August 29, 2017

To: Budget Unit Heads

From: Paul Kelly, Vice President

Re: Fiscal 2017 Year-End Processes and Timelines

The end of Gallaudet’s fiscal year 2017 (FY17) is rapidly approaching. The last business day of the current fiscal year is Friday, September 29, 2017. We have prepared the information in this memo to help familiarize or reacquaint you with our year-end processes.

We will need your help in processing year-end work according to the dates specified in this memo. In order to prepare the University’s financial records for our annual audit, the Finance office will strictly adhere to the dates noted below. Please share this information with individuals in your department who are involved in the year-end closing process.

1.  New FY17 Purchase Orders – As previously announced, in order to be processed in this fiscal year new FY17 purchase orders (POs) for operating departments should have been submitted to the Purchasing Department by Friday, September 1, 2017. All fiscal year 2017 POs should be for goods or services that we expect to be delivered prior to September 30, 2017. If the vendor is out of stock or unable to provide the goods by September 30, then the order will not be processed using FY17 funds.

Exceptions to this timeline must be approved by the Provost or appropriate Vice President and submitted to the Contracts and Purchasing office by Friday, September 15, 2017 for review.

Purchase orders for grant and construction departments are not subject to PO timeline restrictions.

2.  Existing Purchase Orders – Purchase orders should be reviewed to determine if they can be closed and the remaining funds de-obligated. Purchase order details can be found in the departmental PeopleSoft report named GUPOSTAT- Purchase Order Status. Please review each purchase order and its payment activity.

Invoices related to endowment and donation department purchase orders must be in the Finance office by September 25, 2017. Invoices received after the deadline may be charged to the 2018 payout or to your operating account.

Invoices related to operating department purchase orders where the goods or services have been delivered by September 30, 2017 must be approved and forwarded to the Finance office as soon as possible. Fiscal year 2017 PO’s with a remaining balance as of October 6, 2017 will be reviewed for closure. Invoices for goods or services received after September 30, 2017 will be charged to the department’s fiscal year 2018 budget.

3.  Closing Out Purchase Orders – If the final invoice has been paid and there are funds remaining, please notify to de-obligate those funds and close the purchase order. As previously announced, the Purchasing office began closing POs with less than $100 on Friday, August 18, 2017. POs with less than $500 remaining will be closed on Friday, September 1, 2017. Purchase Orders with less than $3,000 remaining will be closed as of Friday, September 15, 2017. This will remove the encumbrance from your department’s report and increase your remaining budget funds. In the event a purchase order is closed out and subsequent invoices for that closed purchase order are charged, those expenses will be charged directly to the department.

4.  Invoices and Check Requests – Gallaudet accounts for expenditures on an accrual basis. This means that expenditures are recognized in the year in which goods or services are rendered, not necessarily the year in which they were ordered or the year in which the payment was made. Any invoices or check requests related to goods or services received prior to September 30, 2017 must be shown as fiscal year 2017 expenditures.

  1. All invoices and check requests that are currently being held must be submitted to the Finance Office by Thursday, September 21, 2017.
  1. If you have received any goods or services in the month of September but have not yet been invoiced, please contact the vendor and request a bill as soon as possible. If the goods or services have a value over $3,000 please contact with this information.
  1. In the times where a vendor payment covers services after September 30, 2017, the portion of the expense relating to fiscal year 2017 will be removed from your fiscal year 2017 reports. If you have questions about bills that have been submitted in fiscal year 2017 but may relate to fiscal year 2018, please contact

5.  Budget Revisions - Budget revisions related to fiscal year 2017 must be submitted to the Finance Office by Thursday, September 21, 2017.

6.  Interdepartmental Invoices - Interdepartmental invoices related to fiscal year 2017 must be submitted to the Finance Office by Friday, September 29, 2017.

7.  Travel order reimbursement, petty cash requests, and cash deposits – Any of these items related to fiscal year 2017 must be submitted by Friday, September 29, 2017.

8.  Purchase cards - Purchase card charges related to fiscal year 2017 and posted to PaymentNet through September 30, 2017, will be included in FY17. Please note that changes of coding to the PaymentNet system must be completed by 3pm Wednesday, October 4, 2017 as the transactions will be downloaded early.

9.  Staples Advantage – Staples Advantage transactions related to fiscal year 2017 must be completed by Sunday, September 24, 2017.

10.  Deferred Revenue – When a department receives revenue in advance of providing the service it is considered Deferred Revenue. The revenue must be recorded in the year the service is rendered, not when it is received. If you receive a payment in FY17 for services to be provided in FY18, please notify so that the revenue can be properly recorded.

The above timelines and procedures relate to all operating, endowment, and donation funds unless specifically noted.

I am aware this information can be somewhat technical and confusing; however, I appreciate your cooperation in making the year-end process flow smoothly. If you have any questions, please e-mail Jean Cibuzar at or me at . We will work with you to answer any questions you may have or to clarify any processes referenced in the memo.

Thank you for your assistance as we wrap up another fiscal year.