Essential Vocabulary for Campus Administrators

ABD- Authorized Budget Document;  the high-level description of the VT budget for a fiscal year

Academic Period - the time during which Virginia Tech holds classes

Academic Year (AY) Appointment - Employees that earn pay over 18 pay periods 

Account Codes - specific way of identifying revenues and expenses; identifies the type of good or service in Banner Finance

Accounts Payable - the group in the Controller’s Office that is responsible for payments to vendors, prompt processing, receiving, and invoice verification 

Activity Code - an optional descriptor on a financial transaction; part of the FOAPAL 

Adjunct Teaching Faculty - faculty members hired as wage faculty for professional services performed in support of instruction or research on a part-time, temporary basis

Administrative and Professional faculty (A/P) - employees that perform work directly related to management of the institution, college, or department; typically require a minimum of a master's degree; some require a doctorate. 

Agency - a group that is financed from the monies of the general assembly 

Agency 208 -  VT’s primary agency number in the state accounting system – the University division

Agency 229 -  the VT agency number in the state accounting system for the Cooperative Extension / Agriculture Experiment Station division

Allocable - this condition is met if there is a Banner fund and account where a particular charge can be recorded correctly: Can this be recorded correctly in a Banner fund and account? 

Allowable - this condition is met if an expenditure is permissible within a set of regulations for the budget, contract or type of money involved: Is this expenditure allowed in this budget, contract, or type of money?

Appropriation Act -  A statute, under the jurisdiction of the House and Senate Appropriations Committees, that generally provides authority for agencies to incur obligations for the acquisition of goods, services, or facilities and to make payments out of the Treasury for purposes specified in the act. The authorization usually expires at the end of a specified term, most often one year.

Applicable Credits - transactions that offset or reduce costs

Approver - electronically approves HokieMart requisitions; approver checks to make sure the item is appropriate for purchase and that the proper fund and account code is used. The approval creates a “purchase order.” 

Assistantships - a paid academic appointment to a graduate student 

Auxiliary Enterprises (Auxiliaries)- non-instructional units in the university that exist to furnish goods or services to students, faculty, or staff (e.g., dining halls) and operate as separate self-supporting financial entities and do not receive tuition revenue or General Fund appropriation; auxiliary enterprises are supported by charging for the services provided; revenue is generated through cash sales and student fees 

Award - an approved and funded proposal; to "award" a project generally means to finalize the contract and set up all necessary funds and records in Banner so that work can begin and expenses can be charged

Bank Deposit Slip - a multiple copy document used to deposit funds directly to the University's bank account

Banner - administrative software package for use in higher education and developed by Ellucian; Virginia Tech uses Banner to capture and maintain integrated data for finance, human resources, student, and financial aid systems

Banner Fund Number - a 6-digit ID number attached to a fund that holds different types of budget 

Banner ID Number -  9-digit ID number attached to a person's records in Banner, whether student, staff, faculty or alumni (e.g., 905762231)

Base Budget - an E&G budget amount that is expected to continue in future years to fund ongoing operation or labor costs

Batch Interface - allows departments to electronically send large volumes of refunds, rent payments, student payments and other large volumes of similar payments with the same Departmental Order for Purchases/Payments or Revenue Refunds

Bid - vendors submit a bid for performance; this is the amount it will cost to do or provide the service that is being requested

Biennium- a two-year period used by the state for financial and budget purposes; it includes two fiscal years, running from July 1 in an even-numbered year to June 30 of the next even-numbered year

Billing Rate - a rate charged for a good or service from a service center, designed to recover the direct operating cost of the center

Billing Unit - unit of service provided by a service center; could be hours of service, test performed, etc.

Board of Visitors (BOV)- the governing board of the university; members appointed by the governor

Budget-a plan of operation based on estimated expenditure or revenue amounts for an upcoming fiscal year

Budget Action - a Banner transaction that adds or subtracts money from the budget amount in a fund

Budget Amount -the sum of all of the budget actions in a fund

Budget Balance Available (BAVL) - the sum of the budget available amount in all the Funds in the budget pool (or BAVL pool); it can be seen in FGIBAVL or the Snapshot by Org Report; it is the amount that is checked during the non-sufficient funds checking process

Budget Pool - a collection of funds whose individual balances add up to the budget balance available amount (BAVL)

Budget Pool Fund - a Banner fund used to distribute E&G budget dollars to colleges and departments

