In This Issue C A M P U S C O N T R O L L E R ’S O FFIC E presents F I$ C A L N E W S Bursar’s Office | CCO Compliance | General Accounting Sponsored Projects Accounting 4 5 5 5 6 6 6 7 7 New Software Guidelines Capital Equipment Purchasing Limit Still $5,000 CU Tops $1B in Sponsored Research Funding - CU Boulder at $507.9M Fringe Benefit Rates - Fiscal Year 2018 Decomission of m-Fin Reports in Old CU Reporting System New to Your Fiscal Role? Need Finance System Access? Office of Contracts & Grants Offers Training and Discussion Forums m-Fin Financial Statements Training 12 th Annual Procurement Service Center (PSC) Supplier Showcase - September 7 SEPTEMBER 2017
Transcript
In This Issue
CA
M
PUS CONTROLLER’S OFFICE presen
ts FI$CAL NEWS
Bursar’s Office | CCO Compliance | General Accounting
Sponsored Projects Accounting
4
5
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New Software Guidelines
Capital Equipment Purchasing Limit Still $5,000
CU Tops $1B in Sponsored Research Funding - CU Boulder at $507.9M
Fringe Benefit Rates - Fiscal Year 2018
Decomission of m-Fin Reports in Old CU Reporting System
New to Your Fiscal Role? Need Finance System Access?
Office of Contracts & Grants Offers Training and Discussion Forums
m-Fin Financial Statements Training
12th Annual Procurement Service Center (PSC) Supplier Showcase -
CCO UPDATESOn July 1, 2017 the small dollar purchasing limit was increased from $5,000 to $10,000. It is important to note, however, that the change in the purchasing limit has not changed the capital equipment limit of $5,000.
Capital equipment is defined as a piece of equipment that is $5,000 or more and has a useful life of more than one year. For capital equipment purchases be sure to use Account Code 810100.
Capital Equipment Purchasing Limit Still $5,000
Additionally, please note that furniture, repairs, services and consumables are not considered capital equipment.
If you have any questions about purchasing capital equipment please visit http://www.colorado.edu/property or contact [email protected] or 303-492-8030.
The University Controller’s Office changed the thresh-old for capital software purchases from $75,000+ to $5,000+ per software unit for FY17. Property Accounting has been watching for purchases and believe we have reached departmental staff who have made eligible pur-chases since the change was effective.
If you have not been contacted but believe you might have an eligible purchase or have a question regarding software please contact [email protected].
Please use the account code 810350 for the pur-chase.
Capital Software Guidelines:• The acquisition cost is at least $5,000.• Individual user licenses must meet the $5,000 thresh-
old even when purchased based upon quantity; e.g. 1,000 licenses at $75 each should not be capital-ized even though the total reaches above the $5,000 threshold because the 1,000 licenses retain their individuality within the marketplace and the individual price does not meet threshold.
• The software must have a useful life greater than one year.
• The department owns the software and has the ability to sell, transfer, license, or rent the asset to another party OR the asset arises from a contractual or legal right. Annual subscriptions or service agreements are considered “renting of the software” and should be expensed.
• Department or campus negotiated site licenses that include multiple users (not multiple licenses) that meet the requirements above are capitalized if additional conditions are met: • University rights to use the software do not expire.• University rights to use data either purchased or
created by users of the software do not expire.
Associated Costs that Should be Capitalized: The software and installation costs should be capitalized.
Associated Costs that Should be Expensed: Training and travel costs associated with the purchase of capital software should be expensed.
Modifications/Upgrades of Software: If a department creates, co-produces, or substantially modifies an acquired software product then these guide-lines apply:
Modifications to purchased software should be capital-ized when the cost of the modification is at least $5,000
DHHS approved the Boulder campus FY2018 Fringe Benefit Rates. Effective July 1, 2017, the Boulder campus uses the negotiated rates listed below. These new fringe rates were incorporated into the July 2017 month-end fringe allocations run. Actual fringe benefit expenses shown on your program or project’s FY2018 financial reports will reflect these new rates.
FY2018 Fringe Benefit Rate Classification PercentRegular Faculty 30.3%Prof Exempt & Research Faculty FT | Classified Permanent FT & PT
37.6%
Prof Exempt & Research Faculty PT | Prof & Classified Temporary FT & PT
AND any one of the following exists: • There is a substantial increase in the functionality of the computer
software allowing the program to perform tasks it was previously incapable of performing;
• There is a substantial increase in the efficiency of the computer software, that is, an increase in the level of service provided by the computer software without the ability to perform additional tasks; or
• There is an extension of the estimated useful life of the software. (GASBS51, Par. 15)
If the modification does not meet both the dollar threshold and one of the three other criteria, the modification should be considered maintenance and the associated costs for the modification should be expensed. Maintenance: If purchased/licensed software includes maintenance and/or tech-nical support these costs should be identified separately from the capitalized costs and expensed.
Inventory Requirements: Departments will be required, as part of their physical inventory, to inventory software to ensure that the software is still in use. Software will be listed on the inventory using a “Dummy Tag” beginning with a 0Dxxxx format which signifies that the asset does not have a physi-cal tag on it. When the software is no longer in use the asset should be retired.
