On June 24, 1987 the State University Board of Trustees authorized new guidelines for the administration of agency funds.  A link to those guidelines can be found below.

There are several types of accounts which a department may have with the Foundation:

Restricted Account – This account is designated to receive donations restricted to a department or purpose.  Only donations received by the Binghamton University Foundation restricted to a particular department or purpose for expenditure may be placed into these accounts.  There is a 10% overhead fee on these accounts.  The Binghamton University Foundation is responsible for all donor contacts; individuals may not solicit funds from the public.

Endowed Account – This is an asset of the Foundation.  The source of revenue is donations received by the Binghamton University Foundation for a particular purpose to be held in perpetuity.  These funds may be restricted by the donor, Foundation board, or receiving department for a particular purpose.  Spending Plan allocations are calculated and credited to the accounts expendable balance.

Agency Account – Agency accounts at the State University of New York at Binghamton are held in fiduciary trust by the Binghamton University Foundation.  These accounts are maintained for University-related organizations, with the Foundation acting as custodian.  The Binghamton University Foundation acts as an agent, performing bookkeeping and accounting services.  Under no circumstances should State funds be deposited into an agency account.  The SUNY Board of Trustees’ Guidelines list the types of non-state funds and activities that may be deposited into approved agency accounts.  The University prohibits departments and offices from having off-campus bank accounts on their own.  Agency accounts are available to accommodate the needs of the University if their purpose falls within the Guidelines approved by the Board of Trustees.

The Binghamton University Foundation has their own expenditure guidelines that apply to expenditures from restricted and endowed accounts.  Expenditures from agency accounts for hosting, memberships, and business-related events must follow guidelines set forth in local Management Procedure #202.  Under no circumstances may personal, non-university related expenses be processed through a Foundation account.  Examples of unallowable expenses would be for flowers, gifts, or other expenditures intended to benefit an individual.  The President’s Office may make expenditures on behalf of the University that would benefit individuals as part of the official functions of the University.

I.  Eligibility and Use of Agency Account Funds  Any department, office or organization with a purpose on campus may apply for a Foundation agency account using the procedure outlined in section (II).  There is no minimum required balance to establish or maintain a Foundation agency account.  However, agency account funds must be used exclusively for projects and/or department (office) needs related to the University Center at Binghamton. 

•   Employee-Employer Payments: It shall be noted that no payroll can be processed directly from a Foundation agency account where an employer-employee relationship exists.  Such employment relationships are distinguished from honorarium and independent contracting relationships, which may be compensated directly from an agency account (please refer to Management Procedure #201 and #218 regarding honorariums and independent contractors, respectively).
•   Current University employees cannot receive independent contractor or honorarium payments form the University, Research Foundation, or the Binghamton Foundation. Such payments are required to be paid from their appropriate employer's payroll process.

II.  Establishing a Foundation Agency Account 

A.  Application Form:  The first step in establishing an agency account is to complete the application form entitled, “Binghamton University Foundation Agency Account Authorization”.  This form can be obtained from the Binghamton University Foundation Office (Administration Building, Room 225) or may be printed on-line:

Printable Agency Account Authorization application: MS Excel document or *pdf format

*pdf format requires Adobe Reader to view and print. To download a free reader, click here.

The department, office or organization wishing to establish an account must state the purpose for opening the agency account and designate a custodian(s) of the account.  The application must be signed by the custodian(s) and receive proper approval before an account is granted, as explained in detail below.  The purpose of establishing an agency account should match one of the purposes in the attached Board of Trustees’ Guidelines (i.e. academic journal, conference, professional association, etc.). 

B.  Approval:  Applications for a Foundation agency account must receive approval from one of the following:

          1.  department chairperson

          2.  the appropriate Dean or Director

          3.  the appropriate Vice President

          and the Assistant Treasurer of the Binghamton University Foundation.  

After approval is given by the above individuals, the Associate Executive Director of the Binghamton University Foundation will acknowledge the opening of the account by the Foundation on behalf of the University.

III.  Bookkeeping Fee 

A.  Agency Account Quarterly Fee:  Binghamton University Foundation agency accounts are subject to a 10% overhead fee to offset the costs of administering the account.  The fee is based on total cash deposits to the account for the quarter.  The fee is deducted from the account balance and is recorded quarterly.  

