December 2006 previous issue back issues index by topic e-News home Contact us at: admin_systems_enews@harvard.edu or via the UIS Helpdesk at 6-2001 The Administrative Systems e-News is a monthly electronic newsletter for users of Harvard's financial, human resources, and reporting systems. Special 2006 Winter Recess Issue Click the links below to learn more about ... Financial Administration (FAD) 2006/2007 Winter Recess Schedule When and How to Report and Approve Time During the 2006/2007 Winter Recess Financial Administration Closing Early on January 4, 2007 Important Message from the Office of the Controller Regarding Who to Call with Tax Questions New Internal Billing Policy and Guide Capital Project Services (CAPS) Automated Workflow System Goes Live Expanded Harvard Agreement with Enterprise Rent-a-Car Meeting Room at Two Arrow Street Now Available for Rental About the e-News

Financial Administration (FAD) 2006/2007 Winter Recess Schedule      top

The University will be in recess from noon on Friday, December 22, 2006 until Tuesday, January 2, 2007.  Please review the following for special processing deadlines, cutoff dates, and system and support availability, leading up to and throughout the winter break.

Financial and Sponsored systems/applications will be up during winter recess; however, transactions will not be posted to the General Ledger, or refreshed into the CREW and DWCENPRD ad hoc reporting environments, and the University Help Desk (6-2001) and FAD staff will be unavailable.  On-line resources will be available 24/7, as usual.

• Accounts Payable / Web Voucher
• Accounts Receivable
• Budget Tool (Fiscal and Sponsored)
• CAPS
• Cash Management (CMRA)
• Cash Receipts
• Chart-Security Maintenance Application (CSMA) / Chart of Accounts (Sponsored and Non-Sponsored) / Oracle Security
• General Ledger / ADI / General Accounting Office
• ID Services
• Office for Sponsored Programs
• Payroll Services
• PCard
• Reporting: Ad hoc and CREW (Financial and Sponsored)
• Student Receivables
• Travel (Web Reimbursement)

When and How to Report and Approve Time During the 2006 Winter Recess   top

Due to Harvard's winter recess, it is necessary to shift the deadlines for the submission of paperwork and the reporting and approving of time. Below is a highlight of important deadlines. For a full schedule, please see the Payroll and Time & Labor Closings Calendar (which includes closing deadlines for personnel actions).

Paydays for overtime-eligible staff will be adjusted as follows:

Many users have also asked which time types to use when reporting time over the winter recess. Here are some guidelines for clerical/technical workers.

Notes: The grid above refers to HUCTW and nonunion, overtime-eligible, clerical/technical employees only. For exempt employees, temps, or service/trades workers, please refer to the relevant personnel manual, union contract, or your local HR office.

• A "day's pay" means one-fifth of the employee's pay for the week.

Reminder: Extra hours for a holiday worked are not paid automatically. If an employee works a holiday, they should report HWK to be paid at a rate of 1.5 times their normal pay for the holiday hours worked. The employee is also entitled to their regular pay for the holiday, or they may take time off at a later date. If the employee wishes to receive pay for the time, they should report HOL for all hours not worked as well as FHP and HWK for all hours worked. If they wish to take the owed time at a later date, they should report HWK to receive pay for the hours worked. At a later date, when the time is taken, they should report HOL with a comment that it is time owed for working on the holiday.

Holiday Worked Time Reporting Scenarios

Things to remember:

HWK – Holiday Worked

• Paid at 1.5 x Hourly Rate
• Adds to Overtime Hours

HOL – Holiday

• Paid at Hourly Rate
• Adds to Overtime Hours

FHP – Floating Holiday Pay

• Paid at Hourly Rate
• Does not add to Overtime Hours
  

Note: All scenarios assume 7-hour scheduled workday

Scenario 1: Employee works 7 hours on Christmas (12/25), wants holiday paid out on the same day.

Scenario 2: Employee works 7 hours on Christmas (12/25), wants to take floating holiday on Jan. 2.

Scenario 3: Employee works 4 hours on Christmas (12/25), wants holiday paid out on the same day.

Scenario 4: Employee works 4 hours on Christmas (12/25), wants to take 4 hours of floating holiday on Jan. 2.

Scenario 5: Employee works 10 hours on Christmas (12/25), wants holiday paid out on the same day.

Financial Administration Closing Early on January 4, 2007      top

Financial Administration will close for the day at 2 p.m. on Thursday, January 4 for an FAD-wide meeting. The early closure will include the following areas:

• FAD Systems Solutions
• Office of Budgets, Planning and Institutional Research
• Office of the Controller
• University Accounting Services
• University Financial Policy and Compliance Office
• University Financial Services
• University Procurement and Disbursement Services
• Office of Sponsored Programs
• Office of Treasury Management
• Risk Management and Audit Services

Important Message from the Office of the Controller Regarding Who to Call with Tax Questions      top

A message from the Office of the Controller:

Earlier this fall I announced that, after reviewing our existing tax structure and assessing how to process transactions and achieve tax reporting and compliance in the most efficient and effective way, the decision was made to eliminate the University Tax Services (UTS) group.  We are moving to a customer service model where the responsibility for understanding, applying and answering customers' questions about tax rules specific to transactions, tax reporting and non-resident alien tax status will reside within the appropriate functional areas.  This new structure will more closely align tax policies and procedures with related operational, transactional, and compliance activities, and will help ensure that the knowledge base and responsibility for all tax matters resides with those accountable for accurate transaction processing and tax reporting.