Budget Responsibility Center- a budgeting approach that distributes the entire budget to the colleges and VP areas and provides considerable autonomy in how those resources are deployed

Budget Transfer - a transfer of budget between fund codes entirely within a single type of money such as E&G, Overhead or Auxiliary

Bursar - the officer who oversees the Accounts Receivable process; this person (via the Bursar's Office) provides bills to students, disburses financial aid and scholarships, processes tuition and fee refunds, processes payments and credits, receives departmental deposits, oversees the Budget Tuition Plan

Business Intelligence (BI) - helps organizations analyze historical and current data, so they can quickly uncover actionable insights for making strategic decisions; business intelligence tools make this possible by processing large data sets across multiple sources and presenting findings in visual formats that are easy to understand and share 

Calendar Year (CY) Appointment- employees who work and earn their pay over 24 pay periods 

Carryover - the unspent E&G balance at fiscal year end in a particular department or unit; even though the university as a whole is required to end the year with a zero balance, individual units may have positive or negative balances; this amount will probably be manually transferred (distributed) in the new fiscal year; 

Cash Advance - travel advance 

Cash Collection Point - an area within the university in which funds are collected 

Cash Handler - the first person to receive funds and record transactions

Cashier Log - documents daily deposits and maintains accountability for receipt numbers and deposits 

Change Order - In Procurement, a change order is used to request a change on a purchase order that is over $10K and processed by a buyer in Procurement 

Chart of Accounts - hierarchical structure in Banner Finance for recording transactions; fund, organization, program, and account

Chrome River- a system that allows travelers to process travel authorizations and travel reimbursements for university business travel; the system electronically routes all documents for approval and has the ability to encumber departmental funds in Banner Finance

Classified Staff - a non-faculty salaried employee who began prior to July 1, 2006

Cognizant Agency - the federal agency when negotiating the indirect rate

Co-PI- one or more Virginia Tech professors who are also involved and assist the Principal Investigator (PI) on the project

Commercial- research funding from a private corporation

Commonwealth Facility and Equipment Fee - non-refundable mandatory fee for all non-Virginia residents (required by 2003 General Assembly)

Competitive - in Procurement; requires more than one source (i.e. company, contractor, etc.) to submit a bid

Comprehensive Fees - a non-refundable mandatory student fee; packaged together; charge for the support of certain self-supporting (auxiliary enterprise) units  

Conflict of Interest - compliance concept that prohibits misuse of resources caused by personal or financial conflicts;  formal training required for all research investigators

Contract - an agreement between VT (or another institution) and a company (should be reviewed by legal)

Controller’s Office - provides fiscal services to the university and serves as the interface to external agencies on financial matters.  Specific functions include Payroll, General Accounting, Accounts Payable, Travel, Cost Accounting, Financial Reporting, and Fixed Assets

Conviction Check - a check for prior criminal conviction normally required of non-student employees before they are hired

Cooperative Agreement - the sponsor and VT cooperate on a specific Statement of Work with obligations and detailed terms that explains what VT is responsible for and what the sponsor is responsible for

Corporate Research Center (CRC) - owned by VT Foundation, houses over 180 technology-oriented companies

Cost Overrun - on a sponsored project, a cost that exceeds the budget and must be moved to a departmental non-sponsored fund

Cost Share - A portion of the project cost that is borne by the university and is not reimbursed by the sponsor; sometimes called "matching"; these costs are identified specifically in the project budget 

Cost-Reimbursable Projects - a sponsored project in which the sponsor reimburses VT only for actual expenses (versus a Fixed Cost Project)

Cost Transfer - moving an expense to a different fund to correct errors, using a Journal Entry or Labor Redistribution

Dashboard - can be found in Chrome River and is the expense owner’s home page; also can refer to data visualizations created in MicroStrategy 

Default Overhead Fund -a Banner fund code where sponsored project expenses are charged if the project ends or falls to zero balance

Deficit - cost of providing service is exceeds the recoveries 

Department Code - four digit department code; e.g. 0245

Department Delegation - for dollar amounts up to $10,000, price competition among vendors is not required but is encouraged, including consideration of SWaM COMPANIES.

