The University Controller would like to thank those who attended the Business Connections meetings throughout this fiscal year. Sessions will resume on September 10, 2026, for fiscal year 2027 and can be found in the Financial Reporting Calendar. During these meetings, we share key financial updates and feature guest presentations on topics requested by the audience.
To help us add more value to future meetings, please complete our brief feedback survey regarding this year’s performance. In the meantime, we invite you to submit specific questions or suggested topics for next year’s agenda via the FY27 Business Connections Presentation/Topic request form.
To join the listserv, please send your request to the University Controller’s Office.
April Business Connections Meeting Recap
73rd Annual CBMI Conference
The 73rd College Business Management Institute (CBMI) will be held July 26 – 31, 2026, at the University of Kentucky. This intensive program offers over 85 courses and 27 CPE credits designed to help higher education administrators broaden their professional perspectives and networking circles. Recent highlights include a significant increase in NC State participation and the addition of over 25 new courses and 10 new faculty members for the upcoming session.
Review the CBMI 73rd Conference Information
Accounts Payable (AP) and Travel
AP and Travel updates included:
- Fiscal year-end deadlines
- The launch of the Payables Training, part of the Payments Professional 2 certification
- Instructions for tracking voucher payments in the Financial System
- The Travel Center is undergoing modernization, with testing starting in August 2026 and a full launch scheduled for early 2027
Review the AP and Travel Updates
Procurement and Business Services (PBS)
PBS updates included:
- Fiscal year-end deadlines:
- April 15 is the deadline for non-MarketPlace requisitions
- June 15 is the deadline for MarketPlace orders and PCard purchases
- Purchasing rules require formal solicitation for totals over $31,000
- Card Services:
- PCard Training for Statement Approvers (PSA) required for supervisors by May 31
- Reminder of Business Purpose Requirements
- The Ligon Street bridge is now open for easier access to the Materials Support Warehouse, which offers discounted surplus equipment such as laptops and chairs during set weekday hours.
Review the Procurement and Business Services Updates
Office of Enterprise Applications Services (EAS)
EAS provided updates on:
- Financial tools, such as WRS and OMAR, for transaction tracking and reconciliation.
- Financial System Reminders:
- Sign out of MyPack Portal manually
- Clear your browser cache for troubleshooting
- Post journal entries within their original month to avoid deletion
- Monitor project balances and transactions in WRS to prevent overspending.
Accounts Receivable (AR)
- Departments must complete their own vendor forms when routing third-party registrations to AR.
- Physical checks for invoices billed in the financial system should be sent directly to the AR unit to maintain accurate aging.
- Staff should monitor the suspense spreadsheet for unclaimed funds.
- Key fiscal year-end deadlines include:
- Cutoff for check deposits: June 29 at 9 a.m.
- Deadline for finalizing non-student AR invoices: June 30 at 3 p.m.
Review the Accounts Receivable Updates
University Budget Office
- FY26 year-end close-out schedule and reporting requirements.
- Key deadlines include submitting carry-forward requests in early June and finalizing budget journals by June 29, 2026, before the Financial System goes offline on June 30.
- Departments must use Power BI tools to ensure all Budget Balance Available (BBA) accounts are positive by class, program and account.
- The Budget Office will collect year-end BBA projections between April 24 and May 1, 2026, to assist executive management with financial reviews.
Review the University Budget Office Updates
General Accounting
- Protocols for Interdepartmental Transactions (IDTs) and journal entries.
- Complete technical details are available in the Interdepartmental Transactions Manual and Manual Journal Entry Guide.
Review the General Accounting Updates
Vendor Risk and License Management
- NC State’s IT Purchase Compliance (ITPC) process requires annual reviews for software costing over $5,000 or involving sensitive data.
- While AI tools generally require assessment, Microsoft Copilot and Google Gemini are approved for use without an ITPC.
- For project management, Smartsheet is the only university-managed offering, though it is considered expensive. Alternative options include Asana for automation and Trello for a low-cost, easy-to-use interface, despite its lack of reporting functions.
- Categories:
