Please share with the ConnectCarolina Finance users in your school/division. Updates are sent on an as-needed basis.
Top Issues
NEW! January 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.) on Tuesday, January 31 for January. Please remember that accounting will not receive the journal entries until the journal has been budget checked valid and has passed through all required approvals (including OSR, if necessary).
It is critical that journal imports with state funds are submitted on or before this date. Valid entries received past deadline, including valid entries pending departmental approval or with error status, will be deleted from the system.
Month End Close Clarification: Accounting Services targets the fourth (and no later than the fifth) business day of the month for month-end close and submits data to the State. State funds data may be affected after the fifth business day. Final approval is announced regularly in ConnectCarolina Finance Updates and via the ConnectCarolina portal page. Final month-end close is announced after the State accepts the data and is certified by the Controller’s office.
Trust F&A and State Budget Transaction Guidelines:
- State: State fund budget transactions should be submitted to the Budget, Planning and Analysis Office one day prior to the end of the month to have sufficient time for posting in the month. Please be aware some State budget transactions do not route to Central Office for approval and posting: it will be up to you to monitor and see those approved and posted. With the closing of the month’s activity, budget transactions will be deleted on the first working day in the following month. An email will be sent to alert you of budget entries that have not posted.
- Trust: Trust budget transactions (journals/transfers) should be budget pre-checked, approved by department, and submitted to Accounting Services for approval one day prior to the end of the month. Please note that trust budget transactions not received by Accounting Services before month-end, will be deleted by Accounting Services.
- F&A: Please be aware F&A budget transactions do not route to Central Office for approval and posting, it will be up to you to monitor and see that transactions have been approved and posted.
Helpful Hint: Budget Pre-checking all budget transactions will catch errors and help Central Offices approve and post more efficiently.
Month-end close deadlines are continually updated on the Accounting Services webpage, so check there in between updates for the latest info.
NEW! New State Monthly Management Report Available This Week: Beginning Friday, Jan. 6, a new set of reports are available through InfoPorte that will detail a State funds snapshot to help reconcile accounts. For details, see the January 4 memo.
NEW! Adding Images for New Independent Contractors and Campus Vendors: In 2017, the University will update how a document is interfaced to the ImageNow application. The end user will need to save the Independent Contractor or Campus Vendor requests before the ImageNow link will be active, allowing a user to upload documents. This change prevents document loss and greater document reliability.
NEW! Revised Independent Contractor Workflow Documents: To clarify documentation that independent contractor coordinators need to gather when a background check is not required when hiring independent contractors, the independent contractor process and workflow charts for both domestic and foreign vendors have been updated. Please see related data items 708.1.1rd for domestic and 708.1.2rd for foreign vendors for details.
NEW! Updated Fiscal Year 2017 Fixed Health Insurance Fringe Benefits Rates for Sponsoring Agreement Budgeting: Effective January, 1, fringe benefits budgeting guidelines for sponsored agreements will be updated to reflect the calendar year changes.
For more information on calculating the rates, see the January 6 memo.
REMINDER! Payroll Calendars for 2017: The payroll calendars for 2017 and are available on the Finance website under Payroll Schedules.
NEW! State Mileage Allowance Announcement: Effective Jan. 1, 2017 the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has decreased the business standard mileage rate from 54 cents per mile to 53.5 cents per mile. For more information, see the January 6 memo.
REMINDER! 2-Step Verification and Online W-2 Access: A reminder that 2-Step Verification, a process to secure and safeguard personal information and vital University data and credentials, is now used for online W-2 access. More information about online W-2 access and other employee tax form info can be found on the Online Employee Tax Forms webpage.
REMINDER! Subscribing to Business Managers listserv: Finance and accounting personnel who would like to subscribe to the business managers listserv can do so by following the instructions.
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.