Today’s Agenda







Finance and Accounting (F&A) Mission
Organizational Structure
F&A Staffing
Customer Service
Areas Under Review:




Controller’s Office and Operational Controls and Efficiencies
Payroll and Tax Services
Gator Business Administrators Services (GBAS)
Tigert Hall Shared Service Center (SSC)



Financial Reporting
General Accounting
Cost Analysis
Summary
Q&A At End

Mission of Finance & Accounting





Maintain public trust and confidence in the University of Florida by
safeguarding institutional resources and providing quality
financial, accounting, and operational support to vested stakeholders
Consistently advance the vision and core missions of the University.
“Keeper” of sound University business processes and good
internal control systems and is available to consult on these topics.
Maintain accounting records, collects and disburses University funds
Prepare various University-wide reports, including the Annual
Financial Report, IPEDS, BOT reports and the National Science
Foundation (NSF) annual report.

F&A Historical Staffing Level s
We have focused on identifying the mission-critical functions in F&A and have been able to reduce FTEs
2011-12
154.40
Total F&A
2010-11
156.20
2009-10
163.63
2008-09
173.50
# FTE Change from 2008-09 -19.10
-17.30
-9.87
% FTE Change from 2008-09 -11.01% -9.97% -5.69%

Makeup of F&A Staff
 44.1 Degreed Accountants
 13 Certified Public Accountants (CPAs)
 Other Certified Professionals, CMA, CIA, CTP
 13 Other Degreed Professionals
 97.3 Other Fiscal Staff

Focus on Customer Service



Recognize our role as a support function for campus
Conduct customer surveys to assess areas in which we can improve or need to focus more efforts:



Sponsor quarterly CFO Roundtable (formerly F&A
Roundtable)
Quarterly CFO Newsletter
Remedy system to effectively manage calls and emails



Office Communicator
UFS Phone System
FI Users Group
Consistent with CFO, encourage our employees to bring forth ideas for improvement
 Research Participant Payment process

Distribution of 2013 Budget by Area
Disb/Asset Mgt - 55 FTE
Univ Financial Svces 28.25 FTE
Controller 10.35 FTE
Treasury Mgt - 18 FTE
Payroll - 20 FTE
General Accounting - 9 FTE
Cost Analysis - 5 FTE
Shared Svces - 4 FTE
Financial Reporting - 4 FTE
GBAS - .8 FTE

Controller’s & Operational Controls
Major Programs and Services
 Management of Finance and Accounting (F&A)
 General management and support of F&A – 154.4 FTEs and over $10 million budget

Controller and 4.1 Sr. Associate Controllers
 Ongoing meetings with all levels of F&A
 Continual review of F&A business processes and organizational structure to achieve efficiencies

Controller’s & Operational Controls
Major Programs and Services
 Accounting, Auditing, Reporting, Internal Control,
Business Process Guidance and Support to Customers
 Represent users of the MyUFL system with Enterprise
Systems
 Serve on Various University and DSO Boards and
Committees; Staff support to BOT Finance and Facilities
Committee and the Audit and Operations Committee
 Prepare monthly and annual Scorecards
 Departmental visits
 Participate in ITN for Administrative Services Review

Controller’s & Operational Controls
Major Programs and Services
 Bond Financing:



Clinical Translational Research Building $30 million
Hough MBA and Harn Asian Wing $18.5 million refinancing
Upcoming JWRU $50 million Expansion and Renovation
 Teach Several Pro3 Classes:



Color of Money
Internal Controls
Departmental Reconciliations

Controller’s & Operational Controls
Major Programs and Services
 Audit Liaison:




Auditor General Financial, Federal and Operational Audits



23 Numbered Memos 2010-11 Fiscal Year
Coordination of responses to audit findings
Coordination of Management Representation Letter s
Internal Revenue Service



18 month duration
Over 200 Information Data Requests (IDRs)
Review and negotiate audit closing process:

Negotiated to $77K
Office of Audit and Compliance Review (OACR) exit conferences
Others Including HHS, Kellogg Foundation, other grant specific reviews, etc.

Controller’s & Operational Controls
Accomplishments



Completed two bond financings during the 2011 FY; one currently planned for FY 2012
Along with F&A staff worked to negotiate a $77,000 payment for back taxes and interest to IRS for a five-year audit period.


This was substantially less than other peer institutions have been assessed and our process for monitoring Unrelated Business
Income Tax (UBIT) earned compliments from the IRS staff
18 month duration with approximately 200 requests for information
 Earned commendations from IRS for our procedures
Negotiated new F&A rates with DHHS (see Cost Analysis)

Controller’s & Operational Controls
Accomplishments
 Accumulated, prepared and sent out monthly and annual scorecards to 77
Departments/Centers/Institutes
 Departmental Visits:
 Vet Medicine
 PURC (Public Utility Research Center)
 JW Reitz Union
 Various visits to assist with implementation of FI 9.1