If you are planning to develop a software product internally, please contact [email protected] to discuss whether or not it qualifies to be capital software.
If you have questions regarding software or other property, contact [email protected] or visit http://www.colorado.edu/controller/about/general-accounting/debt-and-asset-management.
Exciting news from the Office of University Controller (OUC): The University of Colorado achieved a record level of research funding in the 2016-17 fiscal year, with faculty meriting $1.034 billion in federal, state and local awards, based on preliminary figures. This marks the first time the four-campus system has topped $1 billion in annual sponsored research funding, which climbed 12 percent over the previous year’s total...
University of Colorado Boulder: $507.9 million, up 16 percent. [For example] As part of a five-year, $4.5 million cooperative agreement with NASA, CU Boulder joined a virtual institute pursuing the construction of astronomical observatories on the moon. The Department of Astrophysical and Planetary Sciences research team, known as the Network for Exploration and Space Science (NESS), will implement partnerships to advance scientific discovery and human exploration in the lunar environment. The group will conduct research in robotics, cosmology, astrophysics and the study of the sun.
For complete details, please visit: https://www.cu.edu/news/university-colorado-tops-1b-sponsored-research-funding
CU Tops $1B in Sponsored Research Funding - CU Boulder at $507.9M
Join us for m-Fin Financial Statements Training. In this class, you will learn how to access the Cognos Reporting System and how to read m-Fin statements..
This month’s class will be hosted on September 12, 9:00 am - Noon. Classes are held on the East Campus in the Marine Street Science Center (MSSC), located at 3125 Marine Street, Room W179.
To Register:
1. Log into myCUinfo portal at: https://fedauth.colorado.edu/idp/profile/SAML2/POST/SSO?execution=e1s12. Select the Nav bar icon in the top right corner of the portal (the image that looks like a top or diamond in a circle)3. Click Training4. Select Start SkillSoft5. Click the CU Boulder button6. Scroll to Instructor Led Training (ILT) on the left-side navigation7. Click UCB: m-Fin Statement Reading8. Click Enroll
From this screen you may also withdraw, or view details regarding the course.
Please contact your Area Accountant if you need assistance in the meantime. Thank you.
m-Fin Financial Statements Training
The PSC is pleased to present this year’s Supplier Showcase. At this annual event, you have the opportunity to meet directly with your department’s suppliers, PSC staff, CU System departments, and key units across campus.
This year marks the 12th Annual event. Featured sponsors such as Staples, Dell, and The Parking Spot will be on site. Many CU Marketplace catalog suppliers will also be present.
Join CCO and the PSC Thursday, September 7 from 10:00 am - 1:00 pm in the Coors Events Center Upper Practice Gym.
To register, please visit: http://www.cvent.com/events/2017-procurement-service-center-supplier-showcase/event-summary-5c74c0abfb984e2791e2088d1c193b5f.aspx
We look forward to seeing you there!
12th Annual Procurement Service Center (PSC) Supplier Showcase - September 7
9/1 – CRA Study Group Online For those of you who are interested in taking the Research Administrators Certification Council (RACC) Certified Research Administrator’s (CRA) exam in November, consider joining our online CRA study group. If you would like access to the web-site, send an email to [email protected]. To learn more information about the study group, contact Tolise Dailey at 303.735.7736.
9/7 CU After Lunch – Compliance and Service Agreements Join hosts Pat Dodson and Gary Henry to learn what’s new in compliance and get an update on service agreements.
9/18 & 9/28 – Lifecycle Of An Award - Educational Workshop Attendees will learn about CU Boulder’s research structure, policies and procedures.
For more information on these or any upcoming training or discussion forums, please contact Tolise Dailey at 303.735.7736.
Office of Contracts & Grants Offers Training and Discussion Forums
If you are new to your financial role at CU Boulder and need assistance obtaining access to the Finance System and/or CU’s procurement system, CU Marketplace, CCO can help. Visit our website for information and step-by-step guides on how to request access to the Central Information Warehouse (CIW), the PeopleSoft Finance System, and/or CU Marketplace. Please contact Chris Zetterholm, Boulder Campus Finance Access Security Coordinator, at 303.735.6570 if you have any questions.
New to Your Fiscal Role? Need Finance System Access?
As a reminder from the August 9, 2017 m-Fin Blog: CU-Data went live as the official m-Fin system on May 1, 2017. It has been several months and everything is running smoothly. The OUC asked that we remind Cognos users the m-Fin reports in Cognos 10.2.1 (aka CU reporting system) were removed from service Thursday, August 31 2017. Official, supported versions of the reports are in the new CU-Data system: https://cu-data.cu.edu/bi/.
For help with the new CU-Data system, see https://www.cu.edu/controller/getting-ready-cu-data.
If you need assistance, please check out these videos on the OUC’s website about “Getting Ready for CU-Data” which contain information on how to run a report, how to drill down in CU-Data, and how to create a report.
Decommission of m-Fin Reports in Old CU Reporting System
