Fiscal Year End 2016 Issue

April 28, 2016

Overview

Harvard's fiscal year 2016 will end on Thursday, June 30, 2016. As in the past, the University will close the books through a series of steps called "closings." Click here for a PDF version of this article.

Please note this year's closing dates:

The first closing will take place on Friday, July 8.

The second closing on Friday, July 15

The third closing on Friday, July 22.

In the paragraphs that follow, you will find closing deadlines and submission information for the following financial transactions: 

  • Accounts Payable
  • Vendor Setup, Maintenance & Reactivation
  • Credit Vouchers (Cash Receipts)
  • Credit Vouchers (Validated Deposit Slips)
  • Massachusetts Taxable Sales Deposits
  • Foreign Check Deposits on Credit Vouchers
  • Voided Check
  • Stopped Checks
  • Escheat Checks
  • Foreign Currency Drafts and Wires
  • U.S. Wire Transfers
  • ACH Payments (Benefits/Tax)
  • Purchasing Card Sweeps
  • Web Reimbursement Travel Authorization Forms (WV-TAFs)
  • Web Reimbursement Reports
  • Web Reimbursement Reports with Advance Settlements
  • Central Accounts Receivable Billings
  • Journal Entries
  • Interdepartmental Billings
  • Cost Transfer Requests on Sponsored Funds
  • Chart of Accounts Maintenance Requests
  • CAPS deadlines
  • Fixed Assets

Note the journal entries deadlines this year. In order to allow the tubs more time to process manual journal entries on the day of the closings, the manual JV entry deadline will be 2:00 p.m. On Friday, July 8, Friday, July 18 and Friday, July 22, the days of the first, second and third closes, any journals entered into the General Ledger by 2:00 p.m. will be included in that close and will be available in the HDW the next day.

In addition, in order to provide the tubs with more timely information during the FY2016 year end, there will be two additional data refreshes to the Data Warehouse (HDW) on Sunday night, July 10 after the first close and on Sunday night, July 17 after the second close. This means that June journals entered after the 2 p.m. deadline on the day of the close and before 6:30 p.m. on Sunday night will be posted and reflected in the HDW on Monday morning. Note that there will not be a data refresh on Sunday, July 24 after the third close. Any regular invoice batches and invoice imports that have been processed by the Accounts Payable department from Friday through Sunday after the first close will also be uploaded on Sunday evening and reflected in the HDW on Monday morning.

The deadlines provided are the last allowable dates to submit transactions.

These are the Central Financial Administration deadlines. Since some departments have internal deadlines that may be earlier than these, you should check with your local tub financial office to obtain any departmentally defined deadlines.

Reporting tips are also included in this e-News. We expect exceptional reporting demands during the year-end closings. Following our suggestions on reporting will reduce the time required to run your reports.

Closing Deadlines and Submission Information

Accounts Payable

(including Non-employee reimbursements)

A mail drop-off box will be located by the elevator bank on the 7th floor in the Smith Campus Center. Any items received at 1033 Massachusetts Avenue or deposited into the drop-off box by the deadlines listed below will be processed for FY2016.

All invoices received by the Accounts Payable office either at 1033 Massachusetts Avenue or at the drop-off box located by the elevator bank on the 7th floor in the Smith Campus Center by 12 p.m. on Friday, June 24 (with the exception of special handling requests; see note below) will be processed in FY2016 by close of business on Thursday, June 30.  Note that any invoices placed on hold will not post to the G/L. A significant exception relates to foreign currency drafts and wires and US wire transfers (see the Foreign currency drafts and wires and the U.S. wire transfers sections for these earlier deadlines).

Invoices received between Monday, June 27 and Thursday, July 7 at 5 p.m. will be processed by Monday, July 11 as part of FY2016. All FY2016 invoice data will be available in the HDW by Tuesday, July 12.  All invoices for FY2017 (with the exception of Special Handling,) should be held, and submitted to Accounts Payable after close of business on Thursday, July 7, to be processed in FY2017.

If you purchase items late in the fiscal year that you want charged in FY2016, be sure to request immediate billing from vendors so that you can meet these deadlines.

Special handling requests that need to be expensed in FY2016 must be received at 1033 Massachusetts Avenue, 2nd Floor by 5 p.m. on Monday, June 27.

Special handling requests received after 5 p.m. on Friday, June 27 cannot be expensed to FY2016. If the special handling request is for an FY2016 expense you will need to accrue the item. For information on accruals, please contact your tub financial office.

