The next GMAS release will be available Monday, April 9, 2018. GMAS will be unavailable starting at 7 p.m. EST on Friday, April 6, 2018 through the start of business at 8 a.m.EST Monday, April 9, 2018.

The release includes two major enhancements: Financial Invoicing and Reporting Strategic Transition (FIRST) and Subrecipient Monitoring.

Financial Invoicing and Reporting Strategic Transition (FIRST)

A financial report dashboard has been added from the GMAS homepage and:

• Serves as the main working space for the Research Finance team in the Office for Sponsored Programs (OSP)
• Provides a view into all financial deliverables that are ready to be processed or are in process
• Includes functionality for bulk approving standard Harvard University invoice templates

The Create Report Screen and the Financial Report List Screen  have been converted and enhanced.

Workflow has been built into all financial deliverables to indicate where in the process a deliverable is, and who is working on it.... Read more about GMAS April 2018 Release

Some automated system enhancements are coming.

CAPS Project Approval System
A future enhancement will be the automation of CIP funding journals. This should increase the turnaround time for approvals and accuracy of journals. CAPS will be working with FAR over the next several months on developing the appropriate business requirements to automate this process.

Capital Planning in CPATH
The following enhancements have, or will be, implemented in CPATH:

• Projected Future Depreciation (CP213) report – Useful life overrides are now allowed for non-MFE assets with depreciable lives different than the standard 20 and 35 years. Other depreciable lives can be input on the Project Finance tab. Reasons for overrides could include lease terms, lab componentization periods that differ significantly from the standard 20-year life estimate, and special situations such as modular construction. Useful lives that are overridden and utilized for the depreciation calculation are highlighted in the Report to facilitate identification.
• Open Projects (CP207) report – Those projects are now highlighted where project-to-date capital spending exceeds non-debt funding if there is some non-debt funding included as a funding source. This is to identify projects that are being charged interest. If debt funding and resulting interest charges were not anticipated, a CAPS form should be submitted to add additional non-debt funding to the project.
• Plan to Actuals with CIP Funding (CP979) report (delayed to June 2018) – This will reflect transfers of funds to projects for the current fiscal year and commitments for future years. Funding by source will be obtained from the CPATH CIP Funding sub-tab of the Finance tab (as this is assumed to reflect the funding that was or will be initiated through CAPS forms.) For equity funding, this will show the amount of funding, if any, that will be moved into a CIP this fiscal year. For debt funding, this will show the amount of anticipated borrowing for capital costs for this fiscal year.... Read more about CAPS and CPATH Automated Systems Enhancements

The Nonresident Alien Tax Compliance Office will host an information session in March for Harvard Administrators on Thursday, March 22 from 10:30 a.m. - 12:00 p.m., Forum Room at Lamont Library.

Designed for administrators who onboard and make payments to nonresident aliens. This session will include an overview of the nonresident alien setup process, use of BER Vendor Type, an overview of GLACIER online tax classification tool, helpful tips, and Q&A.

To attend, please send an email to natasha_rivera@harvard.edu with the words “registration 3/22” in the subject line. This session is open to all; please feel free to forward this invitation to others who may be interested.

Please remember that schools and units should not use cab vouchers or direct billing services for Ambassador or Brattle Cab. If schools require frequent use of a cab, they may wish to set-up a direct billing account with a favored company.