Newsletters

Issue 2

MESSAGE FROM FINANCE

Greetings and welcome to fiscal year 2025! We are excited to launch another academic year with you. It’s the >perfect time to hit refresh and look forward to what’s ahead. In this issue, we are sharing some tips to help you review and maintain your FY25 budgets, as it has been a while since those budgets were set. If you have any unneeded purchase orders from the past year, please review and close out so that they don't eat up budget. Whether you are aiming to reduce spending, expand funding sources, or just need a better handle on budget management, we are here to help. Here’s to a successful year, financially and otherwise. – Susan Flint

NOTEWORTHY NEWS

Fiscal Year 2025 Budgets

FY25 budgets are now viewable in UDW+. If you do not yet have access to UDW+, please enroll in and complete FIN 800: Introduction to UDW+ Financial Dashboards and Reports in iLearn. Your data access is based upon your current Chartfield Security, which you have to request by completing the Chartfield Access Authorization Form. Upon completion of the training, you will be granted access to the Standard Financial Dashboards & Reports in UDW+ within 3 business days. Below are tips to stay within your annual budgets:

  • Review monthly reporting and monitor actuals
  • Communicate when new funding sources are secured (i.e. grants, gifts, or sponsorships)
  •  Pre-plan events to avoid upcharges and payment delays
  • Communicate personnel changes
     

Concur: Supporting Documentation

To ensure the timely payment of your Concur expense reports, attaching complete supporting documentation is key. Always include the following information:

  • An itemized receipt with proof of purchase
  • Clear business justification
  • Conference agenda or registration confirmation for conference attendance
  • Boarding passes for air and rail travel
     

Finance Office Hours (Ask Us Anything!)

Mark your calendars! Beginning October 16, 2024, the Finance Team will offer Office Hours, an informal opportunity for you to virtually drop in and ask advice on financial process questions (i.e. Concur, i-Buy, Contracts+, Insurance, UDW+).

  • First session: October 16, 2024 (bi-weekly thereafter)
  • 3:00–4:00 p.m.
  • Zoom link: https://nyu.zoom.us/j/92241154040\
  • Email your questions in advance to law.finance@nyu.edu 

FAQs

Q: I am in the process of submitting a Concur expense report for reimbursement, but I lost my receipt. What should I do?

A: If you lost or did not receive a receipt, you will need to complete the Missing Receipt Affidavit in Concur.

Q: When do I have to email an invoice from a supplier to nyuinvoices@nyu.edu for payment process?

A: Submitting a non-catalog PO requires the user to email an invoice to nyuinvoices@nyu.edu before a payment voucher is created. For all other types of payment forms (i.e. catalog item punch-out, Legal, Honoraria, Guest Travel/Reimbursement), invoices are automatically processed.

Q: I see Orange and Red alerts in Concur when preparing my reimbursement report. What should I do?

A: An Orange alert is a soft warning that a possible action may be required, but will not prevent the user from submitting the report. A Red alert is a hard stop requiring corrective action before proceeding. Common reasons for alerts include:

  • Selecting the miscellaneous expense type. Instead of miscellaneous, select the most adjacent description to avoid audit delays.
  • Submitting an expense that was incurred over 60 days ago will require a pre-approval memo from the Law Finance office.
     

STAY IN TOUCH

Please visit the Office of Financial Management website. You can find summarized information on procurement services and search for your assigned financial analyst.

Please share this newsletter with faculty, administrators, and staff in your area. If you have any questions, you can reach us at law.finance@nyu.edu.

Issue 1

The Finance Focus

Monday, July 15, 2024

Message from CFO

Dear Colleagues,

Welcome to The Finance Focus! We are excited to share the inaugural quarterly newsletter from the Office of Financial Management. We will use this guide to share tips about how to navigate NYU financial systems and processes, provide updates on Law School policies, and advertise trainings offered by our Finance staff. I hope you find this newsletter useful and encourage you to reach out with suggestions for future editions! – Kate Polson, Assistant Dean and CFO

Noteworthy News

Contracts+
Contracts+ is NYU’s system for creating, maintaining, and managing supplier contracts. All contracts must be submitted into Contracts+ for review by NYU’s Procurement Team and/or NYU’s Risk Management and Insurance Team before they are executed. To familiarize yourself with Contracts+, please check out our newly created Contracts+ Operating Procedure Guide!

Travel & Expense (SAP Concur)
Last year, the University launched the new Travel & Expense (SAP Concur) program that consolidated the way we book travel, submit and approve expenses, and reconcile payment cards. Please be mindful of the following:

CTA and P-Card reconciliations must be submitted for review by the fourth calendar day of each month. On July 8, several new updates were implemented:
  • Expenses older than 60 days must now include a justification comment. These reports will be reviewed by your Fiscal Officer, and memos will no longer be used for exceptions. Expenses older than 60 days without justification may be taxed.
  • Concur Detect by Oversight (“Detect”) auditing platform is now re-enabled. Detect is an AIpowered solution that will be used for auditing travel- and expense-related transactions.
  • If an audit finding is identified by Detect during prepayment monitoring, the user will receive an email from nyu@audit.concursolutions.com with a note detailing why the report is being sent back and the actions needed before re-submitting the report. If an audit finding is identified in Detect during post-payment monitoring, findings will be shared with the Fiscal Officer to determine the appropriate resolution.
Please visit the University’s Travel and Expense webpage and Travel and Expense Policy for the most current guidelines and resources.

 

STAY IN TOUCH

Have you seen the revamped Office of Financial Management website? You can now find summarized information on procurement services and search for your assigned financial analyst. Please share this newsletter with faculty, administrators, and staff in your area. Stay tuned for a schedule of internal drop-in training sessions. Please email law.finance@nyu.edu with your questions and suggestions!

Year-End Reminders
The end of the fiscal year is August 31. Please find the year-end calendar with key deadlines and submission dates on our website in the Important Links section.

FAQs

Q: I accidentally made a personal purchase using one of NYU’s payment cards. What should I do to correct this mistake?
A: Write a check payable to NYU for the amount and hand-deliver it to Kevin Lau in the Finance Office, located in D’Agostino Hall, Suite 234. Please include the Chartfield that the expense was charged to. Our office will deposit the check and provide you with a copy of the deposit receipt for upload and reconciliation in Concur.

Q: I am overwhelmed with the financial processes that NYU Central has on their website. Does the Law School have a focused version?
A: The Finance Team is working on a Financial Operations manual that will summarize financial information and processes and provide step-by-step directions on how to navigate NYU’s financial systems. The manual will be available to the entire Law School community for the upcoming fiscal year!