FINewz. Welcome to Concur. In this Issue. We are very excited to announce the Concur Travel and Expense Management system.

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1 ISSUE #5 VOLUME FINewz In this Issue WELCOME TO CONCUR.1 RESEARCH TAB ON THE TUPORTAL...2 TUCHECKBOOK P R O V I D I N G T H E L A T E S T U P D A T E S O N F I N A N C I A L S E R V I C E S N E W S T O T H E T E M P L E U N I V E R S I T Y C O M MU N I T Y Welcome to Concur We are very excited to announce the Concur Travel and Expense Management system. As a part of a strategy to increase efficiency, Temple University has joined in a partnership with Concur to automate the entire travel and expense process. Concur includes an online travel booking that can easily convert your travel itinerary into an electronic expense report. DOCUMENT SEARCH ASSET REPORTING PURCHASES, PAYMENTS, RETURNS & CREDIT MEMOS LET S GET ACQUAINTED..6 UNDERSTANDING ROGUE FOAPALS...6 TRAINING OPPORTUNITIES.. 7 In Fiscal 2011, Temple University s faculty and staff submitted more than 18,000 expense reports, totaling about $9.5 million dollars. This includes airfare, ground transportation, meals/ entertainment, accommodations, and other miscellaneous expenses. To meet our operational objectives it is important for us to understand and maximize the effectiveness of travel expenditures. For Temple, the new service will allow us to: Create a better and more efficient travel and expense process for employees Ensure travel and expense policy compliance Gain better visibility to travel and expense spending to continuously improve the program Unify all travel and expense processes Leverage buying power with our vendors Eliminate the need to collect, manage, and store paper receipts For our faculty and staff, the new service will: Reduce the time spent making travel reservations Minimize the hassle of completing the expense process Provide pre-populated expense reports Simplify requests for reimbursement Provide Mobile App to create, approve, upload receipts, and submit Our travel and expense project team investigated many solutions. Concur Premier: Travel and Expense clearly matches our business needs. Over the next few months you will hear more about the Concur Travel and Expense Management system. Implementation begins in May and will take approximately six months to get the entire University up and running. We welcome your feedback. If you have any questions, please feel free to send those questions to travel@temple.edu or contact Lydia Vasquez at and/or lyda.vasquez@temple.edu. 1

2 Research Tab Now on TUportal Have you had a chance to explore the NEW Research Tab on TUportal? This exciting new tab includes information and links for researchers and administrators including: TUcheckbook; ERS Effort Reporting System; era Electronic Research Administration, along with links to internal websites, funding opportunities and more. Take a look to see what is currently offered and check back often for new information. Access to the research tab is automated and limited to users with access to sponsored project FOAPALs (except 55 funds). The Research Tab includes: TUcheckbook; ERS Effort Reporting System; era Electronic Research. Round of Applause for the TUcheckbook Principal Investigators need to know how much funding remains on their projects and exactly how much of that can be spent on direct expenditures in order to properly administer their awards. TUcheckbook has been developed by Research Accounting Services and the Finance Competency center to address this need. TUcheckbook is located on the new Researcher Resources Channel on the Research tab in TUportal. Access is to the research tab and TUcheckbook is automatic for all parties currently having access to sponsored projects. TUcheckbook will automatically display the grants that you have access to, thus alleviating the need to look them up in the grant search tool. Further, the balance displayed is the amount of DIRECT funds. Since December 2011, Indirect costs (or Facilities and Administration Costs F&A) have been encumbered up to the indirect cost budgeted amount. Items displayed in TUcheckbook with hyperlinks will allow you to drill down to obtain specifics on transactions, including personnel details (actuals and encumbrances), purchase order balances and Accounts Payable invoices. Take some time to review this great new tool for the Temple Research Community. TIP OF THE MONTH Have you ever wondered what employee an encumbrance was for? Well the TUcheckbook also allows you to view encumbrances for specific Employees. 2