Payroll and Tax Services
Major Programs and Services
 Payroll Processing
 Biweekly payroll and off-cycle – 653,230 employee payments for $1.2 billion per year
 Time and Labor Reporting System corrections and support – 1800
 Prepares Vouchers for Payroll Vendor Payments – approximately 1,500 payments totaling $60 million
 Wage Refunds – 508 refunds for $465,000
 Collections, Garnishments – 10,000 a year
 Direct Deposits Authorizations – 22,000 entries/year

Payroll and Tax Services
Major Programs and Services
 Monitors Departmental Payroll Distributions
(distributions allocate payroll charges to Cost Centers)
 Teach PRO3 “Payroll Distributions” class
 Prior and current year distribution changes

Payroll and Tax Services
Major Programs and Services
 Tax Services
 Monitor Employees for Correct FICA Status
 W-2s – 35,193 W-2s provided
 Social Security and Medicare tax monitoring
 Unrelated Business Income Tax (UBIT)
 Florida Sales and Use Tax – 292 departments reviewed with 12 consolidated returns filed

Payroll and Tax Services
Major Programs and Services
 Payments to Foreign Nationals
 1042-S
 Nonresident Aliens (NRA) and tax treaties
 Foreign research participants review
 Payments to foreign organizations (IRS reg 1442)

Payroll and Tax Services
Major Programs and Services

 Campus Support
 Payroll - Email (64,000) & phone calls (11,000)
 Tax Services – Email (21,000) & phone calls (7,600)
 Campus training programs
 UBIT training and departmental visits
 Florida sales tax
 Audit support e.g. IRS

 Online W-2s and End-of-Year Statements (EYES)

Payroll and Tax Services
Accomplishments
 Substantial Decrease in Number of Printed Checks

Payroll and Tax Services
Accomplishments
 Wireless Device Reimbursement
 Change in IRS regulations allowed a change in the reimbursement process saved UF approximately
$500,000 a year
 Self service direct deposit functionality

GBAS Mission




Gator Business Administrator Services, or GBAS, targets business
administrators on campus.


Define institutional expectations associated with the role of the business administrator
Provide ongoing professional development for existing business administrators
Identify and facilitate initial and on-going training in all areas of finance and administration
Ensure that Business Administrators and staff have a comprehensive
understanding of policies, directives and procedures, rules (State, Federal, university, other) and that they are applied fairly and consistently across units
Partner Business Administrators across campus with core office leaders on a regular, on-going basis to actively engage in discussing current issues,
providing input into new and existing policies and procedures, sharing information and best practices, and suggesting and implementing process improvements.

GBAS
Major Programs and Services
 Orientation:
 12 Online Modules to Introduce Newly-hired and those new-to-the position Business Administrators to the UF
Financial, HR and Administrative Environment
 Mentoring
 Foundation – Pro3 curriculum
 GBAS Institutes
 Ongoing professional development
 GBAS Credential – End of 2012

GBAS Accomplishments
 Held one Business Office Institute in Fall, 2011 with 40 participants; Next Institutes in April and November
2012
 Held a reporting training class for Business
Administrators with 30+ participants – Yesterday,
February 22, 2012
 Started a mentoring program in February 2012 with 10 participants

SSC Mission
 To work in partnership with the academic and
administrative management of the University of
Florida to provide efficient and effective financial and
administrative services and solutions, focused on unit level needs and university-wide objectives.

SSC Major Programs and Service
 Financial and Human Resources transaction processing.
 Cross Coverage - Highly trained staff members are available to assist units during employee absences and peak periods of activity.
 Training – Unit training support may be provided to insure compliance with internal and external regulations.
 Assist units with analyzing FTE needs and opportunities to streamline administrative processes for better quality service, improved efficiencies and customer service.

SSC Accomplishments
 Tigert Hall SSC go live date – October 26, 2010
 Total units served – 16
 Total AP transactions processed, October, 2010 to
January, 2012 – 2419
 Total HR transactions processed, October, 2010 to
January, 2012 – 326
 Support to CLAS – analysis of FTE and research administration support

Financial Reporting

Major Programs and Services
Annual Reports
 UF Annual Financial Report
 SUS Consolidated statements
 IPEDS, UF Fact Book, US News and World Report, others
 SACS
 Credit rating agencies
 Quarterly Financial Statements with a Variance
Analysis to the UF Board of Trustees

Financial Reporting
Major Programs and Services
 Report Writing
 nVision reports for Auxiliaries to use in creating financial statements
 Assistance to other F&A departments
 Assistance to Campus
 Assist with journal entries for financial statements
 Teach Departmental Reconciliation and Basic
Accounting Concepts classes – 8 times a year each

Financial Reporting
Accomplishments
 Electronic Reporting
 Implemented electronic (Excel) workbooks and eliminated 79, 3-ring binders. Saved paper, space and time.
 Workshops are videotaped and available to remote locations and can be viewed when convenient to user.
 In person visits to preparers with complex entries.

