University at Buffalo (UB) 
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Creating an Account
State, Research Foundation and UB Foundation have different procedures for opening accounts. Consider the funding source for the account to determine the type of account to request.
Unit Business Officer, Vice President or Dean approval is required for new accounts.
Important Items to Consider When Setting Up an Account
- NACUBO Code — A NACUBO Code is assigned to all accounts and must be identified when requesting a new account. Ensure accounts have the correct NACUBO classification as this information drives financial reporting and is used for comparisons to peer institutions.
- Entities — Each account and subaccount is assigned to an entity. An entity is a 4-digit number assigned to all campus elements (departments, centers, offices). Entity numbers assigned to accounts should have a Financial Affiliation. A complete listing of all entities and whether they have a Financial Affiliation can be found in SIRI on the support tables dashboard.
- Activity — Activity is an entirely optional and alternative hierarchy allowing departments to budget and report on certain initiatives within their unit. Each account can be assigned to an activity, such as an event, startup or other initiative. Since this is an optional flag, all accounts will default to “No Activity” unless specified by the department.
If you are creating an account to collect revenue, ensure the account type is allowable and all necessary approvals have been followed.
To request a new State account, submit a Create, Change or Close State Account Request form.
State Accounts (State Operating, IFR, SUTRA and DIFR)
All State accounts are now established with a master account, a subaccount and an undistributed account. Only subaccounts should be utilized for transactions. The account structure is included in the table below.
Historically not all accounts were subaccounted. We cannot subaccount a master account that has had any transactions historically.
U-Wide Accounts
U-Wide accounts are created by SUNY. Financial Management does not establish U-Wide accounts.
Subaccounts
Subaccounts allow units to group expenditures or similar activities and provide flexibility to add sub-accounts. Existing accounts without subaccounts cannot have subaccounts added. All new state accounts are now established with a subaccount noted as the seventh and eighth digits of an account.
Consider how subaccounts can assist with tracking revenue or expenditures. Some examples of how subs can be utilized include allocating startup costs to faculty, allocating scholarship funds to departments or grouping project costs.
Subaccounts can also function as individual accounts, independent of the other subaccounts associated with the master since they can each have a unique description and entity.
| Entity Code | Description | Example |
|---|---|---|
| 00 | Master account — Transactions cannot be processed against the master account. Functions as a rollup account | XXXXXX-0000 |
| 01 | Default if only one account is requested and a subaccount is not specified. | XXXXXX-0100 |
| 02 - 98 | Each subaccount can have a different entity code assigned. | XXXXXX-0200 - XXXXXX-9800 |
| 99 | Undistributed account — Activity should not post to the undistributed account. Submit an expenditure transfer to move any transactions to the correct account. | XXXXXX-9900 |
Contact an Expert
State
Hazel Pasco
State Accounting and Financial Reporting
Financial Management
Phone: 716-645-2645
Email: hjpasco@buffalo.edu
Research Foundation
Matthew Cannon
Accounting: Non-sponsored RF
Financial Management
Phone: 716-645-0165
