1099s are out the door!

Look at that teamwork!

The Disbursements Team worked hard this week to get 1099 forms in the mail by January 27 (and they still had some fun, as you can see in the photo above).

Here are a few helpful FAQs related to 1099s:

• Suppliers who received $600 + in payments from UVA for 2022 will receive a 1099 form based on their tax classification
• 1099s are not available electronically
• If you receive questions from suppliers about 1099s (for instance, if it didn't arrive via mail, the amount was wrong, the categorization was incorrect, etc.), please contact askfinance@virginia.edu

Thanks to everyone on the team for their hard work, and also to Aarati Sonkusare and Jonathan Agop's teams for getting us over the finish line from a systems perspective.

NEW: Time With A Trainer

Perhaps you're like us and the holiday break made you forget things like your passwords, how to type, and other important things.  

If you find it also made you need a bit of a refresher on how to do certain tasks in Workday, we've got your back. 

The Finance Trainers have a whole new slate of Time With a Trainer hours plotted out for the near future (end of January, February, & early March).  

Head over to the Workday Finance Training page to choose the area with which you need assistance and sign up for some one-on-one time with an expert!

Finance System Access Requests Updates

Finance System Access Requests for Workday and Adaptive go through multiple stages of approval including checking for the completion of training for roles where training is required. 

Requests are processed according to the date received. A best practice is to submit requests after or at the same time as the user is completing training (for roles that require training.) This speeds up the approval process. Also, if requesting multiple roles that require the completion of different training (e.g. Accountant and Payroll Costing Specialist) it is recommended that you submit separate requests for each. The request will not be approved until ALL required training is complete.

Here are some suggestions from our colleagues in IT to make the request process smoother:

• When submitting requests to remove roles, it is very important to choose the role from the drop-down list. Many people have been entering the roles in the Comments field rather than choosing from this list. This slows down the process. The comment field is optional and should be used ONLY for additional relevant information.
• If a new certifier has account certifications to review prior to 11/01/22, they need to submit a request for access to them via askfinance@virginia.edu. 
• Users can check on the status of submitted requests on the System Access Requests dashboard in Workday. It is preferred that they use this feature rather than send a message to askfinance@virginia.edu to check on the status of requests.
• All approvals for a request (including roles for Adaptive) are required before the role will be assigned; the process takes more than 1 day so access will not be granted on the same day as a request. 
• Use the drop-down list for adding roles to ensure that all necessary details are included. Using the comment field slows down the process. Use the comment field only for additional relevant information.

From Melody's Desk: January 27, 2023

Dear Colleagues,

There are a lot of ways to count back on my time at UVA. One pertinent to the UVAFinance blog is to look back on the “From Melody’s Desk” notes. We launched nearly 9 years ago, on May 15, 2014, with the goal of better connecting the UVAFinance team, with an intended audience of 200. Over the ensuing nine years, my hair has grayed and we’ve welcomed new units into UVAFinance (OFPA, Procurement, Payroll, Treasury) and seen some units move to other parts of the University (OSP, UBI, SFS).

We’ve expanded the target audience to include all financial users across Grounds, about 4,500. We continue to celebrate UVAFinance, our people, and our achievements, but also utilize the blog as a primary communication mechanism to launch new systems – TravelUVA, UBI, Adaptive Planning, and Workday Finance – that have transformed how we do financial work at UVA. This was an especially essential communications tool during the pandemic and as we’ve moved to a more hybrid presence.

While my time employed at UVA will come to an end next week, I know that the UVAFinance blog will continue to keep you informed, maintain UVAFinance’s connection with the broader University, and, maybe, at times, entertained.

I recently sat down with Brandi Van Ormer and Patty Marbury to record two final Finance Matters podcasts, one reflecting on my 26-year career at UVA (and 35-year career since graduating from the McIntire School) and the second reflecting UVAFinance’s emphasis on diversity, equity, and inclusion. I invite you to take a listen.

My career here at UVA has been amazing in large part to this UVA financial community. Thank you!

Warmly,

____________________________________________________

Related Content:  See Melody's Brown Bag Series Recordings and Slides under "Resource Library" on this UVAFinance webpage.

Reporting & Analytics Highlights

The Reporting & Analytics Team recently shared their release notes for January 12.  

