Effective July 1, 2023, it is mandatory for departments to submit all fixed price billing requests via the Research Administration System (RAS). Any requests submitted using another method will be returned without being processed.UCSF implemented a new procedure in January 2022 to initiate fixed price billing requests, including clinical trials, using RAS. The new process aims to reduce delays and errors that are a result of the manual submission and assignment of requests across multiple systems. It also provides department research administrators with greater visibility into the status of each request. Tracking of requests in a single system allows for improved performance metrics and greater precision in communicating processing timeframes.To learn the steps required to submit fixed price invoices in RAS, refer to the job aid, How to Submit Fixed Price Invoices in RAS, available on the Controller’s Office website.If you have questions, contact your CGA Service Team.
The Contracts and Grants Accounting (CGA) Support Team is pleased to announce two recent enhancements that are part of our ongoing efforts to streamline sponsored research collections and payment processes and to improve internal controls.RAS Award ContactsAs part of our collections communication strategy, CGA sends monthly notices to sponsors for awards with new outstanding balances over 120 days. Beginning July 2023, CGA will copy the department's Research Services Analyst (RSA) on these monthly communications to facilitate better collaboration.Campus departments often maintain separate lists of sponsor contacts throughout the award lifecycle. CGA recently worked with UCSF IT to create a new data field within the Research Administration System (RAS) Award Profile page to store award collection contact information centrally. This month, CGA will begin to populate this contact field with known collections contacts.We are asking RSAs to share their collection-related sponsor contacts by populating the Award Contacts tab of the Award Profile in RAS. Doing so will provide all key UCSF stakeholders with access to the same contact details when resolving outstanding invoices with sponsors. Instructions for adding award contacts are available in the RAS User Reference Guide.Deposit/Payment Inquiry ReportTo improve self-service access to sponsored research payment data, CGA collaborated with IT to deliver a new Deposit/Payment Inquiry Report in RAS. Launched in April, the report is designed to help campus users research sponsored payment activity recorded in RAS. It provides several options to search for payments, including by Deposit ID, Payment ID, Payment Amount, and Received Date.We advise that all RSAs use this report to review sponsored research payment information before contacting the CGA Payment Desk for assistance. The new report is available from the Department Based Reports folder in RAS. For step-by-step instructions to access the new report, see the How to Run RAS Inquiries training guide.If you have questions regarding any of our collections and payment processes, email [email protected].
Refer to the following resources and dates to ensure you are prepared for fiscal year-end close activities.PresentationIf you are responsible for any year-end close activities and were unable to attend the Year-End Close Presentation held on June 8, 2023, watch the recorded session and review presentation slides on the Controller's Office website.Key 2023 Year-End DatesAs we prepare for year-end, note the following key dates:June Prelim Close: Wednesday, July 12June Interim Close: Friday, July 21June Control Point Final Close: Wednesday, July 26These key dates and other close deadlines are available on the General Ledger Monthly Schedule.Guidelines for Transferring Across FundsAs a reminder, rules for making transfers across funds using net position transfers or expense reclassifications are established by Budget and Resource Management. Refer to Guidelines for Transferring Monies Across Funds (opens in new window) available on the Budget and Resource Management website should you have questions or need clarification.Claiming Cash, ACH, and WiresJournals to claim cash, Automated Clearing House (ACH), and wire payments in this fiscal year must be submitted and locally approved by 5 p.m. on July 7. If you need assistance, review how to identify and claim cash, ACH, and wire payments.Scheduling ReportsYou can use the scheduling feature in MyReports to automate production and delivery of your reports for the June Prelim, Interim, and Final Close. To use this feature, schedule your desired reports to run "At campus month-end close." The MySchedule function will deliver the report the day after the close date (e.g., on Thursday, July 13 for June Prelim) and notify the designated recipients by email. Read more about fiscal year-end and MyReports.ContactIf you have questions about fiscal year-end close, contact General Accounting & Reporting.
In June, UCSF IT implemented several technical enhancements to PeopleSoft Financials to improve nightly batch processing times. This effort is part of an ongoing project to optimize the PeopleSoft database to improve the application’s performance and reduce downstream delays, including the availability of data in MyReports. Recent modifications to PeopleSoft include new indexes, partitioning, SQL rewrites, and additional tools for database administration.As a result, we are seeing noticeable improvements in the timing of the nightly refresh batch completion and the availability of the prior day’s data in MyReports. The MyReports team will continue to work with IT partners to monitor and look for further opportunities to reduce processing times.Keep in mind that longer than usual refresh times are expected between the Prelim and Final Close when two accounting periods are open. On days when refresh processing will not finish before 7 a.m., look for alerts within MyReports to stay apprised of the refresh status. If you have used the MyReports scheduling feature to automate production and delivery of your reports after the June Prelim, Interim, and Final Close, reports will be delivered after the corresponding nightly refresh has completed.
The Post Award Management (PAM) training series (opens in new window) provides an introduction to post award processes and is presented twice per year in a series of five modules. For the new series beginning this month, we have tailored the session format to provide more interaction between instructors and fellow learners. We encourage all new research administrators and those seeking a refresher to join us.Currently scheduled and available for registration:August 24, 2023: Award Acceptance and Setup for Sponsored ProjectsSeptember 21, 2023: Billing for Sponsored ProjectsOctober 19, 2023: Cash Management and Collections for Sponsored ProjectsNovember 16, 2023: Financial Reporting and Award Closeout for Sponsored ProjectsDecember 14, 2023: Compliance for Sponsored ProjectsLog into the UC Learning Center (opens in new window) to register. PAM training modules are presented via Zoom webinar. If you have any questions about using the UC Learning Center, contact Controller's Office Training Manager Michael Burgess.
