A Chart String Approver or PPM Project Manager is someone who oversees all financial/budgetary aspects of the chart strings and/or PPM Projects that they have been assigned. 

These approvers were previously referred to as fiscal officers or account managers.  They are granted this authority at the discretion of the department head who, per policy 330-10, is responsible for approving the department's transactions.

They have an obligation to the university and the community to be good stewards of the resources that have been entrusted to us. 
 

These obligations are met by:

• Processing properly and accurately all receipts and disbursements of funds.
• Accounting for all financial resources received and used.
• Ensuring that all financial transactions conform to legal requirements and administrative policies, and are recorded in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles for colleges and universities.
• Providing reports that present to university administrators and the public a complete picture of the university's funds and their uses.

Chart String Approvers and PPM Project Managers also have a responsibility to:

• Be familiar with university accounting.
• Promote effective communication among those involved in the department's financial transactions, including Principal Investigator's (PIs).
• Review transactions to make sure goods and services are consistent with the account purpose.
• Monitor accounts for compliance with funding requirements, the project budget, and university policies.
• Be aware of extramural funds responsibilities when managing extramural/sponsored funds (see Contracts and Grants Accounting page for details).
• Ensure PIs receive regular and understandable information about the activity occurring in their accounts.
• Promptly resolve overdrafts and promote timely corrections to the ledgers..
• Ensure accuracy of accounts receivable, clearing and other balance sheet accounts.

Fiscal officers must follow separation of duties policy. No one person shall have complete control of a financial transaction. Aggie Enterprise automatically enforces the separation of duties between the initiator and the approver.  For more details regarding separation of duties, see PPM 330-11.