TO: Deans, Directors and Department Chairs, University Business Managers, Campus Unit Finance Leads
FROM: Manali Bettendorf, University Controller
The purpose of this memorandum is to provide information concerning year-end procedures and the dates that documentation must be received for payment in the fiscal year ending on June 30, 2020.
Since this is a unique and unprecedented year, these dates will be accelerated compared to previous years to preserve our cash flow needs. It is imperative that all appropriate invoices are submitted in a timely manner and only crucial future purchases and expenditures are incurred. All purchases should follow the previously communicated process with approvals from Finance and Operations for both this and future budget periods.
As in past years, all fiscal year-end information will also be posted on the 2020 Fiscal Year End webpage (go.unc.edu/FYE). Thank you for your stewardship in managing the University’s resources wisely and effectively.
Processing Dates
| Date | Description |
|---|---|
| May 11 | Last day for submitting requests for new or updated Independent Contractor agreements for payments due by June 30. |
| May 22 | Last day to complete Central Airfare Billing System (CABS) ticket transaction to ensure inclusion in fiscal year 2019-2020 (travel agent must complete ticket purchase by May 22). All CABS ticket transactions completed June 1 or later will be billed in fiscal year 2020-2021. |
| May 29 | Last day for campus vouchers and travel reimbursements to be approved by departments in order to be processed by Accounts Payable and paid or accrued (goods marked as received but held for payment) in fiscal year 2019-2020.
Campus vouchers not yet approved by the department in voucher workflow or with budget errors or chartfield errors will be deleted at 5 p.m. You can still enter campus vouchers after May 29, but they will be held and processed after July 1 in fiscal year 2020-2021. |
| May 29 | Last day for requisitions to be approved by departments in order to be sourced to the vendor in fiscal year 2019-2020.
Requisitions not yet approved by the department in requisition workflow or with budget errors or chartfield errors will be deleted at 5 p.m. You can still enter requisitions after May 29, but they will be processed under fiscal year 2020-2021. (For requisitions entered after May 29, receiving and invoicing will not be allowed until after July 1 in fiscal year 2020-2021.) |
| May 29 | All change orders to existing purchase orders must be submitted and approved by this date. Any change order requests submitted and approved by departments after May 29 will not be processed until after July 1 in fiscal year 2020-2021. |
| May 29 | Last day for independent contractor and travel reimbursement payments to be approved by departments, including appropriate documentation to Accounts Payable, to ensure payment in fiscal year 2019-2020. |
| May 29 | Last day for ePro vendor catalog invoices from Airgas, Agilent, Amazon Business, Apple, Applied Industrial, ARC3, BioRad, CDW-G, Dell, Fastenal, Fisher Scientific, Grainger, Graybar, Life Technologies, Mayer Electric, MSC, Perkins Elmer, Roche, Sigma Aldrich, Staples, Genesee, Qiagen, Storr, Lenovo, Software Acquisition and VWR to be billed in fiscal year 2019-2020. Please plan ahead for purchases that will be needed during June. Most invoices take two business days to be received. If we do not receive the invoice by May 29, it will be paid from fiscal year 2020-2021 budgets. There is no suspension in purchasing or service for e-Procurement. |
| May 29 | Last day to submit refund requests for Office of Sponsored Research projects. |
| June 19 | Last day to submit invoices on purchase orders (valid budget and no match exceptions) to Accounts Payable to ensure payment in fiscal year 2019-2020, and last day to complete online receiving to ensure payment in fiscal year 2019-2020. You can still submit invoices and receive on 2020-2021 POs after June 19, but invoices will not be paid until after July 1 in fiscal year 2020-2021. |
| June 21 | Last day to review/update the chartfield strings on charges in Customer Billing Management (CBM). |
| June 24 | Last day to reconcile and approve P-Card transactions in current fiscal year. Daily P-Card transactions after this date will be held and posted in fiscal year 2020-2021. |
| June 26 5 p.m. | Purchase orders will be rolled into the new fiscal year. Requisition and purchase orders will not be available until Monday, June 29, due to the weekend and rollover. Please do not attempt to access requisitions and purchase orders between 5 p.m. June 26 and 8 a.m. June 29. |
| Date | Description |
|---|---|
| May 22 | Last day for Facilities to submit Capital Improvements (CI) COPS (Certificate of Participation) vouchers and purchase orders for payment. Final pay cycle, as per Office of State Controller/Office of State Budget Management schedule, will be June 5. |
| May 29 | Last day for Facilities to submit CI Non-COPS vouchers and purchase orders for payment. Final pay cycle will be June 10. |
| June 5 | Last day for Facilities to submit valid journal entries for CI funds. |
| June 19 | Last day to submit department-approved budget journals (valid budget with no exceptions) for fiscal year 2019-2020 for all Trust Funds including those with Contractual Agreements (Contract Trusts), Recharge Centers and Internal Service Funds. |
