UVM's total operating budget of approximately $780M is composed of several discrete "funds," each of which represents monies segregated for specific purposes. The University's budgeting parameters and process vary by each of the major fund categories.
Annual Budgeting
General Fund (Fund 100)
The General Fund is a portion of current operations using net tuition, state appropriation, and other unrestricted general income as revenue in support of academic, administrative, and departmental operations. The General Fund makes up about 55% of UVM's total operating budget and is the only component of the budget over which we have any appreciable discretion. This Fund is unrestricted, meaning there are no restrictions on how the money may be used created by an external entity or contract: any business expense appropriate to the unit and in compliance with UVM policy may be charged to general funds.
Reserves (Fund 108)
Fund 108 is used for General Fund reserves that have been transferred from operating budgets (Fund 100) to Fund 108 to cover future departmental equipment, operating, or renovation expense.
Student Government Funds (Funds 130 and 131)
Fund 130-Student Fees is used to allocate activity fee revenue to student clubs. Fund 131-Student Fund Raising is used for student club funds that they have raised themselves. Each student club has a unique Source chartfield value. Club budgets are determined by the SGA Senate and budgets are entered by Student Life staff.
Income & Expense Activities (Fund 150)
An income/expense activity is a self-supporting activity that is designed to generate sufficient revenue from the sale of specific goods and/or services to recover expenses associated with providing those goods or services. These activities are sometimes called “auxiliary enterprises.”
Budget Materials
- FY25 Income/Expense Guidelines (PDF)
- FY25 Income/Expense Budget Template (Excel)
- FY25 MOU & Rate Certification Form (Word)
References
- Income/Expense Matrix (PDF)
- Income/Expense Manual (PDF)
- Guide to Setting up a Revenue-Generating Activity
- Cost Principles
Forms
- Proposal to Establish an Income/Expense Activity (PDF)
- EZ-IE Proposal Form (PDF)
- Memorandum of Understanding Template (Word)
- An income/expense activity may undergo a minor operational change. Such changes may not require a new MOU, and instead may need to be codified through an Income/Expense Activity MOU Addendum. Units should contact their FAB analyst to discuss the activity’s changes, and to receive a copy of this form.
Unrestricted Plant Funds (Fund 200)
Unrestricted plant funds are used for capital projects, capital reserves, and equipment reserves.
Grants & Contracts (Funds 300 and 330)
These funds are used to identify grants, contracts, or commitment funds awarded to UVM.
Restricted Non-Sponsored Contracts, Gifts & Endowments (Funds 305, 310, 311, 320, 321, 370, 371)
Annual gift and endowment budgets are established within PeopleSoft based on annual income (for endowments), any carryover of net assets from the prior year, and new gift or other revenue received during the year.
Agency Funds (Fund 900)
Agency funds are funds held by UVM in its role as fiscal agent for an external organization such as a sorority, fraternity or scholarly journal. They are not UVM’s money and UVM has little or no say in how they are spent.
Agency funds are set up with “associated revenue” so that as deposits are made, the budget balance available is increased. Agency fund budgets are established at the beginning of each fiscal year in an amount equal to the beginning net assets.
Multi-Year Planning
Budget Planning
UVM's multi-year budget planning process enables colleges, schools, and administrative divisions to develop high-level, five-year budget plans. Multi-year budget planning is performed in Axiom for funds 100, 108, 150, 305, 900, and restricted gifts and endowments. Planning opens to end-users in August. Responsibility Centers' plans are due to the Budget Office in March, along with RC multi-year salary budget plans. Support Centers may take advantage of the multi-year planning functionality but are not required to submit their plans to the Budget Office. The planning cycle ends at the end of March, when annual budget building and salary-setting begins.
Salary Planning
Multi-year salary planning is performed in Axiom. Planning opens to end-users in August. Support Centers' salary plans are due to the FAB office in late November, in advance of annual budget meetings in December. Responsibility Centers' plans are due to the Budget Office in March, along with RC multi-year budget plans. The planning cycle ends at the end of March, when annual budget building and salary-setting begins.
UVM's multi-year salary planning has four major goals:
- Enable colleges, schools, and administrative divisions to manage position and personnel changes within their current-year salary budget
- Enable colleges, schools, and administrative divisions to budget plan for salary commitments in future years
- Support planning/communication across or between units for commitments that are shared
- Inform Budget Office of the position/salary details supporting the salary/benefits lines of units’ multi-year budget plans
Forms
Fund 100
Fund 108
Fund 150
- Proposal to Establish an Income/Expense Activity (PDF)
- EZ-IE Proposal Form (Excel)
- Income/Expense Budget Template (Excel)
- MOU & Rate Certification (Excel)
- MOU Template (Word)
Fund 200
User Guides/Training
Single-Year Line-Item Budgeting
- Single-Year Line-Item Budgeting User Guide (PDF)
- Single-Year Line-Item Introduction Video (MP4, 17:16 mins)
- Single-Year Line-Item Diagnostics & Reports Video (MP4, 6:23 mins)
- Single-Year Budgeting & Salary Planning Presentation (PDF)
Single-Year Salary Planning
- Single-Year Salary Planning User Guide (PDF)
- Single-Year Salary Planning Introduction Video (MP4, 6:00 mins)
- Single-Year Salary Planning - Salary Increases Video (MP4, 7:05 mins)
- Single-Year Salary Planning - Salary Distributions Video (MP4, 7:00 mins)
- Single-Year Salary Planning - Other Functionality Video (MP4, 6:51 mins)
- Single-Year Salary Planning - Diagnostics & Reports Video (MP4, 10:58 mins)
- Single-Year Budgeting & Salary Planning Presentation (PDF)
Multi-Year Salary Planning
- Multi-Year Salary Planning User Guide (PDF)
- Multi-Year Salary Planning - Introduction Video (MP4, 18:05 mins)
- Multi-Year Salary Planning Presentation (PDF)