Depositor - in Funds Handling, the second person (after the cash handler) responsible for verifying the funds, receipts and documents

Detective Controls - internal control procedures designed to search for and detect errors and irregularities after the fact

Direct Cost - expenses incurred in support of a specific research project, which can include salary, fringe, equipment, travel, supplies, tuition, and subcontracts; a direct cost must be an item or service that applies to a single project, not shared among multiple projects

Disclosure - full recording or specification of an employees activities 

Domestic - travel in the contiguous 48 United States  

Edward Via College of Osteopathic Medicine (VCOM) - medical school located in Corporate Research Center, with additional locations in South Carolina, Louisiana and Alabama

Educational and General (E&G) funds - Educational & General funds (also called 208 funds) hold "state" money intended for supporting the instructional mission of the university

E-procurement - electronic acquisition of goods and services using HokieMart 

Earned Overhead - also called Earned Indirect, this is an amount calculated at the end of each month based on DIRECT expenditures in a specific project during that month; that amount is entered as an Indirect Expenditure in Banner, which allows OSP to bill the sponsor for indirect costs

Effort Certification - the mechanism used to confirm after the end of the reporting period that salaries and wages charged to sponsored projects are reasonable in relation to the actual work performed. 

Effort Reporting System - used to certify salary charges or cost shared to sponsored awards reasonably reflect the individual's share of the total effort dedicated to the sponsored project

Environmental Health and Safety Services (EHS) – ensures departmental compliance with facilities-related safety

Emergency Hire - hourly wage, do not offer benefits, and are temporary or seasonal with a time limit not to exceed 130 days 

Employee - a Banner PERSON who is activated as an employee

Employee Class Code - a two-character code in Banner that determines an individual's type of employment, leave categories, payroll calendar, fringe benefits, etc.

Encumbrance - in HokieMart and Banner Finance, an amount required to fund the item is set aside and accounted for as an obligation; ceases when commitment is paid or canceled

Equipment - tangible property having a useful life exceeding one year and an acquisition cost of $2,000 or more; managed by Fixed Assets

Equipment Trust Fund (ETF) - formerly known as the Higher Education Equipment Trust Fund (HEETF), a financing method used by all public higher education institutions in Virginia for providing  a steady stream of funding for major equipment purchases to aid the research effort; the program is overseen by the State Council of Higher Education for Virginia (SCHEV) and the allocations are often referred to as SCHEV money

eReceipts - in Chrome River: all receipt images will be uploaded directly to the gallery by email 

Ethics - moral principles and philosophies

eVA - stands for Electronic Virginia and is an electronic marketplace for buyers and sellers; it is the Virginia state electronic procurement system. All Virginia state agencies and many local governments use eVA to find vendors and place orders

Exclusive Pouring Rights (All Non-Alcoholic Beverages): indicates that a particular brand (currently Coca Cola) has a monopoly on all non-alcoholic beverages sold on the VT campus

Executive Budget - all agencies submit request on odd years to the State Treasury who projects revenues; used by the Governor to develop a budget proposal to present to legislature (December)

External Budget -  legal revenue generating and expenditure authority of the university; formally known as the appropriation authority provided to the university in the Virginia Acts of Assembly 

Expenditure - spending

Expense report - travel reimbursement (TR) in Chrome River

Facilities and Administrative (F&A)-  indirect costs, overhead, or facilities and administrative (F&A) costs, are costs needed for common or joint objectives that cannot be easily assigned to a specific project but are distributed across many projects.; they are necessary to the performance of the university's sponsored programs, so the university is reimbursed for these costs in a more efficient manner that allocates a fraction of those costs to each grant 

Faculty Summer Pay - AY Faculty are eligible to earn one third of their AY salary during summer if sponsored funding is available

Faculty Research Incentive Plan - faculty members who are principal or co-principal investigators and whose base salaries are supported by E&G funds may qualify and may be approved for an annual one-time research incentive payment

Federal Flow-Through - indicates research projects that are sponsored by non-federal entities, but in fact are subcontracts whose original funding came from federal agencies

Federal vs Commercial - "federal" indicates that the money for the research comes from the US Government, awarded by one of its funding agencies (e.g., National Science Foundation); "commercial" indicates funding from a private corporation; there are other non-federal categories such as states or foundations

FGIBAVL - Banner screen that shows the Budget Balance Available

Fiscal Period - a one-month period during the fiscal year;  July is 01;  June is 12

Fiscal Year - 12-month accounting period that begins July 1 and ends June 30 

Fixed Asset - a long-term tangible property owned by the university (e.g. equipment, furniture, buildings, etc.) 