While we've already included that as a news item in the blog, we wanted to call your attention to two particular points of interest in the notes:

• The UBI Workday Fund Balance App is now available; use it to see Fund Balances by Ledger or Fund Balances by Fund sheet to see which ledger accounts and/or fund accounts are included in the Expendable Fund Balance rollup
• New Workday Report "Project Funding Source" shows Funding Sources with dates, worktags, funding amount, and available balances

See the release notes for details on the new app and the new report.

NEW:  The Reporting & Analytics Team is constantly churning out new reports and apps and enhancements and fixes, so to help you keep track of everything, we've added an archive of previous release notes to the bottom of the page so you can refer to past updates at any time!

___________________________________________________________________________

Related information:  The Business Intelligence & Analytics page on the UVAFinance website

Maheshwor Ghimire Uses Stakeholder Insight, Flexibility in his PSDS role

Maheshwor Ghimire set specific goals early in his career - he wanted to contribute to finance operations. His new role in Procurement and Supplier Diversity Services gives him the perfect opportunity to do just that.

Before joining UVAFinance, he was in a sales and marketing role of an auto sales unit. He had previous experience at UVA as an intern and he knew he wanted to return.

"The UVAFinance internship showed me another level of the professional environment, especially the motivational presentation from leaders like Melody and Augie," Ghimire shares. "Their leadership encouraged me to apply for the position in PSDS."

The work he did during the internship along with his experience in diverse areas of sales, customer service, credit, accounting, and trade finance made him a great candidate for the fiscal technician with PSDS.

A large part of his job includes pushing the operational part of invoice processing and converting resistance issues into a positive customer experience.

"Another aspect of the job is to keep the highest level of understanding with the inter-department people as a key facilitator for achieving our team’s mission, not derailing from the track, as guided by our departmental head," he says.

Maheshwor Ghimire

Ghimire reports the biggest challenge is to adapt to the new technological changes but he continues to keep stakeholders informed and models flexibility in the process.

"This is the continuous process of the modern professional environment in each sector, and the only
way to adopt it is to keep oneself dynamic and open to all changes," says Ghimire.

Thanks to Ghimire's experience in banking and sales, he has a deep understanding of good customer service and communication.

Ghimire loves to read philosophical books, meditate, practice yoga, and play the harmonium.  He is attempting to get in touch with his culinary side but that is a work in progress.

"I love to engage with my family and learn some cooking stuff from my wife but still in a form as Thomas Edition was in his early period."

Congratulations to Scott Adams, 2022 Leonard W. Sandridge Outstanding Contributor Award Winner!

Scott Adams, Director of Business Systems in UVAFinance, is a recipient of this year's Leonard W. Sandridge Outstanding Contributor Award.

The Leonard W. Sandridge Outstanding Contributor recognizes outstanding University staff or team members who demonstrate dedication to service through individual efforts, group contributions, and commitment to our larger community. 

This award is the highest individual, employee award at the University is named in honor of Leonard W. Sandridge, who was an avid champion of UVA staff and who dedicated 44 years of service to the school. He joined the University in 1967 as an internal audit staff and held a number of positions until he became Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer in 1993. Winners receive $1,000, an engraved gift, and recognition at a reception later this month.

Congratulations, Scott!  

See a full listing of all 2022 OCA winners here.

Note from Your Friendly LSP: LastPass

If you use the LastPass password manager offered by UVA, you may be aware that LastPass reported a data breach right before our holiday break. While we await official recommendations, the UVA Finance LSP team suggests enabling Multifactor Authentication (MFA) if you have an account with LastPass. This is not on by default. You do not need to do anything if you have already enabled MFA. If you'd like to enable MFA, we've included the instructions after the jump to help you.

The LastPass Authenticator operates similarly to the DUO app. Once enabled, you can use Push notifications, time-based codes from the app, or SMS (text) codes.

1. You will need to visit the App Store on your iOS or Android device and install the LastPass Authenticator app.
      -Once the app is installed on your mobile device, you will perform most of the steps below from your UVA laptop.

