Please share with the ConnectCarolina Finance users in your school/division. Updates are sent on an as-needed basis.
Top Issues
NEW! September month-end close deadline: Validated campus journal entries and data collect batches (journal imports) should be received by Accounting Services by close of business (5 p.m.) Wednesday, Sept. 28. It is critical that journal imports with state funds are submitted on or before this date.
NEW! System outage for Sept. 7 Fall census: There will be an outage affecting the Student Administration component of ConnectCarolina on Wednesday, Sept. 7, beginning at 5 p.m. and ending at approximately midnight as part of the fall census activities. Census is the official University enrollment reporting date. Faculty, students and staff will NOT be able to access ConnectCarolina Student Center during this time. The Finance component is NOT affected by this outage. The ePAR hire form for HR/Payroll is affected, as are some services related to Onyen, PID and Guest ID.
NEW! Recording of Reports and Queries presentation: The Key Reports and Queries in ConnectCarolina and InfoPorte You Should Know presentation made at the 2016 OSR Symposium has been recorded. Access the recording. Please note the title of the recording is “Useful Reports and Queries for Research Administrators.” The presentation covers how to look up various financial information, including budget and cash balances, open requisitions and vouchers, and payroll.
NEW! Chartfield Checker Tool Update: You can use the Chartfield Checker Tool to validate a chartfield string to make sure it passes budget check and to ensure you are using a valid combination of chartfield values. The tool now requires that you choose the type of transaction you want to check, such as voucher or requisition. There are also new error messages for projects with an “Ended” or “Reporting” status. See the updated Chartfield Checker Tool on ccinfo.unc.edu. For more information about using this tool, see the Chartfield Checker Tool Quick Reference Card.
NEW! P-Card training for new P-card approvers: P-Card Systems Training for new P-Card Approvers will be offered again on Wednesday, September 14th from 9 am-11 am in AOB 3101. The training will cover how to modify existing line level detail, update chartfield string information, and approve or reject transactions. Register using the UNC Event Registration website.
NEW! November Process Changes To Salary Source End Dates: As previously announced in July, some process adjustments will be occurring over the next few months which could increase payroll suspense balances. Since May 29, 2015, funding end dates (e.g. Sponsored Project – Project End Dates) have been treated as soft end dates in the payroll distribution process and haven’t been sent to payroll suspense. As of September 1, 2016, payroll that is charged to Projects which have been reported to the sponsor and Closed in ConnectCarolina and inactive combo codes will be sent to payroll suspense. Starting around November 1, funding end dates will be treated as hard end dates in the payroll distribution process, and payroll that is charged will be sent to payroll suspense.
Several reports will soon be available to proactively manage payroll suspense:
- Funding End Date Notification report shows which current and future funding sources expire by a specific date.
- Salary Funding Report shows the current and historical funding source information for an employee based on executed ePARS.
- Suspense Analysis Report provides an aging analysis and cause of transactions currently posted to the department’s suspense account.
More information on these and other reports is available at the new Commitment/Labor Accounting webpage. If you have questions about payroll suspense, please visit the payroll suspense policy and procedure page or contact us at CA_Payroll@unc.edu.
For more information on forthcoming changes with sponsored projects, please refer to Kevin Cook and Ryan Hermreck’s presentation, “Preparing for Project Closeout.” If you have questions concerning sponsored projects, please contact your OSR representative.
NEW! Multi-year POs: As announced earlier this week, effective Sept. 1, when creating a purchase requisition for a multi-year contract, you must enter the entire contract on just one line. For example, a three year contract that is $10,000 per year should be entered as one requisition line for $30,000. Be sure to describe the contract in the header comments section and attach appropriate documentation to assist the buyer in creating purchase orders. A separate purchase order will be created for each year of the contract. This process ensures that money that is encumbered on the purchase order is associated with the correct budget year. For more information, see the new Requesting Multi-Year Contracts section in the Purchase Requisitions and Receiving student guide.
Questions
Users should utilize the Business Systems Help Desk when they are unsure who to contact for issue resolution. This is the fastest way to obtain assistance and allows the project team to be able to track issues to determine the scale of the impact to all users. Users can reach the Business Systems Help Desk at 919-962-HELP or via a remedy ticket submitted online at help.unc.edu (select ConnectCarolina > ConnectCarolina Finance > the appropriate area of concern).
Suggestions for content can be emailed to financecomm@unc.edu.