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Fiscal Year End 2021 Reminders

August 9, 2021

As we conclude Fiscal Year 2021, visit the Northwestern Fiscal Year End website for important information, including key dates, task reminders and contacts. The website also includes a virtual Town Hall Session and corresponding presentation slides. We have also highlighted some key dates related to Procurement and Payment Services:

Procurement

August 31

  • Last day for FY21 Requisitions to be approved and sourced into POs
    • All requisitions that have not been approved and sourced by 6 p.m. will be cancelled and closed

September 1

  • FY22 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 FY22
  • First day to submit new Blanket Purchase Order Requests

September 10

  • Purchase Orders, iBuyNU and Non-Catalog, with a pending change order not approved by 6 p.m. on 9/10/21 will be closed, including Purchase Orders with a status of “Pending Approval” or “Denied”
  • All Purchase Orders, iBuyNU and Non-Catalog, created in FY20 then rolled to FY21 will be closed
  • All remaining Purchase Orders will be rolled into FY22
    • All Receive by Dollar Amount & Blanket Purchase Orders will be closed (except FM Receive by Dollar Amount & Grant Sub-Contract POs)

Corporate Card

  • Corporate card transactions should be made by 8/25/21 to ensure that they are posted in My Wallet in FY21. Transactions made after 8/25/21 can’t be guaranteed to appear in My Wallet for processing in time for yearend cutoff.
  • All transactions with a post date of 8/31/21 or sooner should be reconciled on an expense report and in the Accounts Payable Inbox by 5 p.m. on 9/9/21 to guarantee the expense is recognized in FY21.

Accounts Payable

August 31

September 1-10

  • Both FY21 and FY22 will be open during this period

September 1

  • FY21 receipt requirement will be lifted

September 7

  • FY21 paper documents must be received by the Accounts Payable office by 5 p.m. to guarantee processing in FY21
  • Scanned FY21 invoices must be delivered by 5 p.m. to invoicesonly@northwestern.edu to guarantee processing in FY21

September 8

  • FY21 electronic transactions (Expense Reports, Payment Requests) must reach the Accounts Payable inbox by 5 p.m. to guarantee processing in FY21, including Expense Reports with My Wallet transactions

September 10

  • Accounts Payable and Expenses modules in NUFinancials will close at 5 p.m.
  • FY21 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 FY22

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.

 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.

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