May 10, 2006

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The Administrative Systems e-News is a monthly electronic newsletter for users of Harvard's financial, human resources, and reporting systems.

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Relocation of several financial operations within the Office of the Controller during May 2006

Schedule announced for FY2006 financial closings

Fiscal year-end reporting guidance and tips

Summary schedule for FY06 transactions and reporting (includes printer-friendly format)

Whom to call list for closings

Massachusetts withholding on performers and lecturers

CREW release notes

New extra compensation codes for FY2007

About the e-News

Relocation of several financial operations within the Office of the Controller during May 2006      top

The Graduate School of Arts and Sciences administration will be relocating from Byerly Hall to the third floor of Holyoke Center in September, 2006. As a result, several financial operations within the Office of the Controller will be moving 1033 Mass. Ave., 2nd floor (Cambridge, MA 02138) effective Tuesday, May 30. Affected departments are listed here:

University Procurement and Disbursement Services

3rd floor of Holyoke Center to 1033 Mass. Ave., 2nd floor:

  • Accounts Payable: 5-8500; Manager, Bill Duffy 5-2913
  • Payroll: 5-3001; Manager, Pat Dick 5-4204
  • Travel and Expense Reimbursements: 5-8500; Manager, Priscilla Campbell, 6-4599
  • Strategic Procurement: 5-4441; Manager, Ray Wise 5-5401

University Financial Services

5th floor of Holyoke Center to 1033 Mass. Ave., 2nd floor:

  • Central Accounts Receivable: 5-3787; Manager Ed Feldman, 5-4182
  • University Financial Aid Liaison Office: Manager Laurie Hogan, 6-2372
  • Student Loan Office: 5-3782; Manager Carol Tiffany, 5-0802



On Friday, May 26 the following offices will be closing early to prepare for the move.

Offices closing at noon:

  • Central Accounts Receivable
  • University Financial Aid Liaison
  • Student Loans

Offices closing at 3 p.m.:

  • Payroll
  • Accounts Payable
  • Travel and Expense Reimbursement
  • Strategic Procurement

On Tuesday, May 30 following the Memorial Day holiday weekend, the Accounts Payable, Payroll, Travel, and Strategic Procurement offices will reopen for business at 9 a.m., while the Central Accounts Receivable, University Financial Aid Liaison, and Student Loans offices will reopen at noon.


How does this affect the community?

Accounts Payable and Payroll customer service representatives will be located at 1033 Mass. Ave. and available for inquiries either at that location or by telephone and email. All contact information reamins the same (see above).

Effective Tuesday, May 30 our new mailing address will be 1033 Massachusetts Avenue, 2nd floor, Cambridge, MA 02138. University Mail will deliver to this location. However, in an effort to make this transition as seamless as possible for the Harvard community, we have arranged for drop slots for accounts payable, payroll, travel and expense reimbursements, student loans, and accounts receivable at the Holyoke Center Mailroom, Room 744. Deliveries from Holyoke Center to 1033 Mass. Ave. are scheduled every four hours: at 8 a.m., noon, and 4 p.m., Monday through Friday.

The preferred delivery method for all checks continues to be either US mail or University mail. In those infrequent cases where special handling, emergency, and off-cycle payroll checks require pick up, they will be available at the Cash Receipts & Disbursements window located at the UFS Service Center on the 9th floor of Holyoke Center between the hours of noon and 5 p.m., Monday through Friday.


Additional moves of financial operations within Holyoke Center


Mortgage and Education Loan Office moving

Currently, the Mortgage and Educational Loan Office (MELO) is located on the 4th floor of Holyoke Center. As of May 22, the office will be relocated to the 7th floor of Holyoke Center. Contact: Kathy MacDonald, Manager 5-8858.


Nonresident Alien Tax Group moving

Effective Tuesday, May 30, the group within University Tax Services that handles the U.S. tax classification of nonresident aliens paid by Harvard, including the review of Foreign National Information Forms and applications for tax treaty benefits, will be joining the other members of University Tax Services in the Office of the Controller on the 4th floor of Holyoke Center.

In order to coordinate with the rest of the move from the 3rd floor of Holyoke Center, the NRA group within UTS will close for business at 3 p.m. on Friday, May 26 and will reopen at noon on Tuesday, May 30.

