I will need to reclass some projects from temporarily restricted to unrestricted.  I've read solution BB375476 but remain a bit confused.  The solution says to create new transfer accounts to use for the release of the funds, but to stay within the same GL fund.  Can you have both restricted and unrestricted in the same fund?  The solution indicates it is as simple as debiting and crediting accounts within the same fund and changing the designation on the project.  Does anything need to be done on the RE side ?

Karen,

You can have temporarily restricted and unrestricted transactions in the same fund. But most orgs (and it sounds like you do as well) have their funds set up by class of restriction. So you should create a transfer account in both the temporarily restricted fund and the unrestricted fund. In the case where you need to reclass projects from temporarily restricted to unrestricted, the entry is a debit to the transfer account in temporarily restricted and a credit to the transfer account in unrestricted. (Transfer accounts behave like expense accounts, so while a debit increases their balance it also decreases net assets in the fund and project on the debit transaction. Credits to transfer accounts increase fund balance in those areas.)

Hope this helps.

Jeff

thanks, Jeff.  I appreciate your quick response.

Jeff-

Is it alright to use the transfer accounts already set-up for general transfers between funds or would you recommend setting up new transfer accounts for this purpose?

I would say if this is a function you will do with some regularity (which I'm guessing it might be), then you should go ahead and create specific transfer accounts. If this is a one-time action, or one you foresee doing infrequently, then you can use the accounts already set up for general transfers.

one more qustion-would you recommend setting up a new fund for the unrestricted side? 

That's a difficult question to answer without knowing your existing configuration and other details such as your reporting and budgeting needs. I can tell you that the majority of organizations do have an Unrestricted Fund (usually Fund 01) and a Temporarily Restricted Fund (02). Those that have a requirement for it also have a Permanently Restricted Fund (03).