Understanding the Payroll Deferral Change and How to Assess Its Impact

Better aligning payroll expenses

Contributed by Financial Planning & Analysis

In the June Fiscal Administrators’ meeting, our team revisited an important change that was initially communicated to Associate Deans in the fall and again during the FY25 Budget Kickoff:

UVA will no longer defer the monthly 6/24/25 payroll to the next fiscal year.

This means that the monthly 6/24/25 payroll, which previously would have landed in FY26, will be pulled back into FY25. The goal is to better align payroll expenses with the fiscal year in which the work was performed.

If this change sounds familiar, that’s great — it means the message is getting through. Most budget directors across the MBUs have already planned for this adjustment. But for those looking to double-check the financial impact at their unit level, we’ve got a quick walkthrough to help.

Finding the Payroll Obligations in UBI

Here’s a simple way to assess the impact of the monthly 6/24/25 payroll on your unit using the Journal Lines report in UBI:

1. Start with the Obligations Summary Sheet
   Open the Journal Lines report and head to the Obligations Summary sheet. From there, go into the Selections pane to begin filtering.

2. Set Your Filters

   • Fiscal Year: Choose FY25

   • Exclude June: You’re interested only in obligations excluding those dated for June (i.e., before the end-of-month payroll)

   • Budget Date: Set this to 2025-06-24, which is the end date of the monthly payroll period for June.

3. Narrow to Faculty Salaries

   • Use the Line Item filter to focus on Comp Faculty under obligations (not actuals).

   • This captures all spend categories that roll up to faculty salary expenses.

4. Review the Total
   Once your filters are applied, the Obligations Summary will display the projected hit. University-wide, that total comes to $31 million.

5. Dig Deeper with Journal Line Details
   If you want to see the breakdown at the MBU, Cost Center, or Worktag level, jump into the Journal Lines Detail sheet. This lets you assess the impact specific to your unit or area.

Helpful Links

• Biweekly Academic Division Payroll Calendar

• Monthly Academic Division Payroll Calendar

Questions or Concerns? 

Again, this payroll shift shouldn’t come as a surprise to most units, but we’re committed to making sure you have the tools and transparency you need to navigate it confidently. If you have questions or need assistance walking through the reports, don’t hesitate to reach out via askfinance@virginia.edu