A-to-Z Index

Finance Forum Notes 
October 3rd and 4th 2012

View Oct. 2012 PowerPoint Presentation

Wells Fargo at Work

Gayle Morris from Wells Fargo presented information on banking benefits available to JMU employees under the “Wells Fargo at Work” program.   Also representing Wells Fargo were Ryan Canada, Manager of the main Wells Fargo branch downtown, and Oguz [pronounced Ohz] Sengul, Branch Manager of the Home Mortgage office on Evelyn Byrd Avenue.  To find out more, stop by any Wells Fargo office, or contact these individuals as follows: 

gayle.morris@wellsfargo.com , (434) 244-3948
ryan.canada1@wellsfargo.com, (540) 564-5200
oguz.sengul@wellsfargo.com , (540) 438-8899, Ext. 1

Miscellaneous Payments to Individuals/Participant Payments

Several updates have been made to the Financial Procedures Manual to clarify steps to be taken when awarding incentives, prizes, recognition awards and payments to research participants.  These procedures are detailed in Section 4205, Subsections 390 through 396 in the FPM.  Also in this section of the FPM is a chart to assist departments in determining when W-9s are required, when Participant Worksheets are required and whether the permissible payment form is monetary or non-monetary.  When monetary awards are permissible, the Wells Fargo Gift Card is often an available option. 

Wells Fargo Gift Cards

Wells Fargo Visa Gift Cards are available for monetary awards of $25 and above in accordance with FPM guidelines.  There is also a $2 service fee per card that will be charged to the department.  The cards are ordered from Wells Fargo by the Cash & Investments Office after receipt of a properly completed Participant Payment Gift Card Order Form which is available in the Forms Index of the Financial Procedures Manual.  After ordering the cards, Cash & Investments personnel will complete the forms required to charge your department.  Once the cards are received, the department will be notified and the cards can be picked up in the University Business Office.

Accounting Technology Updates and Reminders

  • Amanda Hughes, Manager of Accounting Technology, discussed W-9 forms – both requesting W-9s from vendors and also when outside parties request JMU’s W-9.
    • W-9 Forms to be completed by vendors are available in the Forms Index of the FPM, along with instructions for completion.
    • When outside parties request JMU’s W-9, a Request for JMU’s W-9 Form must be completed and e-mailed to Sandy Pitchard (pitchase@jmu.edu) in the Accounting Technology department. This request form is available in the Forms Index of the FPM.
  • The student direct deposit process has been implemented. For those students who have set up their banking information, refunds will be processed through direct deposit rather than by check. For those students still receiving checks, the check will be mailed to the student’s home address, not the student’s local address.
  • PeopleSoft is still using the Office 2003 platform, but in early 2013 PeopleSoft will be upgraded to Office 2010 which will affect the way the nVision report runs. It will no longer run to HTML, but will run to Excel. For those users who utilize the drill-down function currently available in HTML, there will be an Excel add-in that will enable drill-downs. Accounting Technology will provide instructions and guidance when the conversion occurs.

Fundraising

  • Before any sales of goods/services or collections is undertaken, the organization must submit to and receive approval from the Assistant Vice President for Finance (John Knight) of a completed Business Activity Synopsis and Cost Benefit Analysis. Compliance with this procedure and Section 4105 of the Financial Procedures Manual is mandatory. Failure to do so may result in any/all funds being deposited into the University’s General Expense fund or being returned to the payee(s) as determined by Senior Management.
  • Abide by JMU Foundation Policy G-102, including but not limited to the requirement that all literature be submitted to the JMU Foundation for review prior to announcing an event or it will be impossible for the JMU Foundation to accept related funds. See more information at: http://www.jmu.edu/foundation/special_events.shtml.
  • Consult JMU Policy 5101 Private Fundraising and coordinate all Fundraising with Development prior to initiating any activities. Remember all donations must be made payable to the JMU Foundation and are not to be deposited to University accounts.

Caution - Counterfeit Currency

All campus departments authorized to accept currency are advised to have an adequate supply of [and a minimum of one] counterfeit detection pens on hand. These are available at most office supply stores for approximately $3 to $4 each.

