Setting Spending Warnings
Spending warnings allow you to specify a percentage of the appropriation which the system uses to display warnings for funds. These warnings help to prevent funds from being overspent. After setting a spending warning, Sierra displays a warning when creating or editing order records if the order utilizes a fund whose expenditures and encumbrances exceed a library-specified percentage of the fund's appropriation.
For example, you might see:
Encumbrance will be posted for fund gen = $50.00 Over 70% spent
Spending warnings are set at the:
Setting Spending Warnings at the System Level
Spending warnings at the system level are set using the Warn if fund reaches what percent of budget Acquisitions Options. Using this option, you can enter the percentage that combined expenditures and encumbrances should not exceed for funds in the system. This percentage is used to generate spending warnings for all funds that do not have a spending warning set at the individual fund level.
Setting Spending Warnings at the Individual Fund Level
To receive a warning if combined expenditures and encumbrances exceed a certain percentage of an individual fund:
- Retrieve the fund record in the Funds function.
- Choose the Edit button.
- Select the WARNING PERCENTAGE field.
- Enter the percentage of the individual fund that combined expenditures and encumbrances should not exceed in the WARNING PERCENTAGE field.
Allowable values are '0' to "99" ('0' for no warning). Negative numbers are not allowed.
This percentage is used to generate a spending warning. If the percentage is set to '0' (no warning), the system level spending warning is used.
- Choose Save to save your changes.
To exit without saving your changes, choose Exit Edit and then select No when prompted to save your changes.