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GUIDE TO

OPERATING BUDGET TRANSFERS FOR CITY DEPARTMENTS

Office of Budget Management (OBM)

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

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Last updated 11/20/24

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FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS (1/2)

  • What is an operating budget transfer?
    • An operating budget transfer moves available funds from one appropriation account to another within a department’s operating budget.
    • Example: Department X wants to purchase a one-time software license but doesn’t have enough funds available in 54900 Current Charges. The department has funds available in 55900 Equipment after a printer cost less than budgeted, so they use a budget transfer to move funds from 54900 to 55900.
  • What is the difference between an ORG transfer and an APPROP transfer?
    • An ORG transfer authorizes funds to be moved between appropriation accounts within an org (e.g. 123100). This is submitted by the department.
    • An APPROP transfer authorizes funds to be moved between appropriation accounts within a department (e.g., 123). This is submitted by OBM. (The budget control only exists at APPROP.)
    • Both an ORG transfer and an APPROP transfer are needed to complete a budget transfer.

Last updated 11/20/24

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FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS (2/2)

  • Can funds be moved from non-personnel lines to personnel lines?
    • Funds cannot be moved from non-personnel lines (e.g., 53600 Office Supplies) to personnel lines (e.g., 51000 Permanent Employees), based on State law.
  • Can funds be moved from personnel lines to non-personnel lines?
    • Funds can be moved from personnel lines to non-personnel lines. However, OBM is unlikely to approve such a transfer early in a fiscal year, when personnel projections are still taking shape and the possibility of a surplus in a personnel account is less certain.
    • Any request to move funds from personnel lines to non-personnel lines must be made in writing to the Budget Director, after discussion with the department’s OBM Analyst.

Last updated 11/20/24

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LIFECYCLE OF AN OPERATING BUDGET TRANSFER

Dept submits ORG transfer for approval

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If the OBM Analyst agrees that a transfer is appropriate, the dept finance staff identifies which line to move funds from and submits an ORG transfer (including a description detailing why the transfer is needed and why funding is available to transfer).

OBM Analyst submits APPROP transfer for approval

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Everything in the APPROP transfer matches the ORG transfer, with the exception of the dept ID (i.e., the 3-digit dept level rather than the 6-digit org level). The Analyst can provide additional context and add attachments to communicate to the Budget Director.

APPROP transfer gets approved

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The Budget Director and Mayor’s Office will review. This step can take several days.

OBM Analyst approves and posts ORG transfer

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Once approved and posted, the ORG transfer will show up in the dept finance staff’s BAIS Financials worklist as a notification.

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Dept talks to OBM Analyst about need for budget transfer

ORG TRANSFER PROCESS

APPROP TRANSFER PROCESS

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Funds are ready for use by dept

Last updated 11/20/24

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BEFORE SUBMITTING THE ORG TRANSFER

  1. To see which lines have available funds: Run the Y_ALL_FUNDS_DRILL_DOWN query in BAIS Financials. This query breaks down department budgets by 6-digit org (“Dept” field) and appropriation account (“Account” field). The “Available Budget” field shows how much funding is currently available in the line.
    • You may not be ready to submit an ORG transfer yet! Even if there is sufficient “Available Budget” within the org (ORG level - e.g., 123100), there may not be enough in total across the whole department (APPROP level - e.g., 123). If a department has multiple orgs, the same appropriation account could have sufficient funding in one org but a deficit in another org.
  2. If your department has multiple orgs: To confirm that there is enough available at the APPROP level, you can either sum or pivot the Drill Down query across orgs for the given appropriation account. Or, ask your OBM Analyst to help you run a budget status report at the APPROP level. (On the next slide, see one example of how to pull the report.)

Last updated 11/20/24

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BUDGET STATUS REPORT: APPROP LEVEL (DEPARTMENT-WIDE)

Follow these breadcrumbs in BAIS Financials

Change the “Dept” fields to your dept’s 3-digit dept ID

Change the “Bud Ref” fields to the current fiscal year

Last updated 11/20/24

See the previous slide for more information.

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ORG TRANSFER INSTRUCTIONS & BEST PRACTICES

  • Watch this video for detailed instructions on how to submit an ORG transfer. Reach out to your OBM Analyst if you have questions.
  • When filling out your ORG transfer in BAIS Financials, it’s a best practice to begin your explanation in the “Long Description” field with your department’s name and to clearly state the purpose of the transfer in concrete terms.
    • Example: “Department X transfer from Equipment to Current Charges for one-time software purchase on 11/15/24”
  • Visit Finance Academy to access additional finance resources, including how to contact OBM and Procurement.

Last updated 11/20/24

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