About the Newsletter
The Finance newsletter – The Bottom Line – launched in November of 2022 with the goal of creating a new communication channel for the Finance (4009) team. The Bottom Line is published monthly and provides organizational updates and promotes new initiatives. The newsletter also celebrates the achievements of the Finance team, from meeting signficant deadlines and implementing process improvements to the achievements of staff recognized through promotions and Bravo awards.
The newsletter mailing list is refreshed from a Cognos query of current Finance/4009 employees for each separate publication.
Do you have suggestions for a newsletter topic? Submit ideas to Angie Delworth, Director of Finance Training and Communication.
Newsletter Archive: Current fiscal year articles can be found below. Prior fiscal year articles have been archived on the Prior Fiscal Year page.
July – In Depth: Updated iLab Resources Now Available
July – July PERA Update: Email, Proposal & Award Records, AIMS
July – One Less Signature Initiative: Business Office for Student Organizations
July – Travel Regulation Changes
July – New Voluntary Support Process Resources
August – PERA Updates – Budget Allocation
August – One Less Signature – Purdue Online Rate Consolidation
August – Technical Tip: Need to Find Someone in a Specific Business Office?
August – Ad Hoc Delivery Address Review Process
August – Updated Training Matrix Available
August – New@Purdue Finance Plan for Mentoring Component
September – PERA Update – Launch Date: October 7!
September – Travel Aging Report
September – Collaborations Continue to Generate Wins in Ongoing Cost Avoidance Efforts
October – In Depth: PERA is Live!
October – Vendor Portal Update
November -Engagement Activities
November – Vendor Portal Update
November – I-9 Verification Centers
November – Support Staff Retreat
December – In Depth: BPARS Training Requirements
December – I-9 Employment Verification Centers
December – Vendor Portal Implementation Update
Vendor Portal Implementation Update
Whitney Beutel, Director of Business Operations and Administration, provided an update on the PaymentWorks vendor portal implementation at the recent Business Operations meeting. The new vendor portal will provide a variety of advantages to the Purdue organization including improved fraud protection through a more direct and secure method for sharing sensitive data. Efficiencies around the verification of vendor data are also gained by providing vendors a method to input their data directly into the portal application. PaymentWorks then completes several checks and verifies if the information is accurate. This greatly reduces opportunities for fraudulent activity, as well as errors due to rekeying and transmission of data.
PaymentWorks has been chosen as the vendor portal solution for the University due to their existing relationship with JP Morgan Chase as well as their experience with a multitude of higher education entities.
The Vendor Portal will impact areas across the university including Sponsored Program Services, Administrative Operations and anyone involved in the vendor setup, maintenance and invoice payment process. The process team will transition from the data collection phase of the project and kick off the full implementation effort in early January. The eight to ten week timeline will include communications and trainings as needed to central office staff, external vendors, business offices and operation centers as well as other key campus constituents. The PaymentWorks system is anticipated to significantly decrease administrative effort for accounts payable and other Purdue Finance staff. Efforts saved will transfer to vendor data monitoring and other value-added activities. Questions about the implementation can be sent to Whitney Beutel.
I-9 Employment Verification Centers
An effort to share the administrative effort associated with onboarding 2000+ new employees in the spring semester will kick off shortly after we return from Winter Recess. The temporary Centralized I-9 Employment Verification Center will be open each workday from 9:00 am – 4:00 pm (EST) from January 6th through the 17th. Located in the Black Cultural Center, members of Employment Operation Centers across campus will team up to complete I-9 employment eligibility verifications for new staff including undergraduate and graduate staff as well as faculty.
Communications about the center have been forwarded to Finance Unit Leads for distribution to business offices and customers; the Graduate School for dissemination to the Graduate Coordinators and a Business@Purdue announcement. A second B@P will be shared immediately following Winter Recess. The announcements included location, parking information and a link to the Employment Verification Appointment booking tool.
Questions about this activity can be directed to your employment center or Kelly Cunningham.
In Depth: BPARS Training Requirements
To ensure compliance with federal standards, effective January 2025, BPARS 100 – Introduction to Certification of Effort will become a required course with Business Management staff receiving reminders to complete the course at the start of each PAR certification period. The change provides improved tracking to ensure Purdue meets a 2009 training commitment made in response to an NSF audit. BPARS 200 – Effort Certification Training will remain a recommended course with annual reminders.
Capturing and certifying the effort of Purdue faculty and staff on sponsored program research is a critical function of the Finance team. The change of BPARS 100 to a required course, along with web-based resources available to effort reporting staff, will support the correct and timely certification of staff using the SEEMLESS application. The BPARS courses are further detailed below:
- BPARS 100 – Completion of this course each PAR period is now required for all staff responsible for effort certification. Staff with a SEEMLESS role will receive a reminder to retake the course each PAR period and will have 14 days to complete the course. Reminders will be received January 1, May 1 and September 1. The course takes approximately 10 minutes to complete and provides an introduction to effort reporting for new staff and a refresher for more experienced staff. Completion of this course is required for all new employees before receiving the SEEMLESS role (effort reporting system).
