Monthly Closing Deadlines

The July 2023 period in the general ledger has closed.  The current and future month-end processing deadline schedules are located at Monthly Closing Deadlines.

The New Master Approval Guide is Live

Great news, Approvers! A new Master Approval Guide is now available on the Office of the Controller website. If you’ve ever lost an approval notification email or struggled to find where and how to approve transactions routed to you, this guide will help. System links, navigations, and specific steps required to approve the most common business process transactions are conveniently organized within this central resource. 

The guide is found under News & Announcement on the Office of the Controller homepage as shown below.

We encourage you to use this tool and provide your feedback by emailing us at controller@fiu.edu. Please send us any other transactions or business processes you may want to see included in this guide.

Online Payment Solution – Eventbrite

Online Payment Solution – Eventbrite

Is your department interested in deploying an online solution to accept credit card payments for a workshop, conference, non-credit course, event, or other revenue generating activity? If so, we may have a solution for YOU. The Eventbrite platform is the most cost-effective way to accept credit card payments online with the quickest turnaround time to implement.

The Merchant Services team in the Controller’s Office manages the Eventbrite master agreement. We are responsible for onboarding departments within the University. This option is available for departments accepting revenue for FIU01. If you are interested in accepting donations, please contact Foundation directly. The Merchant Services team assists with creating the Eventbrite page and manages users’ access in the portal. Employees must be vetted before they can be granted access to their specific event(s)/page(s) in Eventbrite.

A benefit of using the Eventbrite platform is having the option to push the fees (transactional and payment card fees) on to your customers. If you’d rather not charge your customers, the department can absorb the expense instead. The negotiated fee rates below are substantially less than the current Eventbrite fees for new organizers.

Transactional fees: 2% of registration value plus $0.99 (capped at $17.95) +

Payment Card Fees: 2.5% of total transaction value

To explore this payment solution further, email us at merchant@fiu.edu. We will schedule a meeting with you to determine your business needs/expectations and to discuss the process in greater detail.

Travel Reminders

• Travel Proxies and HR Supervisors, Expense Managers, Project Managers, or Supplemental Approver must ensure Travel Authorizations, Cash Advances, and Expense Reports are being submitted properly and in a timely matter in accordance with FIU Travel Policy and Florida Statute (FS) 112.061.
• The Expense Report must be signed by the employee whose name appears at the top of the document via DocuSign or the “Print and Sign” option.
• Ensure all receipts and supporting documentation are legible and uploaded prior to submitting an expense report to avoid delay in reimbursements.
• All documents should be scanned into a single PDF file rather than individually.
• The location of pick-up and drop-off must be annotated on the receipt for Taxi, Uber, Lyft, or shuttle (i.e., home to the airport, airport to the hotel, etc.)
• If a University credit card or purchase order was used to pay for expenses, it must be annotated on the receipts prior to submitting the expense report.
• Vicinity travel will not be reimbursed if the dates claimed are over ninety (90) days old.

Vicinity Travel Lodging/Meal Request

A traveler may not claim per diem or reimbursement for lodging/meals for vicinity travel unless extraordinary circumstances that necessitate the overnight stay are fully explained by the traveler and approved by the Associate Vice President and University Controller (Alexandra Mirabal) in writing prior to the expense being incurred. Criteria for approval shall include late-night or early-morning job responsibilities. 

The traveler(department)must submit the following information with this request:

• Detailed Justification for Vicinity Lodging Exemption 
• Name of the event
• Dates 
• The Funding Source (if a Sponsored Research grant project, approval from ORED is needed to confirm expense is allowable per the grant) 
• Event Agenda 
• Event weblink 
• MapQuest
• Name of the Hotel 
• Cost of Lodging per night
• Name of Employee
• PID# of Employee

Unidentified Wire Transfers and ACH Payments

The Controller’s Office occasionally receives payments that cannot be applied to the appropriate department due to inadequate information. Click here for the list of unidentified wire transfers and ACH payments as of July 2023.

To claim a payment, please contact Cash Management and provide the following information:

• Payment details
• Activity/Speedtype to which the payment should be recorded
• Revenue Account to which the payment should be recorded

Payments that are not identified within 45 days of the wire/ACH date will be returned to sender.

Florida Sales Tax Holidays

The State of Florida recently passed several Sales Tax Holidays which includes two back-to-school sales tax holidays lasting 14 days each, two disaster preparedness sales tax holidays lasting 14 days each, and a freedom summer sales tax holiday on recreational items and children’s toys that will last from Memorial Day to Labor Day.

Back-to-schools

Consumers can purchase qualifying back-to-school supplies exempt from tax during the 2023-2024 Back-to-School Sales Tax Holiday. The sales tax holiday begins Thursday, July 24 and extends through Sunday, August 6. A second exemption period will begin Monday, January 1, 2024 and extend through Sunday, January 14, 2024.

Disaster preparedness supplies

Consumers can purchase qualifying disaster preparedness supplies exempt from tax during the 2023 Disaster Preparedness Sales Tax Holiday. The sales tax holiday begins Saturday, May 27 and extends through Friday, June 9. A second exemption period will begin Saturday, August 26 and extend through Friday, September 8. Click on the following link for more information: https://floridarevenue.com/taxes/tips/Documents/TIP_23A01-02.pdf

Freedom Summer Sales Tax Holiday on Specific Admissions and Outdoor Activity Supplies

Consumers can purchase qualifying recreation and outdoor items and admissions to entertainment and cultural events exempt from tax during the 2023 Freedom Summer Sales Tax Holiday. The sales tax holiday begins Monday, May 29 and extends through Monday, September 4. Click on the following link for more information: https://floridarevenue.com/taxes/tips/Documents/TIP_23A01-03.pdf

Credit Card Reconciliation: Attaching Documentation

Scanning of receipts and backup supporting documentation is mandatory.  A scanned receipt and supporting backup documentation (flyers, attendance sheets, etc.) must be attached to each transaction line. While all charges must still be approved within 10 business days, Approvers will have thru the end of the calendar month to complete attaching all documentation. To add supporting documentation when completing the during reconciliation:

1. Click on the white comment bubble icon, located on the Reconcile Statement Transaction Tab.
2. Click the Attach button located directly under the comments box under Associated Document.
3. Click on the Browse button to select the scanned file for attachment.
4. When the document is selected, click open and attach, to complete the load process.
5. When successfully attached, the scanned file name will appear under Attachment in the Associated Document box. Click the View button to review.
6. If you need to attach multiple scanned documents for a single transaction line, click the + button located next to the status field. Proceed with clicking on the Attach button, as notated in step #2 and continue the process (see sample below).

Note: Be sure that all attachment/comment boxes contain an attachment.