Monthly Closing Deadlines

The September 2024 period in the general ledger has closed.  The current and future month-end processing deadline schedules are located at Monthly Closing Deadlines.

Unrelated Business Income Tax (UBIT) – IRS Form 990-T

Florida International University is required by Federal law to prepare an income tax return for net income from activities unrelated to the exempt mission of the University. This tax return (Form 990-T) must be filed annually with the Internal Revenue Service (IRS).

The IRS has provided the following criteria to identify activities that are unrelated to the mission of an exempt organization. An activity is an unrelated business (and subject to unrelated business income tax “UBIT”) if it meets three requirements: (1) It is a “trade or business”; (2) It is “regularly carried on”; and (3) It is “not substantially related” to furthering FIU’s exempt purpose.  Since these terms are given a specific meaning within the rules set forth by the IRS and several important exceptions exist, guidelines for these criteria are available from the Tax Compliance office for your review.

The Tax Compliance office has begun gathering the data for the fiscal year ended June 30, 2024, and cannot identify all activities that are unrelated and subject to Federal income tax from the accounting records alone. Therefore, we are asking that all Departments review their operations for the 2023-2024 fiscal-year and determine what activities, if any, are potentially unrelated business income. Please keep in mind that Florida International University must account for and report all unrelated business income pursuant to the Internal Revenue Code.

Some departments may have received lost revenue reimbursements, from the Higher Education Emergency Relief Funds (HEERF), for the fiscal year ended June 30, 2024. Do not report this revenue as UBI even when the reimbursement was for lost revenue that would normally be treated as UBI. The lost revenue reimbursement is Federal Aid and not subject to UBI.

Please note that due to recent changes in the tax law, departments that conduct multiple unrelated activities, (rentals, advertising income, admission fee income, etc.) must complete a separate UBIT questionnaire and UBIT income statement for each activity. Do not combine multiple activities into a single questionnaire and income statement.

A reminder email has been sent to those Department Heads & Finance Managers with UBIT activity in prior years, with links to the UBIT questionnaire and additional UBIT information. If you did not receive the email and have UBI to report or want additional guidance, the information is also available on the Controller’s website at the following link: https://controller.fiu.edu/departments/accounting-reporting/tax-compliance-payroll/unrelated/ 

If your department does not generate Unrelated Business Income (UBI) and only conducts educational activities, you do not need to return the UBI Questionnaire. If you have questions about unrelated business income or are conducting a revenue generating activity, and are unsure if reporting is required, please contact tax@fiu.edu or call (305) 348-2655 for more information.

Please submit your UBI information as soon as possible.

New Supplier Check Payment Replacement Process

With the new check payment replacement process the supplier will be able to log into the Supplier Portal Home page and choose the check payment that they need replacing from a list of outstanding check payments. They can submit the request and will receive updates on their new payment request.

Please share our FIU Office of the Controller’s Disbursements website link with your suppliers where they can find the instructions on how to submit a request.

myFIUmarket Catalog Consolidus

We had announced in our last Panther Post that we had enabled Consolidus, a new promotional item catalog. If you have any questions or need assistance in walking you through the ordering process, please reach out to Andy Halm, our Consolidus account representative, at service@fiupromos.com or andy.halm@consolidus.com .

Also keep in mind that in addition to Consolidus, the other promotional item catalog is 4Imprint. You should make all of your promotional items purchases via these two catalogs in myFIUmarket. You should refrain from making any purchases via pcard either from these two suppliers or any other promotional item supplier.

Travel News

• The Expense Report must be signed by the employee whose name appears at the top of the document via DocuSign or the “Print and Sign” option.
• Ensure all receipts and supporting documentation are legible and uploaded prior to submitting an expense report to avoid delay in reimbursements.
• All documents should be scanned into a single PDF file rather than individually.
• The location of pick-up and drop-off must be annotated on the receipt for Taxi, Uber, Lyft, or shuttle (i.e., home to the airport, airport to the hotel, etc.)
• If a University credit card or purchase order was used to pay for expenses, it must be annotated on the receipts prior to submitting the expense report.
• The University’s procurement system must be utilized to the fullest extent for the operation of FIU. The Purchasing Services and the Credit Card Solutions department serve as the solution for acquiring equipment, furnishings, supplies, food, travel, renting meeting rooms, etc. 

Avis/Budget Car Rental

• It is crucial for university employees requiring a rental car for official business to adhere to the university’s policies and procedures. This includes using the specified website for making reservations: STATE OF FLORIDA RESERVATION PORTAL: https://www.carrental.com/abgPartners/sof/
• Effective July 2024, the daily rate for car rentals using the State Contract has increased. Please click here to view the In-State and Out-State Rental Pricing.