February 2025 Newsletter Content Overview
- General
- We want to hear from you! Share your feedback to AST by February 28
- Accounting and Grants
- ECC: One cycle is wrapping up, another is open
- Payments and Procurement
- Budget Dates vs. Accounting Dates: Best practices especially for sponsored grants
- Pay/Pro Monthly Onboarding Presentation
- New Sole Source Justification Form
- Global Travel: Registering Travel and Updates Regarding Executive Orders
- HR/Payroll
- Spring 2025 Roster Report are due today
- Now available: Spring 2025 I-9 drop-in schedule
GENERAL
We want to hear from you! Share your feedback to AST by February 28
Last week, we sent out a College-wide survey to administrative, HR, fiscal, and grants staff to gauge your feelings about working with our team. We strive to make the Administrative Support Team (AST) the best Shared Environment at the University of Washington, and your feedback is crucial for helping us achieve that goal.
If you haven’t done so already, please set aside 10 minutes to complete your survey. The survey will close end of day February 28.
Already finished your survey? Please feel free to pass along the survey link and encourage the administrative, HR, fiscal, and grants staff on your team to share their thoughts.
ACCOUNTING AND GRANTS
ECC: One cycle is wrapping up, another is open
The first cycle for effort and project reporting is almost completed – great job everyone for making the certifications a priority! The AST Grants team will continue reaching out to departments who have remaining certifications; some of these are complicated and we can support you through this process.
The second round of effort reporting is now open in the ECC system for effort reports and project reports for July 2024—December 2024. Your department records are now in the Pre Review status. The Effort Coordinators in departments have access to your records, and AST has access to the records for which they hold the Effort Coordinator role.
For this round, CAS will be front-loading our “effort” to complete this work before the due date in early May. This takes planning by all of you. To support you, we offer the following office hours and working sessions:
| EVENT | DATE AND LOCATION |
|---|---|
| PAFC Office Hours |
|
| ECC Office Hours |
|
| CAS Working Session #1 |
|
| ECC Office Hours |
|
| CAS Working Session #2 |
|
More CAS Working Sessions will be scheduled as needed or requested. The Effort Reporting website is full of information as well, so be sure to check it out!
We have all learned some valuable lessons from round one, and it should be easier this time since the reporting period is not so far back in time and should have none of the issues created with the transition to Workday. AST are expert problem solvers and the folks in PAFC have seen it all. If you have any questions, please don’t delay in asking for help – submit a Grants Inquiry form and AST will work together with you to problem solve.
PAYMENTS AND PROCUREMENT
Budget Dates vs. Accounting Dates: Best practices especially for sponsored grants
In the February 2025 Monthly Research Administration Meeting (MRAM), the distinction between budget date and accounting date was clarified.
- Budget Date: the date the transaction occurred.
- Accounting Date: the date the transaction or adjustment is processed. It controls the accounting period and fiscal year in which the transaction is recorded in the general ledger.
For departments who have the Requisition Requestor security role (and other finance security roles), it is very important to have the budget date reflect the date of expense.
This distinction is especially important for sponsored grants as the budget date in the transaction should be within the time frame of the award line. Further, the budget and accounting dates need to accurately reflect the transaction to meet sponsored awards allocable expenses, to determine if the expense is billable to the sponsor, and to determine the billable F&A rate. Finally, the accounting date impacts when a transaction appears in the R1234 report.
If your transactions are input by the AST Pay/Pro team, then we have already made these changes in early 2024. If you find the dates were incorrectly input, please submit a Correct Entries request to the AST Accounting team.
Pay/Pro Monthly Onboarding Presentation
Fiscal Staff Onboarding Sessions are back! This month, we will be focusing on a general overview of policies and procedures around Pay/Pro transactions ranging from purchasing to travel.
- Date: Thursday, February 27, 2025
- Time: 11:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m.
- Location: Zoom meeting
We encourage all new staff members in the fiscal space to attend, as well as anyone ready for a refresher.
Don’t forget to join the CAS Finance & Administration Teams channel for any updates on this session and other related news.
New Sole Source Justification Form
A sole source justification is required when a requisition or supplier invoice is over the direct buy limit of $10,000. UW Procurement Services has recently unveiled a new Sole Source Justification form that will be a required attachment within Workday starting March 10, 2025.
Once you complete and submit the sole source form, you will need to download the PDF generated from the confirmation screen. This PDF will need to be included in your requisition or supplier invoice request submitted to AST. Other versions of sole source forms or documents, or sole source justifications in the Internal memo field, will no longer be accepted after March 10.
We will be updating our Purchasing and Accounts Payable intake form and Payments webpage to include this requirement.
Global Travel: Registering Travel and Updates Regarding Executive Orders
Registering Travel: When travelling internationally, it is highly recommended that you register your travel. While this registration is optional for employees, it ensures that in the event of an emergency, especially in today’s political climate, you are better supported for your safety and wellbeing.
Please be aware that all students, including graduate students, are required to register their travel and secure the necessary insurance coverage.
Updates from Global Travel on Executive Orders: Due to the uncertainty surrounding the impact of recent executive orders on global travel, UW Global Travel is working quickly to address these issues and provide updates as they become available. To stay updated, visit the Resources for UW’s global community page.
HR/PAYROLL
Spring 2025 Roster Reports are due today
The Spring 2025 Roster Report is due to AST today, February 18, 2025, by 5:00 p.m. Please submit your department’s completed report using the Submit Payroll Roster form on our website.
Please contact Jim Ballew (jballew@uw.edu) if you have any questions.
Now available: Spring 2025 I-9 drop-in schedule
Onboarding new hires? Your new hires can spring into action by attending our spring quarter I-9 drop-in hours from March 31 to April 4, 2025, in AST’s Office, Communications Building B042 (located on the basement level).
Please share the attached spring 2025 drop-in calendar (PDF) with your new hires, as well as the I-9 Journey Map and I-9 Appointment Scheduling Link.
Contact teamcas-i9@uw.edu if you or your new hires have any questions.
As always, please fill out our General Inquiry Form (preferred) or email teamcas@uw.edu if you have any questions or concerns.
Administrative Support Team
Last Updated: Wednesday, February 19, 2025