Policy Notes: Financial Authority

Policy notes on this page relate to financial authority for PTA Owners and authorized approvers.

  • PTA Owners are responsible for proper management of the funds in their PTAs.
  • Authorized approvers are expected to follow University policy when reviewing and approving financial transactions.

On this page:

Primary Policy Source: Administrative Guide Memo 36

Responsibility for University Funds

University Officer's (i.e. deans, department chairs, directors, principal investigators) are responsible for assuring that expenditures charged to their PTAs are:

  • Reasonable and necessary
  • Consistent with University policies and practices, applicable to the work of the University, and consistent with sponsor or donor restrictions
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Delegating and Revoking Authority

  • University Officer's may use Authority Manager to delegate their signature authority to others and may further authorize those individuals to delegate signature authority on their behalf. The University Officer retains accountability for prudent control of the PTA.
  • When a person with signature authority transfers to another department or leaves the University, the PTA Owner is responsible for revoking the departing person's signature authority within Authority Manager.
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Responsibilities of Approvers

  • Transaction Approvers must assure that:
    • The expenditure is necessary and for University purposes
    • Charges are correct
    • Charges are allowable for the account (Project/Task/Award)
    • Charges are correctly coded as allowable or unallowable for inclusion in the University's indirect cost rate calculations
    • Charges are allocable to the account (Project/Task/Award)
    • Any allocation of costs is reasonable and equitable
    • Charges are appropriately documented, and are recorded in a consistent manner within departmental accounts
  • Transaction Approvers are certifying that:
    • All relevant University policies have been followed
    • The correct Expenditure Type was used
    • Funds are available in the account (Project/Task/Award) being charged
    • The expenditure is reasonable
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Approval Limitations

  • No one can approve his or her own expense reimbursement, or the expense reimbursement of an individual to whom he or she reports directly or indirectly.
  • Individuals may not use the authentication information of another person in order to approve expenses on their behalf.
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