Monthly Closing Deadlines

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

PantherSoft Travel Enhancements

To help you remain in compliance with Florida State legislation travel requirements, and other guidance by federal and state agencies, we have enhanced the system to facilitate your post travel needs.

Get an in-depth review of changes recently implemented and those in the pipeline by joining our Financial Systems and Support Services expert trainers in the following 45-minute Travel Enhancements webinar. Use the below link to register.

Tuesday, December 12^th at 2:00pm
Click here to register.

Share this communication with your team members who regularly enter and manage Travel Authorizations (TAs) and Expense/Post Travel Compliance Reports (ERs) for themselves or others, so they don’t miss what is new. Topics that will be discussed include:

• What to do when you receive a post-travel notification.
• How can Travelers and their Proxies budget check while submitting their Travel Authorizations, including how to address common budget errors.
• How to use the SpeedType Key field to simplify how you update accounting details on Expense/Post Trip Compliance Report expense lines.
• What to do with an approved Travel Authorization when a trip is cancelled.

If you cannot attend, don’t worry. Updated training materials and a recording of this webinar will be available in our Training Resources.

Travel News

• 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.
• The University’s procurement system must be utilized to the fullest extent for the operation of FIU. The Purchasing Services and the Credit Card Solutions department serve as the solution for acquiring equipment, furnishings, supplies, food, travel, renting meeting rooms, etc. 

Expense Reports

The Travel Department has received a high number of expense reports to process.  This has resulted in a backlog of pending reimbursements and delays in payment.  We appreciate your patience and understanding as we work through the backlog.

Accounts Payable Updates

• Amazon

Receipts should be created by shipment received and not by the total ordered amount.  Most vendors issue invoices by shipment.  Creating one receipt per order will delay the payment of the invoice.

• MarketPlace Orders

Invoices for MarketPlace orders are received electronically.  Please do not send any sort of documentation (i.e. receipt number, order confirmation, packing slip, etc) to invoices@fiu.edu.  We only need to have the receipt created in PeopleSoft to pay the invoice.

• Receiving Notifications

If you receive an e-mail from fin-panthersoft@fiu.edu requesting a receiving transaction, Accounts Payable has already received and entered the invoice.  Do not resubmit the invoice.  The e-mail is a notification that an invoice has been received and that there is no receipt in the system to match it.  Once you create a receipt, PeopleSoft will automatically match the invoice to the receipt. 

If you create a receipt and continue to receive the notifications, please send Beatriz Blanco-Hernandez (bblancog@fiu.edu) an e-mail and she will review the voucher and correct any matching errors or let you know if anything additional is needed.

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 October 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.

Credit Card Reconciliation: Supporting Documentation

As a reminder, when reconciling Pcard transactions, scanning and attaching receipts and supporting documentation is mandatory. 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. 

Examples of supporting documentation include: 

• Flyers
• Print samples
• Agendas
• Quotes
• Attendance Sheets

If you have any questions, please reach out to the Credit Card Solutions Team at ccsteam@fiu.edu 

Expense Report Timeliness

Travel Expense report must be submitted within fifteen (15) business days after the completion of the trip.