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Financial Management Newsletter #37May 2006 |
| Summer's almost here!! This issue of the Financial Management Newsletter includes information about the following: * Credit Card Security at the UW ********************************************************************* Credit Card Security at the UW As a result of new guidelines established by VISA to protect credit and charge card security, vendors, including the UW, who accept credit and charge cards for goods and services, must comply with the Payment Card Industries (PCI) Compliance and Validation Guidelines. Student Fiscal Services (SFS) is working with departments to help identify and mitigate any gaps in credit card processing or network security. It is possible that SFS may need to contact departments who have already completed questionnaires for additional information or testing. If your department accepts credit or charge cards and you have not been contacted to participate in testing, please contact Sandie Rosko at 206-685-3517 (sandier@u.washington.edu). ****************************************************************** Beware of "banks" Cold-calls and Emails Many folks around the University have been receiving calls and emails asking for University banking information. Please let staff in your areas know that if they receive similar calls from outside the UW, to be extremely cautious. Banks and other financial institutions with which we (or you, personally, for that matter!) do business already have account numbers, routing numbers, etc., and thus do not need to call or email for the information. If you have questions or concerns, please contact Ann Anderson at 206-543-4993 (andera@u.washington.edu). ****************************************************************** Financial Services Responds to Customer Survey In response to the results of the recent Financial Management Customer Survey, the Payables unit in the Financial Services Department will be developing a comprehensive action plan to improve customer service delivery to campus. At the heart of their plan will be the involvement of campus customers and process partners, who will have an important role in helping to identify and prioritize critical improvement areas, in developing action plans to address these areas, and to provide on-going advice and feedback on progress. Next steps include contacting interested individuals to participate in the process. If you are interested in participating, please contact Karen Long at ****************************************************************** Audit Season Arrives! While it may seem as though it's always audit "season", the truth is there is a cycle. As such, in their audit of the UW's federal programs, the State Auditors will likely include review of the following: * Effort Certification - Faculty Effort Certification (FEC) reports have been audited before. You may recall last year we had a federal audit finding regarding the timely submission of FECs, so it's almost a certainty these reports will be included in this year's audit. * Cost Transfers - Typically auditors review the allowability, timeliness, and quantity of cost transfers (Requests to Transfer Expenditures, or RTEs, at the UW). Weaknesses in this area could lead the auditors to conclude internal controls are inadequate. * Effort Commitments - Auditors may be reviewing proposals and corresponding effort reports to ensure that proposal commitments are being met and if not, that approvals to deviate are requested from and approved by sponsors. If you have questions about these areas or this year's audit plans, please contact Ted Mordhorst in Research Accounting and Analysis, at 206-616-8678 (tedm2@u.washington.edu) or Zenaida Shattuck in Internal Audit, at 206-543-4028 (zshatt@u.washington.edu) ******************************************************************* Consolidated Endowment Fund (CEF) Update Many individual endowments established in the years 1998-2002 were "underwater" Departments may contact Ping Tan at 206-543-3698 (pingtan@u.washington.edu) for updated endowment distribution projections. ******************************************************************** OWLS Timekeeping Reminder With the University's preparation of the annual financial statements right around the corner, please update all OWLS information (vacation and sick leave) through at least the end of May, by June 30, 2006 for all your staff. Please contact Kelley Smith at ksmith11@u.washington.edu with any questions. ******************************************************************** Improvements in ProCard & CTA Response Times on the Way! In an effort to improve Paymentnet response times, effective June 17, 2006 JPMorgan Chase will begin archiving PaymentNet data for the first time. While you are currently able to retrieve all ProCard & CTA transaction data at PaymentNet, the tradeoff for improved response times will mean that for transactions older than 24 months, the Procard and CTA staff will need to provide assistance. This does not impact internal retention, as you should be retaining documentation in a monthly basis. If you need archived data after June 17th, please contact ProCard or Travel staff via email. If you have any questions or concerns please contact UW ProCurement Card Services (543-5252 / email: procard@u.washington.edu) or the Travel Department (543-5858 email: traveluw@u.washington.edu). ***************************************************************** |
Ann Anderson, Controller (andera@u.washington.edu or 543-4993) V'Ella Warren, Vice President, Financial Mgmt & Treasurer, Board of Regents (vwarren@u.washington.edu or 543-8765) |