Contact information for the NRA group remains unchanged, except for the address:

Aleks Markovic (495-8436) aleksandar_markovic@harvard.edu
Min Jing Chen (496-9919) minjing_chen@harvard.edu
Fax: 617-495-3600
Address: Holyoke Center 480, 1350 Massachusetts Ave., Cambridge, MA 02138

Schedule announced for FY2006 financial closings      top

Overview

Harvard's fiscal year 2006 will end on Friday, June 30. As in the past, we will close the books through a series of steps called "closings."

Please note this year's closing dates:

The first closing will take place on Friday, July 7
The second closing on Friday, July 14
The third closing on Friday, July 21

In the paragraphs that follow, you will find closing deadlines and submission information for the following financial transactions (click on a transaction to jump to that section of the e-News):

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

These are the Office of the Controller deadlines. Since some departments have internal deadlines that differ from these, you should check with your department's 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.

Please note: Designated offices within the Office of the Controller will be relocating to 1033 Massachusetts Avenue on Tuesday, May 30 (see above for details). Pay particular attention to the drop-off locations for these offices noted in the sections below.


Accounts Payable web vouchers

Accounts Payable will be moving to the second floor of 1033 Massachusetts Avenue on May 30. As of that date, a mail drop-off box will be located in Room 744 in Holyoke Center. Any items received at 1033 Mass. Ave. or deposited into the drop-off box by the deadlines listed below will be processed for FY2006.

All invoices received by the Accounts Payable office either at 1033 Mass. Ave. or at the drop-off box in Room 744 in Holyoke Center by 5 p.m. on Friday, June 30 will be processed in FY2006, assuming they have already been entered and approved in the Web Voucher system. A significant exception relates to foreign currency drafts and wires and US wire transfers (see below for these earlier deadlines).

Invoices received between Saturday, July 1 and Friday, July 14 at 5 p.m. will be processed as part of FY2006 if PROCESS FOR JUNE 2006 is written on each invoice to be processed or there is a cover sheet clearly marked JUNE 2006 INVOICES on any batch of invoices.

Any invoices received between July 1 and July 14 that are not clearly marked with PROCESS FOR JUNE 2006 or that do not have a cover sheet indicating JUNE 2006 INVOICES will be processed as July 2006 (that is, FY2007) invoices.

Please note that if you are submitting an invoice between Saturday, July 1 and Saturday, July 14 for goods or services received in FY2006, you should request that the invoice be processed in JUNE 2006, and not in July, consistent with generally accepted accounting principles.

If you purchase items late in the fiscal year that you want charged in FY2006, be sure to request immediate billing from vendors so that you can meet these deadlines.

Petty cash fund settlement

If you maintain a departmental petty cash fund, you must submit your petty cash log for reimbursement to Accounts Payable either at 1033 Mass. Ave. or at the drop-off box in Room 744 in Holyoke Center by 5 p.m. on Friday, June 30 if you want the charges to be included in FY2006.

New vendor setup

For new vendors that need to be set up or for changes to current vendors, the approved vendor setup form must be received in Vendor Setup either at 1033 Mass. Ave. or at the drop-off box in Room 744 in Holyoke Center by Wednesday, June 28 at 5 p.m.

Credit vouchers (cash receipts)

The Cash Receipts Office, Holyoke 953, will accept credit vouchers accompanied by cash or checks until 5 p.m. on Thursday, June 29.

Credit vouchers (validated deposit slips)

The Cash Receipts Office, Holyoke 953, will accept credit vouchers accompanied by a validated deposit slip until 5 p.m. on Friday, June 30.

Massachusetts taxable sales deposits

All Massachusetts Taxable Sales forms with a validated bank deposit ticket for deposits made in May through June 23 must be delivered to Cash Receipts, Holyoke 953, by 5 p.m. Monday, June 26.

In order to allow for sufficient processing time in FY2006, the paperwork for all deposits made from June 24 through June 29 must be delivered on a daily basis to Cash Receipts. Deposit forms and validated bank deposit tickets for deposits made on June 30 must be delivered to Cash Receipts by 12 p.m. on July 3 in order to recognize the income in FY2006.

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, Holyoke 953, by 5 p.m. Friday, June 2. 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.

The University has an agreement with Bank of America to receive provisional credit on most common foreign currencies, and the June 2 deadline may be your best opportunity to collect these funds and recognize the income in FY2006. Cash Receipts will continue to deposit all foreign currency checks throughout the month as they are received but cannot guarantee collection for this fiscal year. It is extremely important that you deposit these checks with Cash Receipts immediately upon receiving them.

Voided checks

All checks that need to be voided and re-deposited must be received by Cash Management, Holyoke 451, by 5 p.m. Monday, June 26 in order for the credit to be included in FY2006.