- BPARS 200 – This course is a more detailed training course focused on the key components of the Effort Reporting process and tools and it isrecommended to be retaken annually. Anyone who has already completed the course will receive an annual reminder. Topics include reviewing, editing and approving PARs; SEEMLESS instructions; paper PAR scenarios and processes; use of the calculator; and the escalation process for late PARs. This course takes 30-45 minutes to complete and is also required for all new employees before obtaining the SEEMLESS role.
The Managerial Accounting Services group is responsible for the Effort Reporting process and maintains a Cost Distribution/Effort Reporting website. Resources available include cost distribution processes and forms as well as the Effort Reporting Policy, SEEMLESS and Procedures for Documenting Effort on Sponsored Projects.
Costing Office staff receive a periodic BPARS 100 and BPARS 200 course completion report.
Questions about the BPARS 100 requirement and other information in this article can be directed to effort@purdue.edu.
Suport Staff Retreat: The Reviews Are In!
Feedback surveys sent to both in-person and virtual participants were completed by over 100 of the participants in the October Support Staff Retreat. The survey focused on the relevance of the speakers as well as the location and food options.
Feedback on the speakers included:
- The majority of respondents were either Satisfied or Very Satisfied with “The Art of Delicate Communication.”
- The majority of respondents found Dr. Ron Turco’s presentation about the Agronomy Research Farm interesting and informative.
- The majority of respondents found the Fraud Prevention presentation relevant and appliable to their current position.
The audience also found value in the Finance Mission and Values exercise. In the “what did you like best about the retreat” responses were several comments expressing appreciation for the opportunity to provide this type of feedback to Finance leadership. One participant commented that they appreciated “how open our moderator was to items we discussed.” The information gathered during this activity has been summarized and shared with the Leadership team.
Feedback on the location and facility was also positive. Many appreciated the ability to get up and interact with others in attendance. Many expressed interest in getting out for a walk to explore the farm further but unfortunately due to the timing (during harvest season), that was not possible. Several comments were made about the acoustics in the building not being conductive to such a large group. If the space is to be utilized again, we will take that feedback into account.
Participants were also asked what they liked best about the retreat. Top responses included:
- Networking and talking with co-workers
- Meeting co-workers face to face
- All of it!
- The Mission and Values exercise (opportunity to provide feedback)
- Speakers
Participants were also asked what they liked least about the retreat. Top responses included, “nothing to mention” and other concerns about the sound system and the size of the space relative to the size of the group (too small).
The feedback has been shared with the Finance leadership team and will be used to help plan future retreats. Thank you to all who responded to the survey!
I-9 Verification Centers
At the start of the spring semester, new employees requiring I-9 employment eligibility verification will be served through a central I-9 verification center. Lightly modeled off of the pre-pandemic Graduate Payroll Orientation, the center will process I-9 employment eligibility verifications for all new faculty, staff, graduate student, and undergraduate student employees on-boarding in January. The center will be staffed by representatives from Employment Centers across campus and is expected to serve up to 2000 new employees.
The center will be open from 9:00 to 4:00 January 6th through January 17th. The center will be located in the Black Cultural Center located on 3rd St. between the main campus and the student residential area. Kelly Cunningham, Project Manager in Finance and Business Operations, is leading the effort and states, “We are really excited to be able to provide this service to the West Lafayette campus. New employees will be supported by experienced I-9 Verifiers from across campus. We are also thrilled that the Black Cultural Center has opened up their facility to us. This central location will be convenient to both main campus employees and students living in the residence halls.”
Details are still in process and will be shared as they become available. Business Management staff and others can expect to receive more details via email and through Business@Purdue messages in early December. Until then, questions can be directed to your employment center or Kelly Cunningham.
Vendor Portal Update
Plans to implement a vendor portal with PaymentWorks are continuing to progress with a targeted launch of mid-late January. The planning group hopes to have additional information about implementation before the Winter Recess.
As a reminder, within a vendor portal, vendors enter and maintain their own business information including banking details, mitigating fraud risk for the University. It will also provide improved transparency for them regarding their pending and posted payments.
For Purdue, implementation of the portal is expected to significantly alleviate vendor record data entry work currently completed by Purchasing Centers, Procurement, and Accounts Payable staff. These individuals will be able to turn their attention to more value-added activities such as improving vendor relations and vendor data related audits. Purchasing center staff will be able to focus on improving the timeliness of payments and customer service.
Implementation details as well as training and communication strategies will be shared in future newsletters and other leadership communications.
PERA Update
The Purdue Excellence in Research Administration system was launched almost two months ago. Interest in the new system was high on launch day and continues to be significant. See below for some metrics recently shared by Sponsored Program Services as well as information about how Finance can use the TDX PERA ticketing system with role questions and needed updates.
On launch day, Sponsored Program Services reports that the PERA Launch Website had 544 unique visitors and 844 total visitors. Since then, daily traffic has averaged 250 unique visits and 400 total page visits daily. SPS also shared the timeline for deployment of additional modules:
- February 2025 – Safety-IBC module is scheduled to be deployed.
