Finance Onboarding

Welcome to the Finance Community

The finance team is happy to welcome you to the UC Berkeley finance community. Anyone at UC Berkeley with a finance role is part of our community and we are happy to have you. At UC Berkeley, finance is managed at the divisional, departmental, and campus level. The finance division actively partners with the Cabinet, CAPRA, and the Council of Deans to develop financial strategies that support our campus strategic vision, respond to financial crises, and best represent our financial position to the President and Regents. The finance division leads budget planning through the budget process and is responsible for the central ledger, recharge, composite benefit rates, indirect cost recovery, and central resources. We also lead capital finance, financial accounting and controls, audit services, accounts payable and receivable, central payroll, and institutional research. In the divisions, the Divisional Finance Leader (DFL) leads the divisional budget and tracks financial goals. At the department level, financial analysts and other budget owners manage budgets, complete financial transactions, and partner with their DFL. Together, everyone in the finance community plays a role to support our mission of teaching, research, and public service. We appreciate the continued efforts of all our campus partners as we work together to support the university.

Learning how to navigate the different finance processes at UC Berkeley can be a challenge because there is so much information available. The CFO team put together these Finance Onboarding resources to help guide those new to finance at UC Berkeley, or those who may want to brush up on existing knowledge.

Content Overview

Finance onboarding consists of four major subject areas:

Each subject area is broken down into various modules that represent a particular VC Finance process, workstream, or function. As is the nature of onboarding, the content within each module is high level yet critical to understanding campus deliverables, responsibilities, and the policies that govern the work.

Where to go from here - Finance Onboarding Based on Your Role

Purpose and Objectives of Onboarding

Provide learning resources needed to develop the foundational knowledge to be a successful financial contributor at UC Berkeley, including:

  • UC Berkeley’s finance landscape and governance structure

  • The various roles and responsibilities on campus and how they may partner with the Office of the Vice Chancellor of Finance (VCF)

  • Context, timing, procedures, and sample documents for key Financial Planning and Analysis (FP&A) and Controller processes and systems