Finance Extension Newsletter
Introduction
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Introduction Contracts and Grants Iowa State University Policy Extension Budget Web Travel Cougar Mountain Partnership Agreement
March-April Volume 2, 2006
By Laurie Gustafson
Spring is an exciting time! Iowa has shed its winter coat and unveils beautiful flowers, budding trees and lush green land. Take time to breathe the fresh spring air and enjoy the sounds of Iowas nature coming alive! It is also the time of year to work on finalizing projects funded with current fiscal year funds. Each county has different times to process checks to vendors. Please check with your OA\bookkeeper for the yearend schedule. Purchases through ISU must be initiated ASAP it will be your responsibility to follow up with the vendor so the merchandise is received and vendor paid by June 15th.
Contracts and Grants
By Linda Wilson COUNTY GRANTS: Documentation of Non-Profit Status Many grant applications require the applicant to document its non-profit status. Guidelines often request a copy of the applicants 501c3 tax-exempt letter, document from the Internal Revenue Service indicating the organizations exemption from Federal income tax under the provision of Section 501c3 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1954. County Agricultural Extension Districts (CAED) in Iowa are divisions of county government. Districts do not have 501c3 status. When documentation is requested, we recommend providing two items: 1) paragraph describing the legal status of the CAED. 2) relevant pages from the Iowa Code. Documents available at: http://www.extension.iastate.edu/extensionfinance/contracts.htm There have been a very few examples of grant programs that are limited to applicants having 501c3 status. When in doubt, call a contact person at the Sponsoring Organization and find out if the grant program is restricted to 501c3 organizations. If that is the case, we recommend that you find a local organization with which to partner in submitting the grant application. Another option is to submit the application through ISU which has the 501c3 letter.
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Iowa State University Policy
Social Security Number Protection Policy Iowa State University recognizes that it collects and maintains confidential information relating to its students, employees, and individuals associated with the University and is committed to maintaining the privacy and confidentiality of an individual's Social Security Number (SSN). This policy applies to all individuals and University organizational units that have access to, collect, or use an individual's SSN. Policy Statement University ID shall replace SSN as the primary identifier used by the University. The University will discontinue the use of SSN as the primary identifier. Therefore, the use of SSN as an identification number within the University shall be limited as permitted by law. To protect the privacy of persons whose SSN is collected, all University offices will follow procedures maintained by the Policy Administrator and managed by university designated Data Stewards. These procedures should be implemented by June 30, 2007. Requests for an extension of time to implement should be directed to the Policy Administrator prior to this date. Persons responsible for breaching the privacy of another person by improperly obtaining, using or disclosing a SSN are subject to discipline as provided in the applicable faculty and staff handbooks or collective bargaining agreement and student discipline as provided under the procedure in the Student Information Handbook. The following rules of conduct apply:
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Employees and students shall comply with the provisions of this policy as well as related institutional policies and procedures. Employees may not request disclosure of a SSN from an individual if it is not necessary for the purposes of the university and the particular function for which the employee is responsible. Employees and students shall not disclose the SSN of another person to unauthorized persons or entities. Employees and students may not seek out or use the SSN of another person for their own interest or advantage. Employees responsible for the maintenance of records containing SSNs shall observe all institutionally-established administrative, technical, and physical safeguards in order to protect the confidentiality of such records. Employees shall report promptly to their supervisor any inappropriate disclosure of a SSN.
If SSNs are inappropriately disclosed and individuals have been put at risk of identity theft or other harm as a result of the disclosure, the Office of University Counsel shall be notified promptly.
For more information on this subject the web site is listed below. http://policy.iastate.edu/policy/ssn/index.shtml
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Extension Finance Newsletter
Iowa State University Extension Budget Process
By John Flickinger Most people dont realize that ISU Extension has to budget not only on the State fiscal year, but also the Federal fiscal year. Our State appropriations are designated as either 103 or 7XX accounts while our Federal appropriations are accounted for in 418 and 620 accounts. (418 accounts are Earmarked or Designated programs such as Food Expanded and Nutrition Education, Integrated Pest Management, Community and Rural Development, etc; whereas 620 accounts are general operating funds.)
70 % 60% 50 % 40% 30% 20% 10 % 0%
Federal & State Appropriations User Fees, Grants, & Other
Each spring, the Extension Fiscal Office begins the State budget process, which takes multiple steps and several months to complete. The first step in the process is to get all the accounts rebalanced back to the original appropriation. There are many factors that can cause a budget to change over the course of a year: resignations, new hires, reclassifications, vacancies, reversions/rescissions, etc. It is crucial to get back in balance before beginning the process of making changes for salary increases, benefit rate changes, reorganizations, position eliminations, etc. As mentioned above, the State budget process begins in early spring and isnt completed until early or mid-June, (depending upon the adjournment of the state legislature). Our State budget runs on a July 1 through June 30 fiscal year. Our federal budget runs on a different fiscal year: from October 1 through September 30. The Federal budgeting process is a bit different in the fact that salary increases are handled through the State budget process and our office isnt informed of the new appropriation until after the start of the new Federal fiscal year. If adjustments are needed in the Federal budget, they are typically made after October 1.
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Web Travel
By Joan Ballard Meal Limits and Taxable Meals The Web Travel System has specific meal limits, depending on whether the travel is in-state or out-of-state. The in-state breakdown per meal is: Breakfast $6 Lunch $9 $16 Dinner Total $31
The out-of-state breakdown per meal is: Breakfast $8 Lunch $12 Dinner $20 Total $40
Meals will be reimbursed at actual cost and may include gratuities. Meals on trips not requiring overnight travel are required to be reported to the IRS as taxable income unless the primary purpose of the meal was to discuss business. The Web Travel System automatically records non-overnight meals as taxable. If the primary purpose of the meal was to discuss business, you can override the default setting by changing the taxable meal indicator for the meal to No, and stating the business purpose for overriding the default setting in the Additional Comments box at the bottom of the screen. If you override the default setting, you will need to be specific as to the business purpose. Just entering the name of the person you ate with does not qualify as a purpose. Example: If you had lunch with a client or a colleague to discuss a soy bean rust program, your business purpose should read lunch with client to discuss soy bean rust program.
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Extension Finance Newsletter
Cougar Mountain
By Shirley Jean Woodward
Great progress has been made on the step-by-step manual, which can be found on Extension Finances new website at http://www.extension.iastate.edu/extensionfinance/cougarmountain.htm When completed, this manual will help users understand how each module should be set up and how...