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| Joint Astronomy Centre |
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Forecasts are normally revised at the 5, 8, 9 and 10 month timescale. The Finance Officer will issue a template (an excel spreadsheet), copy shown below, and instructions to each MBH about two weeks prior to the required return date. The template will be sent out to each of the Main Budget Holder (MBH) showing their Activity Codes (T3 codes) and showing their allocation and any previous forecasts at the Activity Code (T3 code) level. It will also show the actual spend to date broken down by T3 code and expense type. A column will be available for completion by the MBH for their forecasts. The forecasts should be shown at the top level (T3 code). A column will also be available for the MBH to explain the differences between either allocation and 6 month forecast or previous forecast and current forecast. After completion of the template, it should be returned to the Finance Officer. Each MBH, with the aid of the finance reports available through the Vision package, should review the actual spend to date for each activity code. A check should be made that there are no erroneous entries. If there are any entries that should not be posted to the Activity Code or is unsure of any entry, clarification should be sought from the Finance Officer or the Accounts Office. Once satisfied that the entries are correct, the total actual expenditure to date is known. A check should then be made of the commitments currently in the finance system and a judgment should be made as to the likely hood of these goods and/or services being received before the end of the financial year (31 March). If they will be received before the financial year end, then this should be added to the forecast figure. Note: as the forecasts are based on accruals, the actual invoice does not need to be paid only the goods or services need to be received. A judgment then has to be made as to any other expenditure that is not covered by either the actual expenditure or commitment. If large priced procurement items are still to be bought, if may be advantageous for MBHs to obtain initial quotes for these items where it is reasonable and practical to do so. This could result in much more accurate estimating. These amounts should be added to the actual spend and commitments. A total is now available for that activity code (T3 code). As stated previously, the final step is for justification to be given for the difference between the allocation and forecast, or previous forecast and current forecast.
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