UA Balances Budget for Fiscal Year 2013

by Paul Gatling ([email protected]) 100 views 

The University of Arkansas Advancement Division ended the 2013 fiscal year with a balanced budget, it was announced Thursday.

Total expenditures, according to a press release, were $13.37 million.

The school’s fiscal year ended June 30. The university always closes its books for a fiscal year at the end of July, the first month of the new fiscal year. 

At that point, the university prepares its official financial statements to submit to state lawmakers for legislative review. The final financial report is then prepared and released, generally in January.

Vice chancellor for advancement Chris Wyrick said he was confident the division’s budget would remain balanced even as final adjustments are taken into account.

Wyrick was just named to the post in February. He replaced Brad Choate, who was removed following an internal audit revealed advancement overspent by more than $3 million in 2011-12 and was on track for a more than $4 million deficit in 2012-13.

“The university is in the final days of accounting for any possible end-of-year revenues and expenditures in order to close the books on FY13,” he said in the release.

The division’s savings came from cutbacks in every department – from leaving vacant positions unfilled to reducing the university’s strategic communications budget. 

“I am proud of the way our departments responded to this budget situation. In the end we cut over $1 million in expenses,” Wyrick said.

In addition, Wyrick said the university has approved $13.3 million for the division’s 2014 fiscal year budget. Revenue for the division comes from several sources, including university funds from earned income distribution from the University of Arkansas Foundation, unrestricted gift funds and sales and services provided through the various units of the Advancement Division to campus units and clients.

As is the case with any budget, the university has the ability to modify its units’ budgets as needs or opportunities arise.

The university ended the FY13 fiscal year by raising more than $108.4 million in private gift support.

“The FY14 budget is lean but able to support a robust fund-raising operation,” Wyrick said. “It will also be balanced when we close the books on FY14 a year from now.”

It is also anticipated that the university as a whole will end the 2013 fiscal year with a $30 million surplus and a liquidity of $160 million, the highest in its history.