- April 2025 – Export Control module to be deployed.
- November 2025 – Conflict of Interest and Commitment (COI/COC), and Institutional Review Board (IRB) modules deployed.
- December 2025 – PERA system fully deployed.
Overall feedback has been positive. Dana Simms, Research Account Specialist in Engineering was quoted, stating “Overall the system is great. The ability to see who is working on what step and the actions that have taken place is a huge win in my opinion. We are still learning how best to find these statuses, but as we work in the system more, this will become easier.”
Within PERA, maintenance of the correct individuals in the correct roles is critical for smooth processing of common sponsored program actions such as cost sharing approval. The PERA webpage includes a PERA Help tab with a direct link to the PERA service request tickets in TDX. By making the following selections, users can select a “request type” for common business office update needs including those highlighted in step #3:
- PERA Module: Select General/Other
- Role: Select Business Office
- Request Type: Select from the list of options that inlcude: Business Office Staff Update, Access/Roles Issues, Change Cost Share approvers
As with use of TDX for purchasing and employment requests, ticket requests can be monitored and edited as needed through the TDX interface.
Questions about the PERA system or the TDX ticketing system can be directed to peracomms@purdue.edu.
In Depth: Engagement Activities
We’re about halfway through the performance year and many of us have a performance goal requiring participation in an engagement or networking activity. If you are in that situation, you may be interested to know what events are in the works for the remainder of the performance year. Below is a list of events currently being developed by the Culture and Communication committee. As details are finalized more information will be shared.
December/January:
- Think Again Book Club Continues
- Bravo and Promotion Event (December 2)
- Winter Recess Book Club (fun read)
- Chili Cook-Off / Food Drive / Blood Drive
January/February:
- Office 365 Training
- Wellness with Lindsay Bloom, Health Coach
March/April:
- Purdue Athletics Speaker
- National Pet Day / Adopt a Pet Day Happy Hour
Keep in mind that achievement of an engagement goal does not necessarily require participating in one of these activities. We are fortunate to work for a university with a variety of speakers and activities open to the public. Watch Purdue Today for other opportunities. An engagement activity might also be leading a discussion at one of your units about an article or video that is interesting from a professional development perspective.
Any of these types of activities could be applied towards your goal. If you have an event or activity in mind for this purpose, discuss it with your supervisor!
iLab Approvals and Billing Calendar Reminder
iLab Approvals
Timely review and approval of iLab invoices are required to validate the appropriateness of charges, maintain the financial integrity of our charging processes and ensure our institutional financial records are current and correct. All invoices are required to be reviewed regardless of the dollar amount.
Invoices over $1,000 need to be reviewed and approved by an individual with the fiscal authority appropriate for the invoice during the Department Account Review period. Invoices less than $1,000 should ideally be reviewed during the Department Account Review period or on a monthly basis at a minimum. If the approval function is not available for some reason, or if a fiscal or academic approval was provided in an email message, approvers should use the comments section using the following format: Date/Approved (or declined) and Fiscal Level/Department Name for Account being charged/Approver Alias. The email should then be attached to the invoice. Additional approval guidance for business offices can be found in the “iLab for Business Offices – Administration and Functionality QRC in the Financial Managers section of the iLab Training website.
Billing Calendar Reminder
We are in the 5th month of a new iLab Billing Calendar and iLab staff and others involved in the billing process should have fully adapted to the new schedule. The changes provided additional days for billing and invoice review. To accommodate these changes, the auto approval period in iLab changed from 10 days to 14 days. A detailed Recharge Center Billing Schedule can be found in the Training section of the iLabs website. Changes were also detailed in the June 12, 2024 Business at Purdue. ILab invoice approval or billing calendar questions can be sent to ilabhelp@purdue.edu
Vendor Portal Update
As shared in the September Bottom Line, the Business Operations team has received approval to implement a Vendor Portal tool for use by Purdue Finance. The project took a big leap forward with the selection of Payment Works as the system provider.
The effort to implement the new system kicked off this month. At this time, the implementation timeline is estimated to be 8-10 weeks with the planned launch of the system in mid-January.
As shared in the September Bottom Line, the adoption of a Vendor Portal will eliminate the need for staff to manually gather and enter vendor information as part of the vendor record setup and maintenance process. Within a Vendor Portal, vendors enter and maintain their own business information including banking details. This eliminates the need for purchasing center staff to conduct banking verifications, reducing administrative effort.
Implementation details as well as training and communication strategies will be shared in future newsletters and other leadership communications.
Cybersecurity: Persistent Vigilance Required
The almost daily headlines about cybersecurity attacks against organizations around the world can be frightening. As Purdue Finance staff, we have certainly had our own experience with these attacks as well! To stay current on risk mitigation strategies, Finance staff are frequently provided opportunities to hear the latest strategies, including Fraud Prevention training at the Support Staff retreat and a virtual presentation led by JP Morgan Chase for Purdue Finance and IT staff. While excellent presentations, the information is typically in the context of our professional lives. To boil some of the information down into practical, actionable steps that can be applied to all of our activities, Dr. Eugene Spafford in Purdue’s Computer Science department recently shared some of his insights about our personal and work cyber security.
