DFL weekly update - January 21, 2022

Upcoming Deadlines at a Glance

  • Friday, 1/21 - Submit FY23 recharge self-certifications and submit your recharge Permbudg retirement journals (today)
  • Friday, 1/28 - Submit Course Materials and Services Fee proposals
  • Friday, 1/28 - Submit Miscellaneous Student Fee proposals
  • Friday, 2/4 - Complete Q2 Key Controls
  • Friday, 2/11 - Submit Reserve Analysis templates
  • Wednesday, 2/16 - Submit completed and approved org tree change requests

Action Items

Submit FY23 recharge self-certifications and submit your recharge Permbudg retirement journals by Friday, January 21

  • Self-certification recharge forms will be due on Friday, January 21. Divisions will need to submit a recharge self-certification form if they support a recharge unit and the unit charges Contracts and Grants or if the unit plans for a recharge income greater than $500,000 a year. We posted the self-certification form to the recharge section of the CFO website. If you have any questions, please contact the Budget and Financial Operations team at recharge_certification@berkeley.edu.
  • As part of the FY23 recharge budget process, we are retiring the PermBudg for recharges because we no longer use it to budget for recharge activities. This is now done in CalPlan. A list of the current PermBudg balances by division are available in the file at the bottom of the recharge section of the CFO website. Please review the balances and create PermBudg journals to net your current PermBudg to zero for each account. Once this is done, email your PermBudg journals identification names to recharge_certification@berkeley.edu to be posted. If you have any questions, please contact the Budget and Financial Operations team at recharge_certification@berkeley.edu.

Submit Course Materials and Services Fee Proposals by Friday, January 28

The call for proposals for Course Materials and Services Fees (CMSF) for FY2022-23 has been released. The proposal form to establish a new CMSF or to increase an existing CMSF, relevant campus policy, and guidance on completing the form, is available on the Course Materials and Services Fees page. Completed proposals are due to studentfees@berkeley.edu by Friday, January 29. Final recommendations and approvals will be made in the spring. Please share this call widely with department leaders in your units. Contact studentfees@berkeley.edu with any questions.

Submit Miscellaneous Student Fee Proposals by Friday, January 28

The call for proposals for Miscellaneous Student Fees (MSF) for FY2022-23 has been released. The proposal form to establish a new MSF, increase an existing MSF, or consolidate multiple fees into one MSF, as well as additional information on MSF policies and procedures, is available on the Miscellaneous Student Fees page. Completed proposals are due to studentfees@berkeley.edu by Friday, January 28. Final recommendations and approvals will be made in late spring. Please share this call widely with department leaders in your units. Contact studentfees@berkeley.edu with any questions.

Complete Q2 Key Controls by Friday, February 4 and updated quarterly reporting process

The Financial Planning and Analysis team and the Controller’s Office have partnered to streamline the quarterly reporting process for the divisions. Going forward, we are retiring the FP&A quarterly variance report and will require only the key controls for quarterly reporting. Please direct questions about this change to dfl_concierge@berkeley.edu and include quarterly reporting in the subject line.

Please complete and submit the Financial Reporting Review and System Access Review by Friday, February 4. Please refer to the Division Key Controls page for instructions and more information. The FY22 budget is now finalized in CalPlanning. Because the GL Summary Report for Q2 will have year-to-date information, please review the data for both Q1 and Q2. By submitting the GL Summary Report for Q2 you will effectively be signing off on both Q1 and Q2 numbers, and you will not need to submit the GL Summary Report for Q1 separately. Note the GL Summary Report is now broken out in three tabs: Current Funds Excluding Contracts & Grants, Contracts & Grants, and Agency Funds. 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.

Submit Reserve Analysis templates by Friday, February 11, 2022

The reserve analysis templates are in your division folder, in a folder called "Reserve Analysis Template" under the FY2022-23 Budget Process folder. A copy of your completed template from last year is also included, for reference. The final reserve analysis workshop is Wednesday, January 12, 2022. We invited DFLs through bCal, so please accept the invitation if you plan to attend. The same material will be covered in this session as in the December session. Our office will also be offering six office hours every week which began on January 5, 2022, so there will be a chance to ask questions. Please sign-up for the office hours ahead of time. More information, including the template guidelines, is available on the Reserve Analysis page. Your completed reserve analysis template is due to the Financial Planning and Analysis team at dfl_concierge@berkeley.edu on Friday, February 11, 2022.

Submit completed and approved org tree change requests by Wednesday, February 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 Wednesday, February 16. As a reminder, the submission date is the last day that approved change requests can be submitted for entry to the February Master Org Tree. Allowable changes through May 31 include New DeptIDs, New Org Nodes, and Description Changes. The Org Tree will be closed to all changes from May 31 through fiscal close. 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:

Informational Updates

Updates to the Chart of Accounts coming up in May and July

UCOP has implemented a new financial information system, and UCOP and all campuses are moving to a new Common Chart of Accounts that is standardized across the UC system. In order to align with the new standard, UC Berkeley will be implementing some updates to our Chart of Accounts effective May 31 and July 1. Most of the changes are behind-the-scenes updates but there are a few that will be relevant to campus users. Please make sure to review updates posted to the Common Chart of Accounts page.

Changes to how uncashed checks are processed

The Controller’s Office is making changes to the BFS process and accounting transactions performed when a check is not cashed by the payee within six months of the issue date (also known as stale-dated checks). Starting January 2022 and every six months thereafter, stale-dated checks will be "escheated" in BFS. Per UC Accounting Manual C-173-78, instead of the credit returning to the original chartstring, the credit for escheated payments will be booked to a central liability account. After four years, if the payment has not been reissued, the credit will be returned to the original chartstring. The two exceptions to this process are 1) Contract and Grant awards and 2) student payments initiated by Campus Solutions. If a payee requests that an uncashed check be reissued, departments will need to submit a Check Cancellation / Stop Payment Request form to Accounts Payable. More information is available on the Payment Options page. Email questions regarding the handling of uncashed checks disburse@berkeley.edu.

FY22 Forecast and FY23 (preliminary) Operating Budget are now available

The CalPlan planning application is available with the FY22 beginning balance and July through December Actuals (this data is already available in CalRptg). The FY2022-23 Operating Budget has been seeded with preliminary numbers to assist with planning activities. Please review the January 2022 Release Notes for details about this update. If you have questions, please contact the Help Desk at calplanhelp@berkeley.edu.

FY2022-23 Budgeted Composite Benefit Rates

We are in the process of submitting the calculated FY23 CBR rates to the Federal Government for approval. Please visit the CBR webpage for additional information and the new projected CBR rates for FY23. Please keep in mind that these rates have not yet been approved by the Federal Government and are therefore subject to change. We anticipate approval of the FY23 CBR rates before the end of this fiscal year (FY22). Contact centralresourcemanagement@berkeley.edu if you have questions.

FY2021-22 Productivity Suite assessment posted in December close

The FY2021-22 Productivity Suite assessment charges were posted in the December month-end close. The Journal ID# is ZACAM578F. If you have any questions, please contact productivitysuite@berkeley.edu or visit the Productivity Suite Assessment page for more information.

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 CalPlanning Training page 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. 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.

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.

Thank you,

Office of the Vice Chancellor of Finance