Bridges Advisory #28 - September 23, 2004
Printable versionThe University of Florida is committed to keeping you informed as we continue our transition to the new myUFL systems. To help you with the transition, each week you will receive a Bridges Advisory.
TRAVEL REIMBURSEMENTS NOW DEPOSITED ELECTRONICALLY. We are pleased to announce that beginning September 15, travelers with direct deposit will receive their travel reimbursements electronically (i.e., deposited directly into their bank account). Those who do not have direct deposit will continue to receive an actual check mailed to their address of record. The Bridges team appreciates your patience while we worked to implement this important feature.
MISSING IMPORTANT EMAILS? If you are not getting emails from myUFL (i.e., automated PeopleSoft messages)—and your coworkers are—you should check to make sure your UF Business Email is set up correctly in the UF Directory. We will always use this email for business purposes and we cannot make exceptions. We have had some emails returned as invalid email accounts and some individuals have no email listed at all.
This is the email address the university also uses to send out critical messages to employees, such as emergency closings, so please make sure your email address is current and accurate.
To check or modify your UF Business email address, please log on to the myUFL portal and click on “My Account” in the myUFL Menu, then “Update my UF Business Email.” To forward your GatorLink email (if it is listed as your UF Business Email) to an account that you check daily, click on "Set GatorLink Email Forwarding."
GLOSSARY OF TERMS -- NEW AND IMPROVED. The Bridges Web site has a newly updated Glossary of Terms. For your convenience, links to the glossary are available in several places on the Bridges Web site (Resources, Get Prepared, and Get Trained > The Basics), as well as the myUFL portal (myUFL Menu > Help). We will be updating the glossary on a regular basis—if we missed something, please send a suggestion to the myUFL Suggestion Box (located in the upper right-hand corner of the portal as “Suggestions”).
BRIDGES LIAISONS AND COLLEGE EXPERTS. Each college and unit recently identified their own “experts” for HR/Payroll and Financial systems. The goal is for the “experts” to resolve many end user problems locally as well as identify training materials or courses that need to be created or revised. The college expert will funnel any unresolved problems, concerns or suggestions to a designated Bridges Liaison. The liaison is responsible for resolving these issues and following up directly with the college expert.
The college experts have received extensive training on grants and hiring, with the next session to cover how to track financial transactions. While the “Expert Sessions” are by invitation only, the classes are videotaped and available on the Bridges Web site (Training > Classes on Video).
The list of Bridges Liaisons and College Experts has been posted on the Bridges Web site under Get Assistance. Many Bridges Liaisons have already contacted or met with their assigned unit. Others will be contacting their assigned units later this week. If you are designated as a college expert and have not heard from your liaison by the end of the week, please send your name and college/department/unit to the Bridges project via the myUFL Suggestion Box.
For matters concerning access to the portal, including password, browser or computer problems, the UF Help Desk remains the primary point of contact.
CHANGING VENDOR ADDRESSES ON THE VOUCHER. If the invoice remit address of the vendor differs from what populates in the Invoice Information tab for the vendor, then changes to the remit vendor address are only to be made on the Payment tab of the created voucher. Changes can be made by selecting the hourglass next to the “Payee Addr” drop down window and select the correct option. If the option you are looking for is not there, then you will need to request that this be included by contacting the Vendor Maintenance staff.
Entering a "remit address" on the Invoice Information tab does not populate the “remit address” field on the Payment tab.
FINAL MONTH-END CLOSING DELAYED FOR JULY AND AUGUST. Due to ongoing corrections in journal, accounting and voucher entries, the month-end closing for July and August is delayed. Once the corrections are made, budget and general ledger processes (e.g., overhead allocations) will need to run. Departments and colleges can run reports and queries to review the transactions, but please be aware that these are not final balances. We expect to close July and August in October.
In the GL Activity report, the main Journal references you will see are HR (payroll entries), AP (for voucher accruals and payments), and EX (for Travel expenses). Since the report breaks the activity down by department, you could go to Budget Details and drill down for any detail. In October, Bridges plans to have department ledger reports available for campus end users.
If you have done retroactive payroll distributions (i.e., payroll cost transfers) and you have not yet seen the results, it is because the entries have not been posted. When they are posted, the entries will hit the current period (September), but you should see the correct amounts in the Cost Distribution reports.
COMPENSATION HISTORY IN myUFL. When looking at your compensation history (My Self Service > Payroll and Compensation > Compensation History), please recognize that the history begins with th first payday from the myUFL systems (July 1) and does not includ compensation paid by the State. Due to the mid-year devolution from the state, anyone employed prior to July 1 will receive a W-4 from both the State of Florida and the University of Florida.
At the current time, the Compensation History page does not work properly for those with multiple jobs. The job descriptions will appear but when the user clicks on the “Select Job Title” link, no information appears. The problem will be resolved in the future but in the meantime, faculty and staff should contact their department’s payroll processor for this information if needed.
NEW ENTERPRISE REPORTING REPORTS. There are several new reports available in Enterprise Reporting. Access to Enterprise Reporting is available to any faculty or staff but does require the UF_ER_USER role for general access and may require additional roles depending on the type of information and level of detail.
New reports in Enterprise Reporting > Financial Information > My UFL Financials > Purchasing:
• PCard Detail Transactions By Department, Status, and Date
Range
• PCard Detail Transactions By Employee, Status, and Date
Range
• PCard Detail Transactions By Project, Status, and Date
Range
• PCard Detail Transactions By Fund, Status, and Date
Range
• PO Statistics By Vendor and Business Unit
UPDATED INSTRUCTION GUIDES. An updated Instruction Guide is available:
Customer Relations
• Deposit Transmittal Form (Updated)
NEW CLASSES ON VIDEO. The following Classes on Video is available:
Expert Sessions – Sponsored Programs
• Bridging the Gap – Post Award Grant Management (New)
For frequent updates about the project, subscribe to the UF Bridges pagelet on the myUFL portal. For a quick tutorial on how to use myUFL, visit: http://wla.erp.ufl.edu/media/PersonalizeContentLayout.html.
For more information about the transition, visit the Bridges Web site.
For help or support in using the new systems, including the portal, contact the UF Help Desk at 392-HELP or helpdesk@ufl.edu.