Stopped checks

All checks that need to be stopped and re-deposited must be received by Cash Management, Holyoke 451, by 5 p.m. Monday, June 26 in order for the credit to be included in FY2006.

Foreign currency drafts and wires

 

Cash Management will process one last batch of foreign currency drafts and wires on Wednesday, June 28. The majority of these items should be value dated for June 30. These expenses will be included in FY2006. Web Voucher payments to be made in a foreign currency must be entered and approved online and the related invoices received by Cash Management, Holyoke 451, no later than Tuesday, June 27 at 5 p.m. Note: These invoices must have a bank draft authorization form or a wire transfer authorization form attached to the front of the invoice.

U.S. wire transfers

 

Web voucher payments to be wire transferred must be entered and approved online in the Web Voucher system with related invoices received by Cash Management, Holyoke 451, no later than Friday, June 30 at 10 a.m. Note: These invoices must have a wire 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 29, July 6, and July 13 will all be moved.

  • The originally scheduled June 29 sweep will be moved to Wednesday, June 28 at 5 p.m. This sweep will contain PCard transactions loaded into the settlement system between June 9 and June 15. The sweep date will change in the settlement system on June 19.

  • The originally scheduled July 6 sweep will be moved to Thursday, June 29 at 5 p.m. This sweep will contain PCard transactions loaded into the settlement system between June 16 and June 22. The sweep date will change in the settlement system on June 26.

  • The originally scheduled July 13 sweep will be moved to Wednesday, July 5 at 3 p.m. This sweep will be booked into FY2006 and contain PCard transactions loaded into the settlement system between June 23 and June 29. The sweep date will change in the settlement system on July 3.
Please note that 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 this fiscal year, since timing is dependent on vendors and other factors.

Web Voucher Travel Authorization Forms (WV-TAFs)

WV-TAFs must be approved and ticketed by 5 p.m. on Friday, June 30 to be included in FY2006.

Web Voucher Reimbursement reports

Web Voucher Reimbursement reports that require a tax review must reach the Travel and Reimbursement Office at 1033 Massachusetts Avenue or the drop-off box at Room 744 in Holyoke Center by 5 p.m. on Friday, July 7.

Note: If you are submitting a reimbursement report that requires a tax review between Monday, July 3 and Friday, July 7 that should be included in FY2006, clearly mark the report PROCESS FOR FY2006.

Web Voucher Reimbursement reports that do not require tax pre-audit will be accepted either at 1033 Mass. Ave. or at the drop-off box in Room 744 in Holyoke Center until 5 p.m. on Wednesday, July 12.

Note that if you are submitting a report between Monday, July 3 and Wednesday, July 12 for reimbursements to be included in FY2006, you should clearly mark the report PROCESS FOR JUNE 2006.

If there is no indication on the voucher as to which month the report should be processed in (June or July), the report will be processed in July.

Web Voucher Reimbursement reports with advance settlements

Web Voucher Reimbursement reports with advance settlements, when accompanied by unused funds (checks), will be accepted by the Travel and Reimbursement Office at 1033 Mass. Ave. or the drop-off box in Room 744 Holyoke Center until 5 p.m. on Tueday, June 27.

Advance settlements for zero balance or amounts due to the traveler will be accepted at either location until 5 p.m. on Wednesday, July 12.

Central Accounts Receivable billing

Central Accounts Receivable will close FY2006 on Wednesday, July 12 at 5 p.m.

AR feeds to be included in FY2006 need to be entered into the Oracle AR system by 5 p.m. on Wednesday, July 12. Invoices and credit memos processed by the tubs can be entered into the AR system until 5 p.m. on Wednesday, July 12.

From July 1 to July 12, the GL date in Oracle AR will automatically default to the July date. In order for transactions to be included in FY2006 during this time, users will have to enter the date of June 30, 2006 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 FY2006 should be entered in the period of JUNE 2006, and not July, consistent with generally accepted accounting principles.

Central AR will accept invoice and credit memo templates that AR enters on behalf of local units until 5 p.m. on Friday, July 7.

As a reminder, the AR department will process invoices and credit memos for those units that process fewer than 10 invoices per month. Areas that process more than this number per month are responsible for entering the invoices and credit memos themselves.