Vendor Setup, Maintenance & Reactivation

Vendors that need to be set up or for changes to existing vendors, the on-line vendor form must be approved in Oracle by 5 p.m. on Wednesday, June 22.  Note that appropriate forms (W-9 or Glacier,) must also be received by the vendor set up group by this time as well.

Credit Vouchers (Cash Receipts)

The Cash Receipts Office, 1033 Massachusetts Avenue, 2nd floor, will accept credit vouchers accompanied by cash or checks until 4 p.m. on Wednesday June 29.

Credit Vouchers (Validated Deposit Slips)

For bank deposits made through Tuesday June 28, the credit voucher accompanied by a validated bank receipt must be delivered to the Cash Receipts Office, 1033 Massachusetts Avenue, 2nd floor, no later than 4 p.m. on Wednesday June 29.

In order to allow for sufficient processing time in FY2016, the credit voucher associated with the validated deposit ticket for bank deposits made between  June 29  and June 30 must be delivered to the Cash Receipts Office  by 12 p.m. on Friday July 1 in order for the income to be recognized in FY2016.

NOTE: Due to high volume of activity, deposit forms and validated deposit tickets received on July1 that are dated prior to June 28 may be at risk of not getting processed in FY2016. It is important that you deliver the credit vouchers in a timely manner and do not hold on to them or deliver them in bulk. 

Massachusetts Taxable Sales Deposits

All Massachusetts Taxable Sales forms with a validated bank deposit ticket for deposits made through Thursday, June 23 must be delivered to Cash Receipts, 1033 Massachusetts Avenue 2nd floor, by 4 p.m. Friday June 24.

In order to allow for sufficient processing time in FY2016, the deposit form and validated deposit tickets for all deposits made between Friday June 24 and Thursday June 30 must be delivered to the Cash Receipts Office by 12 p.m. on Friday, July 1 in order to recognize the income in FY2016.

NOTE: Due to high volume of activity, deposit forms and validated deposited tickets received on July 1 that are dated prior to June 24 may be at risk of  not getting processed in FY16. It is important that you deliver the deposit forms in a timely manner and do not hold on to them or deliver them in bulk. 

Foreign Check Deposits on Credit Vouchers

Credit vouchers accompanied by foreign checks that need to be sent to the bank for collection should be submitted to the Cash Receipts Office, 1033 Massachusetts Avenue 2nd floor, immediately upon receipt but no later than 4 p.m. on Wed. June 29.  Because each bank and country's collection times and processes are different, we cannot guarantee that we will receive credit from the bank for these checks before June 30.

However, the University has an agreement with Bank of America to receive provisional credit on most common foreign currencies and for those checks the Cash Receipts office be able to process the credit voucher and the school will recognize the income in FY2016.

Voided Checks

All checks that need to be voided and re-deposited must be received by Cash Management, 1033 Massachusetts Avenue, 2nd Floor, by 12 p.m. Friday, June 24 in order for the credit to be included in FY2016.

Stopped Checks

All checks that need to be stopped and re-deposited must be received by Cash Management, 1033 Massachusetts Avenue, 2nd Floor, by 12 p.m. Friday, June 24 in order for the credit to be included in FY2016.

Escheat Checks

All checks dated in calendar year 2015 that need to be voided, stopped or reissued must be sent to Cash Management, 1033 Massachusetts Avenue, 2nd Floor, by 5 p.m. on Friday, June 10 in order for the credit to be included in FY2016.

Foreign Currency Drafts and Wires

Cash Management will process one last batch of foreign currency drafts and wires on Tuesday, June 28. These expenses will be included in FY2016. Requests for payments to be made in a foreign currency must be entered and approved online and the related invoices received by Accounts Payable, 1033 Massachusetts Avenue, 2nd Floor, no later than Monday, June 27 at noon. Note: These invoices must have an original bank draft authorization form or an original wire transfer authorization form attached to the front of the invoice.

U.S. Wire Transfers

Requests for payments to be wire transferred must be entered and approved online, with related invoices received by Cash Management, 1033 Massachusetts Avenue, 2nd Floor, no later than Tuesday, June 28 at 5 p.m. Note: These invoices must have an original wire transfer authorization form attached to the front of the invoice.

ACH Payments (Benefits/Tax)

Requests for payments via ACH must be entered and approved online, with related invoices received by  Cash Management, 1033 Massachusetts Avenue, 2nd Floor, no later than Tuesday, June 28 at 5 p.m. Note: These invoices must have an original ACH transfer authorization form attached to the front of the invoice.

Purchasing Card Sweeps

In order to ensure that as many current PCard transactions as possible are swept in this fiscal year, the PCard sweeps originally scheduled for June 30 , July 7, and July 14 will all be moved.

