WHAT IS A BUDGET TRANSFER?
 A budget transfer moves available funds from one budget number
to another. This should occur before expenditure in anticipation of
spending needs.
 If you need to purchase supplies but the budget amount in the
supply account is insufficient, then available funds must be
transferred into the supply account from another.
WHAT IS A BUDGET TRANSFER?
 In the Datatel system, these funds are known as “Allocated Budget”
BUDGET TRANSFER GUIDELINES
 The budget transfer form is available on the Business Office website
under Forms at:
http://www.cabrillo.edu/internal/businessoffice/
 Please use available forms provided by the Business Office. This
simplifies data entry and maintains consistency. The form can be filled
out using Excel or by printing out a blank form and writing in the
information.
 Budget transfers and journal entries share a common form, but the two
transactions are mutually exclusive — in other words, check one box
or the other. You cannot submit both a budget transfer and a journal
entry on the same form.
BUDGET TRANSFER GUIDELINES
 A budget transfer can be submitted multiple times during a fiscal year
as needed.
 The expenditure accounts in your division or department should be
regularly reviewed to ensure that no negative balances are showing in
Datatel.
 Please note that budget transfers for the current fiscal year cannot be
entered until after the Final Budget is approved by the Governing
Board AND after the Annual Budget and Financial Report (CCFS-311)
is reported to the State Chancellor’s Office. This occurs in October.
Any budget transfers received prior to this date will be held until then.
BUDGET TRANSFER GUIDELINES
 The Business Office will create new accounts that are necessary
but do not currently exist; the budget transfer request will serve as
authorization to open the budget number.
 Budget amounts should be in whole dollars only (no cents).
 The transfer amount should never exceed the amount available
within that account including what has already been spent and/or
encumbered by a purchase order. This means the transfer should
not result in a negative balance in the account.
BUDGET TRANSFER GUIDELINES
 When transferring funds, the fund numbers and project numbers
need to remain consistent:
 Within the same FUND:
If moving FROM 11-0-XXXX-XXXX-XXXXXX-000 then must
be moved TO 11-0-XXXX-XXXX-XXXXXX-000
 Within the same PROJECT (grant):
If moving FROM 12-0-XXXX-XXXX-XXXXXX-816 then must
be moved
TO 12-0-XXXX-XXXX-XXXXXX-816
BUDGET TRANSFER GUIDELINES
 A very common question is:
Q - Should the entry be a Debit or Credit?
A - Ultimately, the sum of all Debits should equal the sum of all
Credits. The next screens provide samples of how a debit or
credit affects expenditure and revenue accounts.
For an EXPENDITURE Account:
a DEBIT increases the Allocated Budget
a CREDIT decreases the Allocated Budget
DEBITS & CREDITS
The balance in an expenditure account should be a DEBIT (positive) otherwise it is overdrawn
 Debit
 Credit
 Credit
For a REVENUE Account:
a DEBIT reduces the Allocated Budget
a CREDIT increases the Allocated Budget
The balance in a revenue account normally has a CREDIT (negative) balance
 Credit
 Debit
BUDGET TRANSFER GUIDELINES
 The left-hand “TO/DEBIT” column is for the budget number that you would
like to move the funds into.
 The right-hand “FROM/CREDIT” column is for the budget number that you
are moving the funds from.
 Note: The DEBIT and CREDIT are opposite for Revenue accounts Object: 8xxxxx
BUDGET TRANSFER GUIDELINES
 Each transfer requires a description for data entry. This description can
be up to a maximum of 28 characters. The Business Office Excel form
will prompt you if this number is exceeded.
BUDGET TRANSFER GUIDELINES
 Each comment corresponds to the budget number above it. Budget transfer
entries will appear in Datatel detail reports with the code of BU for Budget
Update.
BUDGET TRANSFER GUIDELINES
 The comment is the audit trail description that will remain
PERMANENTLY in Cabrillo's financial records. Therefore, relevant
information should be provided that will be as self-explanatory as
possible. Ideally, anyone, now and in future years, should be able to
understand what has occurred simply by reading the description.
 Keep in mind that the hard copy records are stored away at the end of
each fiscal year and may be difficult to locate in subsequent years.
BUDGET TRANSFER GUIDELINES
 The “NOTES” area at the bottom of the form can be used to write a
more extensive explanation about the transaction that will be helpful
to the Budget Officer and fiscal auditor. This information will not
appear on Datatel budget reports.
 Budget Transfers require Administrative Approval from the
authorized Budget Officer of the funds.
 Submit the signed original form to the Business Office for data entry
into Datatel. To save paper, keep an Excel online copy for your files
instead of a hard copy.
 Budget Transfers are subject to audit approval by the Business
Office before being officially entered into Datatel.
BUDGET TRANSFER GUIDELINES
 This is the end of this learning module.
For additional information about Business Office policies and
procedures, please refer to the Business Office Guide located at:
http://www.cabrillo.edu/internal/businessoffice/