Fixed Cost vs Cost Reimbursable - a sponsored project in which the sponsor reimburses VT for the full budgeted amount on an agreed-upon schedule, regardless of how fast the money is spent, or even whether all the money is spent (versus a Cost Reimbursable Project)

Form C- an optional form attached to a proposal in Summit by the department that establishes an alternative to the default distribution of returned overhead on a particular sponsored fund.  This is used in special cases where the overhead needs to go to multiple departments.

Form D - an optional form attached to a proposal in Summit that establishes an alternative to the default distribution of returned overhead on a particular sponsored fund.  This is similar to the Form C but is used for special distributions that occur strictly within the department where the sponsored project takes place.

Fringe Benefits - expenses paid by the university on behalf of the employee as a benefit of employment pertaining to pay, such as medical insurance, retirement, and social security tax 

Full-time Equivalent (FTE) - a measure of employment;  a single full-time employee is equivalent to one FTE, 40 hours per week, 2,080 hours per year; in order to receive benefits, a salaried person must be entered in Banner as 0.7 FTE or greater

Fund Accounting  - a method of controlling financial transactions in order to ensure that every dollar is spent for the purpose for which it was intended

Fund Code - the six-digit code in Banner that holds the financial and payroll transactions

Funds Handling Plan - a department must develop this to obtain authorization to become a cash collection point 

Future Funding Change - a change to which fund codes will be charged for salary and fringe expenses; it is entered in Banner to take effect at a future date, during a payroll period that has not yet been processed; these changes are entered by department staff directly into Banner using the Personnel Action Form (PAF) 

General Assembly - responsible for approving the Appropriations Act in collaboration with the Governor 

General Fund - the primary sources of revenue for the General Fund are personal income tax, sales tax, and corporation taxes; the General Fund is a major funding source for higher education

Global Education Approval Committee (GEAC) - an appointed group that reviews proposed and existing study abroad programs 

Global Travel - travel outside the 50 United states

Global Travel Oversight Committee (GTOC) - faculty and administrators tasked to evaluate and approve proposals for travel to countries with elevated medical and security concerns

Global Travel Registry - spreadsheet/database for key travel information for employees and students traveling outside of the U.S.; basis for university's emergency response protocols and communication strategy 

Graduate Assistant (GA) -an appointment including stipend and tuition for a graduate student to perform duties other than research and teaching

Graduate Research Assistantship (GRA) - graduate student hired, including stipend and tuition, to conduct research under a faculty member who is typically a principal investigator 

Graduate Student Contract - a financial agreement between the department and the student; includes start and end dates, type of appointment, monthly stipend, percentage of tuition remission, and other expectations

Graduate Teaching Assistantship (GTA) -graduate student hired, including stipend and tuition, to assist in the teaching mission with assignments including laboratory teaching and grading 

Grant - a research project whose funding is authorized by federal statute that is used for the public good  

Grant Billing - the process of billing and receiving reimbursement from sponsors for research expenditures on specific projects; this is handled by the OSP Post-Award unit 

Grant Code - the six-digit code in Banner that holds information about the grant; there is usually a fund code with the same six-digit number, however, some grants have additional fund codes (sub-funds) when expenses will occur in multiple departments  

HokieMart - VT’s e-procurement system which allows Virginia Tech to provide an effective and efficient purchasing for the university; this system allows Virginia Tech to secure better pricing of commonly-used products

Honorarium - a payment made to an individual for services they have performed voluntarily in which custom prohibits a price to be set 

Human Subject - a living individual that an investigator (professional or student) conducting research obtains data through intervention or interaction with the individual, identifiable private information, and/or data from existing records or a data file

I-9 - the federal form I-9 is required for all new employees and verifies that a person is eligible for employment in the United States with respect to citizenship and visa status; Virginia Tech uses an online I-9 system, and the processing and document collection takes place in the individual department where the new employee works; there are specific requirements for deadlines and types of documents that are acceptable

In-Band Adjustments - used to review classified and university staff salaries and use the available budget to move salaries to a more competitive position relative to similar positions across the university and external market; can be a change in the base salary or a one-time bonus

Inception- to-Date (ITD) - Projects have begin and end dates that are not tied to any fiscal period, and may span multiple fiscal years