Journal Entries

Closing
Journal Data Entry Deadline
GL Feed Deadline
First
Friday, July 7, 9 a.m.
Thursday, July 6, 4 p.m.
Second
Friday, July 14, 9 a.m.
Thursday, July 13, 4 p.m.
Third
Friday, July 21, 9 a.m.
Thursday, July 20, 4 p.m.
Daily input deadline: Monday - Thursday, 6:30 p.m.

Please keep in mind the following:

  • The University is closed on Tuesday, 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. Thus, any journals entered in the system after 6:30 p.m. on Monday, July 3 until 6:30 p.m. on Wednesday, July 5 will be posted to the General Ledger on Wednesday, July 5 and available in the Data Warehouse on Thursday, July 6.

  • For the first, second, and third closings, from Monday through Thursday, any feeds or manual journals for the month of June will be posted to the General Ledger at 6:30 p.m. Therefore, journals must be entered by 6:30 p.m. in order to be posted and recorded in the Data Warehouse for the next day. (The one exception is July 4, when the University is closed.)

  • Note that any June journals entered on Friday after 9 a.m. during the first and second closings will not be posted until the following Monday at 6:30 p.m. and will be in the Data Warehouse on Tuesday. Any June journals entered after Friday, July 21 at 9 a.m. will be deleted.

  • Be careful to select the proper period (JUN-06 or JUL-06) when you are entering a journal. Beginning July 1, the default period will be JUL-06. If you want to post a journal to FY2006 during July 2006 you will need to select JUN-06 as the proper period.

  • Entries may 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.

  • 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 UIS 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.

  • A journal should only be reversed by the person who created the journal, or with the permission of that person. 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 5, 10 a.m.
Second
Tuesday, July 11, 10 a.m.
Third
Tuesday, July 18, 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 may require supporting documentation.

  • Cost transfer requests should be submitted directly to OSP. OSP will review the request and any necessary documentation for appropriateness. OSP will then enter the cost transfer journals into the General Ledger. Note that OSP only enters cost transfer journals during the year-end closing process; during the fiscal year, these transfers are entered directly by the tubs.


Chart of Accounts maintenance requests

Disable Requests:
June 7 (MAY-06 close) is the last date that values will be disabled in FY2006. Any CSMA requests not successfully disabled on June 7 will be held until the JUL-06 close on Wednesday, August 9.

Requests to disable CoA values that require approval should be submitted through CSMA before 5 p.m. on Wednesday, May 24. Disable requests that do not require approval should be submitted through CSMA before 10 a.m. on Wednesday, June 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-06 period any CoA changes entered from July 1 through August 9 (the date of the July close) should enter 30-JUN-2006 as the effective date for their request.

Fiscal year-end reporting guidance and tips      top

The Financials FY06 Year End web page for standard and ad hoc reporting provides detailed information on the fiscal year-end close and illustrates how to use the Common Reporting Environment for the Warehouse (CREW) reporting features to automate and organize year-end reporting.

The FY06 Reporting web page will show you how to use the Detail Listing close period dates to capture results from each close. By grouping these reports together and scheduling the group to run after each close, you can streamline the steps you need to take to run your reports, as well as ensure that the majority of year-end reports run overnight, reducing traffic to allow more system bandwidth during normal business hours.

Fiscal Year 2006 Close Dates

Detail Listing Report Periods: Show Transactions “Between Dates”

CREW Scheduled YE Closes “Event” Kick-off Date

First Close

Fiscal June entries from June 1 through July 7

Saturday, July 8

Second Close

Fiscal June entries from July 8 through July 14

Saturday, July 15

Third Close

Fiscal June entries from July 15 through July 21

Saturday, July 22

Fourth Close

Fiscal June entries from July 22 through July 27

Friday, July 28

Fifth and Final JUN Close

Fiscal June entries from July 28 through August 1

Wednesday, August 2

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. We strongly recommend 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 2005 close dates will be displayed in the Detail Listings report period names until July 1. On July 1, these dates automatically update to the FY2006 dates. This does NOT preclude setting up and scheduling reports in advance. The FY2006 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 FY2007. To retrieve FY2006 year-to-date transactions, select the Prior Fiscal Year date period from the period pick list.

Summary schedule for FY06 transactions and reporting     top

Please follow this link for a "printer-friendly" version of the summary schedule.

Date
Time
Event
Wed., May 24
5 p.m.
CoA values to be disabled that require approval submitted through CSMA
Fri., June 2
5 p.m.

Credit vouchers with foreign checks to Cash Receipts

Wed., June 7
10 a.m.