| June 19 | Last day to submit department-approved journal entries involving OSR funds to OSR for approval, with the exception of OSR cash advance reconciliation journals, for which the deadline is extended to June 25. |
| June 19 | Last date to submit requests for new Source Create and new General Ledger (GL) Accounts to be established before June 30. |
| June 19 | Last date to submit transfers or disbursements to other state agencies that are processed through NC Cash Management Control System (CMCS) / NC Department of State Treasurer, such as Dual Employment, HCS payments and UTS payments. |
| June 23 | Last date to submit approved (pre-audited) outgoing foreign wire transfer in foreign currency instructions for payment processing in fiscal year 2019-2020. |
| June 25 | Last day to submit online cash advance settlement journal entries (OSR and Trust Funds). |
| June 25 | Last day to submit department-approved valid journal entries (departmental, foundations, central offices as appropriate) for all funds. |
| June 25 | Last date to submit DCB (Journal Imports) batches for all funds. |
| July 1 | State Fund combo edit rule will be in effect. Journals entered on State Funds with a FY 2020 date will receive a system-generated error if entered beyond June 30, 2020. |
| July 1 | First business day of July. Please ensure sufficient staff are available to respond to questions and make any required adjustments related to the year close. |
| Date | Description |
|---|---|
| June 19 5 p.m. | All PAAT (Payroll Accounting Adjustment Tool) transactions for non-June payroll must be fully approved through department workflow. |
| June 25 Noon | All PAAT (Payroll Accounting Adjustment Tool) transactions for June payroll must be fully approved through department workflow. |
| June 30 5 p.m. | All funding source changes must be submitted and fully approved to be included in rollover to fiscal year 2020-2021. Unapproved funding source changes will not get rolled and will need to be re-entered in fiscal year 2020-2021. |
| Date | Description |
|---|---|
| May 22 | Last day to submit budget journals for State Receipt Budget changes to Budget Planning and Analysis (BP&A). This is to allow OSBM ample time to approve by fiscal year end. Budget Journals submitted on this date should be pre-dated to June 1. |
| June 25 | Last day to submit budget transfers for State Funds that require central office approval. Please be aware some State budget transfers do not route to central office for approval and posting; it will be up to you to monitor and see that those are approved and posted. (See “pending” at the Approval Header Status.) |
| June 30 | Last day to post departmental-only routing budget transfers for State and F&A funds that do not require BP&A approval and posting. Please correct any errors for transactions you need posted. 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. |
| June 30 4 p.m. | Deletion process will begin for June-dated budget transfers/journals not posted. June budget transactions in the BP&A worklist that do not require prior OSBM approval will be posted before the delete process. |
Departmental Deposit Dates
| Date | Description |
|---|---|
| June 30 Noon | Cash and check deposits must be received by Noon. All deposits for credit card payments settled on June 29, 2020, and prior should be submitted via the Departmental Deposit System in ConnectCarolina by Noon. NOTE: Cash/check deposits submitted with errors cannot be processed until corrected. If the corrections are not processed in time, they will not be included in June 2020. |
| July 1 10 a.m. | All deposits for credit card payments settled on June 29, 2020, must be submitted via the Departmental Deposits System in ConnectCarolina. June 30 deposits will be posted in July 2020.
See Student Account Considerations for student account deposit information. |
| Date | Description |
|---|---|
| June 30 Noon | All OSR deposits must be completed and submitted via the Departmental Deposits system in ConnectCarolina. Cash and Check deposits must be delivered to the Cashier’s Office by 2 p.m. |
| Date | Description |
|---|---|
| June 30 Noon | Cash, check and credit card gifts must be received in University Development by Noon to be processed and deposited for the 2019-2020 fiscal year. |
| Date | Description |
|---|---|
| May 15 | Lockout for Biweekly B23 payroll paid May 22 |
| May 20 | Lockout for May monthly payroll paid May 29 |
| May 29 | Lockout for Biweekly B24 payroll paid June 5 |
| June 11 11 a.m. | Lockout for Summer Session I payroll paid June 18 |
| June 12 | Lockout for Biweekly B25 payroll paid June 19 |
| June 16 | Lockout for June Monthly payroll paid June 30 |
| June 25 | Lockout for Biweekly B26 payroll paid July 2 |
| July 10 | Lockout for Biweekly B01 payroll paid July 17 |
| July 17 11 a.m. | Lockout for Summer Session II payroll paid July 28 |
| July 21 | Lockout for July Monthly payroll paid July 31 |
| July 21 | Lockout for Biweekly B02 payroll paid July 31 |
[Note that payroll dates refer to the lockout dates, beginning at noon unless otherwise stated. Departments should allow for sufficient time for approval routing for personnel actions].