2. Open your Last Pass Vault from your browser extension (or open your desktop client should you have it)

3. At the bottom of the sidebar on the left, choose Account Settings

4. Choose the 3rd tab at the top, Multifactor Options. Select the pencil icon on the far right to enable the first option, LastPass MFA

5. Choose Yes to enable. If you allow offline access, you may be prompted to install the LastPass Manager App (2nd pic). You do not need to allow offline access for the Authenticator to work.

6. You will be prompted to enter your Master Password

7. Select Enroll your device, and then choose Set Up Mobile App:

• You will be prompted to scan a QR code to sync your device. You will have to allow LastPass access to your camera to scan the code.
• We also recommend setting up a backup using text messages.
• Select Activate after you have set up the Mobile App and the backup text messages.

If you need assistance with this process after attempting the steps above, you can email finhelp@virginia.edu to create a Service Desk ticket. We will reach out to you as soon as possible to help.

W-2s are Ready

Your friendly UVAFinance Payroll Team has done it again!  

W-2s are available NOW electronically in Workday.  If you opted to receive a paper copy, expect it in your mailbox by the end of the month.  

______________________________________

Related news:  Payroll Getting the Job Done: Resources, Teamwork

Budget Season Reminders

If you're working on your school or unit's budget, you're probably well aware that it's due in about five weeks.  

Remember that Adaptive goes read-only at 5pm on March 3, the budget deadline.  The working version will re-open one to two weeks after quality checks have been completed and the FY24 Original Budget Snapshot has been completed.  

The Office of Financial Planning & Analysis has been doing check-ins and is eager to support you.  We're all learning together in this post-project world, so if you're missing information or seeing something odd, please be sure to reach out to us via askfinance@virginia.edu.

Our goals for this year:

• a clean FY24 original budget
• substantive conversations between strategic leaders at annual budget meetings
• clean fund balances by the end of FY24

Reporting & Analytics Release Notes: January 12

Finance Reporting and Analytics Release Notes are posted on the UVAFinance website for January 12th. This update includes significant new reports and modifications that have been released since December 2nd as well as known issues that we are investigating or working on currently.

A friendly reminder that you always find this information and more reporting resources at:

· Reporting Resources | UVA Finance (virginia.edu)

· Business Intelligence & Analytics | UVA Finance (virginia.edu)

UVAFinance Welcomes Amanda Meares to the Team

 

Amanda Meares has joined UVAFinance as a Senior Financial Reporting Analyst with Financial Operations. Prior to joining the team, she was a Senior Financial Analyst on the Budget and Finance Team for the College and Graduate School for Arts and Sciences’ Office of the Dean.

Her experience on Grounds will be helpful as she assists in preparing financial statements and external reports and analyzing financial transactions to ensure they adhere to standards and regulations.

She had two years with the Arts and Sciences Budget and Finance Team and is familiar with university processes. She knows there will be challenges in her new role but she is prepared.

“Adjusting to UVAFinance priorities compared to the budget and finance priorities from the School level perspective will take some adjusting,” Meares shares.

Having a supportive team helps with the transition she says, “I really enjoy how everyone is so friendly and helpful!”

Outside work, Meares enjoys reading, exploring beautiful Charlottesville, and anything Disney-related.

Save the Date: May 4 is UVAFinance's Spring All Hands

UVAFinance's Spring All Hands Meeting is planned for Thursday, May 4.  

Mark your calendar now!  More information will be shared very soon. 

November and December 2022 Account Certifications Due February 28, 2023

A fix to the MFS engine has been delivered and applied to the November and December 2022 fiscal periods. With the fix applied, we have been able to generate Account Certifications for the periods in question and they are now available to you with a due date of February 28, 2023.

We were unable to consolidate both months into a single Account Certification; as a result, you will notice a certification has been created for Nov-22 and Dec-22. We have created a video resource that may assist you in reviewing both months at once using the Details for Account Certification report. This video was prepared in collaboration with our trainers and functional experts and can be viewed by clicking here.

We currently do not anticipate a change in the timeline for January 2023 Account Certifications.

Thank you for your patience as we awaited a Workday's fix for this situation.

Please reach out to AskFinance@virginia.edu with any questions or concerns.

Save the Date: May 4 is UVAFinance's Spring All Hands

 

UVAFinance's Spring All Hands Meeting is planned for Thursday, May 4.  

