The university has a significant number of accounts that are neither state-appropriated nor grant-funded. Within the fiscal structure of the university, these activities are categorized as self-supporting accounts.
Self-supporting accounts are unique in a number of important ways. They typically generate revenue through the sale of goods or the provision of services, which differs from state-appropriated accounts where expenditures are funded from a state appropriation. Since self-supporting accounts are not funded by the state, they depend upon the revenues they generate to cover the costs of their operation.
Self-supporting accounts are generally established for a specific purpose. As a result, expenses charged to a self-supporting account must be directly related to the purpose of the account.
Any surplus (or deficit) from the annual operation of a self-supporting account carries over from one fiscal year to the next. Should an account's expenditures appear to be in danger of exceeding its
revenue, every attempt must be made to reduce those expenditures or to charge them against another appropriate revenue source.
Self-supporting accounts may or may not have budgets. The Nevada System of Higher Education (NSHE) Board of Regents policy requires a self-supporting budget to be approved by the Board if expenditure activity exceeds $25,000 annually (excluding transfers out). Accounts must also be budgeted if there is to be any pay related activity or if the fund requires a budget (1201, 1202, 1204, 1206, 1210, 1211, 1300, 1318, 1319, 1407, 1504, 1505, 1506, 1701, 1702, 1703, 1704, 1705, 1708, 1709, 1711, 1712).
A self-supporting account has both a revenue budget and an expenditure budget. The need to balance the revenue and expenditures for a given account requires careful monitoring of every self-supporting budget. Planning, Budget and Analysis recommends that account managers
review revenue and expenditures at least quarterly to determine if actual experience remains consistent with what was expected when the budget was developed.
A self-supporting budget revision should be processed if it appears that revenue will be significantly different, either higher or lower, than the budgeted amount. Similarly, if expenditures are projected to exceed the amounts budgeted to specific object codes (e.g., salaries, wages,
travel, operating, or equipment), a budget revision must be processed prior to the actual expenditure of funds.
It is important to keep in mind the balancing nature of self-supporting accounts when processing self-supporting budget revisions. If a budget revision is processed that increases or decreases the overall revenue budget, corresponding changes need to be made to the expenditure budget. The revenue and expenditure budgets for self-supporting accounts must always balance.
It is not uncommon to process several budget revisions over the course of a year. When completing a self-supporting budget revision, the current budget column should reflect any budget revisions that
have already been processed and not the originally-approved budget.
Please call ext. 46516 if you need additional assistance.
