Financial Services Manual (FIN)
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Effective: 7/1/2002 |
Revised: 7/1/2022 |
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FIN 003:
Definitions |
Terms in this manual are defined as follows:
- Asbestos Abatement
- Programs to encapsulate or remove asbestos containing materials
that, if they become airborne or “friable,” would
constitute a health threat.
- Authorizing Travel Official (ATO)
- A person who has been assigned ASU presidential authority to
approve out-of-state and international travel and who typically is a
department chair or higher-level position, or a business manager
reporting to such position. The ATO in approving the travel is
attesting to the best of his or her knowledge that the travel is
appropriate for the employee to take and appears to be for a valid
university purpose.
- Commitment of Funds
- Generally a commitment of funds occurs when:
- funds are encumbered through issuance of a purchase order or
FM work order
or
- a cost estimate has been provided by FPM and a design contract,
if needed, is entered into.
- Conference Designated
Lodging
- The hotel that the conference is being held at or the hotel(s)
specified in the conference brochure. Accommodations at alternate
hotels in the immediate vicinity of the conference may be
considered conference designated lodging when vacancies are not
available at the recommended hotel(s) and after comparable rates
are obtained.
- Contracted Travel
Agency
- A travel agency under contract with the university to provide
travel-related services.
- Current Year
Expenditure Authority
- Expenditures budgeted from current year budgeted revenues and
transfers-in and any budgeted balance carry-forward.
- Dean’s Office
Approval
- Financial Services and the Office of Planning and Budget will
accept the approval of a business operations manager or other
higher-level position within the dean’s office in lieu of the
dean’s approval.
- Demolition
- The removal of all or any part of a structure for any
purpose.
- Designated Duty Post
- The place where an employee spends the largest portion of the
regular work day or working time, or the place to which he or she
returns after completing special assignments.
- Desk Manual
- A reference document that provides organized information on
office and business procedures (e.g., cash-handling and related
security procedures) that are specific to a department.
- Disabled Access
- Making buildings and facilities accessible to individuals with
disabilities, consistent with the Americans with Disabilities Act,
through the elimination of architectural and communication barriers
to the extent those barriers prevent access to programs, services,
and activities. Examples of modifications addressed to allow access
by those with mobility impairments may include, but are not limited
to: doorways, accessible paths of travel, restrooms, and seating
areas. Others examples are modifications to accommodate individuals
with visual and hearing impairments and may include, but are not
limited to: special signage, telecommunications, emergency alarms,
and elevator modifications.
- Fixed Equipment
- Permanently affixed/installed furniture, fixtures and
equipment. Examples include but are not limited to: elevators,
bulletin boards, kitchen cabinets, walk-in boxes, building
directories, library shelving, drinking fountains, signage,
plumbing fixtures, building mechanical systems, chalkboards,
backbone telecom/data/systems and electrical systems, fixed
electronic equipment, and fixed theater or classroom seating, as
well as other fixtures and equipment installed with the intent of
permanent use in that location.
- Furniture/Fixtures and Equipment
(FF&E)
- Moveable furniture, fixtures, or equipment that requires no
permanent connection to utilities or to the structure. They may
require utility outlets, but are plug-in types. Examples include
but are not limited to: moveable or nonfixed theater or classroom
seating, electronic equipment, desks, chairs, bookcases, files,
waste receptacles, easels, partitions, refrigerators, tables,
credenzas, stools, typing stands, computer stands, and other
furniture, including interior wall/furniture systems. FF&E also
includes scientific or technical equipment such as centrifuges,
lasers, spectrometers, shop equipment/tools, kilns, and
microscopes.
- In-State Travel
- Travel within the State of Arizona that may, at the discretion
of the university, include travel to adjoining states within 100
miles from the Arizona border, excluding travel to Mexico.
- Infrastructure
- Nonbuilding improvements that directly support operating a
facility that is listed in the annual building system such as, but
not limited to, utility delivery systems, roadway systems, external
lighting systems, irrigation systems, sidewalks, and parking lots.
Additional campus infrastructure includes: campus grounds, other
circulation systems (bike paths, pedestrian routes, etc.), and
parking structures.
- International Travel
- Any travel outside of the United States and its territories and possessions.
- Inventory
- Goods on hand that are intended for sale.
- Invited Guest
- A person who enters a campus for an educational, research, or
public service activity, and not primarily to purchase or receive
goods or services not related to the educational, research, or
public service activities of the university.
- Life Safety/Code
Upgrades
- Those items specifically related to compliance with life safety
codes. Examples include but are not limited to: elimination of
dead-end corridors, improvement of building exits, installation of
fire sprinklers in existing construction, eliminating hazardous
conditions, etc.
- Long-Term Travel
Allowance
- The lodging and per diem allowance for employees who are
temporarily required to reside away from their primary residence
for 30 days or more.
- Major Maintenance
- The periodic need to repair/rework building and infrastructure
systems or components. Examples include but are not limited to:
reroofing, disassembling and rebuilding air-conditioning system
water chillers, and other long-term maintenance requirements.
- New Construction
- The creation of a new facility or the addition, expansion, or
extension of an existing facility that adds to the building’s
overall gross square footage. Examples include but are not limited
to: additions to existing facilities and construction of portable
or temporary buildings.
- Non-Athletic
Team/Group Travel
- Travel that involves a minimum of three university personnel,
with one individual being the primary responsible employee for all
expenses associated with the trip.
- Normal Work Day
- Any work time for which an employee normally receives
compensation.
- Original
Appropriation
- The approved beginning of year appropriation budget for all
state and local budgeted agency/orgs, as disseminated by the Office
of Planning and Budget.
