Sponsored project fund numbers are assigned by the Office of Grants and Contracts
(OGC) and follow the Banner fund assignment hierarchy.
For more detailed information about the Banner system also see the Accounting
section of the ECU Business Manual and the Banner and Systems Coordination websites
at http://www.ecu.edu/cs-admin/banner/
and http://www.ecu.edu/cs-itcs/banner/index.cfm.
A wide variety of Banner training programs are provided to the campus. Additional
training information and registration is available at ECU One Stop https://onestop.ecu.edu/onestop/
under University Training.
All transactions within the accounting system are identified by a 21 digit FOAP,
xxxxxx-xxxxxx-xxxxx-xxxx:
Fund = A unique six digit code which identifies the individual fund activity in the accounting system. All sponsored project funds are all in the 21xxxx series of the accounting system.
Organization = A unique six digit code which identifies the administrative organization or “home” for the fund. Organization codes are established based on the department’s institutional hierarchy.
Account = A unique five digit code which identifies the specific transaction type and category (revenue/expense descriptor).
Program = A unique four digit code which identifies additional information about the fund activity type for roll-up in the financial statements.
OGC establishes the unique Fund-Org-Program combination for each award. All
transactions for a specific award use this FOP combination. The account codes
will vary based on the nature of the activity (e.g., personnel, supplies, equipment,
travel, etc. account codes). All financial transactions must have the correct
combination of FOAP to post correctly to the award.
For multi-disciplinary projects, involving multiple administrative units or
complex programs requiring segregation of award program or financial activities,
multiple FOPs may be established for one award.
Sponsored project budgets are established in the Banner system using the same
codes list as for all University funds. The budget is loaded into “pool”
accounts for the general category (e.g., personnel, supplies, equipment, travel,
subcontracts, etc.). The actual individual transactions will post under a specific
account code based on the nature of the transaction. Within the system, the
account codes are grouped in alignment with budget pool categories.
Example: OGC will load the budget under the general Travel pool account but the actual costs will be expensed under unique account codes that describe the specific transaction such as “in-state ground transportation” or “in-state lodging”.
For sponsored projects, there will not normally be a 1:1 match between budget
and expenditure codes (as may be the case with some other fund types). Sponsored
project budgets are monitored on a pool or general category basis not on an
account-specific basis. Budgets are not adjusted to match the account codes
of the specific transactions.
Because each sponsor may have their own budget format and the sponsor format
does not always match the university accounting system requirements, there will
not always be a 1:1 visual match between the sponsor’s budget presentation
and the Banner budget presentation. OGC will translate the sponsor format to
the University accounting format when loading the budget.
If the sponsor requires financial reporting in a specific format that does not
match the accounting system format, OGC will translate the Banner account code
presentations back into the sponsor format when submitting financial reports
or invoices.
For additional information, also see Policy Statement 15 – Budget and
expenditure reports and Policy Statement 16 – Budget revisions.
Contact your OGC representative if you have questions about the budget for
your award. The OGC staff assignment listing is located on the OGC website http://www.ecu.edu/grants.