Mark your calendar now!  More information will be shared very soon. 

New on Finance Matters: When Fight or Flight Kicks in at Work

Our fight or flight response kicks in when we perceive a situation as potentially dangerous or threatening. It's an automatic and unconscious impulse that stems from caveman days (thanks, evolution!) and could be causing you to burn out, make bad decisions, and all around feel pretty crummy at work and at home.

Patty and Brandi talk to Augie Maurelli, James Gorman, Gretchen Kriebel, Sarah Fleming, Addie Coe, and Stacey Rittenhouse about what they've learned about managing this response and prioritizing competing demands without letting their brains kick into overdrive.

LISTEN HERE: https://www.podbean.com/ew/pb-pdgti-135c2bd

What are you up to? We want to know!

 UVAFinance team members represent the University at conferences, lectures, events, and panels. And often, team members attend events and trainings that inform them about their jobs and careers. The Coms Team want to know about all of that! 

Why? 

Well, your participation in such events helps generate more interest in UVAFinance's work. It also helps demonstrate the University's commitment to lifelong learning and striving to always be great and good. Traveling to a conference, participating, and returning to the office with new connections and knowledge makes UVA even better and helps you and your teams excel. 

The communications team would like to share your participation in events and it is easy to let us know about them. If you post about your participation on LinkedIn, simply tag us by adding "@" and then start typing "UVAFinance," a LinkedIn drop-down menu will allow you to choose our office and then we are linked in your post. 

You can also email information to bvh8@virginia.edu or ktempleton@virginia.edu - that will ensure the information is shared on the proper communication channel. It's an easy way to garner further interest in the next year's conference, share some tips you learned, and help us demonstrate to prospective team members and the greater community exactly how dynamic your jobs are.

Payroll Getting the Job Done: Resources, Teamwork

Most of us across Grounds receive our pay every two weeks – a solid schedule with an understood deadline. But for those working in Payroll, pay deadlines are weekly and they are never the same. With adjustments to pay due to items such as faculty awards, CVC deductions, changing work schedules, new hires, retirements, time off payouts, and more, no week looks just like the next.

Managing deadlines for the Medical Center, Physicians Group, and UVA Academics, Payroll never shuts down, not even when the university closes for winter break.

So how do they manage so many deadlines in a tight timeframe?

A representative from Payroll shares that it is all about good project management and using available resources.

The staff are split into team areas and designate work in shifts. For instance, as many of us were enjoying our time off, Payroll teams split work into four-hour shifts to monitor incoming data and requests and ensure tasks are completed and employees are paid.

Payroll receives data from multiple sources – from Workday to Kronos to email. Streamlining how they respond to changes in data is important, so they use Salesforce to track all incoming inquiries. The inquiries are either handled immediately or assigned and each one is tracked to ensure it is resolved.

Workday’s Worksheets is a great tool for Payroll as they can collaborate around live data, and where all the data resides in a secure, enterprise environment. They use the Worksheets to for data entry and check it against their work in Salesforce. This provides organization and informs their process.

The teams stay in contact through Microsoft Teams channels and help each other out so that work gets done quickly and efficiently and ultimately, so important pay deadlines are met.

So even though each week looks vastly different than the previous one, collaborative processes and cloud-based technology keep the Payroll team moving forward with some of the most important systems on Grounds.

UVAFinance Welcomes Amanda Meares to the Team

Amanda Meares has joined UVAFinance as a Senior Financial Reporting Analyst with Financial Operations. Prior to joining the team, she was a Senior Financial Analyst on the Budget and Finance Team for the College and Graduate School for Arts and Sciences’ Office of the Dean.

Her experience on Grounds will be helpful as she assists in preparing financial statements and external reports and analyzing financial transactions to ensure they adhere to standards and regulations.

She had two years with the Arts and Sciences Budget and Finance Team and is familiar with university processes. She knows there will be challenges in her new role but she is prepared.

Amanda Meares

“Adjusting to UVAFinance priorities compared to the budget and finance priorities from the School level perspective will take some adjusting,” Meares shares.

Having a supportive team helps with the transition she says, “I really enjoy how everyone is so friendly and helpful!”

Outside work, Meares enjoys reading, exploring beautiful Charlottesville, and anything Disney-related.

