Dear John,

Our department recently hosted a conference and our agency account has $50.32 left over. I was asked by my Chair to plan a retirement party for a distinguished faculty member who recently announced her retirement. I was told I had to close the existing agency account and open another one. Why? This seems like a lot of extra effort when I already have an account set up.

A. G. Ency

Dear A. G.,

Agency accounts, as you know, are not university money. When you deposit money in an agency account, the university becomes a custodian or fiscal agent on behalf of principals such as individuals, faculty/staff/ student organizations, private organizations, and other sponsors. Your agency account was established for the specific purpose of paying for a conference and the money was expected to be used only for the conference.

You must close the existing agency account and open a new one for the retirement party. The university's accounting program exists to provide a complete picture of the university's funds and their uses. This includes agency accounts. If you use the conference agency account for the retirement party, you will not be able to provide a "complete picture" of either event. The revenues and expenses of the conference will be overstated and no record will exist of the retirement party revenue and expenses.

You cannot use the $50.32 left over from the conference for the retirement party. That money must be treated according to the Principal's instructions. Look at the "Request for Agency Account" to see what you are expected to do with the excess funds. A decision was made when the account was set-up to either refund the money to the principal, record the excess as a gift, or deposit it into the UCD miscellaneous income account. So, as you can see, the purpose of opening a new agency account is not to promote bureaucracy. It is to provide accountability to all those interested in how the money was used.