Financial Reporting

Accomplishments
Streamlined Documentation
 Based on feedback from users, reduced the amount of documentation for each preparer by preparing journal entries for the following centrally:







Accounts Payable
Compensated Absences
Salaries Payable
Investment Allocations
Investment Interest and Fair Value Adjustments
Other Postemployment Benefits
Reversing Entries and Beginning Net Assets

General Accounting
Major Programs and Services
 Maintain the Integrity of the University’s Accounting
Records
 Create and Maintain all Chartfields and HR Account
Codes in PeopleSoft
 Review and Post General Ledger and subsystem journals
 Keep Subsystems/GL/KK In Sync
 Close General Ledger and Sub-Systems at Month and
Year-End (which affects the timely release of reports to
Campus)

General Accounting
Major Programs and Services
 Auxiliary/Educational Business Activity
 New Requests and Ongoing Support
 Auxiliary Enterprise Committee Meetings (3/year) and related reports
 Quarterly Auxiliary Financial Statements Support and
Annual training
 Annual Service Center Rate Review to Comply with
Circular A-21 Guidelines

General Accounting
Major Programs and Services
 Reporting
 Review Monthly Financial Reports and Data Warehouse
 Negative Balances Reporting to Campus
 Support to Campus
 Financial Services (FI) User Group
 Monitor the Fringe Benefit Pool Assessment
 Accounting and Reporting Support to UF and 11 DSOs
 Training via Human Resources Online courses and
Instruction Guides

General Accounting
Major Programs and Services
 Other Services
 myUFL Upgrade Testing Support
 Agency Fund Requests
 Unclaimed Property


Search & Claim UF’s property from the State
Prepare Annual Unclaimed Property Report to the State

General Accounting
Accomplishments
 Started the Financial Services User Group
 Changed the E2E & E2R process to be more streamlined for Campus – eliminated 3,000 checks
 Streamlined process for creating Contracts & Grants
HR Account Codes and shortened timeline by as much as 3 days
 Changed Cash Management Funding Process for COM
Resulting in Fewer COM FTEs Needed for the process

Cost Analysis
Major Programs and Services



Responsible for maintaining the Effort Reporting system required by Circular A-21:




Approximately 20,000 emails and inquiries from campus
New Effort Reporting System for Summer, 2011
Conducted 13 open labs and 30 training sessions
45,000 Effort submissions
 Pulling old Effort reports for HHS Audit – over 7000
Prepares various reports for agencies such as the annual
NSF report
Prepares the annual Schedule of Expenditures of
Financial Awards (SEFA) report required under Circular
A-133.

Cost Analysis
Major Programs and Services
 Assists campus and core offices on questions regarding grantor awards and compliance issues.
 Coordinates Annual Campus Space Study
 Over 40,000 campus rooms
 Biggest driver of indirect cost recovery (FnA) calculation
 Cost Analysis staff “walks” Organized Research space for
FnA base years

Cost Analysis
Major Programs and Services
 Prepares the University-wide indirect cost (Facilities and Administrative (FnA)) study:
 Results in approximately $70 million of reimbursements coming to the University annually
 “Base Year” study is prepared every four to five years
 “Off-Year” studies are conducted to look for unusual or expected trends
 Very, Very Personnel Intensive

Cost Analysis
Accomplishments
 Facilities and Administrative (FnA) rates approved (yet to be signed)
 2010, 2011 and 2012 – 46.5%
 2013 and 2014 – 49%
 Results in an increase of approximately $1.7 million/year to UF compared to 2012
 2015 – 50%
 Results in an increase of approximately $2.4 million/year to
UF compared to 2012

Cost Analysis
Accomplishments


Implemented New Effort Reporting System (direct response to HHS audit)
Fringe Benefit Pool Analysis, Projection and Submission to
Federal Government

Summary


Reduced staffing 11% since 2009
Below shows additional FTE reductions for 2012-13 if 5% cut is implemented:
2012-13 with
5% Reduction 2011-12 2010-11 2009-10 2008-09
Total F&A
# FTE Change from 2008-09
149.70
154.40
156.20
163.63
173.50
-23.80
-19.10
-17.30
-9.87
% FTE Change from 2008-09 -13.72% -11.01% -9.97% -5.69%

Summary
Implications of 5% Cut






No emergency payroll checks – employees will paid on next pay date (2 weeks) – FY 2011 – 699 checks for $1.5m
No wage refund calculations – overpayments to employees will go uncollected – FY 2011 – 508 refunds for $465k
No time adjustments after 60 days – FY 2011 – 903 forms processed
Elimination of positions – reduces ability to continue service levels during vacancies and absences as well as provide for cross training
Unable to implement new departmental deposit process
May impact implementation of Research Participant Payment initiative

Summary
Implications of 5% Cut
 Eliminate auditing travel reimbursements - overpayments will go uncollected leading to audit findings and public criticism
 Reducing equipment replacements and maintenance – increases exposure to not being able to provide timely services to campus
 Reducing training offered to employees – reduces employees’ knowledge of laws, rules and regulations as well as ability to identify more efficient processes
 Reduce frequency of billing on amounts due the University including Housing, Transportation & Parking

Summary
 We recognize and take seriously our commitment to serve our campus users and will strive to maintain our current level despite staff, equipment and technology reductions
 We will continue to gauge our customer service through continual feedback and periodic surveys
 We continue to look at strategic ways improve our products and services
 We continue to evaluate staffing and program needs in
Finance and Accounting