No, we make one payment, but it is the assignment of the cost that
Accounting is splitting.  So, for example, in November 2008 we pay
$600 for a journal subscription that runs Jan-Dec 2009.  Accounting
will assign $250 of the cost to FY09, and $350 of the cost to FY10.
(reminder: our fiscal year runs June 1-May 31).  So, we will have to
keep track of the fact that when FY10 rolls around we "owe" Accounting
$350 for this title because that is where they are assigning that
portion of the cost. In effect it is a budget reduction for FY10 since
Accounting doesn't roll funds over (but it is also a budget surplus
for the current fiscal year since they are only assigning part of the
cost to the current year).  It's just confusing, because, of course,
we have hundreds and hundreds of subscriptions to track in this manner.

Thanks.

Teri Koch
Collection Development Librarian
Drake University
Cowles Library
Des Moines, IA  50311
teri.koch@drake.edu

Quoting "Ginanni, Katy" <Katy.Ginanni@TRINITY.EDU>:

> Hi Teri,
>
> Do you mean that your accounting department will want to pay for
> part of the subscriptions in one part of the year, and another
> payment later?  If that's the case, you might consider asking your
> subscription vendor to go with you to visit your accounting office,
> and try to educate them on the realities of purchasing serials. The
> industry standard is that publishers (most of them, anyway) require
> full payment in advance of delivery.  Most publishers will not allow
>  partial payment.  And if your subscription vendor allows you to do
> that, that means they would probably pay the publisher up front and
> then have to charge you some sort of "carrying charge" on the
> balance you owe them.  So, making partial payments would have a
> negative financial implication for your accounting
> department/university.
>
> I advise that you do NOT attempt getting your subscriptions to
> coincide with your fiscal year.  For one thing, some publishers
> simply will not allow it.  Some insist that your order begin with
> the first issue of a volume.  And so many volumes begin at the start
>  of the calendar year. (One exception is many education-related
> journals and magazines, which often begin volumes at the start of
> the school year, in Aug. or Sep.)
>
> I predict that claiming missing issues would also be a problem if
> you order split volumes during the year.
>
> In short, you need to do whatever you can to get your accounting
> department to make an exception for you!
>
> Good luck!
>
> Katy G.
>
>
> Katy Ginanni
> E-Access and Serials Librarian
> Coates Library, Trinity University
> San Antonio, TX 78212-7200
> 210-999-7613 ph.
> 210-999-8182 fax
> katy.ginanni@trinity.edu
> "We need magic, and bliss, and power, myth, and celebration and
> religion in our lives, and music is a good way to encapsulate a lot
> of it." --Jerome John Garcia, 8/1/42-8/9/95
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: SERIALST: Serials in Libraries Discussion Forum
> [mailto:SERIALST@list.uvm.edu] On Behalf Of Teri Koch
> Sent: Tuesday, August 26, 2008 8:57 AM
> To: SERIALST@LIST.UVM.EDU
> Subject: [SERIALST] subscriptions: fiscal year vs. calendar year
> accounting issues
>
> Hello,
>
> I am writing to find out how other institutions assign costs for
> journal and/or database subscriptions for accounting purposes.  Most
> of our journal subscriptions are on a calendar year basis, but our
> fiscal year runs June 1-May 31.  Just recently our Accounting
> Department has decided to begin splitting the charges between fiscal
> years.  That is, the cost for a calendar year subscription would be
> assigned 5/12ths (Jan-May) to one fiscal year; and the other 7/12ths
> (June-Dec) to the next fiscal year. This is going to require that we
> keep two sets of books for each title/database, one for the current
> fiscal year, and one the upcoming fiscal year.  This seems like a
> nightmarish amount of paperwork/trouble.
>
> How do other institutions handle subscriptions for accounting
> purposes?  I suppose one alternative is to attempt to get all
> subscriptions to coincide with our fiscal year.  Do others do that?
>
> Any insights into how your institutions handle this and/or advice
> would be appreciated.
>
> Thanks in advance.
>
>
> Regards--
>
> Teri Koch
> Collection Development Librarian
> Drake University
> Cowles Library
> 2725 University Ave.
> Des Moines, IA  50311
>
> teri.koch@drake.edu  (e-mail)
>