To provide greater clarity and improved reporting on university funds, Financial Management Services’ Fund Accounting team is introducing new award types for funds functioning as endowments (FFE) on July 27.
What’s changing?
Previously, all FFE funds were classified under a single award type, END_FFE. Now three new award types approved by the University Budget Office and Controller’s Office will be used to more precisely classify FFE funds in financial reporting.
The updated list of FFE award types includes:
- END_FFE: The general award type for FFE that do not fall into the new categories below; applies to all budget units.
- (New) END_FFE_DEPT_QUASI: FFE created from a departmental reserve fund.
- (New) END_FFE_PROVOST_ACTION: FFE created from a provost’s action or approved request to move funds, which includes donor funds.
- (New) END_FFE_REAL_ESTATE: FFE created by LBRE to categorize land development funds (central office use only)
Why the change?
This change helps award owners, fund managers, and financial staff more efficiently distinguish between FFEs with different funding sources, such as departmental reserves, provost actions, or donor requests. By providing this classification upfront and removing the need for manual review, the new FFE award types improve reporting accuracy and inform financial decision-making.
Using the new award types
The OBI Financial Reporting team has updated the filter and prompt options in the Endowment Income Fund Management report and the Underwater Endowment Funds report to include the new FFE award types. Fund Accounting has analyzed existing FFE funds from all schools/units and will be notifying impacted award managers, who will be able to see the new award types in their reports starting Aug. 15.
Note: If OBI users have created Ad Hoc reports or saved customizations that filter on the award type code END_FFE, they will need to update them to include the new award type values as needed to ensure their reports remain accurate.
How to request a change
Moving forward, any school/unit that wants to reclassify an existing FFE award type to one of these new award types can submit a request to their school/unit fund accountant.
Resources and support
- Resource: Award Types has been updated to include the three new FFE award types.
- For questions about the new FFE types, please contact a school/unit fund accountant.
- For OBI assistance, please submit an OBI support request.