Upcoming Deadlines at a Glance
- Friday, 8/20 - Budget due in CalPlan and budget process templates due (today)
- Friday, 8/20 - Complete Q4 Key Controls (today)
- Monday, 8/30 - Return signed fiscal close certification letters
- Tuesday, 8/31 - Queue commitments for Q1 requests
- Friday, 9/10 - Complete External Audit Certification for Q1
Budget Process
FY22 budget process update
The templates and the budget in CalPlan are due today, Friday, August 20. After the budgets are submitted in CalPlan, CalPlanning will close so the Financial Planning and Analysis team can review the budget submissions. CalPlan and HCP will remain unavailable until mid November while the FY22 Operating Budget is finalized. The budget hearings will be scheduled to take place in September.
Action Items
Complete Q4 Key Controls by Friday, August 20 (today)
Please complete and submit the financial reporting and system access reviews by Friday, August 20. Please refer to the Division Key Controls page for instructions and more information. Email questions about the financial reporting review controls to the Financial Accounting & Controls team at gao@berkeley.edu and questions about the system access review controls to the BFS System Access team at secbfs@berkeley.edu.
Return signed fiscal close certification letters by Monday, August 30
The annual fiscal close certification letters will be sent to you and your respective Deans by August 13 for signatures. Please upload the signed letters into your DFL - division’s box file folder by Monday, August 30. Information about the fiscal close certification letter is available on the Fiscal Close Certification Letter page. Contact the Financial Accounting & Controls team with questions at gao@berkeley.edu.
Queue commitments for Q1 requests by Tuesday, August 31
Please complete the applicable form (linked below) to queue commitments by Tuesday, August 31 for commitments to be funded in the first quarter of FY2021-22. Please note that the following commitments do not need to be queued: Budget Decisions; EVCP TAS; Star Awards; Bear Grants; Productivity Suite withdrawals and now endowment payouts for rotating chairs. Commitments are processed on a quarterly basis.
Please note that while we're working remotely you must log in through VPN for these forms to work.
Please email dfl_concierge@berkeley.edu with questions.
- To queue non-faculty commitments, complete the non-faculty commitments form on the DFL Knowledge and Resource Portal.
- To queue faculty commitments, complete the faculty commitments form on the DFL Knowledge and Resource Portal. 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.
- New this year: Please provide screenshots of UCPath entries for ASMD leave begin dates and ASMD end dates when you queue ASMD funding through the faculty queue.
Complete External Audit Certification for Q1 by Friday, September 10
To ensure the completeness and accuracy of the quarterly Controller's report on the campus' external audit activities, please help us identify the campus' external audit activities. The Controller's Office is sending a separate email with additional information to DFLs with known external audit activity. By Friday, September 10, 2021, please submit the materials below to Yohei Azuma at yazuma@berkeley.edu:
- All DFLs: External Audit Confirmation Form (You must return the completed External Audit Confirmation Form even if you do not have any external audit activities so we can certify campus responses.)
- DFLs with external audit activities: External Audit Confirmation Template (Include any related documentation with the template, i.e. notification of the commencement of the audit, audit report, etc.)
If you have questions, contact Yohei by email at yazuma@berkeley.edu.
Informational Updates
Business-related travel must be booked through ConnexUC beginning November 1
UC Berkeley is updating their policy on booking business-related travel. Beginning on November 1, employees and students booking flights for business travel will be required to book through the UC travel system ConnexUC (formerly Connexxus). This means employee and student travelers will also need to use the Direct Bill system to generate the identification number that will be used to pay for flights within ConnexUC. The benefit of using Direct Bill is that staff don’t have to pay out of pocket upfront for their airfare, often well in advance of the travel, then having to wait until travel is completed before being able to get reimbursed. With Direct Bill they can charge their airfare directly to the university. With this change, travelers or their delegates will include the payment chartstring when they make the Direct Bill request, rather than providing it in the reimbursement request. Booking through ConnexUC means travelers will automatically get travel insurance, ticket protection, and agent support for their trip. Other potential benefits include preferred seat options, priority standby, and additional mileage. Additionally, if you find a lower fare somewhere else, send it to the travel team at travel@berkeley.edu and they’ll find you the rate in ConnexUC or potentially grant an exception to book outside the ConnexUC system. More information about how to use ConnexUC is available on the ConnexUC page on the Travel website and we will post frequently asked questions as they become available. If you have questions about this change, email the travel team at travel@berkeley.edu.
Maya Woodson Turman serving as acting DFL for the Graduate School of Education
Maya Woodson Turman, FP&A’s Director of Business Process and Strategic Analysis, will temporarily serve as the Divisional Finance Leader for the Graduate School of Education through October. Besides performing DFL-related responsibilities such as managing the FY22 budget process, Maya will partner with Dean Chris Edley to conduct financial analyses on key programmatic opportunities to improve the school’s long-term financial sustainability.
Master Org Tree closed
The final opportunity to submit approved org tree change requests to be entered in BFS for FY21 was May 18. The org tree will be closed for all changes until after the FY21 budget decisions are finalized. Org tree change requests can be submitted for review and approval anytime during fiscal close as the Budget and Financial Operations (BFO) team will continue to review requests to approve in advance of when the tree will open. 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. 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. All Org Tree change types including Org Node and DeptID movements will be available after fiscal close through November. 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.
CalPlanning and Smart View Training
Do you need to learn or enhance your skills in CalPlanning or Smart View? Training classes are available through the end of June 2021. Visit the training page of the CalPlanning website to learn more and sign up. Our new blended learning model combines self-study work that you can do at your own pace with instructor-led group learning sessions where you can apply the material covered in the self-study.
Office Hours for CalPlanning and Smart View
Office hours are available so that you can ask specific questions about CalPlanning and Smart View. Sign up for a session 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.
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.
As a reminder, these updates are regularly posted to the DFL Weekly Updates page so you can reference past updates at any time.
Thank you,
Office of the Vice Chancellor of Finance