{"id":3284,"date":"2015-05-04T11:09:59","date_gmt":"2015-05-04T15:09:59","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/carleton.ca\/facts\/?p=3284"},"modified":"2015-06-17T14:20:54","modified_gmt":"2015-06-17T18:20:54","slug":"putting-the-f-in-foapal","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/facts\/2015\/putting-the-f-in-foapal\/","title":{"rendered":"Putting the F in FOAPAL (#2 of 7)"},"content":{"rendered":"

‘Did Somebody Say FOAPAL?’ Special Tip Series: Putting the F in FOAPAL<\/h3>\n

While a little longer than we like our tips to be, we\u2019ve done what we can to use plain language. As always, please let us know where we can do a better job (facts@carleton.ca)!<\/p>\n

What is a Fund?<\/h3>\n

The term fund comes from accounting terminology for fund accounting. It is a segregated pot of money set aside for a specific purpose.<\/p>\n

In relation to the FOAPAL, it is called a \u2018fund code<\/a>\u2019. This term is used when referring to the first 6-digit element of a FOAPAL.<\/p>\n

\"FundCode\"<\/p>\n

What else is it called?<\/h3>\n

As with any profession, we accountants struggle with jargon, acronyms and nicknames. Jargon, acronyms, and nicknames are a bad habit which hampers our communication with the rest of the campus community. This is a bad habit that we are trying to break. While we work on this, here are a few other fund-related terms that you might run across.<\/p>\n

Fund Number: This is a term that we in Financial Services use instead of Fund Code. They mean the same thing.<\/p>\n

Account: Term misused by the campus community instead of Fund Code. An example of this is \u201cMy research account number is xxxxxx\u201d. Account is one of the \u2018A\u2019s in FOAPAL, which we\u2019ll cover in the upcoming weeks.<\/p>\n

Why is it important?<\/h3>\n

Financial Services will specify the type of Fund you require and will provide you with a Fund Code (i.e. 6-digit number). This Fund Code identifies which fund (i.e. pot of money) that related transactions belong to and the policies and laws that govern the use of that money.\u00a0 For example, if you have authority over both an operating fund and a research fund the rules governing each of these funds may differ.<\/p>\n

Carleton has over 6000 individual Funds that are grouped into common categories:<\/p>\n