Payroll Cost Transfers onto Federal Funds

Beginning on July 1, 2010, departments will no longer be able to process late payroll cost transfers onto federal and federal flow-through funds in the payroll system (OPTRS). If you attempt to enter a late payroll cost transfer onto federal funds in OPTRS, you will receive an error message and will be prevented from completing the transfer. This change in OPTRS will affect only late transfers onto federal or federal flow-through funds; you may continue to process timely payroll transfers onto federal funds and late payroll transfers to non-federal funds in OPTRS. Principal Investigators and their supporting department administrators should continue to actively manage their awards, properly record charges, and identify and correct transactions in a timely manner.

UC Business and Finance Bulletin A-47 requires expenses being transferred to federal or federal flow-through funds to be recorded in the ledger within 120 days from the close of the month in which the charge posts to the ledger. Late transfers could be considered non-compliant with University policy and unallowable by federal auditors. For a payroll transfer to be considered timely (i.e. within 120 days), it must be processed in a pay cycle that has an end date on or before the 120 calendar days following the close of the month in which the payroll expense posts to the ledger.

In recognition that there may be unique situations that may justify an exception to allow the processing of a late payroll cost transfer onto federal funds, we have developed a form and procedure to request an exception. Approval of exception requests will be rare and only granted in unusual and unique circumstances that result from actions outside the control of the originating department. The originating department will be held responsible for any disallowance, fine, or penalty resulting from negative audit findings related to any late payroll cost transfers processed as a result of an exception request.

• Exception Request Processing Procedures
• Late Payroll Cost Transfer Request Form (pdf)
• 120 Day Calculation Reference Calendar
• Campus Communications:

  Date	Subject	From
  06/30/10	Changes to Payroll Cost Transfers onto Federal Funds Effective July 1, 2010	Lori Cripps, Director, Extramural Funds Accounting
  04/28/10 04/27/10	Important Changes to Payroll Cost Transfers onto Federal Funds	John Ellis, Associate Vice Chancellor-Finance and Controller
  04/26/10	Important Changes to Payroll Cost Transfers onto Federal Funds	John Ellis, Associate Vice Chancellor-Finance and Controller

Questions about this process should be directed to efahelp@berkeley.edu, 643-4246.