1. Monthly Reports
2. WFS Original Document Retention
3. Restricted Endowment Spending
4. Accounts Payable Holiday deadlines – Martin Luther King
5. Purchasing News – WB Mason paper price increase, ProShred, Dupli
1. MONTHLY REPORTS
If you routinely run monthly reports via the Preformatted Budget vs. Actual report, Online Inquiry pages or downloading data to Excel for further analysis, please wait until the distribution of this Finance Newsletter, which usually occurs 2-3 working days after the end of each month (note, January newsletter distribution is later due to the holiday break). The Finance Office uses the first couple of days after the end of the month to verify financial activity and correct any issues.
There is still the chance for the “balance available”, as of a particular month end, to change even after this timeframe. Documents that are budget checked but not fully approved by the end of the month are the primary reason for this. If a document was denied and then changed or deleted at any point after the run date of the report, the balance available is affected in the month the document was created.
Example: A journal entry is budget checked on December 21 that charges your smartkey for $100. This entry is included in the “Budget Checked” column for any report run after December 21 for Period 6 (December). On February 15 that journal is denied and subsequently deleted. If the report is run again for Period 6 any time after February 15 the “balance available” would be higher by $100 because that entry is no longer in the activity. It was deleted.
One way to minimize changes like this is to fully approve documents by month end. Documents cannot be changed once they are fully approved.
2. WFS DOCUMENT RETENTION
Once the supporting documentation is scanned and attached to the voucher in WFS, the electronic file in WFS becomes the official record on file.
Departments should keep the original supporting documentation until they receive notification from Accounts Payable that their voucher has been approved. Accounts Payable will confirm that the correct attachment was submitted with the voucher and that it is clear and legible. At this point the electronic file can also be deleted from local hard drives.
Once the voucher is approved by Accounts Payable it is recommended that the department shred the original documentation unless:
- There are specific warranty or other requirements that mandate original hard copies (e.g. real estate transactions, rebates).
- There is reason to believe a dispute or litigation may be involved with the transaction.
3. RESTRICTED ENDOWMENT SPENDING
For departments that maintain restricted endowments, you should have received an email from Kim Savinelli describing a new calculation for spending and the anticipated budget for Fiscal 14. If you have not received this and think you should have please contact Kim at x3683 or ksavinelli@wesleyan.edu.
4. ACCOUNTS PAYABLE HOLIDAY DEADLINES
On Monday, January 21st, the University will observe the Martin Luther King Holiday.
All Accounts Payable Vouchers which must be paid on Friday, January 25th, must be received in the Accounts Payable inbox no later than Friday, January 18th at 4:00pm.
Payment requests received beyond this deadline will be processed for payment on February 1st.
Keep in mind that Wesleyan’s payment terms determine when a payment is made.
Please contact Tamara Harley at extension 2843 or Crystal Flores at extension #2842 with any questions.
5. PURCHASING NEWS
Please see attached January Purchasing news related to a price increase on copier paper at WB Mason, ProShred pickup schedule and Dupli folders (dupli folder picture here)
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. Items for inclusion are due five business days before the end of each month and can be submitted to finance@wesleyan.edu