Refresher - Payment Processing Timeline

The University currently processes checks three times a week so payments can generally be produced in a timely fashion. Please allow at least 10 days from the time A/P receives a payment request to the time the check is ready for pick-up. There is more involved with processing payments than meets the eye:

  1. A/P receives the payment request and checks it for correctness, required supporting documentation, and whether the vendor is set up in the system. If there are any problems or questions, they must be resolved before the payment can be processed.
  2. A/P enters vouchers into the PeopleSoft System and processes the payments (Process Date).
  3. The Check Date is three days after the Process Date (excluding state holidays and weekends).
  4. The CARS reimbursement date is 7 days (includes process date, state holidays and weekends).
  5. Examples:
    • Process date: 10/05 (a Friday); Check date: 10/10; CARS reimbursement date: 10/11
    • Process date: 10/08 (state holiday, bank holiday); Check date: 10/11; CARS reimbursement date: 10/15

Travel Card Reminders

The Bank of America Visa Travel Card is available to all JMU employees. There is an ATM feature available by submitting a Travel Charge Card Request for ATM/Cash Exception form to the Accounts Payable Office annually. This will allow the traveler to obtain up to 20% of his/her credit limit in cash. The form is available on the A/P website. Allow at least 10 days for this request to be processed prior to needing to access cash. The intention is for this cash ATM feature to be used only for incidentals when the card is not accepted. If a non-Bank of America ATM is used, the cardholder will incur transaction fees that will not be reimbursed.

The WellsOne Commercial Card is not available to individual JMU employees for travel. It is only available for JMU Student Travel and Team Travel.

Electronic Vendor Payments Update

  • JMU is continuing efforts to pay vendors electronically rather than by paper check.  Payment methods are Wells Fargo Single Use Commercial Card Numbers and Wells Fargo ACH Payments.  Vendors can go to JMU’s Procurement website (http://www.jmu.edu/procurement) and complete the Electronic Vendor Payment Form to select their preferred method. 
  • If you need to know whether a vendor is already set up to be paid electronically, the list of enrolled vendors is available on the Accounts Payable web page http://www.jmu.edu/accountspayable . 
  • Beginning in October, JMU will be working with Vendorin, a company that specializes in the collection, validation, and management of supplier information to facilitate ACH payments.  If you hear from any of our vendors that they have been contacted by Vendorin, please let them know that we would like them to provide contact information to Vendorin and to complete the activation process when requested.  You can ask suppliers to contact the JMU Electronic Payment Enablement Center directly at 877-743-5288 or via e-mail at jmu@vendorin.com with any detailed questions.

Expenditure Credits vs. Recoveries

FPM Section 4230 Internal Transfers http://www.jmu.edu/finprocedures/4000/4230.shtml

  • An expenditure credit is used to properly distribute expenses or make corrections. This distribution or correction should generally be based on an expense previously recorded by voucher or ATV in the current fiscal year.
  • A recovery is used to record monies received or to record reimbursement from other departments for services rendered.

What Changed?

  • Shared services are no longer considered recoveries.
  • Reimbursements from employees for use of state assets are now considered recoveries [long distance phone charges].
  • Payroll transactions are no longer automatically keyed as recoveries; most should be transferred to the same account code to which they were originally charged. 

IMPORTANT NOTES:

  • Must still include Voucher # for expenditure, and must be in current fiscal year
  • No budget revisions required for expenditure credits
  • Recoveries are still necessary for certain transactions
    • Consult the FPM for details
    • Be specific about recoveries from the Foundation

Refresher – State Departmental Payments to Local/Agency Departments

In order to transfer funds from a State DeptID (1xxxxx, 3xxxxx, 5xxxxx) to a Local DeptID (8xxxxx), an Accounting Voucher must be prepared and submitted to Accounts Payable.  In the past, A/P has processed these payments with paper checks which were then sent to UBO for deposit into the Bank.  The new procedure is as follows:

  1. Prepare your Accounting Voucher as before, except use Vendor #0000002610, and enter JMU EDI Vendor on the address line. 
  2. Attach an original and one copy of a completed Cash DTF for the Local DeptID where funds are to be deposited. 
  3. Send the entire completed packet to A/P. 

Reimbursement funds will be received electronically from the Virginia Department of the Treasury.  UBO will receipt the DTF copy and mail to you via campus mail.  The electronic processing of these payments results in your department receiving funds much more quickly than with the paper check process.  

Finance 101 Courses on Blackboard

There are seven (7) individual courses within Finance 101, and you must register for each individually in MyMadison.  The courses are available 24 hours a day in Blackboard until December 31.  In order to receive credit for taking the courses, first sign up in MyMadison, then view the course presentation and complete the quiz.  Course completions will be updated in MyMadison every two weeks.  If you have never used Blackboard, you may need to contact Ramona Stevens to request access.  

Contact List for Questions:

  Cash & Investments        
        Tish Leeth     leethtc@jmu.edu x83205
        Ramona Stevens     steve2rj@jmu.edu x85972
        Departmental Mailbox     iis.finance@jmu.edu  
  University Business office        
        Kathy Starick     staricks@jmu.edu x83719
        Sara Price     price2sm@jmu.edu x81606
        Departmental Mailbox     ubo@jmu.edu  
  Accounts Payable        
        Jennifer Dellinger (Travel Card)     dellinjx@jmu.edu x87396
        Departmental Mailbox     acctspayable@jmu.edu x87397
  Accounting Technology        
        Amanda Hughes     hughesag@jmu.edu x84866