Finance Monthly - SEPTEMBER 2005
11th Edition

Systems
        1. Month End Reports
        2. ELF, FRS, Inquiry, HRMS:  Inquiry Object Codes and Descriptions
        3. Tip of the Month: ELF Copy Feature
Deadlines
        4. Accounts Payable Deadlines
Other News
        5. Fiscal 2006:  Carryforward Budgets Gifts, Grants, Endowments
        6.  Travel Advances: No Longer Required for Prepayments
        7.  Purchasing News: Office Supplies and FEDEX
        8. Who to Contact?
        9. Finance and Administration Website
        

1. MONTH END REPORTS: 
The August month end jobs have successfully run and the reports are currently available on Eprint.  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.


2. ELF, FRS, INQUIRY, HRMS: Inquiry Object Codes and Descriptions
The Inquiry system has an informational report called Object Codes and Descriptions that gives a list of frequently used object codes.  This report has been moved from a report under the General Lists folder to a Help Link in the bottom left corner.  The link opens a new, smaller window and displays the page from the Financial Services Web site.

Finance and Administration offers training sessions on a variety of subjects for all Wesleyan employees.  All sessions are held in the ITS training room, SC523 on a regularly scheduled basis during the academic year.   Attendance is on a first come, first served basis. Employees may register for these sessions by completing the online form which can be found at:

http://www.wesleyan.edu/finance/misc/trainingScheduleRequest/index.html

Individual training can be requested by contacting Susan Pavis, spavis@wesleyan.edu, x2839. 


3. TIP OF THE MONTH:  ELF Copy Feature
Using the "Copy" feature in ELF when doing multiple entries with the same descriptions can save time by not having to type in the same description in every entry.  Simply add the first row with the description that you want, exit out of the entry panel, put a check mark in the box to the left of the entry and copy it as many times as needed.  You can then go in and edit the fields that change.

Note - ELF has been experiencing sporadic technical difficulties.  If you are unable to access the ELF system or experience other problems, please notify Rich Langer at x2225, who can correct the problem.

4.  ACCOUNTS PAYABLE DEADLINES
All vouchers received by 4:00 pm on Thursday will be processed for payment for the following week's Friday check run. 

Please see the Finance and Administration website for additional policies and procedures related to Accounts Payable. 

Contact Tamara Harley at x2843 or Regina Sipples at x2842 with any questions


5.  FISCAL 2006:  Carryforward Budgets
Carryforward budgets have now occurred for all endowment accounts as well as gifts and grants.  If there are any discrepancies between what was carried forward and what is showing, please contact Kim Savinelli at x3683.

 

6.  TRAVEL ADVANCE: Advances are No Longer Required for Prepayments
Please note that the Finance office no longer requires a travel advance for such prepayments as air, hotel and conference fees.  Travel advances are intended to cover reasonable, anticipated out of pocket expenses. 

As long as there is a valid receipt for the purchase of the ticket, hotel reservation, conference fee etc., reimbursement can be made and charged directly to the expense account that is supplied.  This reimbursement must still be facilitated through a travel expense report rather than an A/P voucher, but can go directly to Accounts Payable.

A few important reminders on the travel advance policy:

• Valerie Nye has replaced Gil Thornfeldt for administration of the advances.
• Travel Advances will not be issued to those who hold a University Commercial Credit Card.  This card has a cash advance feature that can facilitate this need.
• Travel Advances are to be requested 14-30 days before the travel date to ensure receipt based on accounts payable processing guidelines.
• Travel Advances must be cleared within ten days of return from the trip.  This is done by appropriately completing the travel expense report and submitting it directly to Valerie Nye.
• Any unused portion of the advance must be repaid by personal check made payable to Wesleyan University and submitted along with the expense report to Valerie Nye.

Additional information and procedures can be found on the Finance website.


7.  PURCHASING NEWS: Office Supplies and FEDEX
Office Supplies:
The Staples Contract Catalog was successfully handed out on August 30th.  If anyone would like a copy, please contact Olga Bookas or Tony Thomas at tony.thomas@staples.com.  The W.B. Mason contract catalog will be ready within couple of weeks and we will advise distribution date and place.  As a reminder, all office furniture purchases should be coordinated with Olga Bookas via email.

FedEx:
Financial Services and the Mail Center are pleased to inform you that we will add an additional FedEx Drop Box for your convenience at 185 Church Street, Lot C within couple of weeks.  This Drop Box is only for air shipments.  We have negotiated deep discounts with FedEx for ground and air shipments. Therefore, we will have one account number that will cover the whole University.  In order to received the discounts, please use this new account: 179666952.  For additional savings, please provide this FedEx account to your vendors to use when they ship to us. 

We will offer PassKey training at the end of September.  Until we are up and running with the Passkey, you will need to use your department charge-back number in the reference field on the waybills


8. WHO TO CONTACT
Do you need assistance on an issue or problem and don't know who to contact? Find your contact by clicking on the following link:
http://www.wesleyan.edu/finance/misc/contactInformation/


9. FINANCE AND ADMINISTRATION WEBSITE
The Finance and Administration website offers an abundance of information.  Be sure to check out www.wesleyan.edu/finance. for answers to your most frequently asked questions.  We welcome comments and suggestions as we work in making this a reference destination for your daily work.




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 emailed 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 Valerie Nye, vnye@wesleyan.edu.