Managing IFR Accounts
Presented by the Offices of
Accounting and Budget
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Topics
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Defining what IFR Programs are.
How they are funded.
General IFR Guidelines:
 Allocations, Fringe Benefits, Admin
Overhead
When an IFR account should be used.
How to open an IFR account.
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Topics
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Service Centers
What reports are available.
IFR Deposits
IFR Allocations
Questions?
Contacts
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What are IFR accounts?
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Income Fund Reimbursable account
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Self-supporting accounts that support activities related to the
campus’ missions.
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Revenue/Income is directly related to the nature of
expenditures
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$Cash balances are carried forward from one fiscal year to
another.
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Incurs additional charges –
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Fringe Benefits
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Administration Overhead

(except for accounts that have received appropriate
waivers – requires approval)
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How do IFR accounts acquire allocation?
• The Budget Office submits an IFR budget request to System
Administration in Albany. Previous year’s expenditure
activity is a primary determinant in deciding how much
allocation a campus will receive. On top of this System
Administration usually builds on an inflation factor and
increases for programmatic changes (new or expanding
programs.)
• IFR worksheets are completed by account managers either
online into the Campus Budget Module (CBM) system or on
to hardcopy forms.
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How do IFR accounts acquire allocation?
The VP Coordinator reviews department’s IFR worksheets and
compiles that information into a request that is reviewed by the
University Budget and Accounting Offices.
The Budget Office compiles each VP area’s submissions into a
campus file which is transmitted to Albany.
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General IFR Guidelines
• IFR accounts should have one purpose and one revenue
source.
– If multiple purposes, need separate IFR accounts
• Need to budget for Fringe Benefit and Administrative
Overhead charges
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General IFR Guidelines
Fringe Benefit and Administration Overhead Rates
• The Office of the State Comptroller (OSC) and the Division
of Budget analyze the actual fringe benefit costs on an
annual basis.
• After the rate is computed, OSC notifies all state agencies
of the rate specific to a fiscal year and agency.
Fiscal Year 13/14
Fiscal Year 14/15
State Fringe Benefit
55.48%
56.86%
Federal Fringe Benefit
58.75%
53.48%
Overhead Assessments
15.00%
15.00%
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General IFR Guidelines
• The Fringe Benefit rate is assessed on expenditures.
 Exception: SUTRA Summer and Winter accounts have
fringe assessed on revenue.
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The IFR Administration Overhead assessment is charged on
the revenue.
 As revenue is deposited to your account, the assessment is
charged. The charge is a direct reduction to your account’s
cash balance. It DOES NOT affect your account’s allocation.
• Administration Overhead rate = 15%
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General IFR Guidelines
Example:
IFR account will need $54,872 in revenue to cover a
$30,000 in Personnel Service:
$30,000 Personnel Service
$30,000 x 55.48%
$16,644 in Fringe Benefit
($30,000 +16,644)x 17.64%
$ 8,228 in Administrative Overhead
Total budget = $54,872
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General IFR Guidelines
Key Points of Stony Brook’s IFR Deficit Policy:
• IFR accounts should maintain positive accrued cash balances. The
expenses charged to an IFR account should be covered by the revenue
which that account takes in.
• Twice a year (Dec and June) you will receive the form “IFR Accrual
Data”. You are required to complete the form with your accruals and
send back to your VP coordinator. After approval by VP coordinator,
Budget and Accounting meet to review your accrual statements.
• IFR accounts which develop cash deficits as of 6/30 will have one year
to eliminate that deficit. If the deficit is not eliminated in that year the
Budget Office may reduce that VP area’s state allocation.
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When to Use an IFR Account
An IFR account should be used when ever the activity is state funded. All
activity should go through an IFR unless there is an approved exception as
stated below.
• SBF (Stony Brook Foundation) account
 Used only when the revenue is from gifts or contributions.
• FSA (Faculty Student Association) account
 a) one-time events of short duration, i.e. conferences
 b) benefit of individual students, faculty or staff members or
appropriately recognized organizations
• RF S&F (Research Foundation Service & Facility) account
 Used when activity is 100% research - highly technical research.
 May include some third party activities.
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How to Open an IFR Account
• Contact your VP coordinator
 Determine what the account is to be used for.
 Complete “IFR Allocation Worksheet” (on Accounting
weblink)
 Projected Revenue and Expenses
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Upon VP approval (and Dean/Chair approval if academic dept),
the VP coordinator will submit the request to Accounting for
processing.
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Accounting will inform you and all interested parties once the
account has been created.
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Service Centers
If the IFR account will be for a service that you will be charging a
user fee, there are additional steps:
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Determine what the account /service is for.
Obtain approval from your Dean or Chairperson
Submit request to VP area for approval.
Contact Accounting (Sara Lehmann) for guidance to determine
the fee to charge internal and external users
 You will need to complete a rate worksheet showing:
 Projected annual expenses to operate the service
 Projected annual unit of service (i.e. annual hours, annual
# of analyses/tests).
Once the rate has been calculated, it is then submitted to the VP
area for their review and approval.
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Service Centers
There’s more  ….
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The VP coordinator will request Accounting to create the IFR account
to house the fee and related costs.
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Accounting will review and submit the proposed fee request to the
University Controller for final approval and submit the request to the
SUNY System Administration to create the IFR account.
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Upon final approval, Accounting will inform you and all interested
parties of the new account number and effective date to charge the
internal and external fee to users.
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Service Centers
Regulations
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New Service Center rates - reviewed after one year
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Existing rates – reviewed every two years
 Exceptions – 25% increase or decrease in the rate, reviewed
in a year
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Interim review upon request
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All Service Center fees MUST be approved by the University
Controller PRIOR to charging the users.
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Service Centers
Regulations
• Internal users should only be charged for the cost of the
service/product
• Per SUNY guidelines, cannot make a profit on internal users
• External users can be charged any fee in excess of the approved
external fee. You can be competitive.
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Service Centers
Audit Requirements
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Account Director must keep a log of all activity of the service center
IFR account (including expenses, P.O.s and annual usage)
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Information in the logs will be required during the campus rate
review process
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If you have revenue from external users, a log must be kept for
Excess Revenue from External sources.
 Revenue collected in excess of the external rate.
(External rate = Internal rate plus AOH; Breakeven point)
 Revenue in excess of break even point – Surplus
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Service Centers
Audit Requirements
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The account director is responsible for maintaining a log which
keeps track of the collection of external revenue and any excess
revenue (surplus) as a result.
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During the rate review process the logs are used to identify the
amount of excess external revenue, which is a component in the rate
calculation.
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The Excess Revenue from External sources may be kept by the
department and used at the department’s discretion as long as the
cost is allowable.
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Spending of excess revenue (surplus) must also be noted on the log
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(invoice #s, P.O.s, etc.)
NEED A BREAK?
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Reports Available
Online inquiries
– SMRT
Monthly reports
– SMRT Month-End Management Report
– Account Expenditure Summary (AES)
» www.stonybrook.edu/eras/
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IFR Deposits
All deposits are made at the campus Bursar’s office.
• Bursar summarizes the deposits on the 15th and 31st
To view deposits in your IFR account:
• Cash Collections Report in ERAS (www.stonybrook.edu/eras/)
• 15 day lag
(ex: Today we would see cash collection report for 4/1 – 4/15.
Report for 4/16-4/30 collections will be available on or about
5/16)
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IFR Deposits
• If viewing deposits on AES monthly report’s cash page or the
SUNY system, the deposit amounts reflected for each month are
for the last 15 days of the prior month and the first 15 days of
the current month.
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For example, if you look at AES report for April, the cash
would cover the periods 3/16 – 3/31 and 4/1 - 4/15.
• SBU All Funds Reporting – 2 day lag for cash reports
• For access, contact Michael Danielson in Accounting.
• For details on a specific deposit, contact Bursar with the
transaction number.
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IFR Deposits
To correct a deposit made to wrong account
• Email Karen Shumar or Brenda Zhang in the Accounting dept
explaining the error and indicate the correct account.
• Accounting will process a transfer of cash between the
accounts.
• A transfer of cash may generate assessments (overhead).
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IFR Allocation
• It is the allocation balance in your account which allows you to
expend funds, not the cash balance in the account.
• Your account may have plenty of cash, yet Procurement is unable
to process an order.
• When Procurement processes a purchase order, they make an
encumbrance against your account’s allocation, NOT your cash.
When you request your account’s initial allocation, your request
should be based on your anticipated annual revenue and
expenditures. If your cash is greater than anticipated, you may
request, through your VP coordinator and ultimately the
Accounting Department, additional allocation.
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IFR Allocation
Basically…..
You need your allocation to spend your cash,
and you need your cash to get your allocation!
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IFR Allocation
Unspent Allocation
• Unlike State Purpose funds, IFR accounts do not “lapse”.
• Although the allocation is unspent, the cash balance rolls
forward.
• The cash balance is of the factors used to determine the
account allocation for the following year.
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IFR Allocation
Unspent Allocation
• You may notice that unspent allocation was removed from your
account.

