Institutional Trust Funds
East Carolina University
Financial Services, MS 203
3800 E. 10th St. 2nd Floor
Sherrilyn Johnson, Financial Director - Institutional
Trust Funds/Foundations
Who We Are
Institutional Trust Funds Office
Financial Services
3800 E. 10th St. 2nd Floor
a.k.a. Special Funds
Accountants:
Sharon Cullipher * Cindy Modlin * Virginia Bridgman
What are Institutional Trust Funds?
• Are established at the University level by authority
of Chapter 116, Article 1 of the General Statutes
• Are set up for specific business purposes as
determined by the approved Fund Authority, and
in compliance with UNC-FIT and University
guidelines
• Are NOT state appropriated
• Are NOT for personal benefit
G.S. 116-36.1
University & Foundation Fund Types
Type of Fund
State Accounts
Banner Fund Begins With:
111, 112
12, 14, 23, 24, 25, 27, 310, 311, 312,
Institutional Trust Funds
316, 317, 2E, 6C, 6R, 6Z
Grants
21
ECU Physicians
314, 315
Capital Improvement
8, 9
ECU Foundation
E
ECU Medical Foundation
M
ECU Educational Foundation P
Alumni Association
A
Types of Institutional Trust Funds
Type of Fund
Overhead/Indirect Cost
Institutional Trust
Auxiliary Funds
Restricted for Scholarships
Restricted for other use
Endowments Restricted for
Scholarships or other use
Banner Fund Begins With:
12
14
310, 311, 312, 316, 317
23
24, 25, 27
2E, 6R, 6C, 6Z
Institutional Trust - General
• Begin with 141xxx
• Must be expended in accordance with approved
fund authority form, University policies, and UNCFIT guidelines
• Examples
– Royalties, patents, copyrights
– Student activity programs
– Service centers if self-supporting (not captured in
Auxiliary range)
– Fees for contract services
Institutional Trust - Residual Funds
• Begin with 143xxx
• 143xxx are residual balances transferred from
grants
– No other funding should be deposited or transferred
into these funds
• Expenditures must be research related
• Established at college or division level
Overhead/Indirect Cost Funds
• Begin with 12xxxx
• Indirect cost earned from grants
– No other funding should be deposited or transferred
into these funds
• Expenditures must be research related
• Established at college or division level
Auxiliary Funds
• Begin with 31xxxx
• Includes student auxiliaries, institutional
auxiliaries, and service center operations
• Self-supporting entities
• Examples
–
–
–
–
Parking and Transportation
Student Health Center
Housing and Dining
Student Stores
Restricted Trust Funds
• Must be used only for the donor-restricted
purpose
• Restricted Trust Funds begin with 23, 24, 25, 27
• Restricted Endowments begin with 2E, 6C, 6Z, 6R
– 3 parts: Corpus (6C or 6Z), Restricted (6R), Spendable
(2E)
– Corpus and Restricted Funds cannot be spent
– Principal is invested and interest earned is allocated
annually to the spendable fund in accordance with
ECU’s endowment policy.
Virginia Bridgman 737-1138
Scholarships
• Due Dates:
– All Summer Scholarships
– Fall/Spring
– Spring Semester Only
March 15th
April 15th
Sept. 15th
• Must send Scholarship Information Form, Fund
Manager Approval, and Scholarship Committee
Survey
Virginia Bridgman 737-1138
Creating a Trust Fund
If the activity meets the criteria for a trust fund:
• Submit a Trust Fund Request form and a Fund
Authority form to the ITF Office with the
appropriate signature approvals
• If appropriate, complete a Sales Activity
Questionnaire
• A letter along with a copy of the approved Fund
Authority form will be sent to the person
responsible for the fund once the ITF Office has set
up the fund
Sharon Cullipher 737-1403
Updating a Trust Fund
• ORGN changes, responsible party changes,
purpose, source of revenue
• Submit a revised Fund Authority form with the
changes and appropriate signature approvals to
the ITF Office
• A copy of the approved Fund Authority form will
be sent to the person responsible for the fund once
the ITF Office has made the changes
• For ORGN changes: move transactions and budget
to the new FOAP including payroll redistributions
Operation and Use of Trust Funds
• Need to maintain a positive cash balance
• Must be used as documented on the approved
Fund Authority
• Must follow ECU spending guidelines, and comply
with UNC-FIT and the General Statutes
• Requires VC approval to establish
• Changes in scope, purpose, source of revenue,
organizational code, etc. must be reported to the
ITF Office
– Requires an updated Fund Authority
– A new fund may be required
Matching Concept
• Revenues must be matched with the associated
expenses.