3 Document Search The Document Search tab has replaced the history tab at TUmarketplace. Document Search provides system users with a simple way to search documents, gather purchasing data for analysis, and quickly find the right information. This functionality allows users to search for purchase requisitions, purchase orders, invoices, and receipts. The behind-the-scenes processes used for Document Search will allow users to experience a more efficient search process. Users will not notice a lag time when they are running searches and exports at the same time as other users within their organization. Multiple inputs will be allowed for advanced searching. For example, you can enter multiple PO numbers, invoice numbers, etc. You can also search by total amount, commodity code, form name, etc. Other key features include: The ability to refine a search, post-search filters allow you to narrow results. The ability to navigate to other documents within your Document Search results. The document Using Document Search is available on the Unified Resource Center and contains detailed instructions on how to use this new feature. To access the TUmarketplace help documents log onto the TUportal, click the red question mark help icon in the upper right hand corner then navigate to the TUmarketplace link. New Simple Search Screen: This functionality allows users to search for purchase requisitions, purchase orders, invoices, and receipts. Quick Facts New Advanced Search Screen: DID YOU KNOW? NIH has a new Lower salary cap. This Cap became effective 12/23/11. Foapals applicable to the new lower cap will be issued a new fund number. 3

4 Asset Reporting Schools and Colleges pull resources from a variety of funding sources. In addition to operating budgets and grants, there are designated funds. Some common characteristics: 1. Designated funds are those that carry a fund balance (or net asset) to include contributions, research incentives and carry-over funds to name a few. 2. There is usually a defined purpose identifying how funds are to be used. 3. These funds are required to remain active and not run in deficit. The only readily accessible way to review designated funds has been through the Cost Center Report (GL212) presented as part of Finance s cost center package. But while funds could be reviewed one-at-a-time, this approach could be difficult to page through hundreds of individual reports and challenging to capture an organization s overall financial position. This package allows the end-user to view their entire portfolio or get answers to more specific questions. Some common questions: 1. How much do I have in total contributions? A. Do I have money to spend on scholarships? 1. Do I have any funds in deficit? 2. Do I have any funds that aren t being used? Based on feedback received from the community, Finance has designed and released a new package of reports referred to as Net Asset Reporting. This package allows the end-user to view their entire portfolio or get answers to more specific questions like those listed. The Net Asset Report package is located with the other Finance reports accessible through the TUportal, Banner Tab. Included in the report package: 1. Funding Category Summary: provides a high-level view of all net assets; either by school or down to the individual department (or organization). 2. Summary Net Asset Balances By Organization: lists each organization within a school or college providing their cumulative position. 3. Deficits: Lists only those funds that have a negative balance. 4. Inactive: Lists only those funds that have had no expenses within the year. 5. New Funds: Lists funds that have been opened within the year. 6. Net Assets By Funding Category: Lists every fund by fund-type. Each of these reports has certain drill-down functionality to access greater detail and even supporting images where applicable. All reports can be exported into a number of user-friendly formats to include Excel and PDF. Moving forward, some of the features that we would like to add include direct links to original donor agreements as well as the specific purposes for each contribution. We expect that with continued feedback from the community other enhancement requests can be addressed as well. For now, the Net Asset Report represented a significant hurdle and we have high hopes that the package will make doing business a little easier. TIP OF THE MONTH When submitting a JET, always separate noncompensation request from compensation redistribution request. 4

5 Purchases, Payment Returns & Credit Memos The following are some general guidelines to remember regarding the processing of payments, returns and credit memos. After your purchase order is processed, the vendor will ship the product. Accounts Payable will pay the vendor s invoice unless notified by the department not to process payment. If you find the need to return a product for a replacement, the vendor will issue a credit memo upon receipt of the returned product. Accounts Payable will process the credit memo only if the original invoice has been paid. If the original invoice has not been paid, the credit memo will not be processed. You must notify Accounts Payable if there are changes to the original purchase order. You will be required to submit a change order request via TUmarketplace to Purchasing when any of the following situations occur: You do not notify Accounts Payable of the return and the original product was invoiced and paid. Replacement product price differs from the original product price. Quantity received is more than or less than the original quantity ordered. Vendors should not be shipping replacement products without an authorized change order to the original purchase order. Temple University Bell Tower Accounts Payable will process the credit memo only if the original invoice has been paid. If you have any questions regarding these guidelines please do not hesitate to contact accounts payable at ap@temple.edu. Wildlife on Campus Several faux hawks perch like silent sentinels around campus, like the one that watches over Montgomery Avenue from the south side of Alter Hall, or the one that stands guard over the entrance to the Gittis Student Center. But the live action is taking place on a window air conditioner on the east side of the tenth floor of Carnell Hall, where a pair of red tails has built their nest and recently deposited two eggs. Hawks are often seen soaring above campus, or perched in a tree or on the roof s edge of one our highest buildings. These two impressive specimens have taken up residence, apparently deciding that the campus is a good place to teach fledglings to fly. DID YOU KNOW? You can see Carnell Hall s Hawk on the Carnell Redtail Camera by clicking Here We are pleased to share our space with these wild creatures, providing them a safe and private place to hatch their young. After a few weeks of incubation, we hope to announce the new arrivals, and when they eventually take off on their own, to celebrate a commencement of sorts. 5