Dr. Spafford, known by many as “Spaf,” is the Executive Director Emeritus of the Center for Education and Research in Information Assurance and Security (CERIAS) at Purdue and is an internationally recognized expert on cybersecurity. Spaf was asked if there was one specific tactic he would recommend above all others to protect ourselves from fraud. Rather than one or two tactics, Spaf recommends deploying several strategies that, when combined, can greatly improve protection against fraud.
Don’t use the same password on multiple accounts.
This is a frequent warning by cybersecurity experts. But in a world where almost any online activity requires a password, maintaining separate passwords for all your online activities can be challenging. Spaf recommends using passwords that have no direct link to you personally and aren’t words. For example, a password that is the first letter of a specific phrase that is important to you, combined with capital/lowercase letters, numbers, and characters. i.e., ‘the best vacation was our 1995 cruise’ can be translated into “tbV*w01995c” where an asterisk is randomly added and a zero is used instead of an O. (Don’t use that as one of your passwords!). You can pick phrases that you can easily remember for each site.
Alternatively, you can generate random passwords, but it can be difficult to keep track of them across all of our personal cyber activities. Thus, he also explained the benefits of using a password manager. A password manager can be used to store passwords in a protected fashion, can be used to generate strong passwords, and some can even autofill browser information and allow for “family vaults” of passwords. He recommended several reputable password managers, including 1Password, Bitwarden, and LastPass. He cautioned that when selecting a password manager, one should look for password managers reviewed and recommended by trusted organizations such as CNET, Wired Magazine, or the NYT Wire Cutter. Spaf also advised user“don’t go cheap” and download something free found in a web search, warning that some scam password stealers have been circulated that way!
NEVER click on a link in an email OR a text message on your phone.
Be suspicious of every link sent to you electronically, especially if you were not expecting it. Rather than clicking the link, use a browser to go directly to the appropriate site and try to complete the requested transaction there. Another way to validate a link sent via email is to “hover” over it with your cursor and be sure that the website shown matches the website you have independently accessed.
Spaf adds to be extra suspicious of text messages with links to pay an invoice or log in to an account. Many of us feel more confident about messages sent to our phones. But Spaf explained that the security on our phones is not as strong as other forms of communication. “The way text messages work, I can fake any sending number I want.” Spaf went on to say, “If you get a message that says ‘Your account is overdrawn, call us.’ Don’t call the number they provide (in the text or email) because you can’t be sure that number or link is valid.” He offered the same advice for text message communications as email communications. Never reply or click a link. Call the institution directly using their published contact information or the number on the back of your bank/credit card.
Regularly back up your important data.
Use a removable device (disc, memory stick, etc.) to back up your financial and personal data on a regular basis. This provides security if you are ever a victim of ransomware or a system failure. Note that the removable device should actually be removed when not in use to avoid infection by malware.
In addition to these tips, Spaf addressed the following questions.
Does two-factor authentication minimize the need to change passwords frequently?
Many of our financial institutions now offer, or even require, two-factor authentication as part of the login process, but according to Spaf, passwords are still important. Users still need to follow good password rules. The codes are often sent to our phones, which don’t contain the same level of security as an email or computer system. He also said that “Duo Mobile” and other systems, such as Yubikey USB keys, used for two-factor authentication, have more reliable security than text messages.
Why is the use of Purdue’s Virtual Private Network so important?
A VPN establishes a secure virtual connection between our machines and the campus network. Using the VPN, Purdue’s network can validate that we are a trusted user and are allowed into the Purdue network to have access to the resources needed to do our jobs. When using our computers in a public space such as a coffee shop or airport, the VPN also protects us from others who might be trying to access our machines to collect information.
Is there more to know? Absolutely. In his book, “Cybersecurity Myths and Misconceptions: Avoiding the Hazards and Pitfalls that Derail Us,” Spaf goes deeper and debunks some of our common misconceptions and bad practices that open us up to cyber fraud and risks. Spaf states, “We wrote the book for non-technical people to understand things they have been told that aren’t necessarily correct or complete.” The book is available on Amazon, but he has donated two copies to the Purdue libraries for free checkout.
Thank you, Dr. Spafford, for taking the time to share your expertise with the Finance team!
In Depth: PERA Update: PERA is Live!
Countless hours spent in designing, testing and training paid off with the successful launch of the Purdue Excellence in Research Administration system on October 7. John Higgins, Assistant Vice President of Finance, Research Support recently provided a brief update on the implementation with Unit Leads. He shared that campus academic leadership including Deans, Department Heads and Associate Deans for Research have provided positive feedback on the implementation.
John also commented on the impressive way in which the business management staff have pivoted to using the new system. This quick adoption has been supported by robust participation in a business management PERA chat set up in Microsoft TEAMS. The site has proved to be an integral part of the rollout, providing a shared space to raise questions and problem solve issues.
