1. Travel & Entertainment Updates/Reminders
2. TER, DP & PCARD Form Updates - Social Security # no longer required
3. Salaried Appointment Reminder
4. Reminder for Petty Cash Reimbursement Through the Bursar's Office
5. Fiscal Year End Closing Schedule
6. Reviewing Accounts
7. FMS M-910 Report
   
8. Expense Natural Account Code Lookup
   
9. Form 1099
10. New Account/Account Maintenance Form
    
11. Standard Operating Procedure-Revenue Recognition
    
12. Sixty (60) Day Rule for Accounting Corrections
    
13. Preparing Accounting Corrections
    
14. Finance Forms
    
15. Change in Close Date for Project Accounting Module
    
16. Previous issues of Business Matters

P-CARD: P-card transactions posted through February 10, 2006 are in your February reports. 

MEETING: Following is the schedule for the Campus Financial Meetings:

Wednesday, April 26, 2006

Wednesday, July 26, 2006

Wednesday, October 25, 2006

The meetings start at 2:00 pm and are held 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.

I. TRAVEL & ENTERTAINMENT UPDATES/REMINDERS:  Per Ohio University Policy 41:121: Reimbursement for Office Travel and Entertainment, persons traveling on Ohio University business should incur the lowest practical and resonable expense while completing the travel process in an efficient and timely matter. Business Meeting Meals and Entertainment: When requesting reimbursement for Business Meetings Meals or Entertainment, a properly completed Entertainment Expense form (EE-1 available at http://www.finance.ohiou.edu/forms/),must be attached to provide the proper substantiation to the IRS. The business purpose of the meeting as well as the names of individuals in attendance is required.

II. TER, DP & PCARD FORM UPDATES - SOCIAL SECURITY # NO LONGER REQUIRED: Employee Social Security numbers are no longer required for Travel Expense Reports(TER), Direct Payment Forms(DP), or P-card forms. Go to http://www.finance.ohiou.edu/forms to access the revised forms.  See the Q&A below for more info about this change( direct any further concerns or questions to Mary Patacca at patacca@ohio.edu, or 593-1965).

Q: Why the change?

A: Social Security information has become increasingly sensitive due to nationwide increases in identity-theft and fraud. This change will help protect your personal information.

Q: I'm not the only John Smith on campus.Without my SS# on a TER, what will uniquely identify me, so that my reimbursement will be correctly routed?

A: The forms now request Employee ID #'s, instead of SS #'s as unique identifiers.

Q: I don't know my Employee ID #. How will I know it when I'm filling out various forms?.

A: You can easily search for you Employee ID #'s at http://portal.www.finance.ohiou.edu/eelookup. The link is now provided on all Finance forms that request an Employee ID #. You can look it up on spot.

Q: Can I just leave the Employee ID # field black?

A: No, do not leave the Employee ID # field blank. Leaving the ID # field blank can result in reimbursements being routed to an employee with the same or similiar name. The University has a large, international employeee population that includes ever-changing student employees. No matter how distinctive your name is, you better assure proper payment routing by including 100% unique Employee ID #.

Q: Though not required, I sometimes put an SS # on a Billing Authorization or other Finance form, as part of providing a thorough description. Should I begin using Employee ID #?

A: In most cases you can simply leave off the SS #. Unless you need to provide unique identification for the routing of a payment, first and last name are sufficient. A name is sufficient when the description is being provided for the purpose of thoroughly explaining or substantiating a transaction. If a unique identifier is definitely needed, then yes, use Employee ID # instead of SS#. Go to http://portal.www.finance.ohiou.edu/eelookup to lookup employee IDs as needed.

Q: It sounds as if anyone can look up my Employee ID #. What about protecting my Employee ID #?

A: The Employee ID # is designed to be a number that doesn’t require security. It is never used as a log-in (user ID) of any kind. It’s not used to access any sites, services or information on campus or elsewhere. It functions solely as an easily accessible, unique identifier – i.e., it allows unique identification without the security concerns of the SS#. For example, this solution allows an administrative assistant (who may routinely fill out TERs for several people) to provide the information needed without security concerns for the traveler.

III. SALARIED APPOINTMENT REMINDER: Please notify Sari Bailey in the Payroll Office at baileys1@ohio.edu or 593-1862 immediately of any salaried appointment (faculty, staff or graduate student) who should not receive a full pay on the next pay cycle because they have vacated their position due to resignation or otherwise. The avoidance of an overpayment is the responsibility of the employing department. This reminder is intended to assist in that effort and will begin being separately communicated to all report recipients in March.