When IFR allocation is in short supply and projections indicate
that you will not require all of your requested allocation, some
may be transferred to other accounts that are short at the VP
coordinator’s discretion. This does not mean that your
money has been taken; your cash balance is unaffected.
• Should you need to request additional allocation, you will have
the cash to backup this request.
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Questions?
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Web Links
 IFR
Accounting (Manual, Worksheets, Contacts)
http://www.stonybrook.edu/accounting/ifr

Introductions to State Accounts
http://www.stonybrook.edu/accounting/help/state_accounts.shtml

Allocation and Expenditure Object codes
http://naples.cc.sunysb.edu/Admin/HRSForms.nsf/pub/ACTD0012
 SMRT
User Manual
http://www.stonybrook.edu/budgetoffice/management.shtml
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Office Contacts
 Initial
Allocation/Campus Budget Module (CBM)
– Diane Thide
 Midyear
Budget Office
2-6090
Allocation Adjustments
– Sara Lehmann Accounting Office
2-6040
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Accounting Office Contacts
Accounting Office
2-6040
Sara Lehmann
2-6029
State and IFR Accounting
Chart of Accounts
Lolita Sung
2-5716
IFR/Expenditure Accounting
Chart of Accounts
Libya Williams
2-9517
IFR/Expenditure Accounting
Construction
Guneeta Jaspal
2-6030
IFR/Expenditure Accounting
For valuable information regarding Accounting Services, check out our website:
www.stonybrook.edu/accounting/
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Guide to Problem Resolution
BUDGET
ALLOCATIONS - FORM 1
ALLOCATIONS - INTERCHANGE
2-6090
ACCOUNTING
REPORT INQUIRIES
JOURNAL ENTRIES
ALLOCATION CHANGES
2-6040
PROCUREMENT
REQUISITIONS, PURCHASE ORDERS
VOUCHERS
VENDOR CALLS
CLARIFICATION OF FREIGHT
CHARGES (OBJ CODE 5010)
PETTY CASH TRANSACTIONS
2-6010
BURSAR
CASH RECEIPT INQUIRIES
(IFR COLLECTION ANALYSIS)
2-9316
HUMAN RESOURCES
APPOINTMENT DISCREPANCIES
2-6140
PAYROLL
QUESTIONS - OVERTIME, STANDBY
AND LOCATION PAY
2-6180
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Thank You!
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