The smooth transition was further supported by at least 17 formal training opportunities, with a total of 1,200 staff enrollments, many of whom participated in multiple sessions. Designed and led by the PERA super users and others, recordings of the sessions and other PERA task video “shorts” can be found on the PERA Finance Training Resources site. Special thanks go out to the PERA Finance Team including Erin Fetter, Dana Simms, and Andrea Kane for their work on the project, and to the Super User group who have contributed significant effort to develop and provide training while keeping up with their daily work. Well done!
Ken Sandel, Associate Vice President for Sponsored Program Services (SPS), also shared his thoughts including a reminder of what a significant accomplishment this launch represents. “This is one of the most extensive implementation of Huron products ever by Huron. The Huron team asked for three years to implement the eight modules we selected. Purdue aggressively pushed the plan into a two year implementation, and we met that timeline with the successful launch of the first three modules.” He offered his congratulations to the Finance team who worked so diligently to meet the deadline and to those who have embraced the new system.
Go-live doesn’t mean the end of implementation activities. The SPS post award team is busy getting caught up from the pre-implementation ‘cutover pause’ and the Finance team continues to field questions in the teams chat. Additionally, the Super User group, SPS and Finance leadership will continue evaluating the system including identifying additional reference documents and training courses as needed. Feedback and suggestions are welcome at the Pera-Finance@purdue.edu email and operational questions should continue to be shared on the TEAMS PERA chat. Additional updates will be shared in future issues of The Bottom Line.
Thank you to all who contributed to this monumental system implementation!
Collaborations Continue to Generate Wins in Ongoing Cost Avoidance Efforts
With a scheduled attachment audit approaching, the procurement and finance teams recently worked with Information Technology’s Robotic Process Automation (RPA) group to develop an automation on what would have been a very manual and time-consuming process to gather this data. The solution, an Ariba Attachment Audit Automation (bot), was used to review approximately 240,000 records across three fiscal years to address audit points including ensuring business areas are meeting compliance requirements.
“This automation was able to get us the information we need to analyze the auditing process and make decisions on how much risk the University will assume. The data gathered by the automation was also used to make recommendations on potential process improvements,” said Whitney Beutel, Director of Business Operations and Administration. “Our automations (bots) continue to provide cost avoidance wins as well as reduce risk from minor errors. These automations continue to protect the Purdue Brand reputation.”
With the ability to complete high-volume and repetitive digital tasks, automations implemented with support by RPA group continue to generate wins through cost avoidance and risk reduction. Anyone wishing to learn more about automations (bots) and their use at Purdue can visit the Robotic Process Automation webpage.
Note: this article was also published in the September issue of the Purdue Information Technology newsletter.
Vendor Portal
A new initiative led by the Finance Business Operations team will generate efficiencies for business and accounts payable staff and others across the University through the implementation of a Vendor Portal. A Vendor Portal will eliminate the need for staff to gather vendor information and enter the information manually to update the existing vendor record or establish a brand-new vendor in the system. Within a Vendor Portal, vendors enter and maintain their own business information including banking details. This eliminates the need for purchasing center staff to conduct banking verifications, reducing administrative effort in this piece of the process.
In addition to relieving administrative efforts for many, a vendor portal also provides an additional layer of fraud protection and improved risk mitigation for the University. Judy Ewbank, Account Payable Manager, believes “a Vendor Portal will significantly increase consistency in the process, reduce errors, ensure regulatory compliance in monitoring sanction lists and improve vendor relationships for the University.”
The selection process for a provider began about a month ago with product demonstrations by vendors in which Purdue already has a relationship. Additional research efforts have included a survey sent to our higher-ed peers across the country to determine what suppliers they are currently utilizing in addition to requesting feedback on their experiences. Once the supplier selection is finalized, an implementation timeline will be developed with a target launch in the spring of 2025. Questions about the vendor portal project can be directed to Whitney Beutel or Judy Ewbank.
Travel Aging Report
In a change intended to improve the speed of traveler reimbursements as well as the accuracy of financial statements, a new report will now be delivered weekly to Business Management staff. The change was announced in late August by Kristi Mickle, Executive Director – Finance and Business Operations and the first report was delivered in early September. This is a Travel Dashboard supporting resource.
The report contains a list of pcard charges and travel expense reports pending with a fiscal approver and is updated and sent to you weekly for review. Business office staff are asked to review and act on items that have been on the list for more than 5 business days. Items that cannot be resolved within five business days are to be elevated to department leadership and the appropriate DFA/ADFA for their attention. Questions about this report can be directed to Kelly Cunningham. Questions about these expectations and associated processes can be directed to Kristi Mickle or the appropriate DFA/ADFA.
One Less Signature Initiative: Impact of Fiscal Approver Removal on Terminations and Data Changes
In January 2024, a SuccessFactors workflow change removed the requirement for Budget Approvers to act on employment terminations as part of the termination process. The change was recommended by Internal Audit in an effort to reduce the number of payroll overpayments associated with delayed approvals. The approval requirement was also removed from simple data change actions. The change, along with other improvement efforts, is showing a positive impact on the number of overpayments.
