3-3: Budget modifications and closeout

Effective: July 1, 1994
Revised: September 23, 2026
References: Utah Code 63J-1-102, Utah Code 63J-1-104, Utah Code 63J-1-105, Utah Code 63J-1-201, Utah Code 63J-1-206, Utah Code 63J-1-209, Utah Code 63J-1-217, Utah Code 63J-1-601, 3-1: Budget and major revenue requirements

Purpose

This policy outlines requirements for agencies to request and document budget modifications in Vantage Financial and complete the annual budget closeout process in accordance with legislative appropriations and state law.

This policy applies to all agencies required to maintain budgets in Vantage Financial. Budget modification requirements apply to all applicable budgets.

This policy doesn’t cover how to submit a BGAA transaction. See the BGAA quick reference guide for the budget event types to use in Vantage Financial when creating BGAA, BGR45, and BGE44 budget transactions.

Definitions

Agency – Any agency, board, bureau, commission, office, department, or other administrative subunit of the executive, legislative, and judicial branches of state government.

Appropriation budget – The total budget available to spend for an appropriation unit. This is the level at which spending is controlled statewide. It may include:

State fund and account appropriations
Federal funds
Dedicated credits
Expendable receipts
Revenue transfers
Carry forward or nonlapsing beginning balances

Appropriation unit – Represents a program defined by the legislature within a line item. It’s used to organize funding for budgeting and tracking in Vantage Financial and may include both appropriated and non-appropriated funds.

BGAA – Budget Generation and Adjustment Authorization transaction in Vantage Financial.

Detailed revenue and expenditure budget – The working budget agencies use day-to-day. Revenue budgets are set up for each type of revenue collected. Expenditure budgets are set up for each type of spending. These budgets allow transactions to be processed in Vantage Financial and help agencies manage their operations.

GovOps – The Department of Government Operations.

Line item/Item of appropriation – A specific appropriation approved by the legislature in an appropriations bill that defines how funds may be used. As the highest level of budget authority in the financial system, it may include both original and supplemental appropriations. Each line item is divided into one or more authorized programs and may also include legislative intent language or other financial conditions that agencies must follow.

State finance – The GovOps Division of Finance.

Policy

A – Agencies must use the appropriate process for budget modifications

1 – Agencies may modify detailed revenue and expenditure budgets within their existing authorized appropriation budget without state finance approval.

1a – Agencies use BGR45 transactions to modify detailed revenue budgets and BGE44 transactions to modify detailed expenditure budgets.

2 – Agencies must get state finance approval before modifying an appropriation budget. Agencies make these modifications by submitting a BGAA transaction in Vantage Financial, which includes transferring spending authority between programs within a line item or making other authorized adjustments to appropriation-level spending or revenue.

2a – A BGAA transaction doesn’t modify the agency’s authorized appropriation budget until state finance approves the transaction.

2b – Agencies must attach written justification and supporting documentation to each BGAA transaction, explaining the purpose, necessity, and basis for the requested change.

3 – Agencies must not use a BGAA transaction to transfer appropriated spending authority between line items or funds, unless authorized by the legislature.

4 – Approval of a budget modification doesn’t create or guarantee available funding.

5 – Agencies must comply with any additional approval, reporting, or documentation requirements applicable to the funding source or type of budget modification. See state finance policy 3-1: Budget and major revenue requirements for the requirements applicable to major revenue types.

B – Agencies may request budget deactivation or reactivation

1 – Agencies may request that state finance deactivate or reactivate an appropriation budget in Vantage Financial by submitting the appropriate BGAA transaction with an explanation supporting the request.

1a – Deactivating a budget stops new revenue or expenditure transactions while preserving the budget and its full history. An agency may deactivate a budget when overspending, revenue shortfalls, legislative updates, or other circumstances require budget activity to stop.

2 – State finance reviews deactivation and reactivation requests and may require additional information or corrective action before giving approval.

2a – Once a reactivation is approved, transactions may resume against the budget.

C – Agencies must complete the budget closeout process

1 – The budget closeout process applies to funds subject to an annual legislative budget, including the General Fund, Income Tax Fund, Transportation Fund, Transportation Investment Fund, Debt Service Funds, and Alcoholic Beverage Services Fund.

1a – At the end of each fiscal year, agencies must complete the budget closeout process in accordance with state law, state finance instructions, and established year-end deadlines.

2 – Budget closeout establishes the final disposition of legislative appropriations and other spending authority, including amounts that:

lapse to the originating source fund;
remain nonlapsing or carry forward when authorized by law; or
are subject to another disposition required by law.

3 – State finance must close the accounting records for the fiscal year on or before August 31, as required by statute. Agencies must complete required closeout activity within the deadlines established by state finance to allow the statewide fiscal year to be closed timely.

4 – Agencies must:

ensure all budget activity and accruals applicable to the fiscal year have been recorded within the timeframes established by state finance;
review unexpended appropriations and determine the proper disposition of those balances following state law, including identifying amounts that lapse and amounts authorized to remain nonlapsing;
verify that expenditures don’t exceed available funding for each funding source and identify any shortages requiring corrective action ;
provide the statutory authority and any required supporting documentation for appropriations identified as nonlapsing;
reconcile budget closeout information to the final budget activity recorded in Vantage Financial and resolve any differences; and
complete all budget closeout requirements within the timelines established by state finance.

4a – Agencies must not transfer appropriations to the Capital Projects Fund or any other fund, unless clearly authorized by the legislature.

5 – State finance is responsible for establishing annual budget closeout procedures, submission requirements, reporting formats, and deadlines necessary to implement this policy.