2. Some suggested best practices for preparing for year end and the start of the new fiscal year

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1 Boston University Comptroller s Office 881 Commonwealth Avenue, 4 th Floor Boston, Massachusetts T F TO: FROM: Directors, Department Heads, and Administrators Gillian Emmons, University Comptroller Donna Lane, Associate Comptroller DATE: May 20, 2014 SUBJECT: Fiscal Year Closing - June 30, 2014 With your cooperation we are looking forward to a smooth and accurate close of our financial records for FY 14. In this memo we will cover the following items: 1. An overview of the close process Closing periods & related key dates Expense accruals and income deferrals Salary adjustments Rolling forward commitments Beginning balances for FY Some suggested best practices for preparing for year end and the start of the new fiscal year 3. Training opportunities 1. OVERVIEW OF THE CLOSE PROCESS Closing periods & Key Dates: The closing schedule is attached here and is also available at The schedule provides information about deadlines for journal entries, submitting invoices for posting before the books are closed, payroll transactions and distribution changes, ISR, FSR, cash receipts and petty cash close-outs.

2 The first closing period (a continuation of SAP Period 12) will be from Tuesday, July 1 through 5:00 pm on Monday, July 7 th at the department level. During this period, users will be able to post journal entries to record expenses, revenues and transfers relating to the University s fiscal 2014 activity. Regular SA journal entry transactions must be used. Users should select SAP period 12, and all entries made during this closing period should have a posting date in June All journal entries and JV uploads must be approved at the department level by 5 p.m. on Monday, July 7 th in order to provide time for central approval which must be completed by noon on Tuesday July 8 th. Assessments with the exception of Facilities will be processed on July 1st and available to review on July 2, Internal Service Provider billing will be posted by 5 p.m. on July 2, 2014 and available to review on July 3 rd, Facilities charges will be complete and available to review on July 7, Assessments will run a second and final time at the end of first close. Accruals & Deferrals: Although we generally are able to process all the transactions we receive for June, there are always invoices that do not arrive in time; and revenue that we receive in June but that relates to a future period. Boston University uses the accrual basis method of accounting, which means that significant expenses and revenues should be recorded in the year when they were incurred (for expenses) or earned (for revenues). Expense Accruals Accounts Payable will be recording an accrual entry in FY 14 for any significant expenses that are posted in July that relate to FY 14. If you have an invoice for more than $5,000 that should be accrued in FY 14 and was not posted by June 30, provide a copy of that invoice to Accounts Payable, marked to the attention of Matt Abrams. Invoices under $5,000 will not be accrued. The last day to submit invoices to Accounts Payable for accrual is July 7, 2014 (by noon). Income Deferrals General Accounting will be recording the deferral of any income posted in FY 14 that relates to FY All requests to defer income should go to General Accounting to the attention of Jennifer LaPierre. The last day to submit requests is July 7, 2014 (by noon). Salary Adjustments: PA Forms with salary adjustments must be approved at the departmental level by Friday, June 20 th at 5:00 pm in order to be included in the last regular monthly payroll of the fiscal year. In addition, Payroll plans to process an offcycle payroll on June 27th to capture any final salary distribution adjustments for Fiscal PA forms containing salary adjustments for this final off-cycle payroll must be submitted by Monday, June 23rd at 5:00 pm.

