Finance

�첥��Ƶ’s open response to recent correspondence

mvisca — Fri, 10 May 2024 20:55:40 +0000

Over the past weeks, the University administration has received a wide variety of correspondence from across our diverse community, from the Palestine solidarity working group of CUPE 3903 rank and file members, and other messages, representing many different views.

It bears repeating that York will continue to support freedom of expression and the principles of academic freedom. Universities are vital institutions in democracies and should serve to confront complex challenges through open and respectful dialogue and scholarship as articulated in the President’s Initiative on Open and Respectful Dialogue. The York administration consistently strives to support our faculty, students, instructors, and staff to engage in peaceful protest and expression, while fulfilling our obligation to provide safe and inclusive campuses free from hate and discrimination.

One of the areas that has been raised is the University’s investment portfolio. York has long been committed to environmental, social and governance (ESG) principles through both the University’s pension and endowment investment funds. Selection of an investment manager for these funds is a process that the University takes very seriously, involving rigorous review by independent investment experts to ensure alignment with the University’s investment strategy. Selected investment managers are held accountable through continuous performance reviews of their activities supporting our commitment to ESG factors. While we do not negatively screen investments or exclude any individual nations, the University does not directly own shares in any of the industries referenced in the open letter. York will continue to report annually on investment performance, and how our investment managers incorporate ESG factors. More detailed information is readily available here and can be found in the most recent Sustainable Investing Progress Report.

Several community members have also written to express interest in how the University responds to protests, recent employment matters, student organizations, labour relations concerns, and police presence on campus, again spanning a wide range of opinions. While we cannot comment on individual cases that are being addressed through appropriate channels, we are committed to free and open dialogue that respects the rights of all community members to an environment free of discrimination. We would like to commend the many members of our community who have worked to support peaceful demonstrations and events, and we hope to continue to work with you to ensure that your rights to free speech are maintained in a safe manner.

The pain and anger experienced by members of our community due to what is happening in Gaza and Israel is real. We will continue to work to support those impacted. Among other initiatives, York is an active participant in the Scholars at Risk network and funds dedicated scholarships and programs to support Palestinian students as well as others affected by war and forced migration. The University will also continue to work to prevent incidents of antisemitism, anti-Palestinian racism and Islamophobia as well as any other forms of racism and discrimination. All community members should be able to rely on our campuses being respectful and safe for everyone, and we are calling on all of us to treat each other with empathy and compassion as we navigate these issues together.

The University remains open to meeting with the CUPE 3903 Executive, as well as the leadership of other unions and recognized student organizations at York, to discuss these issues as we reflect on what more we can do collectively to create the conditions for divergent views to be expressed.

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2023 December Month-End Timetable

aseraval — Mon, 06 Nov 2023 17:37:48 +0000

The University Services Centre (USC) and Finance have created an updated 2023 December month-end timetable (PDF), outlining the deadline for submitting documents to endure December processing.

It is strongly encouraged that the community submits all documents and requests in advance of the deadlines.

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2021-2022 Year-End Process

aseraval — Wed, 23 Mar 2022 17:07:37 +0000

The Office of the Comptroller will be holding a year-end seminar via Zoom conferencing on the following dates:

It is highly desirable that you attend this seminar if you are involved with year-end processes in your area. Issues such as the year-end financial audit, account analysis and deadlines will be discussed. If you wish to attend, please click on the link above to register.

For those unable to attend this information session, the Year End Guide will be available by the seminar dates on the Finance website.

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New Changes to the Signing Authority Register (SAR)

aseraval — Tue, 08 Feb 2022 14:03:13 +0000

As part of the Service Excellence Program’s (SEP) ongoing efforts to simplify purchasing and payments at York, new changes to the Signing Authority Register (SAR) have been made. These changes will enable easier and faster purchasing by reducing the amount of effort and time required to secure approvals for the procurement of goods and services.

For additional details please see the Changes to the Signing Authority Register (SAR) (PDF).

UPDATE: The Signing Authority Register has since been updated. Please visit the Signing Authority: Approval and Execution of Documents page on the Secretariat website for the newest version of the Signing Authority Register.

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Fully Digitizing Expense Claims at York

khall — Fri, 17 Sep 2021 13:00:01 +0000

Effective Monday, Oct. 4, 2021, employees must submit expense claims via SAP Concur (�첥��Ƶ’s digital expense reimbursement claim software).

Why the change?

SAP Concur offers a number of benefits over paper-based forms. The figure below outlines the case for change.

Figure 1 | Case for change

Concur is faster. Concur claims are about five times faster than manually processed paper claims (5.9 versus 30 business days).

Concur is more sustainable than paper. The full digitization of expense claims supports the University’s sustainability goals by reducing paper.

Concur provides status visibility. Concur is a digital workflow that enables claimants to see the status of their claim at any time. Claimants can also access past claims for reference.

Most claimants use Concur. Prior to COVID-19, 94 per cent of claims were submitted using Concur. Since COVID-19, this number has increased to 99.7 per cent.

Concur is easier than ever. A series of improvements have been made to the Concur interface to simplify the claim experience and provide time saving shortcuts, such as automated receipt upload using the Concur mobile app.

Finance provides hands on support. Where users still find the Concur interface challenging or have questions about Concur, Expense Compliance Administrators (ECAs) reachable through the University Services Centre (USC) are available to provide assistance. See contact information below.

