CALS Business Operations Newsletter |
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Get CBO Help at:
919-515-4226 or cbo_help@ncsu.edu
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COVID-19: CBO Updates Webpage
Keep up-to-date on business operations updates and guidance related to COVID-19 on the CBO Updates – COVID-19 webpage.
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Business Partners Bi-Weekly Meetings
Previously scheduled bi-monthly Business Partners meetings have been canceled as the CBO and CALS HR are now holding bi-weekly meetings with primary business and HR coordinators to answer questions and provide updates surrounding the COVID-19 situation.
Recordings of each meeting along with the agendas are posted to the CBO Business Partners webpage as they become available. If you have questions regarding these meetings, please contact Molly Bradshaw, Process Efficiency and Training Manager, at mqbradsh@ncsu.edu.
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ServiceNow Updates in Effect
ServiceNow has been upgraded to a new platform to allow for better navigation and an enhanced user experience. View the ServiceNow Enhancements Video for a short overview of the changes.
One addition to ServiceNow to note is the new SAR Request process which has been updated to increase transparency, allow for tracking, and expedite approval for requests. View the New SAR Request Process Video for an overview of this change.
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Recertify your Mobile Communication Device (MCD) Allowances for Calendar Year 2021
You should have already received your 2021 Renewal Email from Kim Kelley with a link to the updated forms and instructions for recertifying your mobile communication device. The email was sent to individuals currently receiving an allowance and the leads. Please be sure to use the following form: Mobile Communication Device Allowance Form (11.2020). Do NOT use last year's form.
The recertification process is REQUIRED. If employees do not recertify by December 18, 2020 they will NOT receive an allowance payment in January 2021. You can submit the completed form by submitting it in the new form drop box at MCD Allowance Form Drop Box (recommended). You can also email the form or any questions to cell_phone_forms@ncsu.edu. If you do not receive a response within 45 days, you may email cell_phone_forms@ncsu.edu to request an update.
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FY2021 - Shop the Marketplace First Initiative Version 2.0
As of 7/1/2020 NC State is moving to required use of the NC State eProcurement MarketPlace for supply purchases of less than $1,000. Faculty, staff, and the CALS community are expected to shop Marketplace first for supply orders $1,000 or less and follow the Decision Process for Purchasing Goods. Shop MarketPlace First is an Initiative which kicked off in July 2017. The initiative is for NCSU Faculty and Staff to purchase all low dollar supplies from NC State MarketPlace.
PCard Impacts: If the supplies are not available in Marketplace then a PCard may be used to purchase from a non MarketPlace vendor. If the supply is available in MarketPlace or if the cardholder purchases from a MarketPlace vendor, supply purchases $1,000 or less paid on a PCard will require justification explaining why MarketPlace was not used.
General Accounting Impacts: Also in alignment with this initiative, supply purchases $1,000 or less can only be paid using a voucher if 1) the vendor does not accept visa/mastercard (will be confirmed by Procurement), or 2) an invoice that is below $1,000 is a portion of a larger PO (totaling over $1,000). Please note: A voucher cannot be submitted to pay a vendor listed in MarketPlace.
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Detailed Business Purpose Required for Financial Transactions
A detailed business purpose is required for the following financial transactions: PCard, MarketPlace requisitions, invoices, and personal reimbursements. A detailed business purpose answers the following questions: who benefits from the transaction, where the purchased item is located (if applicable), and why the transaction was necessary. When the type of transaction may inherently imply a business purpose (e.g., toner, paper, pens, lab supplies etc.), it is still necessary to provide a business purpose that describes which location or project within the department the item was purchased.
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Confirming Orders
Confirming Orders are purchase orders that are issued AFTER purchases above $5,000, including shipping charges, are made and have been received by employees. These orders are normally unauthorized purchases and are not allowed because all purchase orders should be issued BEFORE goods or services are received.
There are times when Confirming Orders are allowed, but Procurement Services MUST be notified PRIOR to submitting a Confirming Order. An example of when a Confirming Order is allowed is an emergency repair of equipment that causes a research project or departmental process to stop.
Requisitions that are processed as Confirming Orders must include an explanation memo from the Requester explaining why the correct University process was not followed and how their department’s business processes will be changed so this does not happen again.
Requisitions that are submitted without the required documentation will be denied and sent back to the department. Once the proper documentation is attached to the requisition, it can then be re-routed for approval by the department, college, and Procurement Services.
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PCard Deadlines
Please take a moment to review the deadlines and reminders below to help ensure PCard policies and procedures are being followed and transactions are processed in a timely manner.
