The next Research Administration (RA) Town Hall will take place on Thursday, March 16, from 9:10 to 11 a.m. 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 new 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.Visit the UCSF Information Technology website for more information about using Microsoft Teams (opens in new window).
Petty Cash verification letters were distributed via DocuSign to all petty cash custodians on January 13, 2023. Custodians must complete verification letters no later than Tuesday, February 14, 2023.Failure to comply with the required process may result in closure of the petty cash fund. If you did not receive a DocuSign email containing your petty cash verification request or if you have questions about the verification process, contact the Cash and Controls Team.
To ensure UCSF complies with applicable federal, state, and local laws and regulations, as well as UC policy and labor agreements, managers and timesheet approvers must approve timesheets in a timely manner. Approving timesheets by established deadlines is necessary for UCSF to ensure that employees receive a correct paycheck for each pay period and the correct accruals for the month. Failure to approve timesheets by the established deadline for each pay period may result in your employee being over- or underpaid.Established timelines for timesheet submission and approval are as follows:Monthly Paid EmployeesEmployees must submit timesheets by the fifth business day of the following monthManagers and timesheet approvers must approve timesheets no later than the seventh business day of the following monthBiweekly Paid EmployeesEmployees must submit timesheets by midnight Sunday following the pay period end dateManagers and timesheet approvers must approve timesheets no later than the Monday following the pay period end dateOccasionally, pay-period-specific changes to timesheet submission or approval timelines arise due to holidays, system outages, or special processing schedules. These changes are communicated in the Controller’s Office Newsletter and posted on the Messages screen in the HBS Timekeeping System.Additional resources and training materials for completing manager tasks in the HBS Timekeeping System are available on the Controller’s Office website. If you are having trouble approving your employees’ time, or if you need further assistance, contact the Controller’s Office Solution Center.
A revised version of the Late Cost Transfer Policy Exception Request Form is now available on the Controller’s Office website. The updated form aims to streamline departmental preparation and to reduce the review and approval time by Contracts and Grants Accounting (CGA).Here are four new features of the updated form:You must indicate a "Reason for Late Cost Transfer". Selecting the appropriate reason will ensure your request is quickly routed to the appropriate CGA approver.DriverReasonCGA ApproverSponsorLate Receipt of the AwardCGA Compliance ManagerUCSFLate Award Set upCGA Compliance ManagerUCSFExtenuating Circumstances (Not Administrative)Assistant Controller, CGAUse the provided fields to indicate the UCPath Direct Retro ID and Journal ID numbers created for your transfer transactions.Click the new "Validate Form" button prior to signing and submitting the form to alert you to missing required fields, reducing the likelihood that your form will be returned incomplete.The new form requires a digital signature and can be signed using Adobe’s Digital ID feature.Download a new copy of the form with each submission to ensure you are using the latest version; submissions after February 10, 2023, using prior versions of the form will be returned. In order to take advantage of all features of the form, open it using Adobe Acrobat Reader or a similar PDF application. You will be unable to complete the form by accessing it in your web browser.Remember that all late cost transfers are an exception to established policy. Your completed and signed form must be submitted along with justification for the transfer and all supporting documents including PI Approval. Further guidance and complete procedures for submitting late cost transfer policy exception requests are available on the Controller’s Office website. If you need further assistance, contact the CGA Compliance team.
The Controller’s Office will conduct an informational session for departments to learn more about UCSF Merchant Services from 1 to 2 p.m. on Thursday, February 23.UCSF Merchant Services is the first stop for schools, departments, and clinics across UCSF for all services related to handling credit cards and electronic payments. This session is designed to provide administrators with an overview of services and resources needed to successfully navigate the complexities of payment card processing and will include guidance on:establishing merchant accounts for payment card and electronic payment processingusing and managing handheld payment devicesnegotiating third-party service provider contractsbest practices for day-to-day operational oversight, including ensuring merchant accounts stay in good standing and in compliance with applicable policies, procedures, and standardsAdvance registration is required. Click here to register (opens in new window). A link to join the presentation will be emailed upon registration.Read more about accepting and handling payment cards on the Controller’s Office website. For all questions, contact Lourie Close, Merchant Services Coordinator at [email protected].
