Monthly Closing Calendars

The September 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.

FIU Student Travel

Florida Student travel in many instances is handled in the same manner as for faculty and staff:

• A Travel Authorization (TA) is entered in PeopleSoft under the student’s name and (TA) approval is required before expenses are incurred.
• An Expense report (ER) is created after returning from the trip (no later than 30 days after completion) and submitted along with the receipts and any additional documentation.

Processing Student Travel: 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.

Purchase of Controlled Substance and Hazardous Chemicals

The purchase of controlled substances is strictly prohibited with the PCard; all controlled substance purchases must be procured via a purchase order.

The purchase of hazardous chemicals/materials with the university card is limited exclusively to Fisher Scientific on an emergency/expedited basis only. We have partnered with Fisher to ensure that the purchase complies with all Environmental Health & Safety regulations. The purchase of hazardous chemicals/materials from any other merchant is not allowed with the Departmental Card. Dry Ice under 25 pounds will be allowed from the vendor of choice.

Non-Confroming Purchase Justification Form

Submitting a Non-Conforming Purchase Justification Form for an Unencumbered Payment is now on ImageNow (Fully Online). While entering an Unencumbered Payment Form, users are now able to submit an electronic version of the Non-Conforming Purchase Justification Form for approval through Workflow. Click here to view the instructions as well as how to delegate an Alternate Workflow Approver.

Auto Rental (Foreign Travel)

When traveling to a foreign country, car rental is restricted to a compact vehicle and Collision Damage Waiver (CDW) is the only insurance allowed. If the car rental company has mandatory fees, documentation of fees or written justification must be provided with the expense report. The traveler must provide written justification for renting a larger vehicle. If traveling with others, include a list of the other passengers with their respective Travel Authorization and /or Expense Report numbers. If traveling with equipment or extra baggage, provide a detailed list and explanation.

Departmental Card Deadlines

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 September 30, 2021) loaded into PantherSoft on October 1, 2021, and must be entirely processed by the end of the business day on October 15, 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.

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.

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. The funding for prepaid expenses does not encumber.

Note: A Travel Authorization is a traveler’s permission to travel on behalf of Florida International University. Travel Authorizations are not required for online conferences, seminars, webinars, etc. as there is no travel involved. An expense report is not required for online conferences, seminars, webinars, etc. unless the participant paid out of pocket and is seeking reimbursement.

After-the-Fact Travel Authorizations New Requirements

Travel Authorizations are required to be approved prior to incurring expenses on behalf of the University.  This approval is granted through the Peoplesoft Financial system process.  Failure to follow this requirement results in non-compliance.  Effective September 01, 2020, a second level supervisor approval will be required in addition to an explanation, (example below) of why non-conforming expenses were incurred prior to obtaining an approved TA.

Please note that continued non-compliance may result in suspension to travel for FIU.

Example: