Monthly Closing Calendars

The January 2020 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 can be found at: Monthly Closing Deadlines.

Utilization of GovQuote will be mandatory starting February 28, 2020

After a successful pilot, FIU Procurement Services will roll out GovQuote, a web-based quoting tool for all university purchases below $75,000. Buyers across every department can now register for their free account and begin posting electronic Requests for Quotes (eRFQs). Once registered, university purchasing agents or individuals that purchase for their department or college can look forward to an accelerated procurement process, organized records, and an easier way to communicate with suppliers.

GovQuote is a digital marketplace developed by procurement professionals, for procurement professionals. It is the first free platform that brings all electronic requests, quotes, and communications onto one platform. This adoption will streamline FIU’s overall procurement process, plus help save time and money.

StartUP FIU Procurement aims to connect local, small, and minority-owned businesses to procurement opportunities with FIU and other anchor partners. At the same time, we will build the capacity of these businesses to be able to secure and deliver on contracts. In partnership with StartUP FIU Procurement, GovQuote makes it easier for the university to engage with small, local and disadvantaged businesses (DBEs). By joining GovQuote’s diverse community of agencies and suppliers, FIU can directly contribute to the success of South Florida’s neighborhoods. The process of inviting all university-registered suppliers has already begun.

With this in mind, StartUP FIU Procurement has created a 14-week incubator program that provides technical assistance for prime contractor certification. Our program is the bridge to address the challenges often faced by small businesses or startups to procure with anchor institutions. The curriculum developed for the incubator program will assist in building capacity in general business practices (finance & management), but also industry specifics to significantly increase their ability to win larger contracts; not only at FIU but also other anchor institutions.

Since April, six departments at FIU have spent tens of thousands of dollars on a variety of goods and services utilizing GovQuote. These purchases ranged from transcription services to cameras and rentals. That’s valuable dollars spent with local businesses across the state, and across the country.

Mandatory Gov Quote training has been conducted over the last several months. StartUP FIU Procurement will have additional training on February 19 and 26, 2020. If you do not receive an invitation for the GovQuote training or have not attended the training and need to attend, please contact Barbara Cotto Jimenez. Please invite those individuals that do the actual quoting for your Department or College. Attend one of the training sessions is required in order for you to get access to GovQuote. Individuals that have completed the training will be sent an invitation to access GovQuote from Barbara. For help with your account after Barbara sends you the invitation, visit the GovQuote Help Center. GovQuote specialists are also available via Live Chat, Monday-Friday, during normal business hours. A guided tour is available online at GovSpend website. The GovQuote User Manual will be available on the Controller’s website.

Creating Travel Authorizations

When creating Travel Authorizations in the Financial System, list all anticipated expenses by the expense type. This includes the expenses that are out-of-pocket and paid with the University Credit Card. Do Not list prepaid expenses in the “Benefit to FIU or Project” area of Travel Authorizations or Expense Reports. Prepaid expenses do not need to be encumbered since they are already paid.

Invoice Documentation and Format

Invoices should have the PO number printed clearly on the first page of the invoice. The OCR system used in Accounts Payable does not recognize handwriting. Having the PO printed on the invoice will reduce errors and unnecessary delays. Please work with your vendors to encourage them to include the PO number on all invoices.

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.

Changes to AP Journal Vouchers

Travel

Let’s 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 January 31, 2020) loaded into PantherSoft on February 3, 2020 and must be completely processed by the end of the business day on February 14, 2020.

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 temporarily suspended until they complete a retraining session.

Airbnb No Longer Restricted

At the direction of the Governor for the State of Florida, effective June 11, 2019 state agencies may now reimburse state employees, contract employees, and vendors working on behalf of the state for expenses incurred through the services of Airbnb while on official state business. This directive follows the removal of Airbnb from the Scrutinized Companies List by the State Board of Administration. This includes FIU employees, FIU students, and non-employees whose lodging is paid in part or in whole by FIU, regardless of funding source. This information has been removed from the Travel and Other Expenses Manual.

Entering Receipts in PeopleSoft

The receiving against the PO should be done as soon as the items are received or services are rendered. Please DO NOT WAIT UNTIL AN INVOICE IS RECEIVED.

If you have completed the receiving entry for an order or an invoice and continue to receive an e-mail requesting a receiving transaction, please contact Accounts Payables to clear the match exception. Please do not resend the invoice to Accounts Payable.

Also, when creating a receipt, please review carefully that a duplicate receipt is not being entered. If you have created a receipt and a voucher has not been matched to the receipt after 2 weeks, please contact AP to make sure that an invoice has been received.

The receiving date in PeopleSoft should always be the date the product was received or service rendered – not the date that the actual receiving entry is made. This is a mandatory field.

Below is an excerpt from the job aid:

The job aid can be found under the Procure to Pay header at the Controller’s Training website.

Should you have questions regarding this course, please call the Financial Systems and Support Services Help Desk at 7-7200 or email controller@fiu.edu.

If you have completed the receiving entry for an order or an invoice and continue to receive an e-mail requesting a receiving transaction, please contact Accounts Payable at 7-2161 to clear the match exception. Please do not resend the invoice to invoices@fiu.edu.