*Revenue-generating Funds should not be set
up in the ITF range if the expenses/resources
used to generate that revenue are paid from
State or other Funds.*
Salary and Benefit Budgets
• Permanent salary and matching benefits are
budgeted on ITF funds
• Loaded into Banner Finance beginning of fiscal
year by ITF Office
• Budgets should include all positions whether filled
or vacant
Sharon Cullipher 737-1403
Personnel Actions
• PCFs:
•
•
•
•
- all about position budget & funding
- only required for permanent positions
EPAFs:
- all about the assigning the employee to the
position
- required for all jobs, special pays and fringe
benefits
PCFs and EPAFs affecting ITF funds must be routed to our
office for approval.
EPAFs are only approved if position budget is available in
POSMAN or if a PCF has been submitted.
Payroll Redistributions that debit an ITF fund should be
approved & posted by the ITF Office
ITF Cash Balances
•
•
•
•
Departments should monitor frequently
Should ALWAYS have a positive balance
FGITBAL or ecuBIC Report
Does not include payments in process or deposits
in transit
https://reports.intra.ecu.edu/Reports/Pages/Folder.aspx?ItemPath=%2f
ecuBIC&ViewMode=List
Cash Balance
Journal Entries/
Interdepartmental Transfers
• Must meet UNC-Fit guidelines
• Must verify the amount and have a valid business
purpose
• Documentation required that supports the
transaction
– Examples include Banner screen prints, a copy of an
invoice, a report, or an email
• Accounting staff and/or auditors should be able to
clearly understand the purpose of the transaction
JE/IDT Continued
• Preparer must sign his/her name or type in name
and initial beside it
• Approver must sign his/her full name
– Signed names must be legible!
– Approver must be on the Delegation of Authority for
the ORGN being debited.
• Preparer cannot be the approver. Preparer cannot
sign as the approver on behalf of someone else
• +/- for budget entries, D/C for journal entries
• J51 for Internal Sales and Services, J63 for Journal
Entry Adjustments
Administrative Overhead Charges
• Often referred to as administrative fees
• Are applied to auxiliaries and most trust funds
• Why? Areas receive considerable services from
Materials Management, HR, ITCS, and Financial
Services beyond which the University receives
State appropriation
• Need to have a cash balance available to cover this
charge
Administrative Overhead Charges
• Rates:
– Auxiliaries
– Institutional Trust Funds
1.25%
1.75%
• Based on prior year’s expenses, excluding
transfers
• Charge posts annually in the Fall
Calculating Administrative OH Charges
Worker’s Compensation Fee
• University maintains a pool account for
supporting non-state worker’s compensation
claims
• Charge is based on the amount of prior year’s
salary expenditures (not including benefits)
• Charges post in the Fall of every year
• Worker’s Comp rate has remained .2% for several
years, but is subject to change based on actual
claims
Worker’s Compensation Fee
ORGN Name
Fund Name
Prog Name
Calculating Worker’s Comp Fee
Total Salary
Worker’s Comp Rate
Worker’s Comp Charge
$141,464.22
X .002
$282.93
What to Expect from the ITF Office
• Budget office for Institutional Trust Funds
• Load salary and benefit budgets annually
• Items that require ITF approval
– Journal Entries/IDT’s, Personnel Actions, Direct Pays,
ITF Scholarships and Awards
• Create, Update, and Maintain all funds in our range
• Process Admin Overhead charges and Worker’s
Comp fees annually
• Analysis and Reporting
• Enforce General Statutes, Legislation, and
University Guidelines
What Can We Do For You?
Please feel free to call us with any questions or
concerns….
We are here to offer guidance and support!
Contacts
Virginia Bridgman
• Endowments
• Scholarships
• Distinguished Professorships
Cindy Modlin
• Journal Entries
• Fund Set-up/Maintenance
Sharon Cullipher
• Personnel actions
• Payroll redistributions
• Budget/Financial Information
737-1138
bridgmanv@ecu.edu
737-4916
modlinc@ecu.edu
737-1403
culliphersh@ecu.edu