NUFinancials: Budget Journal Troubleshooting Job Aid

This article explains the common budget journal errors and their resolutions.

 

Troubleshooting Budget Journals

Did you receive an error after submitting a Budget Journal? Use this document to find a potential resolution for any error message you may receive.

How to Identify Budget Journal Errors

  • An X appears next to any journal line with an invalid chart string.
  • Error appears in the Status field, which is linked to an explanation or a pop-up box appears with a message.

BudgetJrnlTrouble01

 

How to Resolve Budget Journal Errors

  1. On the journal, click Error to see an explanatory message.
  2. Find the error message in the list below.
  3. Try the suggested solution.

Combo Error Messages

Error Message

 

Solution

Combo error for fields in group ACT_DPT_EX

Dept ID 9999999 cannot be used on transactions. Enter a different Dept ID. For more information, see the Chart String Construction Rules page at the end of this guide.

Combo error for fields in group ACT_DPT

An error exists in the Account and/or Dept ChartFields. For more information, see the Chart String Construction Rules page at the end of this guide.

 

These are possible solutions. Try one or more of the following:

 

1. Is it a revenue transaction?

Enter a Dept ID. Use a revenue Account code that begins with 4 or 5.

2.    Is it an expense transaction?

Enter a Dept ID. Use an expense Account code that begins with 6 or 7.

Combo error for fields in group FND_PRJ

An error exists in either the Fund or Project ChartField. For more information, see the Chart String Construction Rules page at the end of this guide.

 

  These are possible solutions. Try one or more of the following:

 

1.   Is the Project ID is missing?

 

  Project #'s are required for all funds except 100 - 169

 

2.   Is the Project ID incorrectly applied?

 

Chart String Construction Rules

Use this table to determine if a chart string is correct. Find the Fund the chart string uses, and then follow the row across to see what rules apply to each ChartField for that Fund number.

Fund

 

3 digits

Dept ID

 

7 digits

Project ID

 

8 digits

Account

 

5 digits

100 - 169

Any valid number

 Not allowed

 Required; any valid number *

170 - 179

Any valid number

 First digit = 1

 Required; any valid number *

191 - 199

Any valid number

 First digit = 6

 Required; any valid number *

300 - 320

Any valid number

 First digit = 3

 Required; any valid number *

440 - 459

Any valid number

 First digit = 4

 Required; any valid number *

  *As allowed by Northwestern policies and procedures. For example, restricted funds may prohibit certain types of expense.
  • Rules that apply to the Activity ChartField are not recorded here because budgets are not tracked on Activity codes.
  • Fund, Department, and Account ChartFields are required on every Budget Journal transaction.

Messages

Error Message

Solution

Account cannot be blank in order to save

The Account ChartField is blank. Enter a valid account code.

All Fund codes in the budget lines must be the same

·         The only exception to this rule is moving budget authority to/from Fund 110 to/from Fund 171.

·         Transferring actual dollars between restricted funds is a function of the Actuals Portal and cannot  be done using the Budget Portal.

Budget is closed

  The budget for this chart string has been closed.

Budget is on hold

The budget for this chart string has been placed on hold. This applies primarily to grants.

CF value not at tree level

  • Call the ChartField Maintenance group located in the Financial Operations Office.
  • The budget journal line contains a ChartField value not at the defined tree level. A new account was created, but wasn't added to a KK_ACCOUNTS tree.

The combination of Fund: XXX, Project: XXXXXXXX and Department: XXXXXXX does not exist

  • Budget adjustments can only be made to existing chartstring combination. Please contact the Budget Office to establish a new Chartstring Combination.

Exceeds budget and is over tolerance

The requested transaction exceeds the available budget.

 

These are possible solutions. Try one or more of the following:

 

·        Reduce the dollar amount of the transaction so that it does not exceed the budget available.

·        Use a chart string that has sufficient budget available.

Fund is required

  Enter a value for the required ChartField.

Invalid value - press the prompt button or hyperlink for a list of valid values

Click the magnifying glass next to the ChartField to see more available options.

Journal is not balanced

Total debits and credits must be equal. Adjustments must net to 0.

Journal line errors exist for this header

Line errors exist for this journal. Click the Error link to view  errors for this journal.

No additional information is available for this error

All available error information has already been provided by the system.

The Revenue/Expense Budget Journal has created an error

 

There was an error when creating the second budget journal

This budget journal is adjusting both Revenue and Expense budget. The Revenue budget journal was created but the Expense budget journal was not created.

 

These are possible solutions. Try one or more of the following:

 

Try to re-save your journal

Modify your Revenue budget journal and then save again.

Request to have this journal deleted and start over.

If you continue to have this error, please contact the Northwestern IT Support Center.

You cannot decrease the budget by [amount] for [ChartField]. It is more than its current base budget amount.

You cannot decrease a budget by more than the dollars has.

 

These are possible solutions. Try one or more of the following:

1.    Does the Account code used with the chart string have a budget? 

Complete a budget journal to increase the budget so that it is greater than the expense.

2.    Is the decrease to the chart string greater than the budget for the chart string?

Revise the amount of the decrease so that it is less than the budget.

ChartField error for value- [ChartField value]

The value entered for the specified ChartField is either inactive or does not exist. Enter a different value.

 

For additional assistance please contact the IT Support Center at 847-491-4357 (1-HELP) or email servicedesk@northwestern.edu.

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Details

Article ID: 1201
Created
Thu 5/12/22 12:38 PM
Modified
Fri 1/27/23 9:39 AM