UC IRVINE ADMINISTRATIVE POLICIES & PROCEDURES

UC Accounting Manual

UCI Accounting and Fiscal Services - Fiscal Closing

A. University Policy

1. The University's Fiscal Year begins on July 1 and ends on June 30.

2. All campus departments are required to close the Fiscal Year in a solvent condition.

3. Campuses are required to prepare annual financial reports for submission to the University Office of the President. These reports are consolidated with all other UC campus financial reports and presented to the UC Board of Regents at the end of each fiscal year.

B. Fiscal Closing Operation

1. Recording of financial data in the appropriate period

a. Departmental analysis of account/fund activities and balances determines necessary adjustments, accruals, deferrals, and appropriate corrections to balance sheet, revenue, and expenditure accounts.

b. Annual recording of physical inventories, income and expenditure accruals of auxiliary enterprises, service enterprises, and service departments required as of the end of the fiscal year.

c. Plant acquisitions are capitalized.

2. Disposition of Unexpended Balances

a. General Funds (199XX)

Unspent balances in General Funds are carried forward into the following fiscal year for each departmental account. Campus departments are not required to take any action during fiscal closing to carry forward these funds. The Accounting Office is responsible for carrying forward all balances in General Funds. The Budget Office may request that coordinating units provide information concerning the use of unspent balances after the fiscal closing process. Specific information is issued by the Budget Office. All General Funds accounts should be in a solvent condition at year-end.

b. All Other Unrestricted Funds

Unspent balances in other unrestricted fund balances are also carried forward into the new fiscal year in each departmental account. Campus departments are not required to take any action during fiscal closing to carry forward these funds, with the exception of special programs or funds which may require carry-forward approval from the University's Office of the President. Specific information is issued by the Budget Office. The Accounting Office is responsible for carrying forward all balances. Accounts should be in a solvent condition at year-end.

c. Specific or Restricted Funds (donations, grants, special State appropriations, government contracts, etc.)

Certain factors determine whether balances (encumbered or unencumbered) will be carried forward into the new fiscal year:

• if the period of availability, as stipulated by the funding source, extends into the new fiscal year, and

• the terms under which the funds were given permit such action.

d. Lapsing Endowment Funds (34100-39599)

Certain endowment and similar funds must be spent by June 30 of the current fiscal year. Specific information is issued by the Accounting Office before the end of each fiscal year regarding which funds will lapse.

C. Responsibilities

1. Accounting Office

The Assistant Vice-Chancellor, Accounting and Fiscal Services, is responsible for coordinating the fiscal closing operations at UCI and for meeting the deadlines set forth in the Schedule of Steps for Fiscal Closing issued by the University's Office of the President.

Prior to the end of each fiscal year, the Accounting Office conducts fiscal closing workshops and issues fiscal closing instructions to all departments, offices, and campus bookkeepers. These instructions are updated each year and include a list of lapsing endowment funds, a summary of important dates for each step of the closing process, and explanations of income and expenditure accruals that are acceptable for recording in any one fiscal year.

2. Campus Departments

Campus departmental administrators are responsible for following the schedule and meeting the fiscal closing deadlines, as well as managing and closing out all funds in a solvent condition.

D. Annual Financial Audit