Financial Accounting System

The Financial Accounting System (FAS) is an online integrated financial accounting system that records, monitors and maintains all accounting and financial transactions of the University.  It is one of the five major subsystems of the Ellucian company’s Banner Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system for colleges and universities. The FAS System is able to communicate and interface with the University’s other existing administrative systems. The FAS accounting system provides a complete financial budgeting and managerial reporting system that, due to its flexibility, is able to meet the financial reporting needs of the University.

A key component of the Banner ERP is the "fund." All funds are contained either in the General Ledger or the subsidiary ledger of the University’s Accounting System. The General Ledger Records contain all of the University’s assets, (cash, receivables and others), liabilities (accounts payable, long term debt etc.) and the fund balance. Every fund is self-balancing, so that assets equal liabilities and fund balance.

All funds in the University’s accounting system are categorized into major fund groups. They are its Current Funds, Loan Funds, Endowment & Similar Funds, Plant Funds and Agency Funds. Each fund in each fund group is assigned a separate six digit numeric value.

Each fund within each major fund group must be assigned to a University department. In Banner, the University’s department/organization is a four or five digit numeric value representing the department of the University responsible for a particular fund.

The fund number combined with the department/organization number form a cost center. A cost center is the lowest level of a discreet activity, whose financial transactions are to be recorded, monitored and maintained separately from all other cost centers. The individual who is responsible for a cost center, that is the individual who directly approves transactions that impact the cost center, is called the cost center administrator. In a research grant or contract, this individual is the Principle Investigator.

In order for a revenue or an expenditure entry or posting to be made to a cost center an account code must be assigned. Account codes are four digit numeric values indicating the type or kind of revenue or expenditure. The account code specifically defines the type of transaction being processed. Account codes are generic that is they are used across all cost centers.