Independent Contractor - someone that is hired by Virginia Tech to do a specific JOB; as such Virginia Tech will hold out income tax, social security, and Medicare from the wages they are paid 

Indirect Cost - expenses incurred in support of research activity in general, including administrative salaries, office supplies, postage, lab utilities, etc.; these are NOT charged directly to specific research projects in Banner

Indirect Expenditure - financial transaction that automatically posts at month-end based on that month's direct expenses; amount is based on the direct expenditure amount in applicable categories multiplied by the indirect rate on the project

Indirect Rate - the rate for calculating the Indirect amount in the project budget.  It is determined from the Federal Rate Agreement by the Office of Naval Research

Innovation Campus - VT instruction and research facility in Arlington, related to the planned Amazon eastern headquarters

Internal Budget - through this budget process, Virginia Tech assigns program responsibility and resources to units within the university

Internal Controls - the system of checks and balances that prevent or detect errors and irregularities; ensure compliance with university policies and procedures and state and federal laws and regulations; and safeguard university assets

Internal Service Center Overhead - cost that can be identified with a service center, but not a particular service; could include a salary of a center director or other F&A cost

Invitation for Bid (IFB) - a public advertisement for low bids to be submitted for a specific and defined good or service

Invoice - a list of goods or services, with a statement of the amount due 

Job - joining of an Employee to a Position in Banner HR (with a Suffix as an extra identifier); anybody who gets paid must have a JOB. Example: 905873341 + 112858 + 00 (Banner ID + Position + Suffix)

Journal Entry - used for corrections to posted financial transactions for non-labor expenditures (services, supplies, etc.); cannot be used for wage, salary, GRA, GTA, or fellowship transfers

Kickout Funds- also known as the default fund, the fund where payroll is charged if the sponsored project ends

Labor Redistribution System -after-the-fact corrections to which Banner funds are charged an employee's salary and fringe expenses to ensure that the charge matches the effort on sponsored projects

Land Grant - an institution of higher education in the United States designated by a state to receive the benefits of the Morrill Acts of 1862 and 1890

Legacy Web Reports - a reporting tool that allows users to view and analyze finance and human resource data

Library fees - non-refundable mandatory student fees paid to support programs and initiatives that directly benefit students; includes the addition of new technology and furniture, as well as additional student assistant positions, textbooks for reserve, and campus wide events, exhibits, and activities. 

Mail Log - detailed record of funds received by mail 

Meals and Incidental Expense (M&IE) Per Diem - reasonable allowance for meals and incidental expenses in an area

MicroStrategy - business intelligence tool that allows users to view and analyze volumes of complex data from multiple perspectives

Modified Total Direct Cost (MTDC) - the direct basis for calculating the indirect amount

Month- to- Date (MTD) - identifies all financial activity since the beginning of a month / fiscal period

Network Infrastructure & Services (NI&S) - provides and manages the university's data, voice, and video networks and related services.

Non-Competitive - in purchasing, indicates that a company may have the exact item needed for research that no one else may offer so Virginia Tech doesn't need competitive process

Non-Domestic Travel - all locations outside the contiguous 48 United States

Nongeneral Funds (NGF) - all sources of revenue other than the General Fund; for example: federal appropriations, tuition and fees, gifts, grants and contracts 

Non-Sufficient Funds Checking (NSF) - this checks the budget balance available (BAVL) to ensure there is money available for expenditures; this can halt a transaction from occurring

Office Of Sponsored Programs (OSP) - performs administrative maintenance, compliance, review or oversight of external funding to support faculty and staff to ensure that all research proposals and projects comply with regulations, policies, and procedures

Official Station - within 25 mile radius of the employees home office 

OH140 - the Banner account code that identifies the college share of the overhead earnings

On Behalf-of-Requestor - an individual who initiates the electronic purchase of goods and services "on behalf of" the Requestor who is authorized to use HokieMart

Organization Code - six digit code organization is the "data enterable" level of the organization hierarchy; e.g. 024500

Out of State Fee Waiver - students who earn more than $4,000 are eligible for a waiver of the out-of-state portion of tuition for the year

Overhead - money paid by research sponsors to support facilities & administration costs, also known as F&A or Indirect

Overhead Earnings Report -a MicroStrategy report used to provide data on amount earned in overhead

P-14 - a part time temporary faculty paid on the salary payroll calendar, but does not receive benefits

PageUp - this system handles the recruiting process; posting job advertisements, managing position descriptions, and collecting and tracking applicant information

Part-Time - some part-time positions are salaried and are less than 40 hours per week, but more than or equal to 20 hours per week; wage positions are considered part-time 

Partnership for Incentive Based Budget (PIBB) -  The PIBB is a college budget model that allocates funding based on performance in key indicators associated with the university's strategic mission and vision. 

