Video 4: What do the Numbers Mean for

Your Project in Finance Reporting

In this video, you’ll get an overview what the project fund balances mean in FAST Finance Reporting, including the 'Total Budget', 'Project Actuals', 'O/S Commitments' and 'Budget Balance' columns.

Video Instructions

Click the play icon to watch the video.
Watch in full screen by clicking the full screen icon on the bottom right corner of the video.
Use the chapters in the video to help you quickly find what you are looking for.
- Use the content below, which summarizes the information in the video, for quick reference.

View time stamps and chapters covered in the video.

0:00 Video Start

00:06 What You’ll Learn

0:14 Column 3 Overview: Total Budget

0:24 a. Three Key Items about FAST Budgets

1:47 Column 4 Overview: Project Actuals

2:31 a. Externally Funded Project Actuals

3:02 b. Internally Funded Project Actuals

3:11 Column 5 Overview: Outstanding (O/S) Commitments

3:32 a. How O/S commitments are entered & removed in FAST

4:30 b. Step-by-step example: O/S Commitment in FAST

5:14 c. Consequence of not removing O/S commitment

5:29 Column 6 Overview: Budget Balance

6:03 a. Why Keep a Separate Record: Budget Balance

6:31 Video End: Now You Know

Part I: Budgets in FAST Finance Reporting (3rd column)

Three key items to remember – project budgets in FAST are:

Based on your application and prorated if grant amount is less than the budget you requested.

You need to strictly follow the budget number, but it depends on the granting agencies.
If you have any questions about the budget, email ORSCE at orscefinance@mtroyal.ca.

2. Difficult to change once a project budget is entered into FAST.

If you get permission from the funding agency to amend the budget, contact ORSCE and you’ll see this amended budget in a separate record as an attachment in your project FOAP.

3. Entered within the beginning week of the annual grant budget cycle, for multi-year grants.

For example, if the annual grant period is April to March, the annual budget is uploaded within the first week of April.

Part II: Project Actuals and Outstanding (O/S) Commitments (4th and 5th column)

For project numbers entered into FAST, 'Project Actuals' include:

revenue
salary and benefits expenses
non-salary expenses

'Outstanding Commitments' (O/S Commitments) means any expenses that you have yet to incur, but are planning to incur and have provided to Finance with an estimated number.

Watch the video to learn more - it walks you through how outstanding commitment work in FAST through the example of an approved pre-travel amount for a trip. You'll also be made aware of why you need to contact ORSCE to remove encumbrances in the 'O/S Commitments' column to ensure accuracy in your project balances.

The 'Budget Balance' column is equal to the 'Total Budget' less 'Project Actuals' less 'O/S Commitments' . To confirm your current budget balance, use the row called ‘Total all expenses’ in the second last row.

Remember to be aware of differences in FAST research that can affect budget balances:

Outstanding commitments that need to be removed from FAST
Expenses with time lags

This is why it’s recommended to keep a separate record of project expenses, even when you have FAST research access. This ensures you are tracking current expenses against project budget.

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