IV. REMINDER FOR PETTY CASH REIMBURSEMENT THROUGH THE BURSAR’S OFFICE:  The Bursar's Office will reimburse an individual who has used personal cash or a personal check (NOT PERSONAL DEBIT OR CREDIT CARDS) to make a small incidental purchase (for emergency or purchase requiring cash) of not more than $50 from a local vendor where the normal route of payment is not cost effective or appropriate. For additional information, see the policy and procedure for Petty Cash and Change Funds at http://www.ohiou.edu/policy/41-122.html.

V. FISCAL YEAR END CLOSING SCHEDULE:  A fiscal year end schedule is now available on the Division of Finance web site at:http://www.finance.ohiou.edu/components/yecalendar.xls

VI. REVIEWING ACCOUNTS: The end of the fiscal year is approaching. It is our expectation that departments are monitoring their FMS reports and notifying the Division of Finance of any corrections immediately. Keep in mind that the Sixty (60) Day Rule for Accounting Corrections is applicable (see IX below). Also, any overspent Grants and Contracts needs to be resolved with the Grants and Contracts Accounting Office. As June approaches, it becomes even more critical for departments to stay on top of their accounting since there is very little time once the year ends for accounting corrections to be processed.

VII. FMS M-910 REPORT: Please review the balances on your current FMS M-910 report, Open Purchase Order by Cost Center. To verify the balances, compare the amount in the “Open Amount” column for each “Cost Center Total” line on your FMS M-910 report to the amount in the “YTD Encumb” column on your FMS M-110 report. If you find any discrepancies between these reports, notify Diane Lucas at lucasd1@ohio.edu.

VIII. EXPENSE NATURAL ACCOUNT CODES LOOKUP:  The Division of Finance has a new and improved expense natural account codes lookup search feature on their web page. Go to http://portal.www.finance.ohiou.edu/nalookup try it out. Remember to save the site to your Favorites again as the address has changed.

IX. FORM 1099:  Please forward any 2005 Form 1099 received from outside vendors to General Accounting, HDL Center, Room 218. This includes Form 1099-MISC (Miscellaneous Income), Form 1099-INT (Interest Income), Form 1099-DIV (Dividends and Distributions), Form 1099-B (Proceeds from Broker and Barter Exchange Transactions) or Form 1099-G (Certain Government Payments). If you have any questions regarding these forms, please contact Tanya Bibler via email at  biblert@ohio.edu

If you have already forwarded any Form 1099 to General Accounting, thank you for doing so.

X. NEW ACCOUNT/ACCOUNT MAINTENANCE FORM: An updated New Account/Account Maintenance Form has been posted to the forms section of the Division of Finance web page at: http://www.finance.ohiou.edu/accounting/index.htm

This form should be used for University unrestricted and auxiliary accounts ONLY. All University restricted accounts should go through the appropriate account set-up process of the Grants and Contracts Accounting or Plant Fund Accounting Offices. All unrestricted Foundation accounts should go through the Assistant VP for University Advancement at 593-2636. All restricted Foundation accounts should go through your area's Assistant Dean for Development or the Assistant Director of Stewardship & Trustees Academy, Development, at 593-2486.

XI. STANDARD OPERATING PROCEDURE - REVENUE RECOGNITION: The Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) for Revenue Recognition has been updated. It can be found by using the following link: http://www.finance.ohiou.edu/accounting/index.htm

You may want to take a few minutes to review the document because many additions have been made to the SOP.

XII. 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. Accounting Corrections and Pcard (PARIS) Corrections should be submitted on the Accounting Correction form within 60 days of the transaction post date in FMS (NOT the p-card post date in PARIS i.e. if a transaction posts to PARIS on 9/1/05 and posts to FMS on 9/30/05, the post date to use on the Accounting Correction form is 9/30/05 so you have until 11/29/05 to make the correction). Payroll Corrections should be submitted on the Payroll Expense Accounting Correction form within 60 days of the report distribution date for the month the payroll posted.

XIII. PREPARING ACCOUNTING CORRECTIONS: Before preparing the Accounting Correction Form to correct a transaction, please remember to review year-to-date activity for the account by using the OU Funds Available View. This will ensure that duplicate entries are not prepared and processed.

XIV. 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.

XV. 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.

XIII. PREVIOUS ISSUE OF BUSINESS MATTERS : Previous issues of Business Matters can be found at the following website:  http://www.finance.ohiou.edu/nwslttr/cufsinsert.html

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