Panel Discussion on Financial Expense Report (FER) Process thru Closeout
OPAFS FORUM
JUNE 24, 2015
Agenda
OPAFS review process on FERs
Three Department Panelists from all VC areas answer Top 12 Questions on FERs and Closeouts
Share best practices
Good FER
Bad FER
Department Panelists from all VC areas answer Top 12 Questions on FERs and Closeouts
Wei Deng, Pharmacology
David Grayson, Electrical and Computer Engineering (ECE)
Janet Matsumoto, Institute of Geophysics and Planetary Physics (IGPP)
Share best practices
Notes from Panel Discussion on Best Practices on Financial Expense Report (FER) Process thru Closeout Tracking awards that require closeout: 
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Utilize the index list found on Financiallink. It will show project end dates for sponsor award funds. Those funds that do not have end dates are non OPAFS Funds. Review those that have ended and that are ending in the next few months. Create an internal list with all pertinent information of your funds (dates, amount, balances, notes on restrictions, etc.). Review monthly and update as needed Look at index/funds that are ending 2‐4 months in advance Checking for potentially unallowable expenses 
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Use transaction sampling or 100% reconciliation. If you use Transaction sampling: 1. It allows you to focus on high‐risk transactions. The time previously spent reviewing transactions with traditionally few errors and minimal associated risk can now be redirected to the riskiest areas. 2. It provides a sound and defensible reconciliation process. The monthly management report tracks errors that can be reviewed to improve your department's front‐end controls. Quarterly, run a report to check for potentially unallowable expenses. Queries in Finlink can be saved a public and shared to other fund managers. Or EBS can be run showing account codes Express card charges with account code 638018 – needs to be moved off to the appropriate account codes. If most express cards fall into a different account code, can change the default account code to Lab Expenses or other most used account (instead of 638018) What other steps do you take at award end regarding payroll entries, recharges, etc. 
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Work with PI so that non key personnel paid biweekly on the project are not paid during the last month of the project to avoid salary/benefit/vacation accrual and vacation usage issues Work closely with your HR office to update PPS for those funds that are ending Discuss whether personnel are reporting vacation or will be going on vacation Contact recharge facilities to stop spending on index Set index inactivation at least a month before award end date if truly ending Do you treat different awards with a different process? i.e. Private vs Federal awards 
For Private awards from American Heart Association (AHA) – delay the use of funds in the first three months so as to not incur negative STIP Misc. Be proactive! Review all awards monthly. Please note that this document does not cover all of the discussion and does not contain all the best practices on the FER process thru closeout.