Fiscal Close
Applications
The Debt Forgiveness Application and Budget Rollover Application for FY23 are currently closed. Fiscal close occurs in June of each year and applications are submitted around that time period.
All questions should be directed to sgdof@andrew.cmu.edu.
At the end of every year, the Student Government Director of Finance (DoF) closes out the books for organizations that receive JFC subsidies and evaluates the fiscal state of all Student Government recognized organizations. The DoF follows a set of guidelines to ensure equity and fairness. Student Government Fiscal Policy provides good insight into closing procedures, as well as disciplinary actions the DoF and Director of Organizations can take in order to ensure all groups are following procedure and good fiscal practice.
For organizations that end the year either in debt or with a remaining balance in their accounts, there are two applications that may be relevant – the Budget Rollover Form and the Debt Forgiveness Form. Details about the applications are listed below.
Budget Rollover
Should You Fill Out a Budget Rollover Application?
You should fill out this form if the ending balance in your organization account is positive and you wish to keep some/all of those funds to use in the next fiscal year. Money in the org account will not be automatically rolled over.
Budget Rollover Request Submitted
In general, if the organization spent at least their JFC allocation, the DoF will rollover the remaining money. If an organization has submitted a rollover request for a specific line item, that request will be considered by the DoF regardless of amount of JFC allocation spent.
If the money that you are requesting to be rolled over originates from your previous JFC subsidy, then you will be asked why the money was not spent and what it will be spent towards during the next fiscal year. The final decision will be up to the discretion of the DoF. Please be as descriptive as you can while still being concise. Remember that the DoF is not familiar with your organization's structure, and you should assume he/she knows nothing when explaining your situation.
Examples of Reasons Organizations ask for a Rollover:
- JFC allocation was spent, and funds remaining in the account are revenue
- There is a specific reason a line item in the JFC budget was not spent and will instead be spent next fiscal year
- There are unspent funds from a previous rollover
Budget Rollover Request Not Submitted
In most cases, if your organization spent over the amount of their JFC subsidy, all remaining org account funds belong to the organization and will be rolled over automatically. Otherwise, the amount of unspent JFC subsidy will be returned to the JFC and only remaining funds will be rolled over.
Debt Forgiveness
Should You Fill Out a Debt Forgiveness Application?
You should fill out this form if the ending balance in your organization account is negative and you are looking to get the current debt forgiven so your organization's starting balance for the next fiscal year will not be affected.
Debt Forgiveness Application Submitted
The DoF has 2 options after receiving a debt forgiveness application:
(1) They can rollover debt, causing a decrease in the organization's JFC subsidy for the next fiscal year, or
(2) They can forgive an organization's debt, meaning the debt is covered by funds belonging to funds directly under the DoF. However, the amount of debt that is forgiven can be vary: a percentage can be forgiven while the rest is rolled over. Each circumstance will be looked at on a case by case basis, taking into consideration an organization's spending history, probation status, gift account balance, etc.
When filling out the application, please be as descriptive as you can while still being concise. Remember that the DoF is not familiar with your organization's structure, and you should assume he/she knows nothing when explaining your situation. Please keep in mind that debt forgiveness is separate from probationary status; probationary status can still result even with the best reasons for debt.
Debt Forgiveness Application Not Submitted
If your organization ended in debt, the DoF will get in touch with your organization to see what happened and assess why your organization ended in debt. We have a set of predefined metrics that govern how we forgive debt and put organizations on probation. Factors include why your organization is in deficit, how many years your organization has ended with a deficit, the amount and precedence of the debt, the clarity and practices of your organization's accounting. Without filling out the form, no debt will be forgiven.