The Division of Finance & Administration's financial newsletter, Finance Matters, is published as needed during the academic year to inform the UVM business and financial management community about finance-related policy and procedure changes, system and service enhancements, important reminders, and upcoming deadlines.

Updates & Announcements

Customer Payment Options for Non-sponsored, External Billing & AR-activity PeopleSoft Invoices

Customers may now choose from one of these 3 payment options:

• eCheck or Credit Card Portal. (New) Customers may now pay via eCheck or credit card through the new UVM FCAS QuikPay portal. (Please note, credit cards do have a processing fee of $2.75; eCheck payments do not have any fee attached).
• Check payments may be made via our AR Lockbox. 
• EFT Payments (ACH or Wire) or Cash Payments.

If you have any questions or would like further information, visit our Billing & A/R website or reach out to General Accounting. We are happy to assist you in setting up any on-going billing needs or one-off payments you need to collect from external payers.

Planon Integrated Workplace Management System (IWMS) Project

The roll-out timeline for the FAMIS replacement project, Planon, has been modified slightly and we are now aiming toward a “go live” date in February 2023 which will align better with the university’s overall business calendar. We are still a few weeks away from having the fully functional and configured “test” version of the application for invited campus stakeholders to access. Much of the work is still happening behind the scenes. Data loading of information from FAMIS about space (properties and buildings) and equipment is mostly complete. UVM’s Enterprise Application Services team and Planon have been diligently working on system integrations with Peoplesoft and Kronos applications. For a more detailed update, please visit the IWMS Project blog site.

Important Reminders

Finance-related forms

A reminder to always use the most current version of forms which are accessible on the Division of Finance & Administration webpage. There is also a link to the forms in the UVM Business Manager WorkCenter on PeopleSoft FSCM under External Links.

Licenses and Certifications

In 2019 the Disbursement Center and Payroll & Tax Services updated the process to acurately account for the reimbursement and payment of licensures and certifications, based on IRS guidelines. 

In order to avoid taxation, certifications and licensures must be required in an employee’s position description, hiring contract, or sponsor’s requirements. If a license is not required for a specific position, then the cost of that license is considered a taxable benefit to the employee.
The reimbursement or payment of a license is not a taxable benefit as long as there is documentation that it is the requirement of the employee’s position and the employee remains at the University.
The Disbursement Center will request a copy of the individual's position description, hiring contract, etc. to verify the license requirement before approving reimbursement for licensing fees or as part of the purchasing card audit.
If the license is not a requirement of the job, taxable benefit information will be sent to Payroll & Tax Services.
Departments should review position descriptions and adjust accordingly if the license requirement is not included and should be.

Certification for completion of a course or workshop is not the same as certification of training to perform a service (like notary public, commercial driver’s license, or pesticide application). In these cases, the certification or licensure is some form of permit or authority from an authoritative agency or organization. Contact Disbursement Center. 

Travel Policy

Travel Authorizations are required for both international travel and out-of-state domestic travel requiring an overnight stay. Travel Authorizations are approved at the departmental level. Travel must not commence without official authorization being given. Travel arrangement, such as conference registration payments, airline tickets, hotel reservation payments, etc., should not be made until the travel has been approved. See full Travel Policy
Units that are Travel & Expense full service customers of the Disbursement Center simply email travel@uvm.edu with the who, what, where, when, why, how and the chartstring to be charged.
T&E self-service customers enter travel authorizations and expense reports directly into PeopleSoft. Confirm if your unit is a full-service customer or self-service customer here under the Process/Instructions section.

Business Meals, Hospitality and Amenities Policy

Any University business meal, hospitality or amenity expenditure must have a clear business purpose which advances the university’s mission, must be reasonable in amount, and appropriate under the relevant circumstances. The person(s) responsible for the expense is responsible and accountable for ensuring compliance with this policy and appropriate federal, state and local guidelines.

• Breath mints, candy, or on-going snacks for faculty and staff do not fall within the guidelines of this policy and the parameters therein.
• Business meals: A meal attended by faculty, staff, students, non-UVM personnel, and official guests of the university, for which the primary purpose of that meeting is to conduct university business. Business meals may occur while away from campus on travel status, or locally with consultants, academic collaborators, recruits, and others with official university relationships. The main focus of the activity is university business and consumption of food is incidental to the purpose of the meeting.

See the full Business Meals, Hospitalilty & Amenities Policy

PurCards

Please attach your Purchasing Card signed journal and supporting documentation in PeopleSoft and send notification to PurCardAudit@uvm.edu. 

• When sending notification, please use the cardholder’s first initial, last name and journal date (i.e., J Smith 05/02/22) in the subject line. See more instructions.
• Information regarding your business meals and travel is required based on IRS regulations. Lines are provided on the journal report for this purpose. 

PurCard pick-up: PurCards may be picked up at the Disbursement Center office in 205 Waterman. In the event that a cardholder intends to send a non-cardholder to pick up their card, please email  purcard@uvm.edu beforehand including who will be picking up the card on your behalf.

PurCard Maintenance Forms are to be used for one time increases, not to bypass policy for repetitive or large dollar purchases. 

Payables

• If you are transmitting any documents with confidential information, such as Social Security Numbers and/or banking information, please send via secure file transfer. https://filetransfer.uvm.edu/
• Before we know it, it will be time to produce 1099s. It is important that completed Payment Acknowledgement Forms (PAFs) for these payments be submitted to the Disbursement Center once signed by the recipient of funds/goods along with payment documentation. If they are not, it could result in fines to the University, which will be charged to the department.

News from Campus Partners

Professional Business Attire Event

The Grossman Student Advisor Committee (GSAC) GSAC is preparing to once again host their Professional Business Attire Event on Wednesday November 2, Kalkin Hall, and they are reaching out to ask for professional clothing donations. GSAC’s goal for this event is to connect UVM students with affordable professional clothing to enhance their in-class presentations and prepare them for networking events, interviews and internships. Currently they are in dire need of men’s and women’s size petite/small to medium business attire basics. Donations can be accepted in Kalkin 100 between 8:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m. If you have any questions or need to make a donation outside normal business hours please email Cynthia.dowling@uvm.edu.