Error: Missing Fund Balance for account (account name) -when on Fund tab or running Fund balance report

If you are getting an error message on the Balance tab in the Fund Module referencing a missing Fund Balance account, it means the Fund has an incorrect setup in their chart of accounts.  This warning will also appear on the Fund Balance Report and might cause an error on the End of Year Closing Report or in a datagrid that used the fund balance function.  This is an error that should be fixed as soon as it is discovered since it will mean that the calculated ending Fund Balance  is potentially not correct.  

The current Fund Balance is always a calculated number.  FIMS takes the beginning Fund Balance and adds to it all activity associated with that fund balance to come up with the ending or current Fund Balance.  If you have multiple Fund Balance accounts, which fund balance activity rolls up to depends on the Account Type coding.     For example, if one of your Fund Balance accounts has an Account Type of Q1, any activity posted to R1, T1, or X1 accounts will roll up to the Q1 Fund Balance.  If there is no Q1 account, it has no place to roll up to.    

The problem is easily fixed.  Make a note of which account(s) are indicated in the message.  Go to the General Ledger and then the Accounts supertab and search for that Fund's accounts.  What is the Account Type for the GL account in the error? Scroll up to the Fund Balance accounts (the Q Account Types, typically in the 30000 range) and check to see what Q accounts this Fund has.   You do not have the Q account associated with this GL account.   Why?

Some possible reasons:

• The Fund Balance account is truly missing for the type of Fund this is. Example: This Fund is an endowed Fund, but only has a Q3 Fund Balance account and should also have Q1 and Q2 Fund Balance accounts.  If you have determined this type of Fund should have the additional Fund Balance accounts, add them.
• Fund Balance accounts are not missing - the account has an incorrect Account Type.  Example: This is a pass through Fund with only a Q3 Fund Balance account, but the Account Type is an R2 and it should be an R3.  If you have determined this type of Fund properly has only one Fund Balance account and should not have more, change the Account Type from an R2 to an R3. (Do this easily on the Account tab after selecting the account)

In either case, prior year accounts for this Fund should be examined and consideration given to whether End of Year Closing should be rerun in prior years.   The last step should be to examine the Master Chart since this is likely where the miscoding originated.  The Master Chart should be fixed so the problem will not reappear in another Fund of the same type or perpetuate itself when new Funds are added.  Review the Account Types and Classes for all Fund Balance, revenue, expense, and transfer accounts to make sure they all have a Fund Balance account to roll up to.