MAY 2009

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www.wesleyan.edu/finance/financeDept

Important Reminders
1. Benefit Rate 
2. Chronicle of Higher Education
3. Month End Reports – ITS Store Charges
4. WFS Update – Reporting
5. Year End
6. Next Open Finance Meeting

Other News
7. Accounts Payable  – New Vendor Form, Memorial Day Deadlines
8. Purchasing News
9. Purchasing Card 
10. Who to Contact?

 

1. BENEFIT RATE
The budgeted full benefit rate for 2009/10 will be 31.1%, with the breakdown as follows:

16.8% Medical, dental and other

6.65% Pension

7.65% FICA

 The 31.1% benefit rate represents a .9% increase from this current year’s benefit rate of 30.2% due to the increase in medical, dental and other.  The percentages for pension and FICA will remain unchanged from the current year. 

 Operating, gift and endowed accounts will be charged the percentages above.  Grant and agency accounts will be charged actual medical, dental and other charges rather than the budgeted percentage for medical, dental and other.

 Please note that the percentages above represent budgeted amounts only.  Actual amounts paid for pension will vary based on eligibility and participation in the retirement matching program and actual amounts paid for FICA will vary based on salary.  Any variances between budgeted rates and actual rates will be managed centrally.  

 If you have any questions on the new benefit rate, please contact Sun Chyung at x2249

2.  CHRONICLE OF HIGHER EDUCATION
Just a reminder that members of the Wesleyan community have online access to the Chronicle of Higher Education through our institutional subscription.  Online access runs from 1995 to the present.    To save money and paper, offices and individuals across campus who have their own subscription may want to consider accessing the Chronicle through Wesleyan’s institutional subscription instead.

      You can access the Chronicle via this link: http://ezproxy.wesleyan.edu:7790/login?url=http://chronicle.com/  or from the Library’s website by clicking on the Journals tab, entering ‘Chronicle of Higher Education’ in the search box, then clicking on ‘Single Journals’ in the list.  If you are off-campus, you just need to log in using your Wesleyan username and ID.

      If you have questions, please contact the Olin Library Reference Desk at x3873.

 3. MONTH END REPORTS – ITS Store Charges
Some of the ITS store transactions were duplicated in the March 30th run.  Reversal entries are included in the April month end E~Print  report(s).

Inquiry reports have been updated for April month end jobs.   EPrint reports will not be available until early next week.  Users can access Eprint through the Administrative Applications area in their employee portfolio and by using their FRS operator number as the UserID and FRS Password as the Eprint password.

 4. WFS UPDATE
Wesleyan Financial System (WFS) is scheduled to go-live on July 1, 2009.  Please visit the WFS blog for status updates and answers to Frequently Asked Questions.  Questions and comments on the project can also be submitted from the page. 

We are still working on a reporting strategy that will meet the needs of the community.  Please let us know your most frequently used reports and how often they are run.  Responses can be emailed to finance@wesleyan.edu.

5. YEAR END 
The year end schedule has been distributed and can be found at www.wesleyan.edu/finance/financeDept.  You can also find here the presentation from the year end seminars held this week.  This presentation contains detailed examples of how accruals and prepaid expenses are handled at year end. 

6.  OPEN FINANCE MEETING
Save the Date – The next Open Finance Meeting will be held on Monday, May 18 at 11:00 in Usdan 108.  This meeting will be primarily devoted to the WFS Financial System.  A more detailed agenda will be distributed prior to the meeting.

 7.  ACCOUNTS PAYABLE
To get ready for our new financial system, Accounts Payable will be collecting information from our existing vendors using our New Vendor/Substitute W-9 form. This form will be available soon on our web site. In the near future a new vendor will not be set up for payment until this form is received by the accounts payable department.

Vouchers received by 4pm on Thursdays will be processed for payment in the following week’s Friday check run.

SPECIAL MEMORIAL DAY DEADLINES – Vouchers for the May 29th check run are due to Accounts Payable by 12:00 noon on Wednesday, May 20.

For accounts payable questions please contact Tammy Harley at x2843 or Janet Gyurits at x2842 or email ap@wesleyan.edu

8.  PURCHASING NEWS

Duplex printing is the way to go!

Year End Furniture Purchases
Please keep in mind that furniture orders must be received in Purchasing by May 5, 2009.  The furniture lead time is 4-8 weeks depending on product lines.

All deliveries, including office supplies, must be received prior to

 June 22 to be charged to Fiscal ‘09.

 New ~ Verizon Employees Discounted Rates
On Thursday, May 7, 2009, Verizon will be on campus to offer a 12% discount for all Wesleyan employees.  Verizon Representatives will be at the Usdan Center from 10:00 am to 1:00 pm.  The 12% discount applies to new and existing cell phone users. See attached for more information or call Robert Altamirano at 203 671-1788 or Robert.altamirano@verizonwireless.com

 

New ~ Sanditz Travel Vacations
Sanditz Travel is sponsoring a presentation on vacation planning.  It will be held at The Inn at Middletown on Thursday, May 14, 2009 from 5:30 pm to 8:30 pm.  Please review the attached flyer for more information on this exciting vacation showcase.  Hawaii has been recently added as a destination to replace Mexico.   An RSVP is required by May 8, 2009 as there is limited seating.

 

9. PURCHASING CARD 
Please be sure to monitor your monthly purchase limit, especially prior to making any large purchases.  This will ensure the card is not declined at the point of sale.

PCARD charges will be downloaded on May 25, 2009 for billing cycle ending May 20th, 2009.  Be sure to access SDOL to reallocate any charges prior to the download.  Any reallocation after the download will require an ELF Entry.

Reconciled and approved PCARD statements are due to the Finance Office by May 20th with supporting documentation.

Cash Advance Option – If you have a cash advance option on your card there are PCard cash advance procedures that must be followed to create a PIN and access the cash advance.  A cash advance fee of 2% of the advance amount will be charged to your account.

For immediate assistance with your JPMorgan Purchasing Card, call the 24 hour Customer Service number on the back of your card (800)316-6056 or (847)488-3748 outside the U.S.

Contact pcard@wesleyan.edu for all card maintenance requests (i.e., credit limit increases/decreases, name change, address change).

 10. WHO TO CONTACT
Please save these sites as favorites for quick answers to questions you might have.
Finance Office Website http://www.wesleyan.edu/finance/financeDept/
Finance Monthly Blog http://financemonthly.blogs.wesleyn.edu
New Financial System Blog http://wfs.blogs.wesleyan.edu/
Contact Information http://www.wesleyan.edu/finance/misc/contactInformation/

Email Addresses:
General Finance finance@wesleyan.edu.
PCard pcard@wesleyan.edu
Accounts Payable ap@wesleyan.edu
Purchasing obookas@wesleyan.edu

SUBMISSIONS FOR FINANCE MONTHLY
What topics would you like to see included in this monthly communication? Do you have a system tip you’d like to share? Finance Monthly will be e-mailed on a monthly basis, corresponding with the availability of month end financial reports. Items for inclusion are due five business days before the end of each month and can be submitted to finance@wesleyan.edu