The main cut-off dates are:

Between May 1 and 12, 2011, Financial Services will backdate all 2011 transactions to April 30, 2011 without informing the affected Faculties or Departments. 

Between May 13 and 25, if Financial Services finds a transaction that should be in fiscal 2011, we will backdate it, and then inform the FOAPAL holder.

All FOAPAL corrections must be provided to Financial Services by Friday, May 20, 2011.

No further FOAPAL corrections will be posted after May 25, 2011.

Purchases of Goods and Services:
Information on Year-end purchasing requirement has already been set to all faculty and staff of the University through the Deans and Directors list on Feb 1, 2011 and again on February 23, 2011   An e-mail discussing the BMO Purchasing Card Year-End cut-off requirements will be sent to cardholders shortly (last year, it was sent March 31).

Commitments:
Please ensure all outstanding commitments in your FOAPAL are in fact still outstanding. The commitments could represent outstanding requisitions, open purchase orders where goods have not yet been received or paid for, or the amount of gross salaries left to be paid in the current fiscal year. 

You can view your open commitments in FAST (https://millennium.uregina.ca/FASTPORTAL). These show up in the Operating Statement in a separate column called 'O/S Commitments'. You can drill down on the commitment to see the purchase order (PO) or other information. 

If you think you have already paid for an item, but the PO is still showing up, perhaps only some of this PO has been liquidated. For example, you may have ordered 10 items, but only received and paid for 9 items. If you know you will not receive the 10th item, the PO should be liquidated. 

Another problem may be that a Purchase Order has been prepared incorrectly and another PO created in its place. The old PO may still be outstanding, causing a commitment. 

Purchase Orders for Leader Post ads will almost always still be open even if the bill has been paid. When Accounts Payable receives and invoice from the Leader Post, it indicates a FOAPAL, but not a purchase order. Also, the Leader Post summarizes their charges by FOAPAL, so there may be more than one PO per invoice. Our Accounts Payable area pays for these with a Direct Pay invoice which doesn't match to the PO and therefore doesn't liquidate the encumbrance. 

For any amounts you determine should be liquidated, please inform Marlene Olson in Financial Services at local 4744 or marlene.olson@uregina.ca. Include the FOAPAL and the PO or Req number. 

University Invoices to External Entities (Revenue and Recoveries):
If goods have been sold or services provided to external entities prior to April 30, 2011, the related revenue must be recorded as 2011 revenue even if the payment has not yet been received. All invoices must be completed and received by John McArthur in Financial Services by April 30, 2011.  If you are entering these invoices into the External Invoice System yourself after April 30, 2011, please backdate them to April 30, 2011.

In extenuating circumstances, invoices for 2011 can still be completed until May 12, 2011 and still recorded as 2011 revenue. These invoices should clearly be marked "2011 Invoice". 

Any invoices for goods and services provided in the early weeks of fiscal 2012 and sent to Financial Services before May 25, 2012 should clearly be marked "2012 Invoice". This will help ensure the invoices are properly recorded and will help in the year end audit by Provincial Audit. 

If you have any questions in this area, contact John McArthur at local 5137. 

Cash Transmittals:
For any cash transmittals sent to Financial Services in April, May, or June, please INDICATE if cash relates to events that took place in the old year 2011 or in the new year 2012 so that we know in which fiscal year to post the revenue/recoveries. 

Carryforward Amounts:
Carry forward amounts to be included in your 2012 budget will be calculated by Rod Steffan, Director, Budgetary Services, after all year-end entries have been posted, using the Carryforward rules found in Policy 50.30 - Year-End Departmental Operating Budget Surpluses.  Rod will send out a preliminary Carryforward total to each Faculty and Department for their review and discussion prior to posting them in your FOAPAL's.  When these Carryforward amounts are posted, they will be posted to the budget account called POOL, with an activity code of CFWD.  APEA Carryforwards will likely not be posted until mid-June 2011.

Reviewing and Correcting your FOAPALs:
Please review your FOAPALs and ensure all the revenues and expenses going through belong to that FOAPAL. To find out what the various Transaction Codes in your detailed reports mean, click HERE. To find out what the various document numbers in your reports mean, click HERE. 

You can review your FOAPAL by using the FAST system  https://millennium.uregina.ca/FASTPORTAL. Instruction manuals are available  at  http://www.uregina.ca/compserv/training/manuals/other.shtml   

One thing that is key to note here...the University has 2 types of funds: 

1. Budgeted (APEA and General Operating) - Use the the Operating Statement in FAST to see how much budget you have left. In FAST, do *not* look at the Balance Sheet. For APEA's, the balance sheet will always look overspent because it simply accumulates all expenses but never has any revenues. 

