Newsletter 2020-2021 Volume 7

News

Monthly Closing Calendars

The January 2021 period in the general ledger has closed. When running your reports, please keep in mind that the reporting environment has a 24-hour delay in displaying data. The current and future month-end processing deadline schedules are located at Monthly Closing Deadlines.

Accounts Receivable – (excluding Accounts Receivable maintained by Student Financials or Division of Research)

All departments offering goods or services with the potential to generate accounts receivable should have written departmental procedures to govern the collection of those receivables. Procedures should be in line with the University Accounts Receivable Procedures found here. Specific guidelines are included under the Departmental Guidelines section of the document. Any department seeking additional guidance should contact the Accounts Receivable department of the Controller’s Office.

AP Journal Vouchers

The Controller’s Office has decentralized the journal voucher process. Accounts Payable will be processing journal vouchers on behalf of departments in very specific circumstances only.

FSSS is providing the training and once you attend the training, FSSS will grant you access.

Please visit the FIU Professional Development website and search for the Journal Voucher Training Demonstration.

Professional or other organizational membership dues

Public funds may be used for the purpose of paying professional institutional/organizational membership dues, provided that the membership is essential to the duties and responsibilities of the institution or organization. Individual memberships are not reimbursable unless there is written certification by the organization stating that it does not accept institutional memberships. Individual memberships also must be essential to the statutory duties and responsibilities of the individual. Do not include departmental/organizational memberships that are paid on an expense report.

Avis Budget Group Auto Rental

The State of Florida Department of Management Services has executed a new contract with Avis Budget Group, Inc. for rental vehicles. This contract is effective as of September 30, 2020. FIU will use this contract for all individuals that travel on behalf of the University. The rental class is restricted to a compact (Class B) vehicle unless traveling with multiple FIU travelers. Please review the Florida Department of Management Services Rental Vehicle Pricing.

The FIU Avis Worldwide Discount (AWD) number for making reservations is B-133407 and the FIU Budget Corporate Discount (BCD) number is T-417711. Please review the User Reference Guide for rental vehicles by Avis Budget Group.

Note: Budget Corporate Discount (BCD) number changed to T-417711. This number is unique for FIU use only.

Customers may make reservations and rent vehicles from any location for either brand; use the Avis Website and Budget Website to determine the most convenient location for either brand. Customers are strongly encouraged to only use airport locations for trips involving air travel.

Materials and Supplies

Materials and/or supplies needed for office spaces/classrooms/labs and other business purposes must be obtained using either the PCard, paid by FIU via a requisition, or an unencumbered vendor form. Supplies are not individually reimbursed. Items must be purchased by the department. Permanent employees that need to obtain commodities or commodities and food privileges on behalf of the university must get a PCard.

Reminders & Deadlines

Travel

Help us to expedite approving Travel Authorizations, Cash Advances, and Expense Reports. Documents that have not been completely finalized and are older than 90 days will be cancelled or deleted by the Travel Department. A list of pending documents is located here. Information regarding report status abbreviations and how to close or cancel Travel Authorizations and/or Expense Reports can be found here.

Departmental Card Deadline

As a reminder, departmental card billing transactions regularly load the first business day of the month; program participants will have 10 days to process this activity in its entirety. This month’s billing statement (dated December 31, 2021) loaded into PantherSoft on January 1, 2021 and must be completely processed by the end of the business day on January 15, 2021.

Any charges not processed by the closing deadline will be automatically charged to the cardholder’s default accounting on file and will not be eligible for a transfer. Cardholders with three unjustified non-approvals in the same fiscal year will have their card suspended until they complete a retraining session.

Additionally, cardholders with three unjustified non-approvals in the same fiscal year will have their card limits suspended until they complete a retraining session.

How to sign up for the Panther Post Newsletter

If you wish to be added to the ListServ for the Panther Post, please email controller@fiu.edu.