Contracts and Grants Accounting is implementing new guidelines to establish and update processing begin and end dates in the Research Administration System (RAS). A new guide, Understanding Award Processing Dates, clarifies how CGA establishes dates during award setup and under what conditions they will be extended. These changes aim to ensure consistent application across UCSF’s portfolio of awards and to reduce suspense items for award expenditures, including residual transactions from an original posting.Understanding Processing Dates in RASEach project activity period in RAS includes a Processing Begin Date and Processing End Date. These dates determine when financial transactions may be recorded against any established project activity period. Combo/Edit rules are in place in UCSF’s financial systems to prevent posting of financial expenditures outside of the established processing date range. This includes both payroll and non-payroll activity, such as funding entry, salary cost transfers, and benefit cost transfers recorded in UCPath; purchases via BearBuy; and expense reimbursements processed through MyExpense.What’s Changing: Establishing Processing Begin and End Dates During Award SetupCGA uses the Budget Start Date to establish the Processing Begin Date. If pre-award spending is approved, an earlier Processing Begin Date may be established by adjusting the Budget Start Date by the number of allowable days identified by the sponsor if explicitly stated in the agreement. Upon request, CGA staff will adjust the Processing Begin Date with appropriate support of approval of pre-award spending.For federal awards, including federal flow through, CGA establishes the award’s Trail Out Period by populating the Processing End Date field in RAS to limit the posting of expenditures after the budget/period end date.When the deliverable due date is 65 days or less after the budget/period end date, the Processing End Date will be set to the eighth business day after the GL close for the month following the Period End Date.Where the deliverable due date is 66 days or later than the budget/project end date, the Processing End Date will be set to the eighth business day after the GL close two full months following the Period End Date.Exceptions may be made based on sponsor expectations and the complexity of the award.For non-federal awards (e.g., private awards, fixed-price awards), CGA will continue to leave the Processing End Date blank. This allows for greater flexibility in the timing of the trail out period as the award or award period comes to a close.Review additional guidelines in the new Understanding Award Processing Dates guide. Have a question? Plan to join the September 26 Research Administration Town Hall, or reach out to your CGA Service Team.
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. We encourage all new research administrators and those seeking a refresher to join us.Currently scheduled and available for registration, the below sessions run from 10 a.m. to noon:Oct 17, 2024: Cash Management and Collections for Sponsored Projects (at capacity - if you are registered and will not be able to attend, please cancel your registration in the UC Learning Center)Nov 21, 2024: Financial Reporting and Award CloseoutDec 12, 2024: Compliance for Sponsored ProjectsLog into the UC Learning Center (opens in new window) to reserve your seat for an upcoming session. If you have questions about using the UC Learning Center, contact Controller's Office Training Manager Mike Burgess.
The Controller’s Office Student Accounting team regularly conducts training to guide administrators through every aspect of the non-payroll stipend process. New employees responsible for submitting non-payroll stipend requests are encouraged to attend. The training is also a good refresher for all employees who submit these requests.The following sessions are open and available for registration:October 22, 2024, 10 - 11:30 a.m.November 13, 2024, 10 - 11:30 a.m.Attendance is limited, and registration is required. Log into the UC Learning Center (opens in new window) to register. This training is presented via Zoom; meeting details will be emailed to registered students prior to the class.If you have any questions about using the UC Learning Center, contact Controller's Office Training Manager Mike Burgess.
The next Research Administration (RA) Town Hall will take place on Tuesday, December 10, 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.Instructions to join the Research Administration forum on Microsoft Teams are also available on the Controller's Office website.
The Controller’s Office is pleased to announce the upcoming launch of a new Tableau interface for the Financial/Payroll Codes and Data Lookup tool. An essential resource for the UCSF community, this tool allows users to look up key information, such as chart of accounts elements, award information, payroll codes, and department functional roles.Set to launch in November 2024, searching for financial and payroll codes will transition to UCSF’s Tableau platform. This shift is designed to enhance the user experience and ensure support for ongoing maintenance.Look for more details in the November edition of the Controller’s Office Newsletter, including training on how to access and download results in Tableau.
Based on joint proposals from UCSF Global Programs and the Controller’s Office Accounting and Reporting team, an income statement report (Statement of Comprehensive Income Report), and a balance sheet report (Statement of Financial Position Report) are now available to further assist with the reconciliation of foreign transactions related to operations in foreign countries.Both reports aggregate transactions by account level, and users will be able to drill into the Foreign Affiliate Transaction Detail Report from the report output to review transaction details. Authorized users can run both reports by fund, dept id, and other chartstring attributes. Users can further customize the report output by including or excluding transactions from the open accounting period.Intended only for use by UCSF Global Programs accounting teams, MyReports users with the Foreign Affiliate role can access the new reports from the Foreign Affiliate tab. Users may need to clear their web browser cache for the new reports to appear.To learn more, review the new Statement of Comprehensive Income Report job aid and Statement of Financial Position Report job aid in the MyReports section of the Controller's Office website.Contact the Controller's Office Solution Center if you have questions about MyReports or to report a potential issue.
