Upcoming Deadlines at a Glance
- Friday, 4/28 - Form A due (from divisions with ladder rank faculty)
- Friday, 4/28 - Queue commitments for May Q4 requests
- Tuesday, 5/16 - Submit completed and approved org tree change requests
- Wednesday, 5/31 - Budget and budget templates due
- Friday, 6/2 - Submit non-contract and grant deficit waiver requests
Budget process
Budget process update
The budget process guidelines and assumptions are available on the CFO website, along with the budget process timeline and information about this year’s budget process deliverables. Throughout the budget process, the FY2023-24 budget process page is the hub where we will post budget process materials and updates.
Budget templates
The templates for this budget process include:
- Form A (for divisions with ladder-rank faculty) due Friday, April 28
- Strategic Priorities template due Wednesday, May 31
- Multi-year Budget template (which includes the Use of Reserves template) due Wednesday, May 31
- FY24 Central Resource Request template (optional) due Wednesday, May 31
Budget office hours
We are offering three office hours during this budget process. These will be on May 16 and May 18 from 10 am to 11 am and on May 23 from 3 pm to 4 pm to help answer any questions you might have regarding the budget exercise. Sign up for the FY2023-24 Budget office hours by completing the FY24 Budget Office Hours Sign Up Form. The Zoom link is included in the sign-up form.
Form A templates are in the shared Divisional Folders and are due Friday, April 28
We released Form A templates to the divisions with ladder-rank faculty. The purpose of Form A is to plan campus support for faculty appointments. The form documents anticipated changes in permanently budgeted state-funded faculty for a division’s Forecast and Operating Budget. Form A templates are in your Divisional Folders under the FY2023-24 Budget Process folder. Please download, review, and upload your completed Form A to the same folder by Friday, April 28. Then email the Financial Planning and Analysis team at dfl_concierge@berkeley.edu to let them know you completed it.
CalPlanning availability
The CalPlanning tools CalPlan and HCP are available for edits. Visit the April release notes for more information. The FY2022-23 Forecast Working version was updated with March actual data on Thursday morning April 13.
Action Items
Queue commitments for May Q4 requests by Friday, April 28
Please complete the commitment queue form by Friday, April 28, for commitments to be funded in May of FY2022-23. Please note that the following commitments do not need to be queued: Budget Decisions; EVCP TAS; Star Awards; Bear Grants; both Productivity Suite and Campus Data Network assessments and endowment payouts for rotating chairs. Commitments are processed on a quarterly basis. You only need to use one commitment queue google form to submit your commitment requests for both faculty and non-faculty funding commitments. Faculty commitments are defined for this purpose as Start-up; Retention; ASMD; and Chancellor's Professorships. Chancellor’s Professorships are those that are offered via start-up or retention in lieu of an actual chair - until one can be found, and are funded by central resources. For more information about queueing commitments and documentation required, please visit the Commitments page. Please note that if you are working remotely, you must log in through VPN for these forms to work. Please email dfl_concierge@berkeley.edu with questions.
Submit completed and approved org tree change requests by Tuesday, May 16
If you would like to submit changes to the Org Tree, please submit your completed, Budget and Financial Operations (BFO) Committee approved request by Tuesday, May 16. We recommend that you submit your change request form for review as soon as possible to allow time for the BFO team to review your request, follow up with you for any necessary clarification, approve your request, and allow you time to obtain all required signatures before the submission deadline. This is for all org changes with the exception of Org Node and DeptID moves.
The time needed to review change requests will vary, depending on the complexity of the request. For more information:
- A high-level summary of the process to approve org tree changes is available on the DFL concierge webpage.
- An overview of the org tree change submission deadlines is available in the Org Tree Submission and Processing Timeline. Important: Please review the update on the estimated processing time for journal source configuration of new L4 org node codes. As a reminder, journal source configuration for new L4’s is required if there is a need to prepare and approve journals.
- Please review the Org Tree Calendar for the timeline of allowable org tree changes throughout the year.
- Please submit questions and requests for changes to the Org Tree to dfl_concierge@berkeley.edu. Note: If you plan to request an Org Node change or Entity Hierarchy redesign, please contact dfl_concierge@berkeley.edu and explain what you would like to change before completing the request form because these changes are typically more complex and involve longer consultations.