Aluminum water bottles available via UVA Marketplace

As you know, the University is committed to cutting our purchases of single-use plastics. According to recent directives from UVA Leadership, UVA funds can not be used to purchase single-use plastic items, including plastic water bottles.

We are excited to share that aluminum water bottles are now available for purchase through the Supply Room via UVA Marketplace! 

To purchase Virginia Artesian aluminum water bottles (available in 24 packs) through the Supply Room, search item # VAW169ALUM. 

Fortunately, purchasing this product through the Supply Room is considerably less expensive than purchasing similar items through alternate markets, such as Amazon.

Thank you for your dedication to aligning with UVA directives around plastic-free purchasing. Please contact sustainability@virginia.edu with any questions.

Wellness Resources January 2023

Refreshed Hoos Well Portal for 2023

Join Hoos Well on Jan. 19 at 12 PM for a live demonstration of the refreshed Hoos Well portal, managed by Virgin Pulse. Learn how to improve your well-being as you earn up to $500 in cash rewards by participating in a combination of activities (e.g., Health Assessment, Journeys and Healthy Habits).

Employees and spouses must be registered members of the Hoos Well portal and enrolled on a UVA Health Plan to be eligible to earn cash rewards (less applicable taxes).  Register for the webinar HERE.

Help Manage Stress with New App

The Hoos Think Calmly app was designed specifically to help the UVA community reduce anxious thinking habits. The Hoos Thinking Calmly team, led by UVA Department of Psychology Professor Bethany Teachman, is looking for research participants to try using the new app. Please note that this program is not directly focused on reactions to trauma; if you are looking for support specific to that, please reach out to FEAP.   Find more info and sign the consent form HERE.

Get Grounded with “Tune as You Go”

The "Tune as You Go" tool provided by FEAP offers the ability to gain perspective through brief, guided exercises.   Try them out HERE.

Thanks for your CVC Giving, UVAFinance!

Thank you to everyone who gave to the 2023 Commonwealth of Virginia Campaign.   

The UVAFinance team gave over $7,000 to the good work local charities do in our region.  

The total amount raised by UVA was $495,577.

Annual T&E card training begins on February 1, 2023

Annual T&E card training begins on February 1, 2023. We look forward to providing this training to give cardholders the most current information on T&E Card policies and procedures.

Cards must be suspended for any leave that will be longer than three weeks by submitting a T&E Card Change Request Form at https://uvafinance.virginia.edu/resources/te-card-change-request

If you will be on leave in February, please contact us at card@virginia.edu to prevent your card from being canceled for not completing annual training.

Please contact askfinance@virginia.edu for T&E card questions.

Register for Records & Information Management Basics on January 19 or April 1

Join our friends at Records & Information Management for helpful virtual training in January and April.  

Learn how to identify records, manage them responsibly, and properly dispose of them.  

See the spring schedule and register here:  https://recordsmanagement.virginia.edu/events

Five Finance Facts

1. Procurement will operate under an altered schedule during Winter break.

Procurement has altered its payment schedule to accommodate the Winter Break. On December 21st the Accounts Payable team will make all payments scheduled through January 6th. Payments suitable for processing must be fully approved and ready for settlement by 9 am on the 21st. The normal payment schedule will reconvene on January 2nd.

Procurement will operate at a limited capacity during the break. If you have an urgent request with operational impacts, please send a request marked Urgent to askfinance@virginia.edu and copy Alita Salley. For Travel and T&E card-related matters, please use travel@virginia.edu and card@virginia.edu. Procurement will check these boxes Monday – Friday at 10 am and 2 pm.

2. Account Certification News & Resources: The Deadline for November Account Certification is COB January 20. New Account Certification Resources have been posted on the training webpage, along with a new FAQ and a new Workday Account Certification Dashboard in UBI.

3. Match Exceptions are improving, and we have new resources for avoiding them and correcting them. Get the links to resources on the blog.

4. The Reporting & Analytics Team has posted release notes for December 2, including significant new reports and modifications for the month of November. See the release notes here.

5. Finance Strategic Transformation is officially over as of the end of 2022, but support and engagement are ongoing in 2023, including Time with a Trainer and sessions like Fiscal Administrators and Business Officers Council.