Payroll Earn Codes - these are used in Banner to itemize the pay categories that contribute to an employee's gross pay amount in any given period, e.g., REG (regular pay), OTM (overtime), ADJ (payroll adjustment)

Payroll Period - there are 24 of these in both the Wage and Salary payroll calendars

Percent Credit - for each GRANT in Banner, scholarly credit either is assigned 100% to a single PI, or as portions to the PI and one or more co-PIs, if they exist; certain MicroStrategy reports in the Sponsored Programs Reporting Menu prorate research expenditures by PI using these percentage figures; departments find this information useful to monitor research productivity by individual faculty members; the Percent Credit is for reporting only, and has no impact on financial transactions on the Banner fund (or sub-funds, if they exist)

Performance Management - an ongoing process involving feedback, accountability, and documentation of an individual’s performance in their role 

Period of Performance - the duration of a sponsored project, start to finish as agreed upon; financial transactions can occur only between the start and end dates

Person -  a Banner record identifying a particular person (watch out for erroneous multiple "person" records for one person)

Personally Identifying Information (PII) - social security number, credit and debit card number, bank account number, driver's license number, and passport number

Personnel Action Form (PAF) – a Banner form (NOAEPAF) where payroll actions are entered

PID - login ID (e.g. jsmith), also the first part of the Virginia Tech email (e.g. jsmith@vt.edu)

Policy - high-level statements with broad application throughout the university designed to promote operational efficiencies, enhance the university's mission, or reduce institutional risk; policies state required actions that are defined by standards, procedures, and guidelines

Pool Fund - Banner fund(s) used to distribute the budget dollars to colleges and departments 

Position -  a role that an employee gets assigned to, either single (faculty & staff) or multiple (graduate students and wage employees)

Post-Award - the OSP organizational unit that assists with funded research projects; handles sponsor billing, post award budget revisions, no cost time extensions, cost transfers, cost share monitoring and award and contract close-out

Pre-approval - travel authorization (TA) in Chrome River

Pre-Award - the OSP organizational unit that helps faculty and support staff with the preparation and submission of research proposals

Preparer - the person who performs the reconciliation

Prepayment - paying for something up front before receiving the goods or services. A HokieMart AP prepayment is a feature that alerts the accounts payable department that an order is a prepayment and the check must be cut and sent to a vendor/supplier prior to receipt of goods and or services

Preventative Controls -  procedures that prevent mistakes from being made

Principal Investigator (PI) - the faculty member who oversees a specific sponsored project; the "intellectual leader" of that research; this person is entered as the Financial Manager on the Banner fund 

Procedure - a specific process for following policy;  a particular way to operate

Procurement - act of acquiring something, selecting vendors, establishing payment terms 

Project Authorization Notice (PAN) - the document issued by OSP that sets up the award as a Grant and Fund in Banner with all its defining attributes; this should should trigger the department to begin recording expenses on the project

Prompt Payment Act - requires vendors to be paid within 30 days of receipt of an invoice or according to contract terms 

Proofing of Overhead - a manual calculation to compare to the automatic posting of earned indirect

Proposal - the formal request for funding to a sponsor for a research project; includes at minimum a Statement of Work and a Budget entered in the Summit system, as well as any required forms or paperwork

Proprietary Specification - a type of sole source procurement that restricts the acceptable products or services to one manufacturer or vendor

Punch Out - redirection to vendors that are already in HokieMart

Purchase Order (PO) - a document issued to a seller indicating types, quantities, and agreed prices for products or services

Purchase Requisition (PR) - after "check-out" of shopping cart, a requisition (a written request or order for something, such as supplies) is created

Purchasing - subset of procurement which means buying goods or services 

Purchasing Cards (P-Card) - a type of Commercial Credit Card that allows organizations to have an optional method for purchasing goods and services with a limit up to $2,000 per transaction

Reasonable - is the expenditure amount reasonable for this good or service? 