The next Research Administration (RA) Town Hall will take place on Thursday, September 28, from 10 a.m. to noon via Zoom.We will communicate further details about the Town Hall through the Research Administration forum on Microsoft Teams. We use Teams to communicate agendas, the Zoom webinar link, and any technical issues or updates during the Town Hall meetings. You can also use Teams to submit topic requests for upcoming Town Hall meetings.To join the Research Administration forum on Microsoft Teams.Sign into Microsoft Teams and navigate to the Teams page.Click Join or create team.Type “Research Administration” in the Search teams search box.From the Search results, hover over the Research Administration team and click Join team.Instructions to join the Research Administration forum on Microsoft Teams are available on the Controller's Office website.
Are you a new employee responsible for submitting non-payroll stipend requests? Do you need a refresher on the stipend request process? The Controller's Office Student Accounting team offers regular training on the stipend payment request process.The following sessions are available for registration:August 8, 2023, 1 - 2:30 p.m.September 13, 2023, 10 - 11:30 a.m.October 12, 2023, 10 - 11:30 a.m.November 8, 2023, 1 - 2:30 p.m.Attendance is limited, and registration is required. Log into the UC Learning Center (opens in new window) to register.Meeting details will be emailed to registered students prior to the class. If you have questions about using the UC Learning Center, contact Controller's Office Training Manager Michael Burgess.
Fiscal year-end close is approaching! If you are responsible for any year-end close activities, please attend the year-end presentation on June 8 from 10-11 a.m. The year-end presentation is a great resource to learn more about the year-end close process, including dates and discussion of key close activities.Key 2023 Year-End DatesAs we prepare for year-end, note the following key dates:June Prelim Close: Wednesday, July 12June Interim Close: Friday, July 21June Control Point Final Close: Wednesday, July 26In addition, the last day to submit new chartfield requests or to modify chartfield values in PeopleSoft prior to year-end processing is June 23. Exceptional requests made after June 23 will be reviewed on a case-by-case basis.Scheduling ReportsYou can use the scheduling feature in MyReports to automate production and delivery of your reports for the June Prelim, Interim, and Final Close. To use this feature, schedule your desired reports to run "At campus month-end close." The MySchedule function will deliver the report the day after the close date (e.g., for June Prelim on Thursday, July 13) and notify the designated recipients by email. See the How to Manage and Schedule MyFavorites in MyReports job aid for detailed instructions.Support ContactIf you have questions about fiscal year-end close, contact the General Accounting Service Desk.
UCPath is upgrading the underlying Oracle PeopleSoft Human Capital Management (HCM) platform from version 37 to version 44. This upgrade will address several defects and will enable future improvements. In conjunction with the upgrade, some UCPath users will experience new enhancements to the Fluid User Interface (UI) navigation in UCPath. Who Is Affected by This Change?Only users with a transactor role will see improved navigation changes in UCPath. Transactors include campus department Funding Entry and Salary Cost Transfer Initiators and Approvers, and central teams in Human Resources, Finance, and Information Technology with inquiry, data entry, or approver roles.UCSF employees and managers who use the UCPath online portal for self-service functions are not affected by these navigation changes. However, all users will be affected by a system outage during the implementation weekend. What’s Changing?Users with transactor roles in UCPath will see the following navigation improvements in UCPath:A new color scheme that helps with visual accessibilityNew toolbar icons for quick access to Recently Visited pages and FavoritesExpanded Global Search functionalityNew Back button functionalityUsers will not experience changes to tile or data entry page functionality. How to Prepare: All Employees, Managers, and UCPath TransactorsEnhancements to UCPath will be live on June 20, 2023. The implementation will require a cutover period during which all employees, managers, and transactors across all UC locations will not have access to UCPath.Outage begins: 3 p.m. on Friday, June 16, 2023Outage ends: 9 p.m. on Monday, June 19, 2023The IT Service Desk will send out notifications to the UCSF community ahead of this system downtime. How to Prepare: UCPath TransactorsHere are the actions that transactors should take before June 16 to prepare for this upgrade:All transactors can learn about the improved navigation changes by reviewing the updated course, How to Navigate in the UCPath Fluid User Interface (opens in new window), available in the UC Learning Center.Salary Cost Transfer Approvers must approve all transactions by 11 a.m. on Friday, June 16, in order for the transfer to post to the General Ledger in the June 23 processing cycle.Consult the Payroll Processing Calendar for additional processing cycle deadlines.The last day to submit and approve salary cost transfers for fiscal year 2022-23 is Monday, July 3.As a best practice, the UCPath Center recommends that all pending transactions are completed in UCPath before the 3 p.m. deadline on June 16. For More InformationAdditional information about UCPath's PeopleSoft upgrade will be shared directly with UCPath transactors by email. Funding Entry and Salary Cost Transfer users can contact the Controller’s Office Solution Center with any questions. UCPath transactors who work in central teams in Human Resources and Finance should direct any questions to their project team member.
On June 20, 2023, the HBS timekeeping system will display an employee’s full lived name when one is recorded in UCPath. After a prior enhancement in May 2021, HBS currently displays a lived or preferred first name on timesheets when one is recorded in UCPath. HBS will align with the June UCPath Lived Name implementation to display the full lived name on all screens across the timekeeping system.Searching by name in HBS will search an employee’s lived name as it is recorded in UCPath. Enhanced HBS search functionality will enable users to search for employees using either their last name, UCSF ID, or UCPath Employee ID (Empl ID). The best way to search for employees in HBS beginning June 20 is to use one of their ID numbers.No action in HBS is needed by users at go-live. If you have questions, please contact the Controller’s Office Solution Center.
