General Finance Processes/Information

Research Accounts is responsible for financial reporting to customers for research, studentship and departmental projects, and manages the associated debt.

The team is responsible for all internal and external reporting of the financial aspects of projects (research, studentship and departmental) including supporting departments in meeting financial assurance requirements. The team also sets up and amends awards on the projects module of Oracle Financials.

Research Accounts works closely with departmental finance officers and administrators, and with Research Services, which is responsible for managing pre-award activities with departments.

For more information/questions please contact our Research Team research@medsci.ox.ac.uk

General Ledger Accounts

The department has a number of General Ledger (GL) accounts.

GL accounts are used for a whole range of reasons including:

1. Operational Funding – Used to cover a number of staff salaries, rental payments for space, utilities, equipment, building projects, staff development, communication expenses, student costs and much more!
2. Courses - The department's courses are also set up on GL accounts to manage all associated income and expenditure for them and show how the course is at the very least covering its expenses.
3. Facilities - Some of our facilities funding is variable and therefore a GL account allows the flexibility to invoice customers for the income when it's agreed.

University Financial Timetable and Key Events

The University Financial Year runs from 1 August - 31 July and there are a number of exercises and deadlines for all departments to work towards throughout this period.

The Medical Sciences Divisional Finance team we are required to submit financial data for a number of deadlines:

• Q1 Forecast - This exercise involves reviewing data from August - October (3 months) and forecasting all income and expenditure which is anticipated to happen across the remainder of the financial year.
• Q2 Forecast - A detailed review of all income and expenditure from August - January (6 months) is performed to assess how this compares to the Q1 forecast. At the same time a more in-depth forecast is performed to confirm what the department expects its final position to be at the end of the financial year in July.
• Budget Setting - The department is required to set all income and expenditure budgets for the upcoming financial year in April. This involves discussing all accounts with a number of staff and pulling together a comprehensive plan of requirements and expectations for the upcoming financial year.
• Q3 Forecast - The final forecast of the financial year takes place in May and this involves reviewing all data from August - April (9 months) to assess how this compares to the Q2 forecast. This is traditionally a light touch exercise and only material changes require explanation.
• Financial Year End - All departments are given a number of processing and reporting deadlines within a Year End manual from central finance, which must be followed to ensure the financial position is as accurate as possible. These deadlines include processing of requisitions, receipting and invoices within the correct financial year, and any financial adjustments should be made to reflect this if necessary.