Receiver - the person who physically receives pages, and/or electronically "receives" them in the HokieMart system; this receipt initiates the payment process

Recharge Activity - a service center with annual direct operating cost less than $100,000; includes specialized computer labs, testing equipment, etc.

Reconciler - the third person responsible to perform monthly departmental reconciliation (Must be a different person!) 

Reconciliations - required monthly review of financial transactions - are they accurate, complete, appropriate, reasonable, allocable?

Recovery - a payment that comes to a department from INSIDE the university (e.g., service center fees)

Regular Positions - normally funded by E&G dollars with continued funding expected in future years

Request for proposal (RFP) - a public solicitation for proposals to be submitted for consideration, evaluation, negotiation and award

Requestor - initiates purchase of goods or services by creating a “cart” that will be approved and may become a purchase order 

Research Conversion (RCY) Appointments - Also known as research extended appointments and could be 10, 11, or 12 month employees; these employees began as Academic Year faculty, but consistently had enough sponsored funding to pay their summer salary 

Research Expenditures - purchases and expenses charged to sponsored projects the sum of these expenditures is used as a measure of the volume of research activity at Virginia Tech, both as a comparison of different colleges, departments or research centers, or in comparison to other universities

Research Faculty - non-tenure track faculty typically employed on sponsored projects to carry out research

Responsible Conduct of Research (RCR) - a National Science Foundation (NSF) training that promotes "the practice of scientific investigation with integrity"; it is required of undergraduates, graduate students and postdoctoral researchers who are supported NSF projects

Restricted Position - normally a position that is contract or grant funded; they have an end date or the continuation is based on the availability of funds

Retroactive Funding Change (Labor Redistribution) - a change that affects one or more past payroll periods that have already been processed and posted as financial transactions; these are made to correct payroll funding that did not match effort; they are entered in the labor redistribution system and later interfaced to Banner 

Returned Overhead - each month Banner uses the Earned Indirect amounts and generates budget additions as Returned Overhead, placing money in Banner funds starting with 2xxxxx (Overhead funds);  these amounts are distributed to units automatically and often manually transferred between different Overhead funds in departments; the budget amounts are then available for spending on facilities and administrative needs related to research

Revenue - receivables; any addition to cash or other assets that do not increase liability; money that comes from outside the university (e.g., tuition & fees, athletic ticket sales)

Reviewer - reviews and approves reconciliations

Rule Code - in Banner Finance, defines the exact nature of a transaction (e.g., expenditures, encumbrances, or budgets in detailed categories)

Salary Payroll - processes payment to faculty, staff, graduate students on assistantships, research associates and other non-hourly employees

Salary Payroll Calendar - governs the timing of the 24 annual salary payroll periods

Salary Savings - E&G salary money that was budgeted, but not spent because the salary was charged to a sponsored project or faculty position is vacant 

State Council of Higher Education in Virginia (SCHEV ) - Virginia state agency that advises, coordinates, advances public higher education institutions

Scholarship Central - this system allows departments to manage scholarships available in their department and allows students to apply for scholarships 

Segregation of Duties - internal control where two or more people MUST be involved in the processing and reviewing of transactions 

Semester (also called ‘Term’) – a period of instruction in the academic calendar; Virginia Tech operates with three semesters: Fall, Spring and Summer 

Service Center - offer unique goods and services that are not readily available from external sources 

Snapshot by Organization Report - MicroStrategy report that sums financial figures for each fund code in a department

Sole Source - when a product or service is practicably available only from one source; must be justified in writing by the department and approved by procurement

Solicitation - call for vendors to submit a bid 

Source Document - a record of payment within a specific system 

Specialized Service Facility - a large service center that  provides specialized services involving the use of highly complex or specialized facilities, is fully self-supporting, has an annual operating budget of $1,000,000 or more, and must also include the facility's allocable share of university facilities and administrative (F&A) costs in the billing rates 

Split Funding -  charging a faculty (or other) salary to multiple Banner funds in a single pay period

Sponsor - a federal agency, company or other organization that funds individual research projects at VT 

Sponsored Funds - Banner fund codes 3xxxxx or 4xxxxx that record financial activity on sponsored research projects

Sponsored Project - a single research project from a sponsor with a specific statement of work, budget, and begin and end dates (period of performance). Banner will have a six-digit Fund Code to record financial transactions for the project

Sporadic Hire - hourly wage employees who have a limit of 10 hours or less per week