CoA values to be disabled that do not require approval submitted through CSMA

Mon., June 26 5 p.m.
  • Mass Taxable Sales Deposit forms for deposits made in May and through June 23 to Cash Receipts
  • Stopped and re-deposited checks to Cash Management
  • Voided and re-deposited checks to Cash Management
Tues., June 27 5 p.m.
  • Web Voucher Reimbursement reports with advance settlements accompanied by checks to Travel & Reimbursement Office
  • Web Voucher payments to be made in a foreign currency entered and approved by tub with related invoices to Cash Management
Wed., June 28 5 p.m.
  • Vendor setup forms for new vendors or changes to current vendors to Vendor Setup
  • PCard sweep for transactions loaded between June 9 and June 15
Thurs., June 29 5 p.m.
  • Credit vouchers with cash and checks to Cash Receipts
  • PCard sweep for transactions loaded between June 16 and June 22
Fri., June 30 10 a.m.

US wire transfers: web vouchers entered and approved by tubs; related invoices to Cash Management

5 p.m.
  • Petty cash logs for settlement to Accounts Payable
  • Credit vouchers with validated deposit slips to Cash Receipts
  • Web Voucher Travel Authorization forms (WV-TAFs) approved and ticketed by tubs
Mon., July 3 12 p.m.

Massachusetts Taxable Sales Deposit forms for 6/30 to Cash Receipts

Wed., July 5 10 a.m.

First closing sponsored funds Cost Transfer requests to OSP

3 p.m.

PCard system final FY2006 sweep

Thurs., July 6 4 p.m.

First closing General Ledger feed deadline

Fri., July 7 9 a.m. First closing manual journal entry deadline (including interdepartmental billing JVs)
5 p.m.
  • Web Voucher Reimbursement reports requiring tax pre-audit to Travel & Reimbursement Office
  • Templates for AR invoices and credit memos to be entered by Accounts Receivable to AR
Sat., July 8 9 a.m. Data Warehouse updated for first closing results
Tues., July 11 10 a.m. Second closing sponsored funds Cost Transfer requests to OSP
Wed., July 12 5 p.m.
  • Web Voucher Reimbursement reports not requiring tax pre-audit to Travel & Reimbursement Office
  • AR feeds entered into the AR system
  • AR invoices and credit memos entered by tubs into the AR system
  • Web Voucher Reimbursement reports with advance settlements for zero balance or amount due to traveler to Travel & Reimbursement Office
Thurs., July 13 4 p.m.

Second closing General Ledger feed deadline

Fri., July 14 9 a.m. Second closing manual journal entry deadline (including interdepartmental billing JVs)
5 p.m.

Web vouchers to be processed in FY2006 entered and approved by tubs; related invoices to Accounts Payable

Sat., July 15 9 a.m. Data Warehouse updated for second closing results
Tues., July 18 10 a.m. Third closing sponsored funds Cost Transfer requests to OSP
Thurs., July 20 4 p.m. Third closing General Ledger feed deadline
Fri., July 21 9 a.m. Third closing manual journal entry deadline
Sat., July 22 9 a.m. Data Warehouse updated for third closing results

Whom to call list for closings      top

For questions relating to ...
Please contact:
Transaction
Office
Location
Phone
A/P web vouchers
Accounts Payable
1033 Mass. Ave., 2nd floor 5-8500
Credit vouchers
Cash Receipts
Holyoke 953 6-8332
Check voids / re-deposits Cash Management Holyoke 451 5-4175
Wires and drafts Cash Management Holyoke 451 6-3018
PCard transactions Travel Desk 1033 Mass. Ave., 2nd floor 6-2273
Travel authorization forms Travel Desk 1033 Mass. Ave., 2nd floor 5-7760
Web Voucher Reimbursement reports Travel Desk 1033 Mass. Ave., 2nd floor 5-7760
AR invoices Accounts Receivable 1033 Mass. Ave., 2nd floor 5-3787
Journal vouchers UBSS 8 Story Street 6-4692
Cost transfers - sponsored funds Sponsored Research Holyoke 617 6-2513

Massachusetts withholding on performers and lecturers      top

Across the University, we pay honoraria and other fees and expense reimbursements to visiting lecturers, speakers at symposia, panelists, and performers (including actors, actresses, producers, directors, musicians and professional athletes), who travel to Massachusetts to speak or to participate in performances. Virtually all of those individuals are considered to be independent contractors, who are paid through the University's AP system using Web Voucher. Although each person receiving an honorarium or other payment for services has always had the responsibility to report and pay taxes owed in Massachusetts on this service income, until recently the University was not required to withhold income tax from those payments.