IV.  Using a Foundation Agency Account 

     A.  Deposits:  Deposits to an agency account should be made at the Binghamton University     Foundation check cashing window in the Administration building, mezzanine floor. A Foundation deposit form must be completed and presented with the deposit. A receipt will be provided when such deposits are made.  A reason for the deposit must be stated on the receipt to ensure it meets agency account guidelines.

NOTE: ONLY NON-STATE FUNDS ARE TO BE DEPOSITED IN AN AGENCY ACCOUNT.

B.  Disbursements:  Disbursements from the account should be made by completing a standard Foundation voucher and forwarding it to the attention of the Foundation Accounting Office, Administration building, Room 225.  Disbursements from the account must be reasonable and necessary, and exclusively for projects and/or department (office) needs related to the University Center at Binghamton.  Under no circumstances may personal, non-University-related expenses be processed through an agency account.  All disbursements must be supported by proper invoices and all vouchers must be signed by the custodian(s) of the account.  Vouchers paying individuals must also be signed by the payee (at lower left).  The signature of the payee’s “designee” will not be accepted.  Foundation agency account vouchers which are drawn reimbursing the custodian of the agency account (where there is only one custodian for the account) must also be countersigned by the custodian’s next level supervisor.  When an agency account has more than one custodian, such reimbursement requests may be countersigned by the second custodian of the fund.  In essence, an individual cannot authorize disbursements from an agency account to reimburse oneself.

Honorarium or independent contractor payments to individuals must have a social security number and a permanent home address before payment can be made.  Payments to individuals during a calendar year will be summarized at the end of the calendar year and must be reported by the Foundation to the Internal Revenue Service via a Form 1099. 

Payments to current Binghamton University employees and teaching and graduate assistants for personal service must adhere to the policy outlined in Management Procedure #624.

Equipment purchased from Foundation agency account funds having a probable life of two (2) years or more and a value of $1,500 or more must be appropriately tagged for inventory purposes by Property Control.

Purchases made from such accounts are exempt from New York State and local sales tax.  A copy of the Foundation sales tax exempt form can be obtained from the Foundation Accounting Office, Room AD-225 (extension 7-4016).

Requests for reimbursement of travel expenses must adhere to the general State or SUNY Research Foundation guidelines and limitations, with the following exceptions:

1. Actual lodging expenses can be reimbursed over the current State maximum for regular travel, conventions or conferences of established organizations.

2. Actual meal expenses can be paid over the current State maximum for breakfast and dinner.  (No reimbursement will be made for lunch expenses when traveling.)

3. The per diem reimbursement rate can be paid at the current State maximum.  An individual may follow either the State Method I or Method II, as stated in the Management Procedure #204, whichever method is the more beneficial to the individual.

4. When an individual is being reimbursed for travel expenses primarily from State or SUNY Research Foundation funds, the difference between the maximum reimbursement amount permitted from either funding source, and the individual’s actual expenses, can be paid from a Foundation agency account.  Since original receipts will need to be submitted with the State or Research Foundation voucher, exact copies of the receipts, including a copy of the State or Research Foundation travel reimbursement voucher with the supervisor’s signature (note:  it is the custodian’s responsibility to provide an original supervisor’s signature), will be required as supporting documentation for the Foundation portion of the reimbursement.

5. For all travel reimbursements made from Foundation agency accounts to University staff members, the individual employee’s supervisor must sign in approval on the agency account voucher. 

Again, it is imperative when requesting payment to an individual, that the Foundation voucher certification be signed (at lower left) by the payee.  The signature of the payee’s “designee” will not be accepted.

C.  Monthly Statement:  On a monthly basis, approximately 10-15 business days after the month closes, all agency account custodians or their designee, will receive a statement of activity that has passed through the account.  At the end of every quarter, the administrative bookkeeping fee will be applied and recorded on the statement.  Any questions or discrepancies regarding the statement should immediately be brought to the attention of the Director of Foundation Accounting Services.

D.  Audit:  Annually, the Foundation retains a Certified Public Accounting firm to conduct a full audit of its records.  This audit includes an examination of agency account activity.  Custodians will be asked to verify directly to the accounting firm, account balances as of June 30.  In addition, agency account activity may be audited by the Office of the New York State Comptroller.  Consequently, it is imperative that proper documentation in support of expenditures be on file and that the expenditures are exclusively for departmental purposes. 

If there are any questions regarding Binghamton University Foundation agency accounts, please contact the Foundation Accounting Office.

State University Board of Trustees June 24, 1987 Guidelines :

http://www.suny.edu/sunypp/documents.cfm?doc_id=62