The tax reporting, customer service and transaction processing tax functions previously handled by UTS have now been transitioned to other areas within the Office of the Controller, principally within the University Financial Policy and Compliance Office (UFPCO), University Procurement and Disbursement Services (UPDS) and University Financial Services (UFS).  In response to a number of requests from both schools and departments for specific contact information related to tax issues or questions, I have prepared the attached summary to help clarify who you should call when you have a tax question or issue related to a certain specific area, or where should you call if you have a request for, or a question about, a particular tax form.  This list supersedes any contact information that currently exists on various websites, and we update the online information to reflect these changes as quickly as possible.

I believe that these operational changes will result in improved service levels and faster problem resolution.  As always, we welcome your feedback about whether our business processes are working for you.  Please direct any comments or suggestions you might have to Jeff Jonas (jeff_jonas@harvard.edu), Joanne Silva (joanne_silva@harvard.edu) or to me (jay_bounty@harvard.edu).

Thank you.

Jay A. Bounty
Controller

Attachment: Tax_Compliance_and_Reporting_Contact_List

New Internal Billing Policy and Guide      top

The Internal Billing Transactions Policy and Internal Billing Guide have been issued and are available via the following links:

Internal Billing Policy
Internal Billing Guide

As noted in the policy document, this policy is effective as of December 1, 2006, but application retroactive to July 1, 2006 is allowed and encouraged.  Questions regarding these documents may be directed to your tub finance office.  Tub finance offices with questions may contact the University Accounting Services analyst or manager assigned to their tub or Amanda Gates, Senior Manager of Accounting Policy, at 617-496-7131 or amanda_gates@harvard.edu.

Capital Project Services (CAPS) Automated Workflow System Goes Live      top

In October, the HRES Capital Project Services (CAPS) Office, the Office of Administrative Systems (OAS) and FAD Systems Solutions (FSS) rolled out a web-based approval workflow system for capital construction projects to address the inefficiencies of the prior manual process with regards to approvals, data collection and reporting.  Many from the user community were actively involved with the functional and technical teams in designing, developing and testing the new system.

The CAPS Office supports Schools/units that are responsible for capital spending on Harvard's buildings and infrastructure. Services include: project approvals; capital project, building, and land data and reporting; deferred maintenance prevention (building assessments); construction coordination/mitigation; construction procurement initiatives; standard construction contracts; and, construction best practices.  All Harvard Schools or units planning a capital project with costs of $100,000 or more must get the project approved prior to beginning the planning and/or construction.  CAPS project sponsors typically include the client executive (administrative dean, facility dean, other administrative officer or faculty member initiating the project), project manager, financial officer, or other designated individual from the School or unit.  To learn more about CAPS and the new process, please visit the CAPS website at http://capitalprojectservices.harvard.edu (PIN-enabled).

The new automated system was developed to: reduce the time in which capital projects are approved; provide more user-friendly forms; capture more relevant and accurate construction data; house construction and building information in the Harvard Data Warehouse; and, provide robust standard CREW reports.  The system utilized the existing Oracle Applications infrastructure and scope included security, data table structure, data entry screens, operational reports, workflow (routing, approvals and notifications), conversion of existing data, warehouse views and warehouse reports (CREW).

Project managers and financial staff will use CAPS to submit their projects for approval, report on project status (including budgets, spending, and forecasts), and to close projects and request that the assets be placed in service.  The CAPS system enables the University to capture a variety of project information that can help us understand and improve the delivery of capital projects.  Additionally, users will now have access to consistent information in the HDW to be able to perform ad hoc queries that combine CAPS data with data from the General Ledger and other sources.

The October roll-out was the initial phase of the new system.  Enhancements are scheduled for this year’s Findini releases including more standard CREW reports, an automated CAPS feed to CSMA, and incorporation of land data into the system.  Other enhancements being considered are Excel upload templates, internal workflow at the School/unit level, and additional data fields.

Prior to roll out, training was provided to CAPS users from August through October.  For those who missed the training or need assistance, CAPS is holding Open Houses each Thursday from 10AM until noon in Room 1014, Holyoke Center through December 21st.  A tutorial is also available on the CAPS Training & Support page.

Expanded Harvard Agreement with Enterprise Rent-a-Car      top

• Rates are now good for all Enterprise US locations
• With use of Harvard's Customer number NA10A14, rates include full Collision Damage Waiver (CDW) and provide a million dollars in Supplemental Liability Protection (SLP)
• Free pick up or delivery from Enterprise's closest office
• Enterprise is now on-site at over 225 Airport Locations
• Cars can be reserved through any of our preferred agencies or by calling Enterprise direct at 1-800-593-0505
• Visit http://www.travel.harvard.edu for rate information
  

Meeting Room at Two Arrow Street Now Available for Rental      top

The American Repertory Theatre has announced that its meeting space at Two Arrow Street is available for meetings, lectures, screenings or classes. Affordably priced, Two Arrow Street is conveniently located near Harvard Square, at the corner of Massachusetts Ave. and Arrow St. The main room measures approximately 44 x 35 and can seat up to 100 in a theater configuration, and up to 80 with tables and chairs. There is a large, retractable projection screen, comfortable chairs, high ceilings and soft carpeting.  The lobby can handle a reception buffet and has a sink and restrooms. For details and to book a reservation, please visit the ART website at http://www.amrep.org/meetingroom.

About the e-News   top

The Center for Workplace Development publishes this electronic newsletter for users of Harvard University's financial, HR, and reporting systems, policies, and procedures. The e-News is generally 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@harvard.edu.

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