News & Announcements

We hope your week is off to a great start!

Here are your tips for the week of May 20:

Tip 1: Approvers will now see the correct signs when approving expenditure budget journals and transfers.

• In the past, the Fluid Approval screens for Budget Journals and Transfers reversed the signs for expenditure budget journals and transfers. This known issue has been resolved during the UGA Financial Management System update this past weekend. The signs for approvers will now match the signs entered by initiators.
• Training topics on this issue will be edited to reflect the fix this week. Users can review the Transaction Signs Quick Reference Guide in the Quick Reference Materials for Practitioners area of the Training Library as well as the Tutorials in the Approving GL and Budget Journals section.

Tip 2: Do you need resources to help you with the new faculty contract delivery process for FY20? We can help!

• A job aid handout and tutorials are available in the Training Library for printing and distribution in departments
• May 20 Query was made available, training recording is available here
• May 24 is the deadline for initial Contract errors notification to OFA
• Office hours are available on Tuesday, May 21, 2:00 – 4:00 p.m. in Caldwell Hall, Room 414

Questions on this new contract process may be directed to Beverly Minor in the Office of Faculty Affairs at [email protected] or 706-542-0547.

Tip 2+: Did you know? There’s a quick and easy way to review transactions in Manager Self-Service.

• A quick and easy way to review the transactions you approved is a hidden gem in Manager Self-Service. From the Manager Self-Service landing page, click the approvals tile. On the approvals page, click the “3 dots” at the top right of your screen. From this drop down menu, select approval history. From here you can review any transaction you have approved in the past 30 days! This option under the “3 dots” menu is only available on the approvals tile page.

Tip 2++: When completing employee terminations, use the comments section!

• A reminder for all employee termination transactions in OneUSG Connect, please include the following information in the comments section: Department/Position Information, Last Day Worked, If the employee is on leave/applicable dates, If you are aware of a transfer to another UGA department or USG school. HR’s Workforce Administration will need this information included in the transactions to verify the effective dating. If terminations do not have this essential information, this can cause delay in processing.

Tip 2+++: As a friendly reminder, all travel and general Expense Reports that need to be completed in fiscal year 2019 must be approved in the system and at the Accounts Payable step by June 26, 2019.

• Accurate expense reporting is crucial for the university’s overall financial management and reporting, sponsored project invoicing and reporting, and annual travel reporting as required by the state of Georgia. To ensure that UGA can meet these requirements, expense reports need to be fully completed in the financial system and expense reports that were started, but will not be processed, need to be deleted in the system.
• As a friendly reminder – all travel and general expense reports that need to be completed in fiscal year 2019 must be approved in the system and at the Accounts Payable step by June 26, 2019. This means documents must have passed all edit and budget checks, completed all approvals, and reached the Accounts Payable step by June 26. Accounts Payable will delete FY2019 travel and expense reports that do not reach Accounts Payable by June 26 to avoid lingering accounting transactions in the system as we complete the year-end accrual process. Departments can resubmit these documents in FY2020.
• Travel or general expense reports with a creation date between June 27, 2019 and July 1, 2019 will process in FY2020 and will have an entry date of July 1, 2019. We ask that you do not create FY2020 expense reports until June 27, 2019. The UGA_TE_ER_PENDING_SUBMISSION query is available to review pending travel or general expense reports. Please keep in mind that Accounts Payable can delete a travel or general expense report on your behalf. Please contact Accounts Payable if you need assistance with a travel or expense report or need assistance deleting a report.
  • Cleaning up Travel and General Expense Documents: An expense report in the Financial Management System is a transaction document that needs timely completion during the fiscal year and especially by the end of the fiscal year. Departments should follow best practices and take action to ensure any pending or unused expense reports are either completed or deleted in a timely manner. These practices will help ensure that faculty and staff are being reimbursed as timely as possible and that budget balances are updated in a timely manner to reflect accurate funds availability. Please follow these best practices for cleaning up travel and general expense reports:
    • Create a travel or general expense report when you are ready to seek reimbursement.
  • Ensure all pending travel or general expense reports are submitted for approval, pushed back for modification, or deleted
  • Delete duplicates of another travel or general expense report
  • Correct all budget errors to ensure the expense reports complete the workflow
  • If a travel or general expense report is in push back status, the amounts on the report may have updated the Commitment Control Ledgers and affected budget balances. Departments should take one of the following actions to correct the entry:
  • Revise and resubmit the travel or general expense report
  • Delete the travel or general expense report
• Beginning May 28, 2019, Accounts Payable will regularly delete pending travel or general expense reports with 1) zero dollars, and 2) that have not entered workflow within 60 days of creation. Any other pending travel and general expense reports that are not in workflow by May 28, 2019 and are over 60 days old will be deleted by Accounts Payable.

Known Issues and Enhancements: Known Issues information is posted as it is available. Check out the new OneSource Roadmap to stay current on timelines for system upgrades, enhancements and maintenance. Check back often in the months ahead as we refine and revise the Roadmap. Your suggestions for improvement are welcomed and needed!

Training: Check the Training Resource Page to register for the latest training classes, including the following webinars:

• Useful Reports for Year-End Budget Review, May 22, 1:30 – 3:30 p.m.
• Position Funding Cube Workshop, May 28, 10 a.m. – noon
• Interested in Project Status Report Training?

The Sponsored Projects Administration is offering in-person training on the Project Status Report targeted at faculty and staff, particularly those who need help determining the balance on a sponsored project.

Several upcoming dates are now open for registration:

• May 30, College of Vet Medicine (501 DW Brooks Dr), 2 – 3:30 p.m.
• May 31, Vet Teaching Hospital (2200 College Station Rd), 1:30 -3 p.m.
• June 3, College of Vet Medicine (501 DW Brooks Dr), 1 – 2:30 p.m.
• June 10, Vet Teaching Hospital (2200 College Station Rd), 10 – 11:30 a.m.
• June 10, CVIOG International Center (201 N Milledge), 2 – 3:30 p.m.

For more information and instructions on how to register, please visit the OneSource Training Resources page here.

Submit a tip: Do you have tip to share? Email it to us at [email protected].

You can find all the Tuesday Tip emails on the Tuesday Tips resource page on the OneSource website.