Fiscal Budgets
In the budget development process, each department with a fiscal-based budget develops a plan for the May 1 to April 30 time period.
Fiscal budget timelines
May
Budget managers receive original operating budget from divisional head
June
+/- Base and one-time-only (OTO) resource allocations
June 1 to April 30
Budget managers make budget adjustments as required once original budget is allocated
Planning fiscal budgets
During your fiscal budget planning stage, start with the following considerations:
- The overall departmental strategy and how financial resources will be used to achieve the strategy;
- Ensuring that there is sufficient base budget for all full-time compliment employees (FTCE);
- Budgeting for any existing commitments such as term staff contracts and service contracts; and
- Each salary budget needs a corresponding benefit budget as outlined in the Estimated Benefit Rates table.
Estimate benefit rates
| Payroll affiliation | Paygroup | Unit | Estimated benefit rate | Vacation pay rate (note: add to salary expense) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| MAC | 107 | N/A | 21.00% | N/A |
| OPSEU | 104 | N/A | 23.00% | N/A |
| TFA | 100 | N/A | 21.00% | N/A |
| TFA LTF | 100 | N/A | 27.00% | N/A |
| Senior Admin | 101 | N/A | 14.16% | N/A |
| MAC Term | 107 | N/A | 21.00% | 4.00% |
| OPSEU Term | 104 | N/A | 23.00% | 4.00% |
| OWSP & Short Term Temp | 106 | N/A | 8.75% | 4.00% |
| OPSEU Research Assistant | 114 | N/A | 9.00% | 8.00% |
| Research Assistant | 118 | N/A | 8.86% | 4.00% |
| CUPE Sessional | 111 | 3904-1 | 15.71% | N/A |
| CUPE Part Time | 111 | 3904-1 | 15.71% | 3.90% |
| CUPE TA/GA | 113 | 3904-3 | 7.49% | 4.00% |
| CUPE Continuing Education | 109 | 3904-2 | 10.00% | 4.00% |
| CUPE Maintenance | 102 | 233 | 31.00% | 4.00% |
| Post Doc | 121 | N/A | 18.00% | N/A |
| Grad Student Stipends | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A |
Line-level budgets outline the items on which money will be spent, but may not necessarily provide information on what exactly will be done. Generally, a line item budget has categories such as salary and benefits by employee group, equipment, travel, operating supplies, etc.
For further information on the university chart of accounts and account codes associated with major categories, please visit the Understanding TMU's Chart of Accounts page.
Refers to the items within the budget that are not attributed to specific categories, i.e. non-salary expense pool (e.g. 7000).
Monitoring fiscal budgets
As you go through the fiscal year, be sure to review and maintain your budget on an ongoing basis, including:
- Monitoring actual performance against your budget plan.
- Completing budget analyses and forecasting.
- Running monthly financial reports to review details.
Note that if you’re new to budget management, you’ll need to complete learning workshops in order to gain access to the university’s financial system. Visit the Learning Paths page for help identifying which workshops to take.