1. OUF Balances
2. September Budget Amounts
   
3. Research Incentive Accounts
   
4. New Mileage Reimbursement Rate for Business Travel
   
5. Capital Equipment Reminder
   
6. OU Petty Cash and Change Funds
   
7. Gratuities\Vendor Gifts Guidelines
   
8. The Best P-Card Program in the Land
   
9. Ohio University Affiliated Bank Account
   
10. M110 Report Enhancement
    
11. Scholarship Natural Account Codes
    
12. Finance Forms
    
13. Email Address for Finance Staff
14. Change in Close Date for Project Accounting Module
    
15. Sixty (60) Day Rule for Accounting Corrections
    
16. Previous issues of Business Matters

P-CARD: P-card transactions posted through September 9, 2005 are in your August reports. 

MEETING: The next Campus Financial Meeting is scheduled for Thursday, October 27 at 2:00 p.m. in the Human Resources and Training Center, Room 141-145.

If you cannot make it to the meeting, please visit the web site at: http://www.finance.ohiou.edu/campusfmtg/ for access to information discussed at the meeting.  This information is usually posted by the end of the day on the Friday following the meeting.

OUF BALANCES:  Please remember that OU Foundation account balances are NOT final until the annual audit is complete.  Balances are in 3^rdclose reports are subject to change.  Please use the OU Funds Available View for the most recent account balance.  You will be notified once these account balances are final.  If you have any questions, please contact the Ohio University Foundation accounting office at 593-1882.

SEPTEMBER BUDGET AMOUNTS:  The budget amounts in your September reports should represent your purchase order carryforward budget,  your original budget load, and your carryforward budget.

RESEARCH INCENTIVE ACCOUNTS:  Research Incentive accounts should now have current balances in them.  The budget allocations for the months of July, August, and September were posted as well as the carryforward from fiscal year 2005

NEW MILEAGE REIMBURSEMENT RATE FOR BUSINESS TRAVEL:  The 2005 mileage reimbursement rate has been increased from 40.5 to 48.5 cents per mile for business mileage incurred in a personal vehicle. This is approximately a 20% increase. The rate is in effect from Sept. 1, 2005 through Dec. 31, 2005, at which time it will be re-evaluated by the IRS. Make sure you are using the correct rate for the dates of travel reported on your Travel Expense Report (TER) form. TER forms, with both rates, can be found by visiting the following web site:   http://www.finance.ohiou.edu/forms/index.htm

CAPITAL EQUIPMENT REMINDER:  If a P-Card is used to purchase Capital Equipment (equipment with a cost greater than $2500) the following information must be provided when updating the transaction in PARIS

• Manufacturer name, serial number and model number
• Acquisition date or date received
• Location
• Unit acquisition cost (if not clearly indentified)
• Name of department taking ownership

If non-capital equipment is purchased and the total transaction amount is greater than $2500 please write a brief description of items purchased and cost in the note screen for clarity.

OU PETTY CASH AND CHANGE FUN: If you are a fiduciary, custodian, or backup custodian of OU petty cash and change funds,  sure to read the new Petty Cash/Change Fund Policy 41.122, found at the following address: http://www.ohiou.edu/policy/41-122.html

GRATUITIES/VENDOR GIFTS GUIDELINES:  In the past, and at the request and suggestion of our customers, Procurement Services has provided Gift-Buying Guidelines, Direct Payment Guidelines, Bid Waiver Guidelines, and Cell Phone Guidelines, at the Purchasing website: http://www.finance.ohiou.edu/purch/index.html Now, also at customer request, we've added Gratuity/Vendor Gifts Guidelines - in time for the holiday season. The new guidelines provide information from the Ohio Ethics Commission, and practical advice for handling those pesky gifts from University suppliers.   Customers: Check the Purchasing website for the new guidelines - and keep those suggestions coming!

THE BEST P-CARD PROGRAM IN THE LAND :  Hoping to improve their own processes, Columbia University recently commissioned respected higher ed business consultants Goldstein & Associates to study P-card programs in higher education. They ranked Ohio University P-Card program as number 1 in the country!

Congradulations to the P-Card Team:  Sherri Crabtree, Shannon Bruce, Sue Shaw & Cindy Meyer and many thanks to all the folks in Finance who contribute to the effort, and to our diligent, exemplary cardholders and PARIS users. Columbia has been calling regularly to learn how to bring the same kind of quality program to their faculty and staff, and:

• A few weeks ago, Emory University sent two reps in from Atlanta, to spend time with the OHIO P-card team. In the past, Kent, Miami, and Shawnee have done the same. Ohio State asked OHIO to speak to their p-card team and cardholders, as did the Inter-University Council of Ohio. Calls from higher ed programs around the country, asking for best-practice advice, and making requests to use our materials and methods, have been an almost daily occurrence for the OHIO p-card team for several years.
• Recognized nationally for the innovative, customer-oriented nature of the program and its auditing methods, OHIO P-card associates have been eagerly recruited as speakers for national higher education business conferences.
• OHIO is the only higher education client on GE Capital's Customer Advisory Board. Impressed with the program here at OHIO, GE even took the unusual step of sending their product developers to campus and we've been able to directly influence product development.

OHIO UNIVERSITY AFFILIATED BANK ACCOUNTS :  For those of you who deal with Ohio University affiliated bank accounts, please send copies of your 12/31/05 bank statements and bank reconciliations to Danny Kasler by February 1, 2006. Treasury Management will be doing some preliminary work prior to the June 30, 2006 audit.

M110 REPORT ENHANCEMENT:  The cost center field on the M110 COST CENTER BY PLANNING UNIT report has been reformatted so that the text will wrap in the cell to allow the entire project description to be printed. Folks should find this especially useful for OU Foundation accounts since the formal name must be used for the project description. If you have any comments or questions regarding this enhancement or any FMS report, please contact Tanya Bibler at biblert@ohio.edu  

SCHOLARSHIP NATURAL ACCOUNT CODES:  There are several scholarship natural account codes that are no longer being used. As a result, these natural account codes will be end-dated in FMS. They are as follows:

741100 GA TA SCHOL EXT FUNDED STIPD

741200 RSRCH SCHOL UNIV FUNDED STIP

741300 RSRCH SCHOL EXT FUNDED STIPD

741400 SCHOL AUX FUNDED STIPEND

741600 FELLOW SCHOL UNIV FUNDED STI

741700 FELLOW SCHOL EXT FUNDED STIP

741800 SCHLSHP ONLY CENTRAL FUNDING

FINANCE FORMS :  Just a reminder: Finance forms are continually being updated. For best results and speediest processing, always check http://www.finance.ohiou.edu/forms the latest version of the Finance form you need.

E-MAIL ADDRESSES FOR FINANCE STAFF:  Make sure that you are using Oak e-mail addresses for Finance Staff because the former Lotus email addresses (@vpf.finance.ohiou.edu) are no longer valid.

CHANGE IN CLOSE DATE FOR PROJECT ACCOUNTING MODULE:  Due to recent Oracle FMS system upgrades and process changes, the Project Accounting Module will close the last day of the month beginning with August.  This affects all grants, contracts, plant and capital improvement accounts. Any transaction received at the end of the month will be processed during the following month.  Please use PSI (Project Status Inquiry) to review your account during the course of the month for the current status of activity in the project.

SIXTY (60) DAY RULE FOR ACCOUNTING CORRECTIONS: Please note that effective July 1, corrections for transactions over 60 days will not be processed by the Division of Finance.

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