The following new features are now available in the Proposal and Award Metrics Dashboard (PAMDash). These enhancements reflect the continued collaboration between Contracts and Grants Accounting and UCSF’s research administration community to provide self-service access to extramural funding metrics.New dashboard page:A new Diversity Supplement dashboard page shows monthly, yearly, and cumulative funding amounts for awards with diversity supplements.New metrics and data elements:Expense Budget Balance: A new column on the Data: Award Funding & General dashboard page is the difference between the expense budget amount and the total expense amount.NIH Prorated Funding: Upon filtering the Funding Amount, Top Sponsors, NIH Mechanism, and Diversity Supplement dashboard pages to the Funding Type value “Prorated Funding”, all metrics will show the prorated monthly or yearly funding amount where the total award modification funding is allocated equally between the funding period begin date and end date.New data filters for the following:Proposal Status: A new filter in the Proposal Summary, Proposal Amount, and Data: Proposal Detail Data By Year dashboard pages allows users to view proposals based on their status: Awarded (proposals that generated an award); Not Funded (proposals where the Sponsor communicated the proposal will not be funded or where one year has passed since the proposal was submitted); In Progress (proposals submitted to the sponsor and we await a response).Funding Type: Added to the Top Sponsors, NIH Funding Mechanism, and Data: Award Funding Detail Data by Year dashboard pages, use this filter to view award dollars by Funding Added (default) or Prorated Funding.Action Type: Use this new filter on the Data: Award Funding Detail Data By Year dashboard page to limit funding entries by specific award modification action type (e.g., New, Diversity Supplement, Transfer In).RSA Name: Available on all dashboard pages, use to limit proposal and award data to the Research Services Analyst (RSA) assigned.A link to help and contact information is available from all pages.How To Get StartedLog into PAMDash (opens in new window) to experience the new features (MyAccess login and UCSF network/VPN connection required).Join CGA for an upcoming demonstration session to see the new features, walk through common scenarios for using the dashboard, and get answers to your questions:October 16, 2024, 11 a.m. to noonMark your calendars and click here at the start of the session to join (opens in new window) (UCSF authentication is required).PAMDash is managed by the Project and Data Team within CGA. If you have any questions about PAMDash, email the CGA Service Desk.
The Controller’s Office Student Accounting team regularly conducts training to guide administrators through every aspect of the non-payroll stipend process. New employees responsible for submitting non-payroll stipend requests are encouraged to attend. The training is also a good refresher for all employees who submit these requests.The following sessions are open and available for registration:August 14, 2024, 12:30 - 2 p.m.September 9, 2024, 10 - 11:30 a.m.October 22, 2024, 10 - 11:30 a.m.November 13, 2024, 10 - 11:30 a.m.Attendance is limited, and registration is required. Log into the UC Learning Center (opens in new window) to register. This training is presented via Zoom; meeting details will be emailed to registered students prior to the class.If you have any questions about using the UC Learning Center, contact Controller's Office Training Manager Michael Burgess.
Effective July 1, 2024, payment processing for Graduate Student Researchers (GSR) Fellows and Trainees transitioned from the Controller's Office student stipend desk to UCPath. As part of this transition, UCPath has been configured so that Composite Benefit Rate (CBR) assessments will not be calculated for payments to GSRs in the following job codes:003142 GSR-FELLOW-PAID DIR-NO REM003143 GSR-FELLOW-PAID DIR-TUIT REM003144 GSR-FELLOW-NO REM003145 GSR-FELLOW-TUIT REM003152 GSR-TRAINEE-PAID DIR-NO REM003153 GSR-TRAINEE-PAID DIR-TUIT REM003154 GSR-TRAINEE-NO REM003155 GSR-TRAINEE-TUIT REMThe Budget and Resource Management website (opens in new window)provides more information about CBR assessments. If you have questions about the GSR transition to UCPath, contact HR Shared Services (opens in new window) or ask a question in PeopleConnect (opens in new window).
As part of the July 2024 release, UCPath introduced enhanced features that align with the University of California Gender Recognition and Lived Name (GRLN) policy. These updates support our diversity initiatives and are designed to better represent and respect gender identity, sexual orientation, and pronouns across our university system.Upon your first login to UCPath on or after July 15, 2024, you will be directed through a process to verify and update your personal identification preferences. Employees must update their selections or decline self-identification before accessing self-service features in UCPath.For detailed information on these changes, please refer to the recent HR news announcement (opens in new window).
