DFL Weekly Update - June 6, 2025

Upcoming Deadlines

  • Friday, 6/13 - Complete External Audit Activity Report for Q4
  • Monday, 6/30 - Submit final C&G deficit clearing waivers in BFS
  • Monday, 7/7 - Approve FY25 C&G deficit clearing waiver request forms
  • Friday, 8/22 - Submit completed and approved Org Tree change requests

Federal Updates

Please be aware of two resources regarding the evolving federal policy shifts: the UCOP Federal Updates page and the UC Berkeley Federal Updates page.

Emergency Research Funding Process

In response to the numerous notifications of award cancellations from federal agencies affecting investigators and research across the campus, Chancellor Lyons and EVCP Hermalin have created an Emergency Research Fund to be administered by the Vice Chancellor for Research Office. The guidelines and process document is in development. If you have questions about the Emergency Research Fund, please contact vcr@berkeley.edu.

New Federal Requirements Impacting C&G Billing and Closeout

Recent federal policy changes now require CGA to submit more detailed, line-level justifications for federal grant billing and to complete closeouts within 30 days or less for awards subject to suspension, termination, or stop work orders. These changes, along with increased documentation burdens, federal system instability, and staffing constraints, have made last-minute billing requests difficult to accommodate. To help streamline compliance, CGA is in the process of launching new BFS reports that will help CGA analysts pull expense-level detail to support DOGE justifications; however, we’re urging departments to finalize expense adjustments early and submit closeout forms promptly. We appreciate your patience as this duplicative, mandated workload is implemented during a time when our teams are stretched thin, and we encourage your support in helping faculty/PIs understand the importance of timely expense review and early coordination to ensure compliance.

Budget Process

Budget Process Update

Thank you for all your effort to complete and submit your budget materials. The CalPlanning planning tools (CalPlan, HCP) are closed so the Financial Planning & Analysis team can review the budget submissions. CalPlan and HCP will remain unavailable while the Operating Budget is finalized.

Action Items

Fiscal close deadlines FY2024-25

Fiscal Close is underway. You will find the combined list of VCF/VCA deadlines on the Fiscal Close Dates - FY2024-25 page on the Chief Financial Officer (CFO) website. Departments are responsible for completing tasks in the BFS system by the due dates. Please take a moment to review the information to ensure that all relevant steps are taken according to the deadlines.

Gift & Pledge Fiscal Year End Guidelines

Please review the fundraising reporting deadlines for submitting gifts and pledges for FY25 totals, as outlined by UDAR's Gift Services and Fund Stewardship & Compliance teams. Find more information and details on the UDAR Fiscal Close 2025 Flyer - Deadlines & Instructions flier.

  • Monday, June 9: Submit via Fiat Docx draft agreements for pledges or outright gifts that establish new funds. Questions about gift agreements may be addressed to Fund Stewardship & Compliance at Fundhelp@berkeley.edu.
  • Monday, June 30:
    • Delivery of mailed gifts to Gift Services
    • Executed and signed gift agreements to Fund Stewardship & Compliance.
    • Gifts of securities or Wires/ACH to be received in the UC Berkeley brokerage or bank accounts, respectively. Notify GiveSecurities@berkeley.edu of any pending securities gifts. Notify GiftHelp@berkeley.edu of any pending wire/ACH gifts.
  • Thursday, July 3: Submit adjustment requests for FY25 gifts, payments, and pledges using the Adjustment Request Portal.

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.

Submit completed and approved org tree change requests by Friday, August 22

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, August 22, 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.

Review the list for unused airline ticket credits

The UC Travel Center has shared a list of unused airline tickets with ticket credits available with the travelers and travel preparers. Please encourage the travelers within your unit that are listed on the UC Berkeley Monthly Unused Ticket Report to use the credits whenever possible prior to their expiration. If you are aware of individuals in your unit that are no longer with the university, there may be opportunities to have other business travelers take advantage of the credits for future business travel. Please contact the UC Travel Center at 310-206-2639 or at travel@finance.ucla.edu to learn how to use the applicable credit prior to the expiration date. Read more detailed information in the Unused Airline Ticket Credit Alert (June 2025).

Informational Updates

Recharge rates for FY2025-26 are posted to the recharge page

The FY2025-26 recharge rates are approved by the recharge committee and are on the Recharge web page. Thank you very much for all your hard work developing the FY2025-26 recharge rates. We appreciate it. Contact recharge_certification@berkeley.edu with any questions.

BFS Direct Journals

The BFS Accounts Receivable module, known as direct journals, is now available for those who enter deposits in the legacy campus deposit system (CDS). The Controller’s Office held several training sessions via Zoom, and department users will be required to process all deposits in BFS. Users will be notified of the specific date their access to CDS will be modified for reporting purposes only. If you have any questions about training or transitioning from CDS into BFS, please reach out to the Cash Handling and Banking Services team at cashiers@berkeley.edu.

Cal Answers training

The Cal Answers website hosts self-service learning resources including a complete course in basic navigation as well as short videos, job aids, wiki documentation, and a list of Frequently Asked Questions. We also offer a two-hour instructor-led class that builds on the basic navigation skills covered in the self-study. There are separate courses focusing on financial dashboards and student data dashboards. In the class, a subject matter expert guides a deep dive into the reports and data available in the dashboards and answers specific questions.

CalPlanning and Smart View training

The curriculum uses a blended learning model. Courses begin with self-study using online books divided into chapters supplemented with practice exercises and short videos. Courses culminate with a group session using Zoom in which participants work on case studies in small teams to apply the material covered in the self-study. The self-study materials are available on the website for everyone to use; they can be a helpful resource for those who have already completed the training and are looking for a refresher. Review the CalPlanning training page for schedules, links to enroll, and to access the self-study materials.

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. Additionally, the Operational Deadlines page provides an overview of deliverables by quarter.

Thank you,

Office of the Vice Chancellor of Finance