Sonoma State University

Annual Trust Fund Certification Review

Every fiscal year, we undertake a yearly trust fund review to ensure that the trust information we have on file is accurate and complete. Having accurate information on file will enhance our ability to serve your needs and ensure compliance with CSU and State guidelines for Trust fund administration.

For the FY24/25 review, we ask all signers to take time to review all elements of your Fund Agreement and fund activity found on the attached PDF forms carefully. Please approve via the Smartsheets approval workflow. It is important that you understand that we will be unable to process your transactions for these funds if we have not received these documents by the date requested. Reviewed and approved trust fund certifications are due no later than Friday, December 6th, 2024. 

University Trust Fund Agreement Guidelines

  • All Trust Funds must be self-supporting and maintain positive cash and fund balances. Deficits are not permitted.
  • For all Trust Fund Agreements, please be specific about the sources of revenue and types of expenditure transactions that will be processed in your funds. When you cite types of expenditures, provide actual examples of expenditures that will be charged to the fund. Use phrases similar to “Expenditures to support the business purpose of the trust including payroll, travel, office supplies, guest lecturers, hospitality…”. Expenditure transactions that you submit for payment will be audited for compliance with the types of expenditures cited in your Trust Fund Agreement.
  • For Donor (C0xxx & S0xxx) Trust Fund Agreements, be certain that the expenditures that you cite are consistent with Donor intent. Also, use the phrase “Donor Intent” in the Restrictions section of the Trust Agreement.
  • The names and sample signatures of all individuals who are authorized to approve financial transactions (including Deans and Administrative Managers) must be provided in the Authorized Signers section of all Trust Fund Agreements.
  • New Trust Fund Agreements must be submitted any time there are revisions to any of the information cited above (Name, Purpose, Source of Funds, Types of Expenditures, Restrictions, etc.).
  • To ensure compliance with CSU and State guidelines, the names of all individuals authorized to disburse funds must be included in the Current Signers section of the Agreement.

Common FAQ's Regarding Annual Trust Fund Review

You can find copies of all current trust fund agreement forms on our shared google drive: 

Any changes made to your current Trust Fund Agreement need to be formally submitted with an updated, signed Trust Fund Agreement form or University Course Fee Agreement. This includes any changes made to current signers, trust name, source of funds, types of expenditures, restrictions, and course fee amounts. In the event there are changes to course or misc. course fees, an approval from the President will be required.

We encourage all of the Trust Fund Agreement Signers to review financial reports generated by the CFS Data Warehouse regularly to verify revenues, expenditures and fund (cash) balance. In the event the fund has remained inactive for the prior three years, the General Accounting Unit will be notifying you and requesting a proposed spending plan showing anticipated revenues and expenditures along with supporting documentation. Should you have questions on generating the necessary CFS Data Warehouse Reports to determine a fund's financial status, please visit Data Warehouse Training information located on the Accounting and Reporting Department's website. In the event a Fund has remained inactive for the prior three years, the error below will be noted at the end of your trust fund agreement. We encourage the Agreement holders to review their trust fund carefully, and contact Financial Services to update the status of their fund.

Donor Trust Funds start with either a S0xxx or a C0xxx, while all other trust funds are considered University Trust Funds. Updating either a University Trust Fund Donor or Non-Donor Trust Fund agreement can be done with the same University and Donor Trust Agreement. A trust fund is considered a Fee Based University Trust Fund (course fee) when they start with a RTxxx, you will need to download and complete the University Course Fee Agreement.

Effective October 1, 2019, SSU has an updated Hospitality Policy that impacts self-support student fee and private support funding sources.Failure to include these specific types of permitted hospitality expenditures on the agreement could result in the rejection of payment requests. We strongly encourage all fund managers to review the hospitality policy and guidelines to ensure trust agreements comply with the new policy.

 

Questions? Please Contact the Accounting team Members below:

General Fund inquiries: 

Johna Beem | Ext: 4-4043

Nikki Hill | Ext: 4-2488

Email: fieldsc@sonoma.edu

Chartfield: Request Form