DFL weekly update - July 2, 2021

Upcoming Deadlines at a Glance

  • Friday, 7/9 - Submit Department of Finance report (new date)
  • Friday, 7/9 - Approve C&G deficit clearing waivers (DFLs)
  • Friday, 7/9 - Return Form A if you have ladder rank faculty
  • Wednesday, 7/14 - Reclass CBR expenses
  • Friday, 8/20 - Budget due in CalPlan and budget process templates due

Budget Process

FY22 budget process update

We released the call letter, the budget process guidelines, and the templates last week and they are available on the budget process page. The templates and the budget in CalPlan are due on Friday, August 20.

Budget Process Office Hours

We’re offering a series of online office hour sessions to answer your questions about the budget process, completing the templates, and entering budget data into CalPlanning. These sessions will be staffed by the Financial Planning & Analysis team. When you sign up to attend, you'll receive the link to the Zoom meeting for your session. We ask that you complete a separate form for each session you wish to join to ensure we’re properly staffing the sessions. These sessions are not training. Please review the training section of the CalPlanning website for training materials to help you with CalPlan and HCP.

Form A due Friday, July 9

The Financial Planning & Analysis team distributed the Form A templates and they are due back to the team at dfl_concierge@berkeley.edu on Friday, July 9. The purpose of Form A is to plan campus support for faculty appointments.

Action Items

Submit completed templates for the Department of Finance reporting by Friday, July 9

The deadline to submit completed templates for the Department of Finance reporting has been extended by UCOP and is now Friday, July 9. Please submit your completed template to the FP&A team by emailing the template to DFL Concierge (dfl_concierge@berkeley.edu) with the subject "COVID-19 Cost Impact" and your division name. Please note that the completed template for each division should be submitted by the Divisional Finance Leaders and Chief Administrative Officers at the divisional (L3) level. Please remember to use the revised Department of Finance template. Visit the CFO website for frequently asked questions and more information on costs related to COVID-19 and completing the Department of Finance template. Contact vcfinance@berkeley.edu with questions.

Approve FY21 Contracts & Grants deficit clearing waiver request forms by Friday, July 9

The deadline for Divisional Finance Leaders (DFLs) to approve the C&G deficit clearing waiver requests in BFS is Friday, July 9, 2021. DFLs should navigate to the following page in BFS in order to approve waivers: Enterprise Components > Forms > Approve/Review a Form. Enter “CGADFCWVR” in the “Form” field.

As a reminder, the following are exempt from the Year-End C&G Deficit Clearing Process related to open awards. Please do not submit a waiver under these circumstances:

  • Awards that have a final Financial Report due date after May 31 and before January 1.
  • Awards with an Anticipated Funding Amount recorded in BFS that exceeds the total actual expenses as of June 30. The Anticipated Funding Amount for awards is found in the BFS fund panel on the "Award Info" page.

If you have further questions regarding the Contracts & Grants deficit clearing processes, please contact the Controller’s Office at cgahelp@berkeley.edu.

Reclass CBR expenses by Wednesday, July 14

CBR benefit expense adjustments should be managed via UCPath. Any manual journal entries on accounts #530xx will need to be reclassified by fiscal close. For more information on how to reclassify these manual entries visit the CBR page on the CFO website and review the section named CBR Expense Reclassification. We will send an email directly to the preparers for the journals for which the entries need to be reclassed. If you have questions or feel that the requested reclass may create an accounting problem for your division please contact the CBR Finance Lead, Herve’ Bruckert at centralresourcemanagement@berkeley.edu.

Informational Updates

Central campus FY21 bridge funding for CBR assessed on academic stipend and post-doc fellows

We have updated the CBR page with information for DFLs on how to submit their bridge funding requests for the unanticipated CBR assessment of academic stipends and post-doc fellows for FY21. We've created Cal Answers queries and pivots by divisions and they are available on the CBR website for a quick and efficient funding request process. Please contact Recharge and CBR Lead Herve' Bruckert with questions at hbruckert@berkeley.edu.

CalPlanning unavailable from Saturday, July 3 to Monday, July 5

The CalPlanning system will not be available starting on Saturday, July 3 through Monday, July 5 due to a system upgrade. All CalPlanning tools (CalPlan, CalRptg, HCPRptg, SmartView) will be offline during that time. We expect CalPlanning to be available by 9:00 am on Tuesday, July 6. Please note that there are several actions users need to take when they first log back into CalPlanning. Please review the CalPlanning Upgrade job aid for details. Refer to the CalPlanning home page for additional information or contact the Help Desk at calplanhelp@berkeley.edu.

Training available - Budgeting for Experienced CalPlanning Users

To support experienced CalPlanning users during the budget process, the Financial Planning & Analysis team will be offering a one-and-a-half-hour lecture and demonstration course called Budgeting for Experienced CalPlanning Users. This class will review changes and enhancements that have been made to CalPlanning in the last year as well as key reminders for the FY2021-22 budget process. More information is available on the Budgeting for Experienced CalPlanning Users page. Follow the links embedded in the dates to add the session to your calendar.

New Payout Funding Process for Rotating Endowed Chairs

FP&A will no longer manage the payout distribution of campus endowed chairs that rotate among divisions. University Development and Alumni Relations (UDAR) will transfer the payout to divisions’ DeptIDs directly. UDAR will use the same convention as with other endowment payouts: a revenue account with a quarterly distribution for Foundation Endowed Chairs and an operating transfer account with an annual distribution for Regents Endowed Chairs. Since these payouts will not pass through the Office of the Vice Chancellor of Finance, DFLs will need to plan for these payouts accordingly in their budgets. If you want to update the payout DeptID for your Rotating Endowed Chair, please contact Fund Management directly at fundhelp@berkeley.edu. For more information, visit the Endowed Chairs page or email us at dfl_concierge@berkeley.edu with "Endowed chairs" in the subject line of your email.

New Cal 1 Card Production Fee

Beginning on July 1, Cal 1 Card will begin charging hiring departments a card production fee ($20 per card) for all new staff Cal 1 Cards. An online tool has been developed where hiring units will provide a chartstring as part of the hiring process. The Cal 1 Card Office will communicate more information on the new process, as well as accompanying support resources for departments and BRS hiring partners, in an upcoming message to impacted groups.

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:

Updated guidance for on-campus events

Please review the guidance available on the Events page on the UC Berkeley Coronavirus website for current information about in-person events. Beginning on June 16, gatherings may resume and authority and responsibility for events will shift to local units/departments, away from the Events & External Relations Sub-Committee. Please review the information on the webpage about event considerations.

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