3 Rolling forward Commitments to Fiscal 2015: ISR, FSR, Purchase order, and shopping cart commitments will be rolled forward to 2015 on July 1, If you have any questions about this process, contact General Accounting. Beginning Balances for Fiscal 2015: Preliminary beginning balances on Internal Orders will be available by the end of July; although most closing adjustments are complete by the end of July; the closing process is not fully complete until the audit is finalized, generally in late September. 2. BEST PRACTICE THINGS TO DO TO GET READY FOR YEAR END, AND FOR THE START OF THE NEXT FISCAL YEAR COMMITMENT ITEMS Please review your open purchase order (especially limit orders) and ISR commitments to see if there are any that are no longer needed and should not be rolled forward to FY Send a list of any open purchase orders that should be closed to Sourcing@bu.edu, and Sourcing will close the purchase order for you. If you have questions about the purchase order close-out process, contact Shirley Hood at smoore@bu.edu. Requests to close open ISR commitments must be sent to the respective provider. SOME FACULTY ACTIONS FOR SEPTEMBER MUST BE ENTERED IN JULY -- remember to enter a leave of absence form for any faculty member who will be on leave, including sabbatical leaves, next fall, and a termination form for any faculty member who leaving the University, by July 15 th, This is important, because the 12 month pay cycle for faculty now starts in July. (Before 2011, the cycle began in September.) If leave of absence and termination forms are not entered timely, payments for fiscal 2015 will begin in July. Such payments will then have to be recovered, an inconvenient and complex process for departments and their faculty as well as for Payroll and HR. NEW FINE ARTS OR COLLECTIBLE ITEMS Financial Affairs sent out a survey to Schools, Colleges, and other units with fine arts and collectibles, this winter, and thanks to everyone for the terrific response. As a result of the survey, we identified almost 300 works of art, valuable books, carpets, and sculptures that were not already in the University s records. To make sure we do continue to capture these important assets in our records and have them properly insured, here s a first annual reminder to talk with your organization, to see if any new gifts have been received, or if any of these fine arts and collectible objects have been relocated. If you identify any new gifts (with a value of $5,000 or more) or are aware that an item has been relocated, let us know by contacting Gillian Emmons (gcemmons@bu.edu) or Jeff Roy (jmroy@bu.edu.). We have developed a new approval process for these gifts; forms to use for the new process are available at

4 3. TRAINING OPPORTUNITIES BUWorks Training: Do you make journal entries only at this time of year? Are you looking for that BW report that will help you see where you stand compared to your budget? Could you use a refresher? If so, BUWorks can help, classes offered in May and June can be found on this website: We especially recommend the classes on journal entries, and BW reporting. Year End Webinar: In early June we will be offering a webinar to provide an opportunity for questions and answers regarding the year end close. Look for a follow up message in the next two weeks with the date and time for the webinar; the specifics will also be posted to BUCentral at: This will also be an opportunity to ask questions you have about any financial policies and procedures staff from Budget, General Accounting, Sourcing, Accounts Payable, and Payroll will be available to answer questions. With your help and support we are looking forward to a smooth closing. Please contact us with any questions or concerns.

5 SUMMARY OF YEAR-END DEADLINES ITEMS TIME DATE DAY Student Payroll Student salary adjustments For periods prior to May :00 p.m. June 6, 2014 Friday For payroll periods in June :00 p.m. June 20, 2014 Friday Travel Expense Reports Noon June 18, 2014 Wednesday Vendor Invoices Purchase Order Related Noon June 18, 2014 Wednesday Non-Purchase Order Related Noon June 18, 2014 Wednesday Petty Cash close outs 5:00 p.m. June 16, 2014 Monday Payroll Last day to submit: OM Forms 5:00 p.m. June 18, 2014 Wednesday PA Forms included in June Payroll 5:00 p.m. June 20, 2014 Friday PA Forms Final salary adjustments 5:00 p.m. June 23, 2014 Monday Stipend Forms Noon June 24, 2014 Tuesday Weekly Staff, Student, Facilities & Casual time sheets Noon June 24, 2014 Tuesday Budget Adjustments Noon June 27, 2014 Friday P-Card Purchases ** Last day to make a P-card purchase 5:00 p.m June 20, 2014 Friday Cash Receipts Noon June 30, 2014 Monday Departmental Sales- Customer Invoices Noon June 30, 2014 Monday Internal Service Requests (ISR) New Requestsfor FY 14 Noon June 25, 2014 Wednesday Provider Billing Posting 5:00 pm. July 2, 2014 Wednesday Facility Service Requests (FSR) New Requests for FY 14 Noon June 25, 2014 Wednesday Provider Billing Posting 5:00 p.m. July 3, 2014 Thursday Expense accruals/income deferrals Noon July 7, 2014 Monday ISR & FSR Commitments and Manual Funds Reservations Noon July 7, 2014 Monday Journal Entries & JV Uploads Department Level Approval 5:00 p.m. July 7, 2014 Monday Central Approval Noon July 8, 2014 Tuesday **It may take up to 5 business days after a purchase is made, for a vendor transaction to be available for cardholder review and account updating in CAR (the PCard system). Purchases made after June 20, 2014, may not be available for cardholder review and update in time for inclusion in FY14. All updates should be complete by 3:00 pm June 27th; posting to General Ledger will be at 5:00 on Friday, June 27.