Last month, the Chart of Accounts Phase 2 (COA2) team opened a couple of its regularly scheduled meetings to individual business managers who had posed questions or concerns about the ongoing work to prepare for the transfer of fund type 150 (FT150) projects, which represent operating funds designated for use by administrative units across the university.
The outreach was a way for the project team to engage directly with respondents to an October data collection request and field questions that arose to help individual business managers work toward the December 6 requested response date for submitting data. That data will be used to close each FT150 project.
Topics of conversation
The two individuals invited were included because they had responded to the project team’s data request with their own specific questions.
Elyse Mauger, business manager in the Office of Information Technology’s Enterprise Application Services, had a question about a few balances on the data collection spreadsheet the project team had provided.
After reviewing the spreadsheet with the team, Mauger left the meeting with a better understanding of how to handle the balances they had discussed.
“I was very happy that they so quickly responded and had the right people on the call to be able to answer my question,” she says.
Patricia Badillo, department administration supervisor for Asian Language and Cultures in the School of Arts and Sciences in Rutgers–New Brunswick, joined the COA2 session to discuss how to handle a balance her team chose not to be transferred to the GL. As was the approach when closing FT100 projects, the balance on Badillo’s project in question will be zeroed-out without having an impact on the GL balance.
“The call was so helpful. They gave me great support,” Badillo says. “Now I understand a bit more how the balance transfers from projects to the GL will work, and I can share that knowledge with my coworkers.”
Upcoming deadlines and action items
In addition to the December 6 deadline for data, the COA2 team still has several important deadlines for business and project managers involved in FT150 project closures, particularly those related to purchase orders (POs).
The other remaining deadline for 2024 is December 13, for the submission of PO closures or modifications.
The first quarter of the new year has four additional deadlines:
- January 17: FT150 project employee charging instructions must be changed to GL strings with the new Activity segment values, if applicable. FT150 project strings on expense reports must be approved in Concur.
- February 14: FT150 project PO closings and processing of related invoices will be completed.
- March 1: The modification or reclassification of multi-year FT150 project POs will be completed.
- March 31: The goal is for all FT150 projects to be closed, with any remaining balances transferred to the GL strings with Activity segments, if applicable, by this date.
Like Mauger and Badillo, if you have any comments or questions or need support regarding the COA2 project, please reach out to the project team at coa_phase_2@finance.rutgers.edu.