Monthly Closing Deadlines

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

Introducing the new Shopper Role

How much time are you spending searching for items you need to purchase to support your department’s operations? Also, how difficult has it become to manage delays in the ordering process because of staffing challenges in your areas? Well, the Office of the Controller understands the challenges and recognizes the value of your time and resources, thus our teams have been working collaboratively with colleagues in other university departments to implement a solution intended to improve the efficiency of the buying process and make your shopping experience easier.  ​

With this in mind, the Office of the Controller team is proud to offer our user community a solution to access and very easily search contracted items on myFIUmarket in PantherSoft (PS) Financials via the new Shopper Role created in our PS system. ​As we continue to expand the number of suppliers enabled in myFIUmarket, which currently include ODP (Office Depot), Fisher Scientific, CDW, Grainger and coming soon is Amazon Business, the new Shopper Role, also serves to expand the number of users that can be assigned shopping access in myFIUmarket. 

Users assigned the new Shopper Role will have access into a repository of online catalogs in myFIUmarket of competitively solicited contract items from many suppliers. Similar to your own personal online shopping experience, the Shopper Role enables users to browse any catalog, add selected items into a cart then once done with shopping, assign that cart to a staff in his/her department with a Requester Role to complete the requisitioning process in the PantherSoft Financials eProcurement module.

What are the benefits of obtaining the Shopper Role?

• State of the art, very user-friendly search capabilities and price comparisons. Time and money savings by purchasing items from competitively solicited contracts that are readily available at deeply discounted prices rather than issuing a quote for items.
• Expanded number of users within a department that can search for items needed in the various catalogs and place them in carts.
• Easily saves your order while your cart can be assigned to the appropriate person within your department that has the Requester Role who can then create a requisition in PeopleSoft to purchase the items in your cart.
• ​Fast PO processing. All purchases made through myFIUmarket have their POs automatically approved and dispatched.
• Reduces PCard transactions and all the documentation needed for reconciliation.
• Obtains upfront approval of all purchases through workflow in PeopleSoft.

More detailed information about the Shopper Role, including webinars and training resources, has been sent to all Finance Managers as they will be determining which staff in their respective departments should be initially granted access to the Shopper Role in the system.  Our teams in Procurement Services and Financial Systems Support will be available every step of the way as the implementation and use of this new Shopper Role rolls out, so please do reach out to them with any questions or comments.

Card Cancellation Process

Departments have a responsibility for timely card cancellation. When a card needs to be cancelled due to a cardholder transferring to another department or termination of employment, the approver or Department MUST notify the CCS Team in an email immediately, prior to any Card Cancellation Form being sent.

Departments that fail to follow the correct and timely card cancellation protocols risk losing the card privileges for their entire unit.

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.

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

Closing Purchase Orders Automatically

To ensure encumbrances are released timely, we are now closing purchase orders automatically based on the following schedule:

7/1/2022 – PO’s are closing 90 days after encumbrances are released.

1/31/2023 – PO’s are closing 60 days after encumbrances are released.

4/28/2023 – PO’s will close 30 days after encumbrances are released.

5/31/2023 through 6/30/2023 – PO’s will close the day after encumbrances are released.

If your purchase orders are not closing in a timely manner, please reach out to Financials Systems controller@fiu.edu.

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 February 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.

Page Data is Inconsistent with Database Errors on Travel Authorizations

A possible fix has been identified for the Page data is inconsistent with database error some users are seeing when they save or submit Travel Authorizations (TAs). The PantherSoft technical team will deploy upgrades to PantherSoft Financials in May 2023 that will likely resolve the cause of this error.

In the meantime, this error will prevent affected users from saving or submitting their TAs and all data entered since the last successful save will be lost.

If you encounter this error, please follow the below suggestions:

• Clear browser cache.
• Return to the homepage and try again.
• Enter all required fields in order, from left to right as you move down the page.
• Use the Save for Later functionality only when necessary (i.e., to save a TA for later completion).

If the error persists and you are unable to submit any TAs, please contact Financial Systems and Support Services for further troubleshooting at (305)348-7200.