A year-over-year comparison of the count of overpayments across the Purdue system shows a 20% drop in the number of overpayments (886 vs 711) and a 31% drop in the overpayment amount ($850K vs $589K). In addition to these metrics, another benefit is the elimination of the manual effort associated with approving each termination. Since the change was implemented, over 2,500 termination actions that would have required a manual system approval have been processed.
The removal of the budget approval role in the termination process was replaced with a system generated notification. While these notifications still need to be monitored and generate administrative action at times, the removal of the Budget Approver stop from the termination workflow has saved countless hours of administrative effort. The continued diligence by staff across the Finance organization around monitoring and collection of overpayments is sincerely appreciated.
In Depth: PERA Update: Launch Date: October 7!
- Finance PERA Training has been in full force this month with more to come in October. The Upcoming PERA Finance training page contains links to register for remaining sessions including virtual and in person options. The Training Resources for Finance (NEW!) page contains recordings of past courses. Use these resources to keep on the lookout for upcoming announcements related to go live support, issue escalation, FAQs, and future trainings as PERA goes live.
- The Research Offices PERA page continues to be updated with new information including this video update from Karen Plaut, Executive Vice President for Research which touches on key transition activities impacting research processes from October 1-7. More detailed cutover information can be found on the PERA website.
- The Office of Research Training team has launched the PERA Training website. First-time visitors should be sure to watch the “Welcome to PERA Training” video.
- The Research Account Dashboard went live on September 12 and the project team is getting great feedback. Business Office staff are able to access the dashboards by entering the faculty member’s alias (must be entered exactly) in the search window at the top of the dashboard home page.
Do you have a Finance specific question about PERA? Please reach out to one of the Finance representatives on the PERA team or send your question directly to: pera-finance@purdue.edu. Thanks to all who have put so much time and effort into preparing for the launch of the new system!
New@Purdue Employee Experience Program
Human Resources recently announced the launch of a comprehensive orientation and onboarding program for new Purdue faculty and staff. The “New@Purdue” program was piloted in targeted areas of the university and has shown promising results including increased retention and high satisfaction with the program. The schedule spans an employee’s first year and as a “one stop shop” for onboarding activities, removes some pressure from the supervisor to coordinate and monitor activities common across the positions such as benefits enrollment and using SuccessFactors.
One of the key components of the program is a mentorship program. Finance will meet this requirement using “mentoring circles.” Each circle will contain up to 10 new staff members and will be led by a Finance manager or team leader. The goal of the mentorship circles is not to provide additional training but rather an opportunity for new staff to ask questions in an informal setting, share their experiences and build relationships with fellow employees. More information will be shared as the structure of these circles are finalized.
FAQ’s and other program information can be found on the New@Purdue Employee Experience Program page.
Updated Training Matrix Available
The Finance Training Matrix has been updated to include several new training modules recently added to the SuccessFactors Learning Management System. The following courses have been added:
- Global Support for Staff;
- New Hire Regulations and Payroll Responsibilities for Supervisors;
- Property Accounting;
- FERAP Summer Payroll Considerations (2024);
- FERAP Account Management & Appointment Set Up (2024);
- New Voluntary Support Process;
- PCI DSS Compliance Updates Town Hall Meeting (2024)
- FPA: Professional Development Series:
- Fringes: Central and Departmental Impacts
- Tuition and Fees
- PIPC Income and Endowment Distribution
- Construction
- Scholarships
An updated Excel version of the matrix is also available for download on the Training Matrix website. Questions about the matrix and its use can be directed to your supervisor or the Director of Finance Training and Communication.
Ad Hoc Delivery Address Review
Purchase orders submitted in the Ariba purchasing system typically make use of default “ship to” addresses that are preloaded and selected as part of the procurement process. These default addresses ensure packages make it to the correct building and are expected to be used as a standard business practice. However, the addresses can be changed to meet unique needs and the 2020 COVID pandemic was one such need.
In an effort to streamline procurement procedures during the pandemic, Purchasing Services opened up the “Ship to” field in Ariba, allowing users to enter an alternate shipping address such as home addresses. With that change, a two-part review of orders was established.
Prior to the order being placed, these orders “stopped” in procurement for a specific reasonableness review before the order was approved. Reasonableness was also part of a post review in the business office via an “Ad Hoc Ship to Orders” report generated biweekly and uploaded to the P2P SharePoint site. In an effort to further streamline approval processes and expedite orders, procurement recently removed the first review by eliminating the approval stop in procurement.
With this change it is now critically important that the business office staff regularly complete the after-the-fact reasonableness review on a regular basis. Business Office staff typically have the firsthand knowledge of a faculty or staff member’s business needs and are in the best position to review these orders and obtain further information from the requestor if needed. Changes that seem inappropriate should be elevated to the appropriate Finance or unit leadership.
Questions about this information can be directed to your Unit Lead or the Procurement Help Desk.
Technical Tip: Need to Contact Someone in a Specific Business Office?
Each business office on campus has a “generic” email address. When this address is used multiple, if not all, members of that business office will receive the message and the appropriate person can then respond. If that person is out of the office or otherwise unavailable, others in the group can respond. Business Offices are expected to respond promptly to messages sent to these addresses.
