Higher Ed – Opex Budget Request by Fund

What is a Operating Expense Budget Request by Fund? Operating Expense (Opex) budget requests by fund are considered essential building blocks of the annual budget and are used by budget managers and department heads to enter fund-level adjustments to the baseline budget. Some of the main functionality in this type of input form is that it it dynamically lists funds at the GL account level with user input in the yellow cells. The first three columns aid the end users in their data entry by providing read-only information about last year's actual results, target changes from the budget office and the department baseline budget. The user enters proposed adjustments in either % and/or as amounts, and this is then automatically calculating the Department Request column. On the far right of the template the user can enter text comments. You find an example of this type of input form below.

Purpose of Opex Budget Requests by Fund Templates Universities and colleges use Opex Budget Requests by Fund Templates to automate and simplify the budget entry of operating expenses with fund details. When used as part of good business practices in a Budgeting and Planning department, a higher education institution can improve its planning process, and it can reduce the chances that the users enter less accurate budgets due to lack of background information.

Who Uses This Type of Input Form? The typical users of this type of input form are Department Managers. Other Input forms Often Used in Conjunction with Opex Budget Requests by Fund Templates Progressive Budgeting and Planning departments sometimes use several different Opex Budget Requests by Fund Templates, along with  payroll budgets, capex budgets, revenue templates and other management and control tools.

Where Does the Data for Analysis Originate From? The Actual (historical transactions) data typically comes from management systems or enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems like: Microsoft Dynamics 365 (D365) Finance, Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central (D365 BC), Microsoft Dynamics AX, Microsoft Dynamics NAV, Microsoft Dynamics GP, Microsoft Dynamics SL, Sage Intacct, Sage 100, Sage 300, Sage 500, Sage X3, SAP Business One, SAP ByDesign, Acumatica, Netsuite and others. In analyses where budgets or forecasts are used, the planning data most often originates from in-house Excel spreadsheet models or from professional xFP&A solutions.

Built for higher education finance teams and aligned with Solver's xFP&A platform, this Solver planning template connects directly to your ERP data via the Solver Data Warehouse, enabling near real-time analysis with minimal setup. Designed for QuickStart deployment, it can be activated rapidly so your team can focus on analysis and decisions — not data preparation.

What is the Higher Ed – Opex Budget Request by Fund in Solver? The Higher Ed – Opex Budget Request by Fund is a pre-built xFP&A planning template in Solver designed for higher education organizations. It delivers key financial and operational metrics in a single, easy-to-use interface — purpose-built for higher education finance workflows.

Who uses this Solver planning template? Finance leaders at higher education organizations — including CFOs, controllers, and higher education finance teams — use this template to get fast, reliable answers without waiting on IT or building custom reports. It supports both day-to-day monitoring and strategic decision-making.

Where does the data come from? Data is sourced automatically from your ERP system through the Solver Data Warehouse, which integrates with platforms such as Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central, Dynamics 365 Finance, Acumatica, Sage Intacct, and other leading ERP solutions. Once connected, the template updates in near real-time with no manual data entry required.

To learn more, visit the Resource Library.