  • The originally scheduled June 30 sweep will be moved to Wednesday, June 29 at 3 p.m. This sweep will contain PCard transactions loaded into the settlement system between June 10 and June 16.
  • The originally scheduled July 7 sweep will be moved to Thursday, June 30 at 3 p.m. This sweep will contain PCard transactions loaded into the settlement system between June 17 and June 23.
  • The originally scheduled July 14 sweep will be moved to Wednesday, July 7 at 3 p.m. This sweep will be booked into FY2016 and will contain PCard transactions loaded into the settlement system between June 24 and June 30.

Please note that the date for transactions loaded into the settlement system is not the same as the transaction date. There is no way to determine a final day on which users can make PCard purchases and assure that those transactions will be swept in FY2016 since timing is dependent on vendors and other factors.

Web Reimbursement Travel Authorization Forms (WR-TAFs)

WR-TAFs must be approved and ticketed by 5 p.m. on Friday, June 10 to be included in FY2016.

Web Reimbursement Reports

 

All reimbursement reports, including Citi Direct Pay, must reach the Reimbursements and Card Services at 1033 Massachusetts Avenue, 2nd Floor or the drop-off box located by the elevator bank on the 7th floor in Smith Center (formerly Holyoke) by 5 p.m. Friday, June 24 to be included in FY2016.

Web Reimbursement Reports with Advance Settlements

Web Reimbursement reports with advance settlements, when accompanied by unused funds (checks), will be accepted by the Reimbursements and Card Services at 1033 Massachusetts Avenue, 2nd Floor or the drop-off box located by the elevator bank on the 7th floor in Smith Center (formerly Holyoke) until 5 p.m. on Friday, June 17.

Advance settlements for zero balance or amounts due to the traveler will be accepted at either location until 5 p.m. on Friday, June 24.

Central Accounts Receivable Billing

Central Accounts Receivable will close FY2016 on Wednesday, July 13, at 5 p.m.

The cut-off date for customer set up is Thursday, July 7, at 4:00 p.m.

AR feeds, invoices and credit memos processed by the tubs to be included in FY2016 need to be entered into the Oracle AR system by 4 p.m. on Wednesday, July 13.

 From July 1 to July 13, the GL date in Oracle AR will automatically default to the July 2016 (FY2017) date. In order for transactions to be included in FY2016 during this time, users will have to enter the date of June 30, 2016 to override the default date. This process applies to invoices and credit memos entered both manually and via feeds.

Please note that receivables for goods or services provided in FY2016 should be entered in the period of JUNE 2016, and not July, consistent with GAAP (Generally Accepted Accounting Principles).

Central AR will accept invoice and credit memo templates that AR enters on behalf of local units until 4 p.m. on Thursday, July 7.

Journal Entries

Closing

Journal Data Entry Deadline

GL Feed Deadline

First

Friday, July 8, 2 p.m.

Thursday, July 7, 5 p.m.

Second

Friday, July 15, 2 p.m.

Thursday, July 14, 5 p.m.

Third

Friday, July 22, 2 p.m.

Thursday, July 21, 5 p.m.

Daily input deadline: Monday - Thursday, 6:30 p.m.

Please keep in mind the following:

  • The University is closed on Monday, July 4 for the holiday. Therefore, there will be no journal vouchers posted to the General Ledger or recorded in the Data Warehouse on that day. Rather these journals will be posted to the General Ledger on Tuesday, July 5 and will be in the HDW on Wednesday, July 6.
  • Any June journals entered on Friday, July 8 after 2 p.m. and before 6:30 p.m. on Sunday, July 10 will be posted to the GL on Sunday night and available in the HDW on Monday, July 11.
  • Any June journals entered on Friday, July 15 after 2 p.m. and before 6:30 p.m. on Sunday, July 17 will be posted to the GL on Sunday night, July 17 and available in the HDW on Monday, July 18.
  • Any June journals entered after the third close deadline of 2 p.m. on Friday, July 22 will be deleted.
  • Be careful to select the proper period (JUN-16 or JUL-16) when you are entering a journal.  Beginning July 1, the default period will be JUL-16 (FY2017). If you want to post a journal to FY2016 during July 2016 you will need to select JUN-16 as the proper period.
  • Entries must not be processed to another tub after the second closing without authorization from the financial office of the tub being charged. Individuals processing journals have personal responsibility to ensure they follow this requirement.
  • A journal should only be reversed by the person who created the journal, or with the permission of that person.

NOTE: Based upon departmental activity and the reports you run through the month of May, please make any necessary adjustments as early in June as possible.

