Fiscal Year End Preparation
August 26, 2020
As we conclude Fiscal Year 2020, visit the Northwestern Fiscal Year End website for important information including key dates, task reminders, and contacts. Due to the fact that the Year End Town Hall Session could not occur in person this year, the website also includes a recorded version of the session and presentation slides. We have also highlighted some key dates related to Procurement and Payment Services:
Procurement:
- August 31: Last day for FY20 Requisitions to be approved and sourced into POs
- All requisitions that have not been approved and sourced by 6:00 pm will be cancelled and closed
- September 1: FY21 opens for the creation of Requisitions for goods and services to be received in the new fiscal year
- Any requisition created on or after this date will default to FY21
- September 1: First day to submit new Blanket Purchase Order Request
- September 4:
- Purchase Orders, iBuyNU and Non-Catalog, with a pending change order not approved by 6:00 pm on 9/4/20 will be closed. This includes Purchase Orders with a status of Pending Approval or Denied
- All Purchase Orders, iBuyNU and Non-Catalog, created in FY19 then rolled to FY20 will be closed. All remaining Purchase Orders will be rolled into FY21
- All Receive by Dollar Amount & Blanket Purchase Orders will be closed (except FM Receive by Dollar Amount & Grant Sub-Contract POs)
Corporate Card:
- September 2: All corporate card transactions need to be reconciled on an expense report and approved to reach Accounts Payable by 5:00 pm in order to guarantee payment in FY20.
- September 4-6: FY20 Expense Reports with Pending Approvals will be sent back for resubmission in FY21.
- FY20 Expense Reports not yet submitted into workflow will be deleted.
- FY20 Expense Reports created with FY20 transaction dates will be sent back for resubmission in FY21.
Accounts Payable Reminders:
September 2:
- FY20 electronic transactions (Expense Reports, Payment Requests) must reach Accounts Payable Approval Inbox by 5:00 pm to guarantee payment in FY20. This includes Expense Reports with My Wallet transactions.
- FY20 paper documents must be received by Accounts Payable office by 5:00 pm to guarantee payment in FY20
- Scanned FY20 invoices must be delivered to invoices@northwestern.edu mailbox by 5:00 pm to guarantee payment in FY20
September 4:
- Accounts Payable and Expenses modules in NUFinancials will close at 5:00 pm
- FY20 Expense Reports not yet submitted into workflow will be deleted
- Expense Reports with a status of "Submitted for Approval" or "Approvals in Process" will be sent back for resubmission in FY21
Helpful Cognos Reports:
- Departments and schools should run their Open Encumbrance Report and Match Exception Report to confirm whether there are any active orders. These reports should be run regularly throughout the year to help manage orders submitted through NUFinancials.
- Open Encumbrance Report: This report, entitled SC016–Open Encumbrance Report in Cognos, lists all active Purchase Orders or all active lines from a PO and provides the details of each order. Following are some reasons why a Purchase Order or line(s) from a PO will appear on your Open Encumbrance Report:
- No Invoice: If a PO has been issued and you have received the product or service but have yet to be invoiced by the vendor, reach out to the supplier to request the invoice and forward it to Accounts Payable once it is received.
- Items Unavailable: If you received notice from a supplier that an item on a particular order (either iBuyNU or non-catalog) is unavailable and will not ship and it is still showing on your Open Encumbrance Report, you must submit a Purchase Order Change request to have the PO closed.
- Match Exception Report: This report is titled SC027–Match Exception Report by Department in Cognos. Following are a couple of reasons why a Purchase Order or line(s) from a PO will appear on your Match Exception Report:
- Invoice Not Within Tolerances: If an invoice has been entered that does not fall within tolerance, a payment will not be processed. Tolerance issues can be caused when the price listed on the invoice is 25% or more than the price listed on the Purchase Order. Discrepancies in quantity and unit of measure can also cause orders to appear on your Match Exception Report.
- If the price listed on the invoice is incorrect, contact the vendor to request a corrected invoice.
- If the invoice price is correct but does not match the price on the PO, submit a Purchase Order Change request to Procurement to have the price adjusted.
- Open Receipts (for non-catalog orders only): It is important that you enter receipts once your order has been received. If you have any open Purchase Orders on your Match Exception Report, confirm whether a receipt needs to be entered. If so, enter the receipt, and if there are no other issues with the PO, it will automatically be removed from your Open Encumbrance Report within 15 days.
- Invoice Not Within Tolerances: If an invoice has been entered that does not fall within tolerance, a payment will not be processed. Tolerance issues can be caused when the price listed on the invoice is 25% or more than the price listed on the Purchase Order. Discrepancies in quantity and unit of measure can also cause orders to appear on your Match Exception Report.
For assistance locating or running the Open Encumbrance Report or Match Exception Report, contact the Northwestern Support Center by dialing 847.491.4357. If you have questions regarding the necessary steps to remove a PO on your department’s Open Encumbrance Report or Match Exception Report, contact Procurement at procurement@northwestern.edu.