Submit non-contract and grant deficit waiver requests by Friday, June 2
The non-contract and grant (C&G) FY2022-23 Deficit Waiver request form is now available on the VC Finance website. If you are planning to submit a non-C&G waiver request, complete the form by Friday, June 2. As a reminder, all divisions are expected to meet their operating needs within their available funding; waivers should only be requested for exceptional circumstances. Deficits less than $25,000 are not eligible for a waiver request. To assist in this process, use the fund deficit report in Cal Answers: Dashboards>Finance>Fund Deficits Reporting>Deficits to be Cleared. Note that you do not need to submit a new request for a previously approved multi-year deficit waiver unless you require a higher waiver amount. To view waivers that were approved as part of a prior multi-year request, use the waiver report in Cal Answers: Dashboards>Finance>Fund Deficits Reporting>Waivers and Tolerances. More information about non-C&G deficit resolution policy and processes, including waiver eligibility thresholds, how to clear deficits, and what happens if a deficit is not cleared, is available on the Fiscal closing related webpage. If you have other questions regarding the non-C&G deficit clearing process, please contact the Financial Planning & Analysis team at dfl_concierge@berkeley.edu.
Informational Updates
Update to AT&T cellular and data plan rates for UC Berkeley employees
Good news - thanks to the Network Support Team (CNS), the prices of university-sponsored phone plans with AT&T have been reduced dramatically and are some of the lowest that can be found anywhere. For example, the unlimited talk, text, data, and mobile hotspot rate is going from $106.39 to $44.99. Existing customers will have their rates automatically adjusted. The campus Verizon cellular/data plans are still excellent as well at $50.05 monthly for unlimited talk, text, data, and mobile hotspots. There are also many additional benefits that go beyond preferred pricing. Both AT&T and Verizon plans include unlimited everything with no throttling and Travel Passes are automatically added to accounts when you travel internationally in covered areas. Review AT&T cellular plans and device pricing and Verizon cellular plans and device pricing on the Telecom catalog. As we clarified in September of last year, the university does not reimburse the procurement of cellular equipment and/or monthly service purchased outside of the university-sponsored plan. If your role requires the use of a business cell phone paid for by the university, Berkeley IT's Cellular (Wireless) Phone plans are now better than ever.
TSA event update
We would like to extend a big thank you to the Rec Sports staff for providing their facility and to everyone who participated in the TSA PreCheck event in March. The Accounts Payable and the Travel teams hosted a week of interview appointments so that UC Berkeley staff, faculty, students, and their families could complete the TSA PreCheck enrollment process on campus. This program allows people to access the expedited screening lanes at participating airports. There were 283 enrollments during the week-long event. If you’re interested in participating in a future on-campus event, please contact us at travel@berkeley.edu.
CalPlanning training
To support planners in the FY24 budget process, FP&A is offering office hours to support the use of the Multi-year Budget Template on Thursday, May 4, 10-11 am. For people who are new to CalPlanning and those that would like a refresher, we offer a full curriculum on the planning tools, CalPlan and HCP, as well as the reporting tools. Visit the Training section on the CalPlanning webpage for course descriptions and links to enroll.
CalPlanning training - classes available for new users
CalPlanning and Smart View training classes for new users are available for enrollment. The curriculum uses a blended learning model. Courses begin with self-study using online “books” divided into chapters supplemented with practice exercises and short videos. Courses culminate with a group session using Zoom in which participants work on case studies in small teams to apply the material covered in the self-study. The self-study materials are available on the website for everyone to use; they can be a helpful resource for those that have already completed the training and are looking for a refresher. Review the CalPlanning training page for schedules and links to enroll and access the self-study materials.
Office Hours for CalPlanning and Smart View
Office hours are available so that you can ask specific questions about CalPlanning and Smart View. Request office hours and indicate the topic for which you are requesting support. Office hours are an opportunity to get individual support for a specific challenge your unit is facing; they are not a replacement for training.
Cal Answers Training
Please review the self-service learning resources on the Cal Answers website, where Cal Answers users will find a complete course in basic navigation as well as short videos, job aids, wiki documentation, and a list of Frequently Asked Questions. Additionally, the two-hour instructor-led classes build on the basic navigation skills covered in the self-study. There are separate courses focusing on financial dashboards and student data dashboards. In the class, a subject matter expert will guide a deep dive into the reports and data available in the dashboards and answer specific questions.
Review CalPlanning access
With another round of budget input to CalPlanning, please review CalPlanning security to ensure that your planners have the access that they need. To review those with access in your division, review the CalPlan_HCPRptg_security worksheet. The DFL or CalPlanning access provider can request access removal in the worksheet. Please use the CalPlanning User Access Request Form to request to add new users or to increase access (more entities) to existing users. CalPlanning access requests will be processed within five business days. Reach out to the CalPlanning Team with any questions at calplanhelp@berkeley.edu.
Changes to the DFL in your division?
If the DFL role in your division is changing, email fpa@berkeley.edu to ensure our website, communications, and training plans are updated.
DFL Weekly Updates Page
As a reminder, these updates are regularly posted to the DFL Weekly Updates page so you can reference past updates at any time. Additionally, the Operational Deadlines page provides an overview of deliverables by quarter.
Thank you,
Office of the Vice Chancellor of Finance