Understanding Expanded Appropriations Account Numbers
When your municipality interfaces the Payroll module with the Fund Accounting module, you usually use a valid Appropriations Account Number, also referred to as an expense account, when creating a Department Number. In some cases (Handbook II), you create a cross-reference from a unique Department Number to an Appropriations Account Number. However, when using expanded Appropriations Account Numbers, which are longer than the Department Number, the system handles the Department Number differently.
The standard field length for the Appropriations Account Number is eight digits. The first four digits refer to the department and the last four digits refer to the sub-account.
If you set up the Fund Accounting module to use expanded Appropriations Account Numbers, then the field length can be longer, up to 16 digits (or 20 characters with the displayed imbedded dashes). Each sub-section of the account number is user-defined (by assigning the codes during Appropriations Master File Maintenance).
When the modules are set up for the expanded Appropriations Account Number, the Payroll module handles the Department Number differently to accommodate the longer field length. During Employee Master Maintenance, you can assign the expanded Appropriations Account Number to an employee using one of the following methods:
Enter the expanded Appropriations Account Number in the Department Number field in the Employee Information Area.
Or, enter the expanded Appropriations Account Number in the Employee Alpha User-Defined Field 6 field in the User Defined Fields Area.
Notes:
For more information about Department Numbers, refer to Understanding Municipal vs. Commercial Department Numbers.
Municipalities that use expanded Appropriations Account Numbers cannot distribute the pay among multiple departments during Employee Master Maintenance in the Employee Pay Distribution Area.