Sponsored Program Services and other central offices routinely use these email addresses to communicate critical and time-sensitive information. Use of these addresses for PERA, the new research administration system, means the addresses will be more closely monitored and maintained.
The generic email addresses are included in the Finance Directory. Individuals needing quick responses but aren’t sure who to contact can search for these addresses on the Directory page. Simply input a key word for the department you wish to contact in the search window and click the magnifying glass. All instances of the word in the directory should appear. Users can then locate and use the appropriate address to send their message.
If someone only has a cost center number but not a cost center name, they can use the cost center look up maintained on the SPS Generic Business Office Email Lookup page to find the appropriate email address. Questions about creation or maintenance of the generic email addresses can be sent to spstech@purdue.edu. Questions about the directory can be sent to the Director of Finance Training and Communication.
One Less Signature Initiative: Purdue Online Rate Request
A recent efficiency effort has led to a 60% reduction in the number of Purdue University Online rate requests needing separate routing and DocuSign approvals. Rates charged to Purdue students require approval of the Chief Financial Officer (CFO) or a designee and with over 100 programs, this demands significant administrative effort to prepare, route and monitor each request as well as the time required of each signatory to log into the DocuSign application. To reduce this effort, a new process was implemented for the 2024-25 academic year.
Under the new process, rate requests that are simple renewals are consolidated into a single document per college. This consolidation reduced the number of rate documents from 105 to 42. Given that a typical rate request contains at least five signatures, this reduction resulted in the elimination of over 300 signatures with a similar reduction in the DocuSign login requirements! Jason Dietz, Finance designee for Purdue University Online, commented, “Creating and tracking individual rate requests through the approval process can be time consuming. Consolidating renewals has eliminated preparation and tracking time as well as reduced the time our academic leaders spend approving simple renewals in DocuSign. This outcome reflects contributions from and close collaboration between the Purdue University Online programmatic and Finance teams.”
In preparation for the 2025-26 rate-setting process, Jason, Purdue University Online, and Kristi Mickle, Executive Director of Finance and Business Operations, are working on plans to further reduce the number of rates routing for approval.
In Depth: PERA Update / Launch Date: October 7!
The PERA team and the Finance Super Users have continued to meet for User Acceptance Testing activities and system demonstrations with significant attention given to the budget allocation process. The budget allocation procedures have evolved since the May Finance demonstration and now closely resemble the current budget allocation process only with new and improved tools.
Similar to today, the process will begin with an email notification. The message will be sent by Sponsored Program Services (SPS) through the PERA system using the ancillary review process and contain a link to the award in PERA. Business office account management staff can then navigate to the proposal budget to begin the budget allocation process using a template. The template is still in development but will feature improved functionality that allows business office staff to download the proposal budget as a starting point.
Once the budget has been updated, the business office will submit the template back through the ancillary review. The budget will then flow through the SPS review and approval process before it is uploaded into SAP.
SPS recently announced another round of PERA informational sessions. All account management staff are encouraged to attend one of the sessions. Registration information can be found in the session announcement. A recording of one of the sessions will be posted to the Toolkit page of the PERA website.
Training sessions offered by SPS and Finance will soon be finalized and shared with the Unit Leads and Business Management staff.
In Depth: Updated iLab Resources Now Available
Representatives from the Costing Office and the iLab at Purdue team have published new and updated reference materials on their respective websites.
Revised iLab QRC’s and training materials available on the iLab Training page include resources for business offices, principal investigators and lab members. One of the resources is the “iLab Role Review” training and it emphasizes the importance of reviewing role assignments on a regular basis. The document includes instructions for reviewing and updating iLab members and roles. Users can also find a link to the revised Recharge Center Billing Calendar that went into effect July 1.
The Costing Office has created a new resource: iLab and Manual Recharge Billing Management and Processes Guide. The guide provides an overview of the iLab Billing System, financial management aspects of iLab and manual recharge billings as well as instructions for completing corrections and maintaining the appropriate documentation. The new Gas Cylinder Billing and iLab Reporting processes are also covered. Users will find helpful links to iLab resources placed at the appropriate process step throughout the document. The guide has been published on the Managerial Accounting Services-Costing-iLab resources page under Billing Information.
All of these resources were reviewed by a group of iLab Subject Matter Experts before publication. Questions about the iLab materials can be directed to iLab Program Administrator Hugh Gardner. Questions about the billing guide can be directed to Cost Accountant Cheryl Cornell.
July PERA Update: Email, Proposal & Award Records, AIMS
Preparations for the October launch of the PERA project are proceeding. Please see below for project news that may impact you and your team:
- Most business offices on campus maintain a Generic Business Office Email in collaboration with Sponsored Program Services. These emails can be found on the SPS Generic Business Office Email Lookup site and in the Finance directory for use when unsure who to contact in a specific business office. The PERA system will also rely on the Generic Business Office Email for actions in which a specific business office contact is not known. While it is always important to ensure the accuracy of these lists, with the launch of PERA, accuracy will be even more important. A group of PERA team members are working with areas to complete a review and update of these lists.