Other Considerations
Purchasing Considerations
Please follow the guidance below from Beau Jimmerson in Procurement for all purchasing considerations for the 2019-2020 fiscal year and the 2020-2021 fiscal year. Full details and the request form are available at the link below.
In order to facilitate approvals required in the COVID-19 Campus Procurement Guidelines released March 19, 2020, effective immediately, units must complete an approval form for all purchases greater than $50,000 and general procurement items which meet the criteria below. Forms must be approved and signed by the Campus Unit Finance Lead and then routed for approval to Vice Chancellor for Finance and Operations Jonathan Pruitt, Senior Associate Vice Chancellor for Finance and Operations Nathan Knuffman and Associate Vice Chancellor for Finance and Budget Stephen J. Agostini. We also ask units to confirm that there is someone available to accept delivery of goods and services. Per the guidance, the following general procurement items will need to be submitted for approval:
- A purchase greater than $50,000.
- Contracts where the University would be required to advance or spend more than $50,000 over the life of the contract.
- Capital improvement payments greater than $50,000
- P-Card expenditures exceeding existing individual purchase limits.
- Consulting agreements.
- Cash advances greater than, or cumulatively exceeding $5,000.
- Vehicle leases or purchases.
- Furniture purchases.
- Unit renovations (Non-Capital Improvements).
- Meetings or entertainment expenses greater than $1,000.
Accounts Payable Considerations
If the receiving has not been entered into the system, payment cannot be made and the purchase order will be charged against 2020-2021 budgets. Likewise, if the original vendor invoice is not received, payment cannot be made and the purchase order will be charged against 2020-2021 budgets. Incomplete documentation may delay your payment request; be certain that the item is fully documented before submitting it for processing. Payment cannot be made before the receipt of goods or services so do not indicate receipt of materials not received in order to use available funds or for any other reason. Accounts Payable will make every effort to pay all items received by the stated deadline with valid budget and no match exceptions.
Accounting Considerations
Cash deficits in institutional trust and special fund accounts must be funded by May 29 through collection of receivables, transfers from other funds or other appropriate methods. Cash deficits may not be carried forward to the new fiscal year without approval of the Senior Director / Associate Controller Chandrika Rao. If funds from University-related foundations on deposit in other accounts will be used to fund expenditures for fiscal year 2019-2020, the funds transfer request should be submitted by May 29. If you anticipate a request to carry forward a deficit, please notify the Senior Director / Associate Controller Chandrika Rao as soon as possible, but in no event later than June 1, 2020.
State Budgeting Considerations
Sufficient budget balances or cash balances must be available to cover all disbursements from University accounts. The State does not allow deficits in any expenditure account. You should review your available budget balances on your monthly reports so all disbursements can be properly funded. Because every effort is being made by Accounts Payable to pay all payables by year end, the ending state balance in ConnectCarolina should be on, or close to, a cash basis. Thus a unit’s ending balance in ConnectCarolina will be the appropriate number for carry forward, and any exceptions for items not paid will be reviewed by central offices for appropriate disposition. Units are reminded that carry forward is subject to approval by OSBM.
OSBM issued budget guidance on April 23, 2020, requesting that all state agencies reduce unnecessary General Fund expenditures for the rest of this fiscal year, which included limiting purchases of goods and services, among other measures. University-specific guidelines previously implemented for procurement and personnel actions align with OSBM instructions which also note exceptions for essential operations and COVID-19 activities. OSBM will be monitoring tax collections and may issue additional guidance once a revised consensus forecast for FY2019-20 is complete in mid-May.
Cashiering Considerations
To comply with G.S. 147-77 and University policies, all departmental receipts must be deposited daily. Do not hold deposits for the new fiscal year. Delaying the deposit of University funds is a violation of State statutes. The daily deposit for electronic credit card receipts for 2019-2020 should be provided to the University Cashier no later than Noon on June 30 via the Online Departmental Deposit System. If the person assigned with this responsibility is not at work on June 30 and July 1, then the department is required to take appropriate measures to get the deposit entered by Noon.
Student Account Considerations
Campus departments billing through the student account MUST delay posting of Fall semester charges until July 2, 2020, or later. The effective date of these campus department charges must be July 1, 2020, or later to ensure proper cutoffs.
Payroll Considerations
The last biweekly payroll posted in the current year will be for the period ending June 7 (paid on June 19). The June monthly payroll will be paid on June 30. Specific deadlines for the Summer Session payrolls have been established. (See year-end deadlines.) The Summer Session payroll dates are May 13 to June 18 for Session I and June 22 to July 29 for Session II.