Startup - Money provided to new faculty to cover the cost of building a self-sustaining research program

State Employee - any employee of Virginia Tech or other state agency 

Statement of Business Conduct Standards - outlines the university's commitment to ethical and responsible business practices 

Statement of Work (SOW) - the agreement between the sponsor and Virginia Tech with specific obligations and details on what Virginia Tech has agreed to perform for the amount awarded with defined deliverables

Student Wage - part-time student employees; working over 20 hours a week requires approval from the students program of study

Subcontract - part of a project has been subcontracted to VT from the original recipient; or VT may subcontract part of a project to another university or company

Sub fund - one or more additional Fund Codes that tie to the same Grant Code; these are created to record financial actions in multiple departments

SUMMIT -  an automated system that simplifies the process of initiating a proposal, developing the associated budget, and obtaining needed approvals

Surplus Property - excess property that is not needed by a department; must be disposed of using university policy

SWaM - Term used by Procurement to categorize Small, Women Owned and Minority Owned Businesses 

Teaching and research faculty (T&R) - faculty positions responsible for both instruction and research; can be restricted or regular positions and typically require at least a master's degree in the field

Technology Service Fees - non-refundable mandatory student fees for support of technology initiatives 

Terms of Faculty Offer (TOFO) - the document that specifies startup dollar support and other stipulations for a new faculty hire

Transact Payments - the university's cashiering system that allows university departments (both on and off campus) to enter deposit information directly into the cashiering system

Transaction Detail Report - MicroStrategy report that provides detailed transaction information for the selected organization levels and/or fund

Travel Status - when an employee is in excess of 25 miles from their official station 

Tuition - an amount charged to a student attending a university

Tuition Funds - a 998xxx or 997xxx Banner fund that holds money to pay tuition for students on Graduate Student Assistantships

Two-Factor Authentication - this process prompts individuals for a secondary confirmation of their identity at log-in (2-factor authentication), using a physical device in their possession 

U.S. Travel - 50 United States and all territories 

Uniform Guidance - a collection of federal rules and guidelines to govern sponsored research at U.S. institutions, including Virginia Tech; the purpose is to ensure proper stewardship of sponsored project dollars; states that costs must be reasonable and necessary for the performance of the sponsored program, allocable and verifiable, allowable under regulations, consistent, and within the time frame of the project

University Deposit Ticket - a multiple copy document used to list the funding distribution for funds received and for entry to the Cash Receipts and Banner Finance Systems

University Staff - non-faculty salaried employees hired on or after July 1, 2006

Various or Residual Fund - a residual amount is the unspent balance at the end of a Fixed Price project;  a various fund is a Banner fund that resides in the department where the project took place and holds the residual amount after a request has been processed in OSP to transfer it 

Vendor - a supplier of goods or services to Virginia Tech

Virginia Correctional Enterprises (VCE) for Furniture - this group has the right of first refusal to provide furniture products to the university 

Virginia Public Procurement Act (VPPA) - governs how public bodies in the Commonwealth of Virginia procure goods and services; its core purpose is to ensure public bodies acquire high-quality goods and services at reasonable costs through fair and impartial procedures 

Virginia Tech Carilion School of Medicine (VTC) - Roanoke-based medical school and biomedical research institute; a unique public-private partnership between Virginia Tech and Carilion 

Virginia Tech Foundation (VTF) - it is a nonstock corporation established in 1948 for the sole purpose of managing Virginia Tech’s endowment and real estate portfolio

VTF Research Funds - a Banner fund holding intended for general support of a particular research area, with money that originated as a donation to the VT Foundation

Virginia Tech Transportation Institute (VTTI) - one of the premier research institutes created by Virginia Tech to answer national challenges, VTTI is continually advancing transportation through innovation and has affected public policy on national and international levels

W-8 - an Internal Revenue Service (IRS) document used by foreign individuals and entities for tax purposes

W-9 - an Internal Revenue Service (IRS) document used to request the taxpayer identification number and certification

Wage Payroll - processes payment to employees who are paid according to hours worked

Wage Positions - an employee that is paid based on the hours that they work and enter into the university’s timekeeping system; considered part time; limited to 1,500 hours in a fiscal year 

Work Title -  the specific title used to describe a specific position; should be reflective of the responsibilities of the position 

Year- to- Date (YTD) - identifies all financial activity since the beginning of the fiscal year (July 1)