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The Campaign for McMaster UniversityThe Campaign for McMaster University

RFUG Meeting

Finance Session

Tuesday March 22, 2011

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AGENDA• Update re Tri-Council Monitoring Visit

- Systems Contracts – New procedures for charges to Tri-Council Accounts

- Rules Surrounding Release of Funding- Stores

• FHS Mail Changes

• Brief Update on HST issue in MACMEETS

• Changes to Purchasing Policy effective April 1, 2011

• Annual Subcode Meeting

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AGENDA

• CIHR Year End – March 31, 2011

• CFI Year End – March 31, 2011

• Deficit Review

• Research Accounts on SAS FM

• Questions….. and hopefully some answers

• Systems Contracts – There are current plans in the works for an electronic purchasing software package that would address all the concerns identified by in the most recent Tri-Council review. However this is a long term solution, and we must put something immediate in place in order to be prepared for when Tri-Council comes back in February 2012. The temporary short term solution to be implemented is on a monthly basis, copies of the Systems Contracts invoices for only Tri-council accounts will be forwarded to the PI/and or delegate.

Tri-council Issues

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Tri-Council Issues

• We ask that these are signed by either the PI/delegate and retained for audit purposes at the departmental level

• This is only a temporary measure until an automated approach can be developed

• Release of Funding – A requirement of the Tri-Council is that before funding can be released to a PI/Account Holder for expenditure, all ethics approvals must be in place and valid. We have introduced a new step in our deposit procedures in that we are now validating the ethics certificates before funding is deposited into ANY account as these should be in place before any research is conducted. Please make sure that your PIs keep on touch of their certifications and that if new certificates are obtained, please have the details forwarded to our office so that the MURFI database can be updated and prevent a delay of funding being deposited into their accounts.

• Stores – For stores the tentative solution being worked on is that on a monthly basis, the PI will be receiving a statement from stores outlining the charges to their accounts. We ask that they review this listing and sign off and again retain for audit purposes. Purchasing is currently looking into this solution with UTS to develop such a report, but this may not be feasible. Currently it is not a feasible solution so the University is currently looking at having a report writing tool to develop such a report from the existing data. – Hopefully by next RFUG meeting there will be a further update to this issue.

Tri-Council Issues

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HST issue with MACMEETS

• After our last RFUG, I contacted Accounts Payable to address the issue raised regarding the incorrect amount of HST rebate being charged to your accounts

• They indicated that they were aware of this problem, and that they were currently working with the software provider to resolve this problem. They are hoping to have it resolved before fiscal year end.

• At this time they indicated that they are keeping track of the adjustments to be made and will do the necessary journal entries before fiscal year end.

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Changes to Purchasing Policy effective April 1, 2011

• Effective April 1, 2011 the following are the rules regarding purchasing at McMaster:

• Goods less than $2,500 – Item can be secured by the end user via Systems Contract, Departmental Acquisition Card or an Invoice payable by a Cheque Requisition

• Goods > $2,500 & < $10,000 – need 1 quotation secured by the end user; the requisition for purchase must be sent to purchasing, and if charged to an 8 ledger account will come to FHS Finance first for approval

• Goods > $10,000 & <50,000 – 3 quotations secured by Purchasing Services or yourselves; the requisition for purchase must be sent to purchasing, and if charged to an 8 ledger account will come to FHS Finance first for approval

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Changes to Purchasing Policy effective April 1, 2011

• Goods > $50,000 – Formal bidding required through the RFP process – note this can take up to 7 – 8 weeks before delivery - the requisition for purchase must be sent to purchasing, and if charged to an 8 ledger account will come to FHS Finance first for approval

• Goods > $100,000 – Formal bidding required through the RFP process & it will be posted on MERX – note this can take up to 7 – 8 weeks before delivery - the requisition for purchase must be sent to purchasing, and if charged to an 8 ledger account will come to FHS Finance first for approval

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CFI Changes to Purchasing Policy effective April 1, 2011

• Effective April 1, 2011, all consulting services must be bid regardless of dollar value

• “Consultant” means a person or entity that under an agreement, other than an employment agreement, provides expert or strategic advice and related services for consideration and decision-making

• “Consulting Services” means the provision of expertise or strategic advice that is presented for consideration and decision making

• Usually their deliverable is in the form of a report

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Changes to Purchasing Policy effective April 1, 2011

• For non-competitive consulting contracts, in accordance with AIT exemptions only, the following approvals must be obtained:

• $0 - $999,999 – President, Patrick Deane• > $999,999 - Board of Governors

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Annual Subcode Presentation

• The annual subcode presentation will be taking place March 28, 2011 in Convocation Hall from 2 – 4pm

• I encourage all to attend as there will some important discussion re transfer subcodes – their proper use and changes to some revenue subcodes

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CIHR• Please be reminded that for all CIHR accounts that have an

end date of March 31, 2010 and prior, that the final possible date for expenditure is March 31, 2011. Any funds not expended by March 31, 2011 will need to be returned to CIHR

• There is an additional year available for expenditure if absolutely needed, however, you must apply to CIHR for this extended year by February 28, 2011 – This option is now not available as the deadline has passed.

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CFI• Please be reminded that we have an annual reporting

period of March 31, 2011 for all CFI grants not ending within the fiscal year 2011

• These reports are due to CFI by June 15, 2011, and include a projection of expenses in the upcoming fiscal year (April 1, 2011 to March 31, 2012)

• Once the analysis is done for March 31, 2011, our office will be contacting you so that we can go over this year’s results and discuss the plans for the upcoming year.

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Deficit Review

• The annual review of Research Accounts with Deficit Balances will be done with balances in the accounts as of February 28, 2011. These will be the basis of the annual report to the Overdraft Committee.

• We have started preliminary review in order to try and resolve as many as we can before February 28, 2011 and give individuals more time to address them with the Account Holder to come up with the necessary solutions.

• Please make every attempt to have as many cleared by March 2011.

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Questions and Answers

• Anything you would like to discuss….questions….