Upcoming Deadlines at a Glance
- Monday, 9/27 - Submit journals for divisional sweeps of carry-forward balances
- Friday, 10/8 - Submit materials to establish a PDST charge effective summer or fall 2022
- Friday, 10/29 - Complete Q1 Key Controls
- Friday, 11/5 - Submit required PDST materials for programs with approved multi-year plans
Budget Process
FY22 budget process update
Thank you for all of your efforts to submit your budgets. CalPlanning is now closed while the Financial Planning and Analysis team reviews the budget submissions. CalPlan and HCP will remain unavailable until mid November while the FY22 Operating Budget is finalized. The budget hearings are currently taking place.
Action Items
Submit journals for divisional sweeps of carry-forward balances by Monday, September 27
If your division is planning to sweep year-end balances to their divisional office at the beginning of this fiscal year, be sure to submit all journals to the Budget and Financial Operations team by Monday, September 27. Please ensure all journals comply with the process and requirements posted on the Divisional Sweeps of Carry-Forward Balances page. To submit your prepared journals for approval, please send them to centralresourcemanagement@berkeley.edu.
Complete Q1 Key Controls by Friday, October 29
Please complete and submit the Compensation Expense report and system access reviews by Friday, October 29. You do not need to review the Q1 GL Summary Report as the budget information is not available in Cal Planning at this time. Please visit 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.
Professional Degree Supplemental Tuition (PDST) programs 2022-23
UCOP released the call for proposals from programs that charge Professional Degree Supplemental Tuition (PDST) with expiring multi-year plans, or from programs that wish to establish a PDST charge for a new or existing program effective beginning summer or fall 2022. Submit draft materials (including Part A and Part B) to studentfees@berkeley.edu by Friday, October 8, 2021.
For programs with previously approved multi-year plans, UCOP has asked that all programs with previously approved multi-year plans either:
- (a) confirm that they intend to charge the maximum approved PDST rate; or
- (b) request UCOP approval to charge a rate lower than was approved
Email studentfees@berkeley.edu confirming your proposed 2022-23 charges by Friday, November 5, 2021. Contact studentfees@berkeley.edu with any other questions.
Avoid Sponsored Research billing errors on non-UC subaward purchase orders
Spending on federal awards for subaward activities requires us to use the following account codes when establishing a purchase order with a subaward agency in BearBuy;
- Expense Account Code 57811 (spending between $0 - $25,000, IDC charged)
- Expense Account Code 57810 (spending >$25,000, no IDC)
We have a significant number of purchase orders established in BearBuy where the Purchase Order is greater than $25,000 but uses 57811 only. Coding errors can lead to errors in downstream invoice billing (including overbilling issues) to the federal sponsor. It can also damage the university’s reputation with federal sponsors and could result in the cancellation of grants in the future. To avoid these possible outcomes, we ask that you proactively review all purchase orders within your area for subaward activity and update them with the correct expense account codes. The first $25k in spending should be coded to 57811 and any spending in excess of $25k should be coded to 57810. Department Research Administrators can make corrections directly in BearBuy.
Supply Chain Management has created a Using the Subaward Form in BearBUY job aid to assist users when using the “Subaward for Non-UC Recipients Form” in BearBuy. This job aid will be shared with all BearBuy users in a future Supply Chain Management newsletter. If you have any questions, please contact Contracts and Grants Accounting (CGAawards@berkeley.edu) for further assistance.
Informational Updates
Alpha-numeric values for endowment principal and income funds
The UC Office of the President will be creating alpha-numeric fund codes for new funds in the endowment income and principal fund groups, effective immediately. The future endowment income fund values - fund group code 407100 - will begin with the letter “T” followed by four numerical values (for example, T0001). Endowment principal funds - fund group code 407210 - will begin with the letter “S” followed by four numerical values (for example, S0001). If your division has subsystems or interfaces that feed data into BFS with endowment funds, please make sure these subsystems can accommodate the alpha-numeric fund codes. If you have questions regarding this change please contact Financial Accounting & Controls at gao@berkeley.edu.
BEAR Grants Funding timeline update
The funding for the Berkeley Excellence Accounts for Research Grants (BEAR Grants) will not be provided in the first quarter. FP&A is working with the Academic Personnel Office (APO) to get the necessary information for the BEAR grants funding allocation for fiscal year 2021-2022. We will reach out to you when the data is ready for your review in the upcoming weeks.
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.
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 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.
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