DFL Weekly Update - May 16, 2025

Action Items

Ensure schedulers check final Spring CSIR data by Friday, May 16

The last day for schedulers to make changes to the Spring 2025 semester is Friday, May 16. This is a hard deadline, meaning schedulers will not be able to make any edits, including error corrections, after this date. Schedulers can review their courses and check for errors in the CSIR reports. These reports are sent out twice each semester: once on the 6th week of instruction and again on the 15th week just before the deadline. Schedulers can also pull these reports themselves throughout the semester. Instructions on how to pull the CSIR reports, along with other scheduling tips/tricks, can be found on the OPA CSIR slide deck (slide 24). Additionally, schedulers are encouraged to reach out to the OPA-CSIR team at opa-csir@berkeley.edu if they have any questions or need help correcting any errors.

Submit completed and approved org tree change requests by Friday, May 23

If you would like to submit changes to the Org Tree, please submit your completed, Budget and Financial Operations (BFO) Committee approved request by Friday, May 23, 2025. 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. 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 review the new Org Tree Lookup Tool This new tool replaces the monthly manually produced Master Org Tree and will provide the most current org tree data as of one business day before. Training materials and Job Aids are located on the CFO website.
• There are updates coming soon to the Department Prefixes, and How to Create Visio files job aids located in the Tools and job aids section of the Organizational Tree web page.
• 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, May 30

The non-contract and grant (C&G) FY2024-25 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, May 30. 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.

Complete External Audit Certification for Q4 by Friday, June 13

To ensure the completeness and accuracy of the quarterly Controller's report to the UC Office of the President - Ethics, Compliance, and Audit Services, please help us identify the external audit activities on campus. The Controller’s Office is sending a separate email with additional information to DFLs with known external audit activities. By Friday, June 13, please submit the materials below to gao@berkeley.edu.

Submit final C&G deficit-clearing waivers in BFS by Monday, June 30

Research Administrators (RAs) or other BFS departmental users should submit FY25 Contracts & Grants deficit clearing waiver request forms, for a waiver of deficit clearing on open awards, via the RA Grants WorkCenter no later than Monday, June 30, 2025. For the Year-End Deficit Clearing Process on open awards, BFS users can submit the C&G deficit-clearing waiver request form through the RA Grants WorkCenter as of June 2. Refer to the action dots in the blue header row at the top of the screen in BFS for instructions. Access to the RA Grants WorkCenter is obtained by submitting a request via the SARA system. You can read more about the year-end deficit clearing process on the Deficit Clearing Process page.

Approve FY25 C&G deficit clearing waiver request forms by Monday, July 7

The deadline for Divisional Finance Leaders (DFLs) to approve the C&G deficit-clearing waiver requests in BFS is Monday, July 7. 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 of this year and before January 1 of next year.
• Awards with an Anticipated Funding Amount recorded in BFS that exceeds the total actual expenses as of June 30 this year. 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.