Interdepartmental Billings

  • All interdepartmental billings, whether entered manually or via a feed to the General Ledger, must be processed by the end of the second closing. (GL billing feeds are generally submitted by service centers like HUIT and UOS.) An interdepartmental billing journal may be processed in the third closing only if permission has been obtained from the financial office of the tub being charged.
  • Interdepartmental billings should provide a name and contact number on the journal for questions or concerns the tub being billed may have.

Cost Transfer Requests

Closing

Submission Deadline to OSP

First

Wednesday, July 6, 10 a.m.

Second

Wednesday, July 13, 10 a.m.

Third

Tuesday, July 19, 10 a.m.

  • These dates apply to ALL requests for cost transfers to federally sponsored funds (funds in the range from 100000-199999). Note that these requests require supporting documentation.
  • Cost transfer requests should be submitted directly to OSP. OSP will review the request and documentation for appropriateness. OSP will enter cost transfer journals for departments during the year-end closing process, if necessary, due to school specific closing deadlines.

Chart of Account Maintenance Requests

Disable Requests:

Tuesday, June 7 (MAY-16 close) is the last date that values will be disabled in FY2016. Any CSMA requests not successfully disabled on June 7 will be held until the final JUL-16 close on Wednesday, August 24.

Requests to disable CoA values that require approval should be submitted through CSMA before 5 p.m. on Tuesday, May 24. Disable requests that do not require approval should be submitted through CSMA before 5 p.m. on Friday, June 3.

Funds and subactivities with the status of "Ready to be disabled" in GMAS will be sent to CSMA on Monday, June 6 for processing. This is the last time sponsored funds and subactivities will be sent to CSMA to be disabled in FY2016. The next time "Ready to be disabled" sponsored values will be sent to CSMA is September 7.

Add / Modify / Re-enable Requests:

Requests to add, modify, or re-enable CoA values submitted through CSMA will be processed according to the normal daily schedule (7 a.m. - 5 p.m., Monday - Friday) throughout year-end. CSMA requestors wishing to specifically designate for the JUN-16 period any CoA changes entered from July 1 through August 2 should enter 30-JUN-2016 as the effective date for their request.

GMAS will continue to send Add/Modify requests as usual during year-end. Requests to re-enable a sponsored fund or subactivity should be sent to the OSP Team Manager as usual.

Fiscal Year-End Reporting Guidance & Tips; HUBS Actuals Updates Following Scheduled Year-End Close Dates

Fiscal Year 2016
Close Dates

Detail Listing Report Periods:
Show Transactions "Between Dates"

CREW Scheduled
YE Closes "Event"
Kick-off Date

Actuals Available in HUBS

First Close

Fiscal June entries from June 1 through July 8

   Saturday, July 9

Saturday, July 9

Second Close

Fiscal June entries from July 9 through July 15

Saturday, July 16

Saturday, July 16

Third Close

Fiscal June entries from July 16 through July 22

Saturday, July 23

Saturday, July 23

Fourth Close

Fiscal June entries from July 23 through July 29

Saturday, July 30

Saturday, July 30

Fifth Close

Fiscal June entries from July 30 through August 3

Thursday, August  4

Thursday, August  4

Every year-end we experience exceptional reporting demands during the closings. Following these suggestions on reporting will reduce the time required to run your reports.

  • Use the Detail Listings "close" dates to limit to the specific transactions that occurred in each close. Choose the specific close (First Close, Second Close, etc.) from the report period pick list. Note that the start and end dates populated for these periods will display July dates. For these closing periods only, these dates refer to the actual entry dates of fiscal month June entries. It is strongly recommended that you take advantage of using the close dates to narrow the scope of your data rather than capturing all of the Prior Fiscal Year data throughout the close periods.
  • IMPORTANT NOTE: Fiscal Year 2016 close dates will not be displayed in the Detail Listings report period names until July 1. On July 1, these dates automatically update to the FY2016 dates. This does NOT preclude setting up and scheduling reports in advance. The FY2016 dates will automatically repopulate all scheduled reports.
  • Schedule your closing reports to run on the Year-End "Event" dates.
  • Enter all of the chart segment parameters you can for a given report request to increase performance for yourself and the whole University. Never use your security view to filter your data. For example, let's say a user wants to see amounts for a range of objects within the tub and org for which they have a view. Because of their view limitation, the user will get the same result whether tub and org are entered as parameters or not. However, not including tub and org will make the query take much longer to run, tying up system resources and slowing things down for all report users.
  • Only use transaction reports like the Detailed Listing when you really need to see the transaction line detail. Summary-level balances can be retrieved in reports such as the Summary Actuals Listing report, Fund Summary report, Fund, Gift, & Unrestricted Unexpended Balance report, and the Budget Variance report.
  • Preserve server disk space by deleting unneeded reports instead of waiting for them to purge. (Note: Report requests are systematically purged after seven days.) This is especially important if you have report output that you know is large.
  • Keep in mind that, as of July 1, the Current Fiscal Year to Date option will reflect FY2017. To retrieve FY2016 year-to-date transactions, select the Prior Fiscal Year date period from the period pick list.

