Enter Budget Transfer is the budget entry component that is used to move budget authority between budgets within a single Business Unit. Each budget entry in the Budget Transfer Component must have a zero net financial impact across all budget lines. The Budget Transfer Component can be used to post Apportionments, Budget Transfers, Consolidation Transfers, Department Suballocations and Interchange budget entries.
The following are descriptions of the five budget entry types for Budget Transfers within a Business Unit:
Apportionment – An apportionment is the movement of a lump sum or a multi-fund appropriation to a specific account or fund. Effective October 1, 2015 an apportionment is also the movement of authority between a reserve and unreserved segregation. A lump sum appropriation is an appropriation for which the budget bill does not specify 1) a particular business unit and department, such as those under the MSC01 business unit or 2) a particular account code for those appropriations within the State Operations budget bill. A multi-fund appropriation is an appropriation that appears in bill copy where more than one 5 digit fund code would apply. The appropriation may therefore be used for more than one fund within a higher level fund group.
Budget Transfer – Transfers are authorized movements of appropriation authority between appropriations in different funds or accounts (e.g. between Aid to Localities and State Operations). Transfers must be specifically authorized in State statute.
Consolidation Transfer – Special designation for the movement of budget authority between appropriations within a Business Unit as authorized in statute to support the establishment and funding of shared service functions or other specifically identified efficiency initiatives.
Department Suballocation – Movement of appropriation authority between budgetary departments within a Business Unit within the same fund and for the same purpose as appropriated. These types of suballocations are used for movement between SUNY and CUNY campuses or Public Benefit Corporations (PBC).
Interchange – An interchange is the movement of appropriation authority between statutory appropriations within the same Business Unit and fund, and may be within or across programs. Appropriation movement within the same fund and major program (all caps in the budget bill and level 2 of the KK_SW_PROG tree), are freely interchangeable without restriction. If the movement is between major programs, the transaction must conform to the allowable amount as set forth in the relevant section of State Finance Law (SFL). For State Operations and Local Assistance type programs, pursuant to SFL Section 51, the appropriations may not be increased or decreased by more than the sum total of 5% of the first $5 million, 4% of the second $5 million, and 3% of any further amount above $10 million. For Capital type programs, pursuant to SFL Section 93, the appropriations may not be increased or decreased by more than the sum total of 25% of the first $5 million, 20% of the second $5 million, 15% of the third $5 million, and 10% of any further amount above $15 million for the total amount appropriated for a specific purpose, including reappropriated amounts.
The following documents provide guidance on determining the proper budget entry type to use.
For additional instruction on this topic, visit the job aids published to SFS Coach. SFS Coach is accessible from the SFS home page after logging in with your SFS user ID and password.
Guide to Financial Operations
REV. 02/23/2015