6 Let s get Acquainted! Research Accounting Service s New Additions Research Accounting Services has two new additions to their team. The first is a transfer from within Temple University. Joseph Ryan comes to Research Accounting Services from the Purchasing Department where he worked as a Senior Buyer. Joe will be working in Research Accounting Services as a Financial Manager. Many of you may be familiar with his great customer service. Joseph is a graduate of Penn State University with a BS in Business. Although new to Research Accounting Services, he worked for three and a half years in the Purchasing Department. Joe is currently working towards a black belt in karate, studying Tang Soo Do, a Korean marital art. JOSEPH RYAN OF RESEARCH ACCOUNTING SERVICES QUICK FACTS! DID YOU KNOW? Temple University is now registered with the Apple Corporation as an AppleCare Warranty Provider for all Apple computer equipment (including Ipads). Beginning July 1, 2012 please submit your requests for service on Apple equipment under an AppleCare warranty directly through the Help Desk. Lamar Oglesby joined Research Accounting Services in January of this year as a Grant Analyst II. Lamar is a graduate of Bloomsburg University with a BSBA in Finance. Prior to joining Temple University's Research Accounting Services, Lamar worked at SEI Investments as a mutual fund accounting analyst. Lamar enjoys exercising and spending quality time with his two sons. LAMAR OGLESBY OF RESEARCH ACCOUNTING SERVICES Understanding Rogue FOAPALs Have you encountered during your review of a cost center report an incorrect combination of a fund, org, and/or program? This error is known as a rogue FOAPAL. Have you ever wondered what the cause of this error is? Errors tend to occur for the following reasons: 1) incorrect combinations being entered on paperwork, 2) illegible handwriting, 3) entering the transaction using a fund number rather than an index. Each component of the FOAPAL is an individual entity and is separately validated. Banner does not validate the Fund/ Org/Program Combination. When funds are established they are given a default org and program number. Our Finance Competency Center has put validation checks into place related to TUmarketplace, but within Banner itself the validation does not exist when the transaction is entered using the fund code. When a fund number is used for entering a transaction, Banner will allow a user to type over the default org and program. It is recommended that Administrative areas (Payroll, Bursar s Office, and Controller s Office) utilize the index value associate with the fund when entering transactions. The index protects the fund, org and program fields from being overwritten and ensures better accuracy during processing. However, even with the use of the index code it is still possible for something to be entered incorrectly. If you encounter a rogue entry, you should submit a journal entry to General Accounting or Research Accounting Services to correct the error for you. The original Rogue FOAPAL and its correcting entry will still exist as part of the general ledger, but the expenses, once corrected will net to zero. 6

7 Training Opportunities Research Accounting Services Brown Bag Session (Health Sciences Campus) Thursday May 24 th, 2012 MERB Room#119D from 12:00 pm through 1:00 pm Research Accounting Services Brown Bag Session (Main Campus) Wednesday May 23 rd, 2012 Tech Center Room 111 from 12:00 pm through 1:00 pm Effort Reporting System (ERS) for Pre Reviewer and Post Reviewer (Health Sciences Campus) Level I Beginner (90 minutes) Monday, April 23 rd, 2012 Kresge Building Room 305 from 9:00 am through 10:30 am Effort Reporting System (ERS) for Pre Reviewer and Post Reviewer (Health Sciences Campus) Level II Intermediate (90 minutes) Monday, April 23 rd, 2012 Kresge Building Room 305 from 10:30 am through 12:00 pm CONTACT Accounts Payable accountspayle@temple.edu Finance Competency Center Financial Reporting General Accounting Purchasing purchasing@temple.edu Research Accounting Services RAS@temple.edu NOTE: All sessions are listed on the Human Resources Training website. Please take a look to register for upcoming sessions. TUmarketplace training or Banner Basics for Grants training can be scheduled for individual groups of 20 or more. Contact Purchasing or Research Accounting Services to request your group training. Please visit the Controller s Office website at for access to policies and procedures, information and employee directory. FINewz April