FY 2025-2026 Budget Process Instructions 

Please see below for Fiscal Year 2025-2026 (FY25/26) Budget Entry Training Materials and Budget Process Timeline Information. 

Training Materials 

The budget team will email budget submitters/approvers directly with information on how to complete the budget process for FY25/26, and an outline of the approval chain for each department. 

Budget Process Timeline 

  • The submission deadline to Divisional approvers (President’s Cabinet) is Friday, February 28th, 2025. 
  • The final submission to the Budget Office is Friday, March 7th, 2025. 
    • A copy and a link of the Final Submission file will be put out in SharePoint for the President’s Cabinet members to reference. 

Targets for NSOP (Non-Salary Operating)/Student Wages: President’s Cabinet members were provided with Revenue, NSOP, and Student Wage targets for FY25/26.  Please reach out to the appropriate party in your department or division to understand the process/changes for your division. 

NOTE:  We are asking that the budgets that you submit be completely thought through and that they include only essential and strategic needs. 

Budget Submissions 

  • Submissions will need to be completed in the Budgeting Cloud application for each of the departments and projects you are responsible for.  Be sure to enter a business purpose in the comment field next to each amount that is entered. 
  • For FY25/26 budgeting purposes, we are asking that you enter budgets for your restricted 02 funds in addition to the 01 fund budgets.  We need to make sure that 02 funds are being incorporated into your yearly spending plan. The 02 fund budgets will be entered into Budgeting Cloud for planning purposes only.  These budgets will not be brought over into the General Ledger or Budgetary Control Modules.  The roll forward of your available funds from the prior year will continue to take place into subcode 7690, as in the past.  
  • Where applicable, please include Student Wages, Professional Services, IT Hosted and Non-Hosted, Non-Salary Operating, Small Equipment, Chargebacks and Revenue for each of your active units.  Do not include amounts for faculty and staff salaries or any benefits. Increases to the student minimum wage will need to be absorbed in the budget targets that your division has been allocated.
  • Small equipment purchases - Beginning in FY24/25, the threshold for capital purchases was increased from $2,000 to $5,000.  This means that any single item under $5,000 will need to be budgeted for in your small equipment operating budget and not charged to a capital account. 
  • The College no longer provides employee cell phone reimbursements.  Please do not budget for these in FY25/26.
  • Employee Moving Expense Reimbursements – previously budgeted in subcode 7476 will again be budgeted in subcode 6450. 
  • The Budget Reviewer Forms should be submitted for approval using the FY25/26 Budget Approval Workflow in SharePoint. Instructions and links will be provided during training. 

Centralized Budget Items 

Please make note of the following items that are budgeted in centralized departments (e.g. IT) and therefore should not be budgeted for at the department level: 

  • Computers for new staff/faculty or costs related to computer repairs. These are normally budgeted in subcode 7302. (see IT memo) 
  • Ink/toner or paper for use in Multi-Function Devices.  These are normally budgeted in subcode 7319. (see Print Management memo) 
  • Office phones normally budgeted in subcode 7561. 
  • Insurance premiums normally budgeted in subcode 7501. 

IT Submissions 

  • Please refer to the Information Technology FY25/26 Budget Instructions for information on how to budget for any software and other technology related needs and expenses. (see IT memo)

Capital 

  • As referenced above, beginning in FY24-25, the threshold for capital purchases was increased from $2,000 to $5,000.
  • We will be working closely with the President’s Cabinet to determine what capital dollars are available for capital equipment. If capital dollars are available, we will provide the appropriate President’s Cabinet member with their allotted dollar amount. This will allow the President’s Cabinet members the flexibility to set up their own process for identification and prioritization of capital items. The budget team will be available to help and answer any questions that may arise.

Edits after Submissions 

  • Due to the difficult nature of predicting enrollment, the budget team will continue editing budgets after the 2026 budget submissions are reviewed by President’s Cabinet.  Any changes will be communicated to the President’s Cabinet and departments affected.
  • The 2026 Final Draft Budget will be generated by the budget team to establish a budget for the Board of Trustees to approve in May. The Budget Office will reach out to Divisions/Departments for clarification or recommended changes, if needed.  Final budgets will be sent out to the President’s Cabinet members after approval by the Board of Trustees.

Additional Information 

Please continue to email budget-group@ithaca.edu for questions related to your budget.