FFF – April 1, 2022
1) Updated PCard suspension policy for unreconciled transactions
Pcard purchases will continue to be posted to SAP at 9am around the 5th business day of the month following the transaction. Due dates can be found here.
It is important that you have all transactions allocated to the correct cost object and GL account at the time of posting. You must make sure you also signoff on your transactions by that time and attach the necessary receipts.
Starting April 2022, cards with transactions over 30 days old that are missing receipts or cardholder sign-off, or transactions over 60 days old missing approver sign-off, will be automatically suspended on PCARD posting dates. Please reconcile all overdue transactions and contact pcard@bu.edu to have a suspended card reactivated.
2) Common reasons that Concur expense reports are returned to submitter
While a great many Concur expense reports are completed and submitted properly, the Travel Services department have identified a number of relatively common missteps that result in reports needing to be sent back to the submitter. This leads to extra work for the submitter and all approvers, and results in delays in reimbursements. Here are some notable examples:
Lack of itemized receipts: Receipts that are submitted, in particular meals and large events (eg receptions , alumni events) must be itemized. A receipt or invoice with only a total charge on it will not be accepted. In particular, if there is any alcohol on the charge, this must be indicated.
No attendee lists for meals and events: For any meals with more than one person, or hosted events, all attendees must be listed along with a description of their connection to Boston University (staff, faculty, student, guest, etc).
In a situation where a list of attendee names is impossible, such as an Open House, a comprehensive description should be given as a comment on the expense. This should include a best estimate of the headcount, as well as an explanation for the nature of the event and the connection of the attendees to the University.
Alcohol not itemized: Alcohol must always be itemized. Failure to do so will result in the report being returned.
Incorrect trip purposes: For example, incorrect usage of Relocation (or failure to use it when appropriate) will cause audit problems due to the tax implications, and the report will need to be returned.
Typically, most submitters only use one or two trip purposes when filling out the Trip Header. If you are uncertain as to which trip purpose to use, please contact Travel Services by submitting a ticket on the Financial Affairs Customer Service Portal.
Submitting prior to trip: Many travelers book their trips well in advance in order to minimize cost. However, the expense reports cannot be submitted until after the trip is completed. The trip’s end date of the Trip Header, when the report is being created and the charges are being assigned, should be based on the actual travel plans rather than the date of purchase/reservation for the travel.
Using employee accounts for guest (incl student) reimbursements: Only BU employees have their own Concur profiles, and only an individual employee can be reimbursed on their personal profile. If a student or an outside party requires expense reimbursement, this can only be done through the use of a Guest Account.
Car insurance, travel protection/insurance, etc: These charges must be marked as personal, as they are not supposed to be made on the travel card.
3) Prompt Payment Discounts and Ariba Invoicing
Over the past months, prompt pay discounts are up over 100%. This is due to the increase in invoices moving through the Ariba Network in a prompt manner. Please help us work with Boston University Suppliers to increase the adoption of this practice.
All discounts are passed back to the departments that did the ordering. Budgets are tight during this fiscal year, and this will allow you to have more funds to spend on needed items and services.
For information on how suppliers can work on the Ariba Network, please have them go to the BU Supplier Portal. For any questions or concerns please have them go to the web form. Please do not have them email Accounts Payable or Procurement – the web form is the best and fastest way for them to get assistance.
BU Employees should not attempt to act on behalf of a supplier; you must have the supplier follow the previously-mentioned steps. This process will ensure that the supplier can get the status of their invoices as well as all payment information right on the network, and will no longer have to ask you where an invoice or the payment is in the process.
4) Supplier Resources webpage
As vendors are looking to get set up as Boston University suppliers through Ariba, or have issues/inquiries arise in the course of their work with the BU community, the Office of the Comptroller now has a dedicated webpage containing informational links and resources designed to aid new and existing suppliers.
A link to this resources page can be found here.
5) SSNs on Disbursement Requests
Social Security Numbers (SSNs) should not be included anywhere on Disbursement Request forms, other than in the W9/W8 attachment. SSNs should not be included in any text fields on the Disbursement Request form itself, nor on any Invoice attachment. This is to protect the data security of the individuals being paid, as invoices and disbursement request data are posted to SAP and are openly visible.
If a disbursement request is received by Accounts Payable with an SSN in the request form or the invoice attachment, the request will be rejected and the submitter will be notified of the need to create a new disbursement request that follows the correct SSN protocols.