The UCPath Center announced a new go-live date of March 18, 2023, for the redesigned salary cost transfer (SCT) process. As previously announced, the timeline is being extended due to delays in development and the need for significant defect remediation. The UCPath Center and UC campus Controllers selected the new timeline to ensure sufficient time for testing and preparing location users for this change.This month, UCSF’s project team will begin user acceptance testing, which will include testing activities by campus department transactors nominated by our UCPath Customer Advisory Board. To prepare transactors for go-live, training will begin in January and will include a combination of self-paced and instructor-led offerings. Links to access and register for training will be announced next month.What’s changing with the SCT redesign?As part of the new salary cost transfer process, initiators and approvers will submit and approve new transactions using a series of new “Salary Cost Transfer” pages in UCPath. The new process will bring several new features designed to simplify data entry and improve accuracy. Highlights include:Future Salary Cost Transfer ProcessCurrent Direct Retro ProcessInitiators can select only the earnings distribution lines they need to transfer.All earnings distributions lines in a paycheck are pulled into the “Old Data” and “New Data” sections of the Direct Retro page.Initiators may transfer earnings distribution lines across multiple earnings periods in the same transaction.When using the Direct Retro Salary Cap/MCOP Funding Worksheet, Initiators can only select one earnings period (paycheck) at a time to transfer.Initiators will use one simplified interface to perform all transfer actions for all funding sources.Initiators must scroll between separate “Old Data” and “New Data” sections and must use the separate Direct Retro Salary Cap/MCOP Funding Worksheet when transferring earnings onto capped funding sources when the employee’s earnings exceed a salary cap.Combo/edit chartstring validation will be applied only on lines selected by the Initiator to be transferred. A validation check will identify all errors at once across all distribution lines. Warnings will alert initiators of potential postings to payroll suspense or the department default distribution.Combo/edit chartstring validation is performed on all distribution lines in the “New Data” section, regardless of whether a distribution line is changing. Validation is performed one row at a time, and initiators must resolve a validation error on one line before the next validation error will be identified.Initiators will have multiple options to save transactions in process, including transactions with validation errors. This will enable initiators to research and address errors without needing to start the transfer over.Direct Retros containing validation errors cannot be saved. Initiators who need time to research errors or request activity period activation must cancel the transaction and start over later.Batch processing is no longer tied to a pay confirm, which will result in more frequent postings to the General Ledger.Batch processing and posting to the General Ledger is tied to the UCPath pay confirm process, limiting frequency of postings.What can Salary Cost Transfer Initiators and Approvers do now to prepare for the redesign?The existing “Direct Retro” pages will remain available only for a limited time after March 2023 and can only be used to address changes to paychecks prior to October 2021 and to previously transferred earnings. We encourage departments to take action now to review and complete all transfers required on paychecks prior to October 2021. Once decommissioned, transactors will lose access to transfer paychecks prior to October 2021 and to redistribute earnings that were previously transferred using the current tool. We will share more information about the decommissioning of the current Direct Retro tool as it becomes available.
To ensure petty cash is properly accounted for and that records are accurately stated, petty cash verification letters will be distributed via DocuSign to petty cash custodians in early January.Has your petty cash account recently changed custodianship? Does your account need to be terminated? Please process any petty cash account changes before January to help ensure a smooth verification process. Procedures for making changes to your petty cash account are available on the Controller’s Office website.If you have questions about petty cash procedures or the verification process, contact the Cash and Controls Team.
The Post Award Management (PAM) training series (opens in new window) provides an introduction to post award processes for new employees and is also a good knowledge refresher for those seeking a basic process review. The PAM series is presented twice per year in five separate modules.Currently scheduled and available for registration:January 26, 2023: PAM1 - Compliance for Sponsored ProjectsFebruary 23, 2023: PAM2 - Award Acceptance and Setup for Sponsored ProjectsMarch 23, 2023: PAM3 - Billing for Sponsored ProjectsApril 27, 2023: PAM4 - Cash Management and Collections for Sponsored ProjectsMay 25, 2023: PAM5 - Financial Reporting and Award Closeout 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.
Join Audit & Advisory Services for a Preventing and Detecting Payroll Fraud webinar on February 9, 2023, from 11 to 11:40 a.m. This training is part of a series of webinars aimed at creating awareness about potential fraud trends and schemes that can be perpetrated both from within and by parties external to the organization, their impact on healthcare and higher education institutions, and the use of strong internal controls to prevent, detect and respond to fraud.The webinar will be held via Zoom. Register here (opens in new window) to receive the Zoom link for the webinar.
This month, petty cash verification letters will be distributed via DocuSign to all petty cash custodians. To ensure petty cash is properly accounted for and that records are accurately stated, custodians must complete their verification letters no later than Tuesday, February 14, 2023. Failure to comply with the required process may result in closure of the petty cash fund.Please submit any petty cash account changes before January 10, 2023, to help ensure a smooth verification process. Procedures for making changes to your petty cash account are available on the Controller’s Office website.If you do not receive your letter by January 17, 2023, or if you have questions about the verification process, contact the Cash and Controls Team.