2. Non-budgeted (Research, Special Projects, Capital, Trust, Endowment) - In FAST, go straight to the Balance Sheet to see how much is available. Then go to the Operating Statement to view revenues and expenses. 

Between May 1st and May 12th, Financial Services will be backdating all transactions and corrections that properly belong in the old year WITHOUT notifying FOAPAL holders on an item by item basis. This is necessary to ensure the University's April 30, 2011 financial statements will be correct. Revenues and recoveries will be backdated to April 30th if they relate to events which occurred in the old year. Invoices will be backdated to April 30th if they are paying for goods and services received in the old year. 

Early in May, please check your FOAPALs and inform Financial Services of any needed corrections before May 12, 2011. 

So, basically, your FOAPAL as at April 30th may change, depending on what day you look at it. There is a CASPUR report called "Backdated Year End Transactions" that will show you all transactions that have been processed after April 30, 2011 backdated to fiscal 2011. You can find this report by clicking on the Finance Reports Menu, then the Transaction Report Menu. 

On May 13, 2011, you can look at your transactions for the period ending April 30th and see preliminary 'final' numbers for fiscal 2011. 

After May 12th, some backdating may be required to ensure our financial statements will be correct. ANYTHING backdated to April 30th after May 12th will be brought to the attention of the FOAPAL holder. Because we have to have give the University's financial statement Trial Balance to Provincial Audit on June 3, 2011, we will not post any further transactions to fiscal 2011 after Wednesday, May 25, 2011. FOAPAL holders must have all correcting entries to Financial Services by Friday, May 20, 2011. 

Remember, in FAST you can now view your invoice and journal entry images by drilling down on the document number.

Changing Document Numbers:
Starting May 1st, document numbers will change. For example, invoices processed after April 30th will use I1200001 or MI120000 and up. Cash receipts will use CR120000 and up. Journal Vouchers will use J1200001 and up. Internal transfers will use IT120000 and up.  This is the case even if a transaction is posted back to the 2011 fiscal year.

Accountable Professional Expense Accounts (APEA):   (APEA Regulations)
Provisions in current collective agreements permit the carry over of unspent Accountable Professional Expense Account funds to the next fiscal year. However, the total available for spending within your account, in any one year, cannot exceed three year's worth of APEA allocation. (i.e. if your 2011 entitlement is $1,000 you cannot have an available budget in excess of $3,000 ($1,000 x 3) once your carryforward has been brought in).

Expenses claimed within a fiscal year must be for that fiscal year. Therefore, if your receipts are dated within the 2011 fiscal year, reimbursement must be recorded within that period. 

There is one exception to this rule. If you have prepaid in one fiscal year, for goods or services which will be received in the next fiscal year, in order to obtain a reduced cost, you may claim the expense in either the fiscal year payment was made (subject to funds being available in your account), or in the fiscal year the goods or services will be obtained. The qualifying requirement is that a saving occurred because of prepayment. This type of saving is common with air travel, or in payment of conference registration fees. (See information under "Travel over the Year End" below). 

Requests for reimbursement relating to 2011 expenses must be submitted to Donna Lissel and Hiromi Isa, our Miscellaneous Disbursements Clerks in Financial Services, by Friday, May 6, 2011. 

Travel over the Year End:
For our year end April 30, 2011, we need to make sure travel and expense claims are applied to the correct year. You may find that your travel spans a period in the 2011 as well as the 2012 fiscal years. 

For financial statement purposes, expenses must be recorded in the fiscal period in which the travel occurred. For example, travel over the period April 28 to May 4 with a total expense of $1,200, $400 of which is in April and $800 in May should technically result in two claims. 

If your Purchasing Card is used before May 5, 2011 to purchase air travel taking place in the new fiscal year, the system currently in place will charge those amounts to the 2011 fiscal year. If any of these amounts are for travel in the new fiscal year, and you wish those amounts to be charged against your 2012 budget, please submit a request to Terri Keith in Financial Services by May 20, 2011. This request should include a copy of the invoice, a copy of the purchasing card statement, who is traveling, and the dollar amount.  We will then process a journal entry to remove the old year expenses and record them in the new year expenses. 

If you have any questions regarding travel expenses claims, please contact Donna Lissel at local 4979 or Hiromi Isa at 4581.