Definition of a Chartfield
Chartfields enable us to segregate and organize transactional and budget data. There are eight chartfields used in CUNYfirst. These allow for detailed reporting at various levels. Chartfields strings are comparable to budget units.
Overview of Chartfields
WHO is the transaction for?
- Department
- Program
WHERE will the transaction be funded from?
- Fund
- 10 (Tax Levy)
- 11 (IFR)
- Operating Unit
- Special Initiative
- Funding Source
WHICH is the higher education purpose of the transaction?
- Major Purpose
WHAT is the transaction for?
- Account
A Department is an academic or administrative unit that manages budgets and expenditures. Academic departments must be approved by the CUNY board of trustees. The department chartfield is shared between Human Resources and Budget. It is the foundation for security for departmental transactions. A department must meet the following requirements:
- Have an ongoing business purpose
- Have an established budget and identifiable fiscal responsibility
- Have an employee that directly oversees the area (president, vice president, dean, chair, director, etc.)
- Have employees other than the employee who oversees the area
- Occupy physical space
- Allow for non-tax levy and Research Foundation activities
A Program allows for the budgeting and reporting of financial information below the department level. Programs can be used for the following:
- Sub-departments
- Programmatic Initiatives
- University Competitive Grant Allocations (such as Diversity Grants)
- Student Clubs
- Adult and Continuing Education
Fund defines the type of funding received from the city, state, or other entity or activity. This chartfield segregates resources into categories, which helps to identify the sources and uses of them.
- Fund 10—Tax Levy
- Fund 11—IFR
Operating Unit is used to track activities within sub-entities. It is used for IFR, Continuing Education, and School of Public Health budgets.
Special Initiative defines an allocation or grant received from the Central Office. It is also used for COMPACT.
Funding Source monitors revenue generated from education/operating programs and sponsored projects. It is used when separate budgeting, finance management, and/or reporting are needed for the funding source. A few examples of funding sources are donor contributions, scholarships, loans, and endowment income.
Major Purpose represents NACUBO requirements and drives year-end reporting. This chartfield tracks college-wide purposes and activities.
Account characterizes the nature of each transaction. An account can be an asset, liability, fund balance, revenue, or expense.
Requesters in CUNYfirst eProcurement have been given default chartfields in their security settings. However, in the event that different chartfields must be used, refer to the How to Edit a Requisition in CUNYfirst guide to learn how to change the chartfields, and use the OTPS Category Crosswalk tool to look up additional chartfields to use when creating a Purchase Requisition.