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November Billing Cycle (Past Billing Cycle)
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The Novmeber billing cycle (October 21 - November 20) statement deadline is 5 p.m. on December 21.
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To allow cardholders and supervisors adequate time for approval, reconcilers will approve statements by December 7 unless additional information is required.
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If additional information is required in order to approve a statement, cardholders will received notification by December 7 from cals_cbo_pcard@ncsu.edu. Please be on the lookout for these communications.
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Additionally, cardholders who did not have their receipts uploaded for this billing cycle into the PCard Center as of 3:30 p.m. on November 23 would be required to submit a JV request via ServiceNow if the transaction was not charged to the appropriate project.
December Billing Cycle (Current Billing Cycle)
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The reconciliation deadline for the December billing cycle (November 21 - December 18) is December 22. However, in order to guarantee reconciliation of transactions, receipts should be uploaded by 3:30 p.m. on December 21.
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Anything uploaded after the December 21 deadline will be reconciled for this billing cycle only if time allows and the cardholder will be responsible for submitting any JV requests via ServiceNow if necessary.
As a reminder, to ensure deadlines are met, cardholders should do the following:
- Upload receipts within 1-3 days of the transaction date and avoid uploading all receipts the day before or on the day of the reconciliation deadline.
- Be sure receipts have written on them the project phase to be charged, a detailed business purpose, and the travel authorization number (if applicable).
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Mandatory Training for CALS PCard Holders
All CALS PCard holders will be required to complete a CALS CBO cardholder training module online by January 28, 2021. The training aims to improve CALS’ PCard program compliance, focusing on CALS CBO PCard processes, purchasing guidelines, travel guidelines, and documentation requirements. Be on the lookout for an email that will be distributed to cardholders during the second week of December with instructions on how to access the training.
Please note the following:
- Cardholders must pass the end of training assessment with 90% or higher and complete the cardholder acknowledgment form before training is marked complete.
- Cardholders are required to complete the training by January 28, 2021. The training is estimated to take 1.5 hours and can be completed in multiple sessions.
- Cardholders will continue to receive email reminders until training is completed.
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COVID-19 Testing Requirements for University Approved Travel
All faculty and staff planning to travel, please ensure you read the email sent on November 13 from NC State University with the subject: COVID-19 Testing Requirements for Spring 2021. In particular, please note the following:
All travelers on approved university travel to out-of-state or international locations must submit proof of a negative COVID-19 test prior to returning to campus. For employees who cannot get a test elsewhere, testing will be available on campus to fulfill this requirement. More information will be provided by NCSU in regards to the testing locations on campus.
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Travel Reimbursements - Submit On-Time to Avoid Taxation
As a reminder, travel reimbursements should be submitted within 30 days after the trip. If they are not submitted within 30 days, the University does have a right to report it as taxable income.
NC General Statute 138-6(c) requires that all travel reimbursement requests must be filed for approval within 30 days after the travel period for which reimbursement is being requested and reimbursements submitted 30 days after the travel period may be reported as taxable income.
The IRS requires that if an entity has an Accountable Plan under IRC Regulation 1.62-2 three rules must be met.
- Establish the business purpose and connection.
- Substantiate expenses within a reasonable period of time.
- Return any excess amounts.
If any of these are not met, then the expense must be added to the employee's W-2 statement and taxed accordingly. Since this falls outside the timeline of "a reasonable period of time" the University must tax this accordingly.
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Travel for Students
Beginning August 10, 2020 research restart submissions which involve undergraduate students may be sent through the Research Restart Phase III Process and no longer require a special research exception, but the student must fall into one of the following classifications:
- Undergraduate is working as an NC State University employee.
- Undergraduate is working in research spaces for class, program, or project credit.
Undergraduate student employees must be marked as mandatory in the HR System.
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Accounts Receivable - Deposit Drop-Off
CBO Business Services will continue to be available to retrieve deposits from you in-person per the following schedule:
- Monday (Missy Grissom, 919 513-1749, 9 a.m. - 12 p.m.)
- Wednesday (Paul Ballance, 919-515-2747, 12 p.m. - 3 p.m.)
- Friday (Tiffany Bryant, 919-515-7919, 9 a.m. - 12 p.m.)
Deposits can also be mailed to the CBO, CBO Accounts Receivables, Campus Box 7644, Raleigh, NC 27695-7644.
The last day to drop off a deposit for December is Tuesday, December 22. Hours have been adjusted the last week prior to holiday break to Monday, December 21 from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m. and Tuesday, December 22 from 12 p.m. to 3 p.m.
If you are dropping off a deposit, please call the person listed above upon arrival and they will retrieve the deposit from you.
