Upcoming Deadlines
- Friday, 4/17 - Submit completed and approved Org Tree change requests
- Tuesday, 4/28 - Complete Q3 Key Controls
- Thursday, 4/30 - Queue commitments for Q4 requests
- Monday, 5/11 - STAR/SPOT funding requests due for monthly employees
- Friday, 5/22 - Submit budget and budget templates
- Friday, 5/29 - STAR/SPOT funding requests due for biweekly employees
Budget Process
Budget process update
The FY2026-27 budget call letter was sent to the Deans, Vice Chancellors, and Divisional Finance Leaders. The budget process guidelines and assumptions, budget templates, and timeline are available on the FY2026-27 Budget Process webpage. Budgets should be entered into CalPlan and budget templates should be submitted to dfl_concierge@berkeley.edu by Friday, May 1.
Next steps on Form A
Thank you for submitting your completed Form A to the Financial Planning & Analysis team. We are in the process of loading your division's Form A submissions to the FY2025-26 Forecast and FY2026-27 Operating Budget in CalPlan. Information from your Form A submissions will then be used to recalculate Campus Support for FY2027-28 and FY2028-29, and will be loaded to the Budget Template during the week of April 6.
UCRP 2025-26 Supplemental Interest Assessment Rate mid-year change
For the mid‑year adjustment to the UCRP assessment rate from 0.7% to 0.65%, our team will incorporate the updated rate into the Form A templates before uploading them into CalPlan. In addition, the in‑year actual funding will be adjusted to reflect the revised assessment rate. No action is required on your end for this process. We will share further details if any additional steps are needed.
Action Items
Submit completed and approved Org Tree change requests by Friday, April 17
To submit an Org Change request, please access the Organizational Tree Change Request Portal. For Org Tree changes to be processed in April, please complete your org change request form in the portal as early as possible to allow time for the Org Tree Change Committee to review and route for all required approvals by the April 17 deadline. Please review the Org Tree Change Request Portal Job Aid for more information on how to get started. Contact dfl_concierge@berkeley.edu with questions. Note, the last opportunity to submit approved org changes for processing this fiscal year will be Friday, May 22, 2026.
Complete Q3 Key Controls by Tuesday, April 28
Complete and submit both the Financial Reporting Review and System Access Review by the end of the day on Tuesday, April 28. Please visit the Division Key Controls page for instructions and more information. Email questions regarding financial reporting review controls to the Financial Accounting and Controls team at gao@berkeley.edu. For questions about system access review controls, contact the BFS Security team at secbfs@berkeley.edu.
Queue commitments for Q4 requests by Thursday, April 30
Please complete the commitment queue form by Thursday, April 30, for commitments to be funded in May of FY2025-26. Please note that the following commitments do not need to be queued: Budget Decisions; EVCP TAS; Star Awards; Bear Grants; both Productivity Suite and Campus Data Network assessments and endowment payouts for rotating chairs. Commitments are processed on a quarterly basis. You only need to use one commitment queue Google form to submit your commitment requests for both faculty and non-faculty funding commitments. Faculty commitments are defined for this purpose as Start-up; Retention; ASMD; and Chancellor's Professorships. Chancellor’s Professorships are those that are offered via start-up or retention in lieu of an actual chair, until one can be found, and are funded by central resources. For more information about queueing commitments and documentation required, please visit the Commitments page. Please note that if you are working remotely, you must log in through VPN for these forms to work. Please email dfl_concierge@berkeley.edu with questions.
STAR/SPOT funding requests are due by Monday, May 11 or Friday, May 29
The deadline for STAR/SPOT Award payment requests to BRS is Monday, May 11, 2026 for monthly paid employees and Friday, May 29, 2026 for biweekly paid employees. Note that requests for additional certificates or letters have earlier deadlines. Please contact your respective BRS HR Business Partner for details.
Informational Updates
Average Salary and Compa-Ratio Data for FY27 Budgeting Planning
Review the Average Salary Data reports as of April 2, 2026, for non-represented PPSM titles, highlighting Average Compensation-Ratio by Unit and Average Salary and Time in Title by Job Title. These reports can aid in planning and budgeting for potential compensation costs. The purpose of sharing average salary data is to help units address salary equity gaps, not to enforce additional increases. We understand that for many divisions, this means making hard decisions across competing priorities. We support fair and equitable pay based on appropriate business factors.
Please share this information with the members of your organization who provide finance and budgeting guidance to their units. Since these reports contain salary data at the job level by department, please treat this information confidentially and limit its sharing.
Introducing TRaVIS, a new AI Assistant
We are excited to announce the launch of TRaVIS, a new AI assistant within BearGPT to help with questions related to travel, relocation, vendoring, invoice status, reimbursements, and the credit card program, including associated policies. TRaVIS has access to all relevant web content and can answer the most common questions within seconds, 24/7. Access the TRaVIS assistant in BearGPT by clicking “Explore Agents” in the upper-left corner of the BearGPT homepage. Find instructions for logging in to BearGPT on the BearGPT website.
Note that we’ve trained TRaVIS over the past couple of months, but if you encounter incomplete or inaccurate answers, please send a screenshot of the exchange to disburse@berkeley.edu to help us with TRaVIS’ continuing education. And for more complex or one-off questions that TRaVIS can’t be expected to answer, our dedicated AP team will still be here to assist you.
Review April’s updated unused airline ticket credits
Please review the April 2026 UC Berkeley Monthly Unused Ticket Report to ensure your unit's travel credits are used before expiration. If an employee has left UC Berkeley, their credits may be eligible for use by other staff. Please contact the UC Travel Center at 310-206-2639 or travel@finance.ucla.edu to learn how to use the applicable credit. Read more in the Unused Airline Ticket Credit Alert (April 2026).
Inactivation of Account 57005 – Business Meeting-Non-Technical
In order to streamline the chart of accounts, account 57005 - Business Meeting-Non Technical will be inactivated, effective April 30, 2026. Use Account 57004 - Group Meals to record expenses for meals and light refreshments related to meetings, workshops, lectures, or conferences that support official University business.
Please update the account codes in distribution chartstrings for procurement cards, BearBuy requisitions and purchase orders, and journal templates. These expenses are subject to UC policy BUS-79 Expenditures for Business Meetings, Entertainment, and Other Occasions. For questions, contact the Financial Accounting and Controls team at gao@berkeley.edu.
Cal Answers training
Enrollment is now open for the 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. The Cal Answers website also hosts self-service learning resources, including a complete course on basic navigation, short videos, job aids, wiki documentation, and a list of frequently asked questions.
CalPlanning and Smart View training
Self-study materials for CalPlanning and Smart VIew 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 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.
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, which will be updated regularly as new information becomes available.