Comparable universities have removed paper claims. 85 per cent of Canadian universities engaged by York use electronic claim processing systems and 79 per cent have removed the option to submit a paper claim. The remaining 15 per cent of universities without an electronic system are currently implementing one and intend to make it mandatory.

Support and additional information

The following optional Concur training is available:

Existing Concur training sessions as posted on the
One on one hands-on support from a University Services Centre (USC) Expense Claim Administrator (ECA)

You can contact a USC ECA for support or more information on this change:

Sonia Fermin-Peat - (416)736-2100 x 40150
Piera Li - (416)736-2100 x 20233
Yan Liu - (416)736-2100 x 22003

For information on other SEP Finance initiatives, please visit the SEP website.

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Concur Expense Claim Improvements

mstearns — Thu, 12 Aug 2021 17:16:14 +0000

As part of the Service Excellence Program (SEP), the Finance Department and University Services Centre (USC) have made improvements in Concur to enable simpler and faster claim preparation.

Key improvements include:

Renamed and reordered system fields to reduce confusion for claimants.
A new quick tip page available on the Finance website and the Concur landing page, that summarizes 5 key time saving tips.

Read the Simplify Claim Experience Bulletin to learn more.

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Standardizing Concur Workflow

sanish — Mon, 01 Mar 2021 13:31:00 +0000

The Service Excellence Program (SEP) is helping York achieve its vision for service excellence across the University, by implementing operational and service delivery improvement initiatives across all non-academic services.

A simplified expense claim workflow will benefit the York community

The Finance Department, supported by the SEP, recently conducted a review of current practices for processing expense claims. As a result of that review, a simplified Concur workflow has been established, which will help to improve the process.

Read the Finance Department - Office of the Comptroller Bulletin February 16, 2021 (PDF) to learn what these changes mean for you, the benefits to York's community, when this is being implemented, and why the change.

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Financial Reporting for Research Grant Year End

mstearns — Thu, 11 Feb 2021 16:44:10 +0000

If you are a Researcher or an Administrator of a CIHR, SSHRC, Canada Research Chair (CRC) or NSERC Grant, this March 31, 2021 year end memorandum (PDF) contains important information pertaining to:

Grant Installments for the 2021/2022 year
New research awards
Narrative/progress reports
Institutional advances
Key Contact for post award administration

Key Dates to Remember

ACTION	DEADLINE
Research reports updated on eReports	Daily
Submit correcting upload journal entries to Research Accounting	Friday, March 12, 2021
Submit supplier original invoices (including payment via cheque, EFT & wire)	Tuesday, March 23, 2021
Submit Claim for Reimbursement (USE CONCUR)	Friday, March 19, 2021
2021-2022 Grant installments added to cost centre	Week of April 12, 2021
Researchers receive statement (Form 300) as of March 31, 2021	Friday, April 30, 2021
Researchers return signed statement (Form 300) to Research Accounting	Friday, May 14, 2021

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New Approach to Processing Expense Claims

mstearns — Mon, 01 Feb 2021 16:00:00 +0000

The Service Excellence Program is helping York implement a vision of service excellence across the University, by identifying, facilitating, and implementing operational improvements and service delivery improvement initiatives across all non-academic services. This is a recent successful initiative.

New Approach Significantly Reduces Expense Claims Processing Time

The Finance Department supported by the Service Excellence Program recently conducted a review of current practices for processing expense claims. As a result of that review, a new approach has been introduced that focuses compliance review resources on the highest risk claims, reducing processing time for most expense claims.

What’s new?

Community members will benefit from two new changes that will help reduce the processing time for expense claims:

A new threshold for central finance review has been introduced.
The secondary compliance review on research expense claims greater than $10K has been removed.

Change	Benefits to York community
Introduction of a $1000 threshold for full review by central finance for expense claims (introduced Sep. 01, 2020).	The processing time for claims up to $1000, will be reduced by an average of six (6) days.
Removal of the secondary compliance review for research expense claims greater than $10,000 in value (introduced Dec. 02, 2020).	The processing time for claims greater than $10,000, will be reduced by an average of two (2) days.

Why the change?

Many Universities in Canada and internationally take a risk-based approach to expense claim compliance reviews. After reviewing York’s current practices, the Finance department determined that this approach would work well for York, given that:

Low value claims (<$1,000) are of low risk to the University and make up 80% of total claims but only 21% of total value.
Primary review of research claims are both thorough and highly effective, with a less than 3% non-compliance identified when they reach the secondary review.

Additional Information

For information on previous expense reimbursement changes, click here. For information on the new expense claim $1,000 threshold, click here.

For more information or general enquiries, contact the Office of the Comptroller at (416) 736-5143.

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Changes to the Review & Approval Process for Expense Claims

mstearns — Sat, 29 Aug 2020 18:02:00 +0000

As part of the Service Transformation initiative, the Finance department is making changes to the review and approval process for expense reimbursements.

Beginning September 1, 2020 expense claims less than $1,000 will no longer go through a full pre-payment review by central Finance. Using the new risk-based approach, a limited number of expense claims less than $1,000, will be selected for pre-payment review.

Expense claims of $1,000 or more, will undergo a full pre-payment review by central Finance.

To get all the details of this new approach to expense claim review read this Finance bulletin.

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