For other access needs to Patterson Hall, phone numbers and contact names are printed and taped to the Patterson Hall entrance/exit doors.
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Reminder - Shortened Due Date for December Grant Close-outs
As a reminder, if you have a grant close-out due December 31st, University C&G will require the Close-out Form to be completed and routed to them by December 15th. This is due to the University Holiday and the need to submit all Financial Reports before the Holiday break. Therefore, please work with both your department contacts and Post Award Consultants to process any necessary SDCs, J/Vs, etc. within the next week.
Please see the Business Services Section for PCard, Marketplace, and JV cut-offs.
Additionally, please be sure to share with your Post Award Consultants any expenses or SDCs which are pending, so they can be included in the Close-out Form as a reconciling item. Finally, as a reminder, University C&G has the authority to submit a Financial Report to the sponsor, even if the Close-out Form has not been routed to them, if it is 5 days before the Financial Report due date. This means both CALS C&G and the PI will not have control over what is submitted as the final expenditures and any expenses not included in the Financial Report will be the responsibility of the PI. Therefore, please be proactively working with your department and Post Award Consultants.
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New CALS EHRA Non-Faculty PI and Co-PI Eligibility Guide
In collaboration with NCARS, NC Cooperative Extension and CALS Research Committee, the CALS EHRA Non-Faculty PI and Co-PI Eligibility Guide has been created to provide eligibility guidelines for those EHRA Non-Faculty individuals, who do not fall within the University’s “Research Matrix”, to become Co-PI and PIs on sponsored projects (ledger 5 projects). Please note for those individuals who fall within the Research Matrix, that will continue to be utilized as part of Co-PI and PI requests.
For those individuals who meet the requirements of the new EHRA-Non-Faculty guide or the Research Matrix, the process starts with the supervisor of the individual reaching out to either the Department Head or District Director, with the individual’s CV and recommendation of a Co-PI or PI role. Please note, typically an Non-EHRA individual will need to be in a Co-PI role prior to moving into a PI role. If approved, the Department Head or District Director would forward the request to cals_preaward@ncsu.edu. CALS C&G will then work with NCARS or NC Cooperative Extension on the request. If approved, the request will be forwarded to SPARCS for final approval.
We are working to create a webpage in the near future with this and other information associated with the Co-PI and PI process. If you have any questions, please reach out to cals_preaward@ncsu.edu.
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Reminder: Effective October 1st - NSF Biosketch and Current Pending Forms Required
NSF requires the use of NSF-approved formats for the biographical sketch and current and pending support sections of NSF proposals starting October 1, 2020.
ORCID ID and SciENcv Biosketch Information and Steps:
If you plan to submit or participate on an NSF submission, please follow the below steps to first create an ORCID ID, then a SciENcv biosketch. If there are any questions regarding the process, please contact the NCSU librarians for assistance at group-lib-citations@ncsu.edu.
Please follow the instructions below to complete this task as soon as possible.
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Create or link your ORCID record to your Unity ID by clicking "Get Started" at this link: https://ci.lib.ncsu.edu/
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Add your publications to ORCID by following these directions: https://ci.lib.ncsu.edu/user/search-and-link
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If you need help importing publications into your ORCID record, send your CV to the Libraries through this link: https://ci.lib.ncsu.edu/user/cv-service
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Log into SciENcv: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sciencv/ and select "Click here to start"
- Select "See more 3rd party sign in options" and choose "North Carolina State University"
- Log into SciENcv using your Unity ID
- In the upper right corner, go to Settings by clicking on your username
- In Settings, scroll down to "Linked Accounts" and click the "Change" button
- Search for "ORCID" in the "Search for account name" box and select "ORCID" from the results (you should now see your ORCID record in the "Your Linked Accounts" section above)
- Click on "MyNCBI" in the upper right corner to go back to the main dashboard
- Proceed to the "SciENcv" section to start creating biosketches
Additional Information Regarding the SciENcv requirements:
If there are any questions regarding the SciENcv biosketch process, please contact the NCSU librarians for assistance.
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Farewell to Athena Thiel, Contracts & Grants Post Award Consultant, TEARS Coordinator
Please join us in congratulating Athena Thiel as she moves into a new position with Dr. Chris Reberg-Horton in Crop & Soil Sciences, on January 2. Athena has worked for CALS C&G, in several roles, for more than four years. With each new role, Athena has helped advance the work of CALS C&G through her work contributions and dedication. We will miss Athena, as she has become an integral part of our office. Please continue to contact group-calscst@ncsu.edu with any cost share or TEARS related questions, as we work to rehire her position.
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