To: Major Organizational Unit (MOU) Leads
University Business Managers
From: Kevin Seitz, Associate Vice Chancellor for Finance
Date: July 10, 2014
The purpose of this memorandum is to provide planning information concerning ConnectCarolina Finance cutover actions and deadlines for the time period July 9 through Sept. 15, 2014. It is important that these deadlines be met to ensure adequate preparations for the months prior to the go-live period. A cutover communication detailing necessary actions and deadlines for the time period Sept. 16 through Oct. 1, 2014, will be sent closer to the go-live date. ConnectCarolina for Finance and HR/Payroll is scheduled to go live as of 8 a.m. on Oct. 1.
Procurement Services Dates
| Sept. 15 | Last day to approve new Web Vendor requests in legacy system. |
| Sept. 15 | Last day to purchase from legacy systems using current Financial Records System (FRS) chart of accounts. No purchases will be allowed between Sept. 16 – Oct. 1. Any purchases made on Oct. 1 or after will require new department number and chartfield. |
| Sept. 15, 7 p.m. | Last day to get approval for check requests, ePro Small Order Process invoices/transactions, and web requisitions, including appropriate documentation. All invoices in the queue will be paid between Sept. 16 – Sept. 26. |
| Sept. 15, 7 p.m. | Last day to get approval for Web Travel documents. If it is not approved by this time, it will need to be reentered in ConnectCarolina after Oct. 1. |
| Sept. 15, 7 p.m. | Last day to approve new Central Airfare Billing System (CABS) requests, including travel agent purchases. CABS will be disabled and no access will be permitted between Sept. 16 – Oct. 1. Any CABS document not completely processed to travel agent billing by this time will need to be re-entered into ConnectCarolina after go-live. During this outage, airfare will need to be charged to the traveler’s Diner’s Club credit card for reimbursement after go-live. |
Accounting Services Dates
| July 10 | Last day Graduate Student Health Insurance Program (GSHIP) will be available in legacy system. The annual GSHIP enrollment memo and additional information about the transition to ConnectCarolina for GSHIP will be sent in the next few weeks. |
| Aug. 4 | Campus departments can begin to enroll eligible participants in the new GSHIP plan year in ConnectCarolina. |
| Aug. 27 | Last day to submit new Trust account requests online to be established in FRS. |
| Sept. 15 | Last day to submit endowment account requests online to be established in FRS. |
Budget Office Dates
| Aug. 27 | Last day to submit new State and Facilities and Administrative (F&A) account requests via email to be established in FRS. |
| Sept. 1 | Last day to submit school-based tuition increases and other State receipt budget changes. Changes not received by Sept. 1 will be processed in ConnectCarolina on Oct. 1. |
| Sept. 15 | Last day to submit budget revisions in FRS. |
Office of Student Accounts and University Receivables Dates
| Sept. 15 | Last day to enter graduate student awards for fall 2014. More detailed information will be communicated from the Graduate School. |
Purchasing Considerations
Please plan ahead for purchases that will be needed during September. Major purchases should be initiated no later than Aug. 1. Make plans to process purchase orders no later than Sept. 1 for the Sept. 15 deadline. Pending (In-flight) transactions, such as purchase orders that were entered into the legacy systems, but were not paid before Sept. 15, will need to be reentered into ConnectCarolina by campus users. Please keep paper documentation during this transition period.
Due to downtime surrounding the go-live period, P-card limits may be increased in advance for emergency purchases during the outage. As part of the unit’s business continuity plan, a University Purchasing Card (P-card) should be obtained now if one is not already assigned. Finance Division Policy 1252 offers information and instructions on how to obtain a P-card.
Purchasing Services has informed campus vendors of the implementation and continues to communicate with vendors regarding: payments, anticipated outages, and contact information.
Disbursement Services Considerations
Travel advances will not be issued between Sept. 16 – Oct. 1.
Web Travel is being updated and will interface with ConnectCarolina on Oct. 1. Users will need to set up new Flexible Routing of Electronic Documents (FRED) route for Web Travel for new department structure in the new FRED system in Finance Central beginning July 21.
Accounting Considerations
Users should continue the current process for depositing checks, credit card payments and lock box deposits. For State funds, send a copy to Accounting Services for certification. For lockbox and wire payments, users should continue the current process, and then enter in ConnectCarolina after go-live.
Every effort will be made to pay all vouchers in the FRS system by Sept. 30. Pre- encumbrances dated after Oct. 1 will require new chartfields, so users should not enter any future-dated pre-encumbrances. Future-dated open vouchers, e.g., dated after Oct. 1, will not be paid. Users should delay entering anything needing payment after Sept. 30 (future-dated items) in legacy systems and hold those items to be entered in ConnectCarolina after go-live.
September 2014 month-end processing will be the last month-end processing in FRS. September FRS transactions will be converted to ConnectCarolina after the September month-end close.
Reporting (Financials)
Cost codes will not be converted into ConnectCarolina from Infoporte or from InDEPTh. MOU Leads who use Infoporte will share their transition plan for cost codes with their area staff.
Salary projections entered in the current Infoporte will not be converted to the new Infoporte. The salary projection component is being re-written.
Reports should not be created using WebFOCUS, but existing reports will be supported until fiscal year-end 2015.
Payroll Considerations
The last biweekly payroll recorded in the current system will post on Sept. 16 for the period ending Sept. 7 (paid on Sept. 19). The last monthly payroll recorded in the current system will be for the period ending Sept. 30 (paid on Sept. 30), which will post on Sept. 19.
Assistance and Feedback
Your assistance in processing documents, monitoring your budgets and purchase orders, and adhering to deadlines is very important. You can contact us by using the Finance Division web form. Go to https://finance.unc.edu/contacts/question/ and select the drop-down issue titled “ConnectCarolina Financials” to submit questions, suggestions and other comments for consideration.
The information in this memo, along with other guidance that will be provided over the coming months, will be located on the Finance Division News Archives pages. Thank you for your cooperation.