- PERA will become the institutional “source of truth” for proposal and award records. Currently, contract and grant records are maintained in both Coeus and the Perceptive Content tool. In the new system, users will be able to view both proposal and award records in one system. The transparency associated with this feature is a significant efficiency gain for faculty and research professionals across the university. Note, while Perceptive Content will no longer be used to view contract and grant records it will remain the tool used to view financial transaction documentation such as invoices and payments. More information about this change will be shared as the COEUS-PERA cutover strategy evolves.
- While PERA will become the institutional home for proposal and award records, the Account Information Management System (AIMS), will remain the institutional home to view for financial transactions and account projection tools related to awarded grants. The AIMS data source will remain SAP, the institutional source of truth for financial records. To prepare AIMS for the PERA system, an AIMS Improvement Project Team is working to identify specific deliverables, timelines, and enhancements to the system and will collaborate with key stakeholders as the project evolves to identify and begin development of PERA based reports. As part of this effort, the group will assess the current state of AIMS, identify gaps in business needs and pain points in the current user experience with a focus on process enhancements that will provide faculty and staff with flexible account views and timely information. Details will be shared as the work progresses.
- Office of Research PERA site as well as the Finance PERA website. Users can find contact information for Finance PERA team members on the Finance site.
Travel Regulation Changes
Staff are reminded that several changes to Purdue Travel Regulations went into effect on July 1. The Travel Office webpage includes a summary of the more significant changes. Units are encouraged to highlight the following notable changes with faculty and staff who travel frequently:
- Expense reports with outstanding Travel Card transactions that are 180 days or longer after the last day of official business travel will be submitted by Purdue travel staff on behalf of the traveler. Personal reimbursement will not be allowable 180 days after the last day of official business travel.
- Eight hours is the new threshold for a flight upgrade to business class to be an allowed expense, and layovers are considered part of that time.
The Travel Office has updated the Travel Regulations document with all of the changes that went into effect July 1. The Travel Regulations document includes a ‘revision history’ at the end of the document with a detailed list of the changes.
One Less Signature Initiative: Business Office for Student Organizations
The Business Office for Student Organizations (BOSO) provides business support, including procurement services, for a growing number (1000+) of student organizations. With an average balance of only $8K and no backup funds, the BOSO procurement staff carefully monitors the student organization account balances and approves each transaction to avoid overdrafts. It is not uncommon for the staff to stop a transaction because it will overdraft an account. As BOSO credit card activity grew from $436K in FY22 to $1.5M in FY24, the pressure to complete the fiscal reviews and manage the increasing number of transactions led the student organizations staff to reconsider their processes.
BOSO staff focused their attention on credit card activity as the traditional credit card checkout processes were frequently inconvenient to students and this inconvenience often resulted in a significant number of students using personal funds to buy supplies. This was particularly impactful in BOSO due to the use of revolving funds and actual paper check reimbursements to support the unique business needs of student organizations. With a desire to reduce the administrative effort associated with credit cards and check writing, BOSO turned to Procurement Services for assistance.
In collaboration with Procurement Services, the group quickly identified the establishment of a BOSO specific Amazon store as a valid solution, received approval and moved forward with implementation. Once established, access to the store was limited to the president and treasurer of each student organization who agreed to participate. These individuals can access the store at whatever time is convenient to them, often outside of the normal 8:00-5:00 business office hours. BOSO staff then provide a fiscal review and approve the orders during their regular work hours. Through use of the store, BOSO has realized several process efficiencies:
- Increased procurement through the store has meant less foot traffic in and out of the business office, allowing BOSO staff to focus more on problem solving, account management training and other value added activities.
- Creation of a “ modern” procurement tool that students are comfortable using has contributed to a reduction of 714 personal reimbursement checks from FY23 to FY24.
- With use of the store, BOSO has direct access to the receipts needed to reconcile the credit cards, eliminating the need to reach out to students for assistance and streamlining the monthly reconciliation process.
According to Karil Sommers, Senior Business Manager for BOSO, “While we haven’t seen a reduction in the effort required to manage our procurement activities, these efficiencies have made it easier for us to absorb the growth in student organization activities while also providing a higher level of customer support”. Their efforts are appreciated by their customers: “We order lots of things off of Amazon for Purdue Hackers and in the past it’s been super frustrating to have to spend our own money & get reimbursed. This is game-changing. THANK YOU!”
BOSO is currently gathering feedback on the new store and plans to refine processes as they continue to roll out the store to additional organizations. If you have questions about the Amazon Store and other BOSO initiatives can contact Karil Sommers or Kelly High, Business Manager, Business Office Student Organizations.
New Voluntary Support Process Resources
New Voluntary Support administration processes went into effect on July 1. In preparation for the change, Business office staff responsible for processing Voluntary Support participated in a virtual “New Voluntary Support Process” training in late June. Links to this training and other resources supporting the new process have been added to the Finance website under Operations – Training and Development Materials. The site includes a link to the Form 44 Approval Flow tool. Users should bookmark this page as the official resource for Voluntary Support resources.
Questions about the Voluntary Support process can be sent to the voluntary support questions email: volsupportquestions@purdue.edu.