destination | Once the report has finished generating in the background, a pop-up box will appear on the screen allowing you to access it. If the report takes too long to generate, the system will automatically send it to your email. |
Click Save Parameter Settings to save your parameters for future use of this report. For instructions on how to save settings, review the Save Parameter Settings document on the Controller’s Office Reporting Tools page.