- Out-of-State Travel
- Travel within the United States from a point of origin within
the State of Arizona to a point of destination outside the State of
Arizona and back.
Note: |
At the discretion of the university, travel not in excess of
100 miles within adjoining states, excluding travel to Mexico, may
be considered in-state travel. |
- Per Diem
- The daily allowance for meals and incidental expenses, i.e.,
gratuities, laundry, and newspapers.
- Planning Budget
- A mechanism within the Workday Financial Management system which
permits a university department to obtain greater budget detail,
e.g., budgeting of in-state travel vs. out-of-state travel.
Planning budgets are developed and maintained by the end-user on
non-sponsored cost centers/programs by processing Budget Amendments in the Workday Financial Management System.
Planning budgets can be established at the ledger level
only, e.g., capital equipment or services. An expense budget line
for each object code must be established for each non-sponsored
cost center/program by Financial Services before a planning budget can be
entered. The total planning budget amounts can be less than the sum
of appropriation unit amounts, e.g., personal services, employee
related expenses and all other operating.
- Plant Project Funds
- Monies budgeted for construction and/or major repairs of
physical facilities.
- Provost/Vice
Provost/Vice President Approval
- In lieu of approval from the provost/vice provost/vice
president, Financial Services and the Office of Planning and Budget
will accept approval of the following within the office of the
provost/vice provost/vice president: the business operations
manager or an assistant to the provost/vice provost/vice president
or higher-level position.
- Renovation
- The reworking of an existing building or portion of an existing
building, including the upgrading of major systems, which extends
the useful life. Renovation includes the major replacement, or
upgrading of building systems, components, or fixed equipment that
is necessitated by facility obsolescence, change in use, code
requirements, physical plant wear-out, and/or related interior
space modifications and aesthetic improvements. Examples include
but are not limited to: demolition of the interior of a building or
portion thereof, including the removal and subsequent replacement
of electrical, plumbing, heating, ventilating and air conditioning
systems, fixed equipment, floor coverings, and interior walls and
partitions (whether fixed or moveable). The renovation of historic
buildings that meet the evaluation criteria listed in the National
Register of Historic Places shall be performed in accordance with
the Secretary of the Interior’s Standards for
Rehabilitation and Guidelines for Rehabilitating Historic
Buildings.
- Resale Activity
- A program that sells goods and or services primarily to
individuals for personal use rather than to university departments
or programs for official use. Payments made by individuals are the
primary source of revenue for a resale activity.
- Research and
Development
- Basic and applied research in the sciences and engineering, and
designing, developing, or testing prototypes, processes or new
products, including research and development of computer software
that is embedded in or an integral part of the prototype or new
product or that is required for machinery and equipment to function
effectively. Research and development does not include
manufacturing quality control, routine consumer product testing,
market research, sales promotion, sales service, research in the
social sciences or psychology, computer software research that is
not included in the definition of research and development, or
other nontechnical activities or technical services.
- Residence
- The actual dwelling place of an individual without regard to
any other legal or mailing address. An individual required to
reside away from his or her primary residence due to official
travel away from his or her designated duty post may continue to
claim such domicile as his or her residence if said residence is
either inhabited by dependents, or is held vacant at tangible
expense. No reimbursement for lodging or other expenses shall be
allowed on the premises of an individual’s residence. In the
event an individual is on field assignment away from his or her
designated duty post in a location in which he or she maintains a
second residence, the agency head may, for the period of the
assignment, designate such residence as the primary dwelling
place.
- Responsible Employee
- The ASU employee responsible for obtaining proper
authorization, paying and documenting expenses, and receiving
advances and reimbursements for non-athletic team/group
travel.
- Routine/Preventive
Maintenance
- The recurring need to keep in good repair building and
infrastructure systems or components. Examples include but are not
limited to: replacement of cooler pads, air filters, light bulbs,
drive belts, lubrication, painting schedules, elevator maintenance,
and other required scheduled maintenance.
- Service Center
- A program that sells goods and/or services primarily to
university departments or programs for official use.
Interdepartmental billings are the primary source of revenue for a
service center.
- Shell Space
- Building space that has not been finished as part of the
original construction project. Examples include but are not limited
to: unfinished areas of a building such as floors and
basements.
- Soft Encumbrance
- Manual encumbrance of funds against general operating resources which are expected to be used in the following fiscal year.
- Space Moving Costs
- Moving, remodeling, telephone hookups, computer cabling, and
other related expenses.
- Time References
- All times referred to in this section are considered to be at
the designated duty post, i.e., Phoenix, Tempe, etc., which falls
within the mountain time zone.
- Travel Authorization
- The types of travel authorizations are:
- In-state travel requires verbal and/or written approval by an
account signer or an authorizing travel official (ATO).
- Out-of-state and international travel requires a written approval by an ATO before departure.
- Travel Status
- A condition in which an individual is conducting necessary
university business outside a 50-mile radius from his or her
residence and/or designated duty post with supervisory
approval.
- Traveler
- A university employee or student traveling on university business.
- Trip Approver
- an authorized signer on the account(s) to which travel expenses will be charged.
- University-Sponsored
Travel Card
- A corporate charge card made available to university employees.
The card is to finance travel-related costs incurred while
traveling on university business.
- Unrelated Trade or
Business
- A trade or business (i.e., carried on for the production of
income, whether or not profit results) regularly carried on
(including seasonally) by the organization, that is not
substantially related (aside from providing funds) to the exercise
or performance of its exempt purpose or function.
- Valid Receipt
- A valid receipt provides the following information:
- the name and address of the business
- the date of the purchase
- the description of the goods or service purchased
and
- the amount of the purchase.
If this information is not printed clearly on the receipt, the
traveler is responsible for providing such
information.
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