Newsletter 2020-2021 Volume 11

News

Monthly Closing Calendars

The April 2021 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 are located at Monthly Closing Deadlines.

Fiscal Year End

As the fiscal year end approaches, we would like to remind you to 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. 

Please review the invoices that you have submitted to invoices@fiu.edu.  If the invoice has not been processed within a week, and you have not been contacted by someone in AP, please send a copy of the invoice to ldelcam@fiu.edu.  Do not re-send the invoice to invoices@fiu.edu. 

Invoices attached to requisitions are not forwarded to Accounts Payable.  All invoices must be sent directly to Accounts Payable in PDF format to invoices@fiu.edu.

Travel Year End Deadlines

  1. June 4, 2021 – Last day for expense reports in the Prepay Auditor (Travel) queue to be processed against FY21. All required documentation must be included to meet this commitment.
  2. June 18, 2021 – System access to the Travel & Expense module will be completely removed from the University community. The Travel staff will begin the cleanup process in preparation for the year-end closing.  All Travel Authorizations (TAs) that are not in an approved status, and any expense reports that cannot be paid by June 30, 2021 will be deleted.
  3. The Travel staff will continue to approve expense reports for payment after June 4, 2021; however, reports that are not in a paid status by June 30, 2021 will be deleted from the system. Reports that are deleted will need to be recreated in the new fiscal year.
  4. Vicinity travel will not be reimbursed if the dates claimed are over ninety (90) days old.

New International Travel Requirements

As of April 10, 2021, FIU requires that all international travelers complete a 5-question pre-departure Export Controls questionnaire, which can be accessed from the “Summary and Submit” page and must be completed by the traveler prior to supervisor approval. For questions, please contact Gitta Montoto.

Creating Travel/Expense Documents for FIU Students

A new process has been implemented in the Peoplesoft Financial System to create travel/expense documents for FIU students. This process replaces the Student Travel form and expedites the ability to become a proxy for FIU students. Click here to view the instructions. Questions should be directed to the Financial System & Support Group (FSSS) at (305) 348-7200.

Changes to AP Journal Vouchers

The Controller’s Office has decentralized the AP journal voucher process.  Each department is now responsible for entering and submitting their own AP journal vouchers. 

Once entered, the journal voucher will be routed for electronic approval based on the activity or project number.  The final approval in the workflow is Accounts Payable. 

Training sessions are held throughout the month.  Access is granted after attending one of the training sessions.

Reminders & Deadlines

Travel

Help us to 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 April 30, 2021) loaded into PantherSoft on May 1, 2021 and must be completely processed by the end of the business day on May 14, 2021.

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 suspended until they complete a retraining session.

Additionally, cardholders with three unjustified non-approvals in the same fiscal year will have their card limits suspended until they complete a retraining session.

Receiving Transaction Notification

PantherSoft sends automatic notifications when an invoice has been processed but a receipt is pending.  If you feel that you received the e-mail in error, i.e., the receipt had already been created, please contact Liza Del Campo at ldelcam@fiu.edu for resolution.

Invoices Pending Receipt

Please review the list of vouchers in PeopleSoft that are pending a receipt to be paid.  This report is as of May 5th.  Please review and create a receipt if the item has been received or the services have been rendered.  If you would like to receive this report on a weekly basis, specific to your activity/project, please send the request to Liza Del Campo.

How to sign up for the Panther Post Newsletter

If you wish to be added to the ListServ for the Panther Post, please email controller@fiu.edu.