CAPS Fiscal Year End 2016 Deadlines

To ensure that all necessary approvals are in place and all accounting entries are completed in time, appropriate CAPS forms must be submitted to Central Administration by your School/Unit's Authorized Requestor through the CAPS automated system by the dates set forth below.

  • Monday, May 9 - Completed Project Proposals (PPs) and Construction Authorizations (CAs) submitted by this date will be processed for FY2016.   CIP activities will be enabled where applicable. 
  • Thursday, June 9, 12 p.m. - Completed Construction Close Requests (CCRs) submitted by this date will be processed for FY2016. CIP activities will be disabled.   Please note that Oracle Assets (OA), GL and CCR balances must be equal and that there are no future charges or invoices pending in Mass Additions. 

Forms submitted after the dates listed above will be held in a queue and processed in FY2017 when the CAPS system re-opens for approval on Tuesday, July 5, 2016.

Oracle Assets Fiscal Year End 2016 Deadlines

The following dates represent the deadlines for activity related to or in the Oracle Assets subledger.  

 

Closing Deadlines and Submission Information

AP Adjustments entered in HCOM

Tuesday, July 5, at 5 p.m.

Note:  please ensure that an approver is available to approve an AP adjustment request prior to the deadline below.  All unapproved AP adjustments are purged upon the close of AP. 

AP Adjustments approved in HCOM

Thursday, July 7 at 5 p.m.

Note:  the AP to GL feed is shut off from July 9 to July 31.  All FY17 AP activity will be fed to Oracle Assets on August 1. 

Trade-in Notification

Information sent to far_fixed_assets@harvard.edu no later than

Thursday, July 7. 

WIP Placed in Service Notification Forms sent to FAR

Forms sent to far_fixed_assets@harvard.edu no later than

Monday, July 18, at 5 p.m.

Sales of Equipment

Cash received by Cash Management per their Fiscal Year end deadlines. 

Asset must be retired in Oracle Assets, and information on sale sent to far_fixed_assets@harvard.edu no later than

Monday, July 18. 

CIP and Equipment accruals posted by Tubs prior to third close journal deadlines

Friday, July 22 at 2 p.m.

Mass Additions queue cleared; all transactions posted to either a capital or CIP asset

Tuesday, July 26, at 5 p.m.

Non-cash retirement of assets and impairments

Wednesday, July 27 at 5 p.m.

Final assets close for FY16

Thursday, July 28, at 9 a.m.

Tubs run reports for Fixed Asset reconciliations

Thursday, July 28, upon receipt of email indicating that Assets has closed (approximately noon)

Depreciation in HDW

Friday, July 29 at 9 a.m.

Who to Contact List for Closings

Please click on the Print button found at the bottom of this article if you wish to print a version for quick reference.

For questions relating to

Please contact:

Transaction

Office

Location

Phone

Accounts Payable

Accounts Payable

1033 Massachusetts Avenue, 2nd Floor

5-8500  option 1

Credit vouchers

Cash Receipts

1033 Massachusetts Avenue, 2nd floor     Flo

6-8332

Check voids / re-deposits

Cash Management

1033 Massachusetts Avenue, 2nd floor

5-4175

Wires and drafts

Cash Management

1033 Massachusetts Avenue, 2nd floor

6-3018

PCard transactions

Reimbursements &
Card Services

1033 Massachusetts Avenue, 2nd floor

5-8500 option 1

Travel authorization forms

Reimbursements &
Card Services

1033 Massachusetts Avenue, 2nd floor

5-8500 option 1

Web Reimbursement reports

Reimbursements &
Card Services

1033 Massachusetts Avenue, 2nd floor

5-8500 option 1

AR invoices

Accounts Receivable

1033 Massachusetts Avenue, 2nd floor

5-3787

Journal vouchers

Financial Accounting
&  Reporting

1033 Massachusetts Avenue,  Room 324

6-3375

Fixed Assets

Financial Accounting & Reporting

1033 Massachusetts Avenue, 3rd floor 3

far_fixed_assets@harvard.edu

 

Cost transfers-Sponsored funds

 

Sponsored Research

1033 Massachusetts Avenue,  Room 558

 

6-3130