Monthly Closing Deadlines

The March 2022 period in the general ledger has closed.  The current and future month-end processing deadline schedules are located at Monthly Closing Deadlines.

Fiscal Year End 2024-2025 Memorandum is now available

The fiscal year-end closing process is quickly approaching. In preparation for the fiscal year-end close, please refer to the FY25 Year End Memo for important information, including all year-end closing deadlines and a listing of departmental contacts. Our team counts on you to meet crucial year-end and monthly closing deadlines, so we thank you for your efforts and cooperation throughout the year.

Prohibited Expenditures BOG 9.016

Per the Florida Board of Governors (BOG) 9.016 Prohibited Expenditures regulation, expenses related to DEI (Diversity, Equity and Inclusion) are unallowable. The regulation became effective in January 2024 and university-wide compliance was effective July 1, 2024.

Budget managers must review all expenses before submitting to ensure these do not include unallowable services/deliverables. No purchases of goods or services related to DEI activities made with E&G funds can be approved as these are prohibited. 

Please use the following tools to determine if an expense is prohibited:

• PE Decision Tree – tool to determine whether an expenditure is permitted
• PE PowerPoint – presentation by the PE Team
• PE Justification Form – form to document justification for permitted expenditures

If you have any questions on prohibited expenses, please send an email to prohibitexps@fiu.edu.

Important International Travel Compliance Reminder

Effective March 1, 2025, if you depart on an international trip prior to full Travel Authorization (TA) approval, a confirmation of which is emailed to you, there will be no reimbursement of travel expenses paid by you from personal funds, and repayment from the traveler to the University for expenses paid with University funds will be required. Further, an employee may be subject to discipline and/or restrictions on international travel privileges. Regardless of whether a proxy assists in the TA process, the traveler is responsible for verifying that the TA is fully approved before departing on the trip and will be held accountable if it is not.

Please reference the full memorandum, which also includes details from previous notifications.

Airfare

FIU does not have a preferred airline for travel. Airfare reservations should be made using any commercial airline in accordance with Florida Statue 112.061.

FIU travelers will be reimbursed for economy, coach, or main cabin airfare.

Seat selection fees, costs for seat upgrades, premium seating, travel insurance, and early boarding fees are considered personal convenience items. These costs are the traveler’s responsibility and cannot be reimbursed. The Pro-card should not be used for these expenses to ensure compliance and avoid any issues. If the Pro-Card is inadvertently used for purchasing any of these items, the traveler must reimburse the University.

Travel Authorization

An approved Travel Authorization (TA) is a traveler’s permission to incur expenses and travel on behalf of Florida International University. This includes FIU employees, FIU students, and others who travel on the university’s behalf. The Authorization must include all travel expenses that are known or can be projected before the trip, must include a descriptive business purpose, and must consist of the correct trip start date, trip end date, and business destination(s). It must also provide an estimated cost for the trip.

A Travel Authorization is required for all travel, except for vicinity travel. However, if the vicinity travel involves attending a conference or convention, an approved Travel Authorization is still required in accordance with Florida Statutes. Without an approved travel authorization (TA), the payment of travel expenses on behalf of the University, using the procurement card, or by the traveler is prohibited. Please ensure compliance with these guidelines.

Fiscal Year End – AP Reminders

• Deadlines

Please note the year end deadlines below for AP:

All invoices should be submitted to AP by Friday, June 17^th.

1st Accounts Payable accrual

Items ordered must have a receiving date prior to July 1, 2025 and the invoice must be entered, matched, and approved in Accounts Payable by July 14, 2025. 

2nd Accounts Payable Accrual (will be recorded in Financial Statement Activity ID only)

Invoice amounts must be $5,000 or greater. Invoices must have a receiving date prior to July 1, 2025 must be entered, matched, and approved in Accounts Payable by July 25, 2025.

• Receiving

Please complete the receiving in PantherSoft as soon as services are rendered or ordered items are received.  In most circumstances, you should not need to review the invoice to complete the receiving in PantherSoft. 

The receiving date in PeopleSoft should always be the date the product was received – not the date that the receiving entry is made.

The job aid for receiving can be found under the Procure to Pay header at the link below:

https://controller.fiu.edu/wp-content/uploads/sites/24/2020/06/TheCasualReceiver.pdf

Please review transaction reports to make sure that items that have been received have been invoiced.  If the invoice has not been entered, the expense will not be recorded.

Avoid Duplicate Entry – During your year-end review, if you notice that an invoice that you previously sent to invoices@fiu.edu has not been entered, please do not resubmit.  E-mail Liza Del Campo (ldelcam@fiu.edu) or Betty Blanco-Hernandez (bblancog@fiu.edu) for an update on the status of the invoice.

• Receiving Transaction E-mail Notifications

During the month of June, the receiving notifications will be sent out daily.  If you are receiving this notice, Accounts Payable has already received and entered the invoice in PeopleSoft.  Please DO NOT send the invoice to AP when you have entered the receipt.  PeopleSoft will automatically match the invoice to the receipt.  If you continue to receive the notification that a receipt is pending after the receipt has been entered, please notify Liza Del Campo by e-mail, ldelcam@fiu.edu or Betty Blanco-Hernandez (bblancog@fiu.edu).  Do not send the invoice to invoices@fiu.edu.  This will cause a duplicate entry of the invoice.

• Delivery of Invoices

Please remember that invoices attached to requisitions are not forwarded to Accounts Payable.  If the vendor does not send the invoice directly to Accounts Payable, the department must do so in PDF format only.

Suppliers Registering as Honorarium

Departments need to be mindful and properly instruct individuals that are receiving an honorarium to register as such on the supplier registration portal. They should not be applying as an honorarium unless they meet the definition shown below. If payment does not fall under this definition, then they will need to apply as one of the other options.

Here is the link to the Honorarium Procedures https://controller.fiu.edu/departments/accounting-reporting/tax-compliance-payroll/honorarium/

An Honorarium is a gratuitous payment of money (or other thing of value), to an individual, for the individual’s participation in “Usual Academic Activity.” An honorarium is provided as a token of appreciation for participation in an activity or event when no fee is legally required and not as a contractual obligation to pay for services rendered.

Fiscal Year End – Pcard Reminders

June 30, 2025 is the last day to use Departmental Cards for FY25 , however, all transactions posted by JP Morgan Chase after June 27, 2025 will be charged to your FY 26 Budget. We recommend purchases be made by June 18, 2025, for FY25.

July 8, 2025, is the approval deadline for the June 27, 2025, PCard Billing Statement. All transactions must be fully reconciled and approved by 12:00pm.