Financial Management Newsletter #31

November 2005

Happy Thanksgiving!!

This issue includes information about the following:

* Grant and Contract Accounting Closing Day!
* Advertisement Placings on Procard
* Combining Business and Personal Air Travel - Reminder
* Grant and Contract Certifications - Reminder
* Ethics Training Offered for CPAs

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Grant and Contract Accounting Closing Day!

GCA held a special closing day event on Saturday, October 1st. Staff and leaders spent the day working together to close over 600 budgets. GCA will continue to work on closing budgets throughout the fiscal year and will focus on budgets for which departments have provided closing instructions. GCA very much appreciates the patience shown by campus departments as GCA teams work to improve service in this area. Questions may be directed to Tami Sadusky, Director of GCA at 543-8952, or tamis@u.washington.edu.

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Advertisement Placings on Procard

Departments may now use the UW ProCurement Card to pay for advertising placements up to any dollar amount in media, such as newspapers, periodicals, radio, TV or the Internet. This does not include payment for advertising consultation, brokering or design services. Departments may request approval for exceptions to the $2000 transaction limit on a one-time basis or for a permanent increase for recurring advertising placements by contacting ProCurement Card Services, procard@u.washington.edu.

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Combining Business with Personal Air Travel - Reminder

UW Travelers may combine air travel for both official University business with personal time PROVIDED each leg of the trip is detailed, by price, on either the airfare receipt or itinerary. Reimbursing in excess of the business portion of the trip could result in an ethics violation. Thus, reimbursement will consist of ONLY the business legs of the trip times two (i.e., the cost of going to the business location and returning to the duty station), plus applicable taxes or the value of the ticket, whichever is less.

If the Travel Office receives a TEV that contains personal travel time without the required breakdown between business and personal legs, it will be returned without reimbursement until the appropriate documentation is provided. Acceptable documentation must be in writing or email and verified by a state contract travel agency. Obtaining after-the-fact documentation can be very difficult and may require the traveler to pay a fee, which cannot be reimbursed.

Additional information may be obtained by contacting traveluw@u.washington.edu or linking to the Travel Website at:

http://www.washington.edu/admin/travel/responsibility.html#Personal

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Grant and Contract Certifications - Reminder

As the Fiscal Year 2004 State Audit winds down, issues related to the timely certification of payroll charges have been identified. Specifically, several departments are noted to have Grant and Contract Certification Reports that are either not signed or not signed in a timely manner consistent with University policy. OMB Circular A-21 requires PIs or other responsible officials to certify work performed by personnel on grants and contracts. Payroll sends monthly certifications following the 10th payroll cycle. Using a suitable means of verification, the report must be verified, signed and retained by the department within 60 days of receiving the report. Additional information may be found at:

http://www.washington.edu/admin/payroll/grant.html

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Ethics Training Offered for CPAs

Financial Management has hired Jim Jurinski to give a class that will satisfy 4 hours of ethics training, as required by the Washington State Board of Accountancy. Jim taught a similar class for Financial Management several years ago. The class was well-attended by non-Financial Management CPAs.

The class will be held on Monday, November 21, from 1pm-4pm in the Black Room of the Ethnic Cultural Center. A registration fee of $50 will be charged to help cover the cost of the speaker.

There will be plenty of room to accommodate any interested CPAs. Please contact Rae Ann Laubenstein (raeannl@u.washington.edu) to register. Include name, contact information and the UW budget number to which the registration fee should be charged.

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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)