That has changed! The University must now withhold on payments made to visiting speakers, lecturers and other performers in many different contexts across the University at the same 5.3% income tax rate applicable to employees, regardless of whether the payment is made to an individual or to an entity. This withholding requirement only applies where the individual or entity has received payments from one or more University departments for services subject to this tax, which aggregate to more than $5,000 within the calendar year. An exemption from withholding exists with respect to events or performances where total payments to all performers do not exceed $10,000 for that particular event or performance; utilization of this exemption presents significant administrative challenges, however, so the University is contemplating how best to document its availability.

Stay tuned for more information on this withholding tax. Developers are currently working on programming for our AP system and AP is working on the related business processes. We are preparing specific instructions on how to process payments of this type and how to benefit from certain exceptions to the withholding requirements. Our goal is to provide the training and support necessary to ensure the University's tax compliance.

Some departments are finding it useful to schedule individual meetings in order to discuss how this withholding tax applies to particular activities. In situations where total payments for a performance or event will exceed $10,000 or where you believe it would be helpful to your department to schedule an individual meeting on this topic, please contact Barbara Hunt in University Tax Services (617-496-0299 or barbara_hunt@harvard.edu).

CREW report release notes      top

Reports
Description
Modifications
HRJOBDP005:
Departmental-Action Report and Job Group Movement Analysis

New parameter:
Salary Grade Code(s)

New data elements:
Birth Date
Age
Gender
Longer Service
Benefit Eligible Service
Pension Credited Service
Pension Participation Service
Pension Vesting Service

HRXFRDP204:
Departmental Transfer Report
New report !

This report lets users view basic job information for any employee who has transferred within the University. This report is assigned to the HDW^HRUNV^TUB^Job No Comp role.
HRJOBDA029:
Departmental-Time Limit Violations, Temp Staff No Backfill
The hash marks (#####) that populated the column Job Code Entry Date have been fixed in the report.

 

HR Data Warehouse (DWHRPRD) AD HOC Notes
Description
Modifications
VIEWS:
OHR_DEPT_AFFILIATIONS_CURR_V OHR_DEPT_AFFILIATIONS_HIST_V OHR_DEPT_AFFILIATIONS_LAST_V

Modified to include the 30-character affiliation description (*_affil_desc30); the short affiliation description (*_affil_abbr);, the department 50-character description (dept_desc); the department 30-character description (dept_desc30); and the department short description (dept_abbr)

DEPT_CHILD_PARENT_V
DEPT_HIER_SEC_V
DEPT_HIER_V
EARNINGS_EMPLOYEES_V
EARNINGS_JOBS_V
EXT_PAYERS_R_V ”)
GVT_BARGAINING_UNIT_D_V
JOB_ACTION_R_V
PS_BAS_MESSAGE_V
PS_BAS_PARTIC_COST_V
PS_BAS_PARTIC_DPND_V
PS_BAS_PARTIC_ELIG_V
PS_BAS_PARTIC_INVT_V
PS_BAS_PARTIC_PLAN_V
PS_BAS_PARTIC_V
PS_BN_SNAP_CONFIG_V
PS_BN_SNAP_HIST_V
PS_PA_CONS_EARN_V
PS_PA_CONS_HRS_V
PS_SAVINGS_BENEFIC_V

The objects have been dropped and will not be available for ad hoc reporting.

If you have any questions or need any information regarding HR reporting, please contact the Information Management Services Group at 617-496-0166.

New extra compensation codes for FY2007      top

For Fiscal Year 2007, the object codes for Extra Compensation are changing to make financial reporting more useful. These new object codes will be effective July 1, 2006. Appointment-level costing will be adjusted for all employees during the Copy Prior Fiscal Year process over the weekend of June 10, 2006. These changes will also be reflected in the Earnings Codes Summary document on ABLE within the next few weeks.

About the e-News   top

The Office of Human Resources publishes this monthly electronic newsletter for users of Harvard University's financial, HR, and reporting systems, policies, and procedures. Generally, the e-News is published on or around the 15th of each month.

It contains:

  • updates on projects underway to build or improve University administrative systems;
  • information about new University policies, procedures, and forms;
  • reminders about upcoming deadlines and cut-over dates;
  • tips and tricks for working more easily or productively.

We welcome questions and suggestions for improvement from readers. If your questions are of general interest, we will answer them in future issues.

Please send comments, questions, or suggestions for improvement by email to us at: admin_systems_enews@harvardedu