Divisions and IS
The year-end date of the 31st July 2024 is critical for all non-project announced research related expenditure, (i.e. not externally funded) as although announced Research and Innovation expenditure is bound by the same financial rules, budgets for research projects are based on the period of the grant/project, and not a financial year.
Spending Deadlines
Therefore if you are intending to continue spending from the codes you have which are affected by the year-end (i.e. non- announced research project) usually with a job number beginning with 4xxxx or 9xxxx and non-external funded income , please be reminded that these costs need to be included in the current financial year, and therefore the goods must have been ordered and DELIVERED by 31st of July (and ideally invoiced too).
To ensure that there is enough time left to process the orders we already have, and for the orders to be delivered by 31/07/2024, please ensure you have forwarded your order requests to your normal request routes by Sunday 30th June 2024.
Whilst this is simple for goods with definitely short lead times, If the lead time is not clear, please check with a supplier how long delivery would take at a maximum, to make sure that the required items are on the premises by 31st July 2024. We will have a lot of orders to process at this time too, so as long as the requests are made in time we will process them as soon as possible.
Please remember externally funded Research and Innovation Project orders on project numbers generally beginning with 1xxxx, 2xxxx or 3xxxx for research purposes, are unaffected by this timeline, and will still be placed as normal and prioritised, be it as quickly as we can within the current workloads, as we appreciate the research must keep going.
Please could you make sure that all outstanding invoices, expenses claim forms (including those related to the research grants/Innovation awards) and timesheets are submitted as soon as possible during July, as we need time to process them.
Foreign suppliers’ invoices, i.e. in non-sterling currencies need to be with finance by the by the 14th July 2024, in order to be paid within the current year.
Colleagues are kindly reminded that the ‘No PO (Purchase Order), No Pay’ process still very much applies.
Expenses claims
- FAO of members of staff: to make sure claims included in 23/24 financial year, please submit expenses claims via Staff Connect by Sunday 14th July 2024 at the latest, to allow the Finance Team time to process them before the Payments Office’s claims deadline…….we are aware we will have many to process……so if they were rejected simply because they timed out (over 14 days)…..simply resubmit them using the option on staff connect.
These claims should not be over 3 months old either, and not include any physical items that we should and could have purchased for you.
- FAO of students: if any outstanding, please submit online electronic expenses claims via the online, Student Expenses Claim Form by Sunday 14th July 2024 at the latest.
Any claims after that, will need to briefly wait, and be submitted on or after the 1st August 2024, and this include those on announced Research / Innovation related Projects too please, as there will still be time to claim on your project.
Timesheet Staff
Research Assistant / Hourly Paid Staff / PT teachers – Timesheets.
If you have been awarded any form of internal funding, which might have included a budget for research assistants (RA’s) / or hourly paid staff, please can I ask you to remind your RAs / workers should submit their timesheets within 30 days of working the hours.
“All hours (both guaranteed hours and variable hours) must be claimed in this way and must be claimed within 30 days of the work having been undertaken. In exceptional circumstances forms will be accepted up to 90 days after work is undertaken. Failure to do so may result in pay being withheld.”
- FAO supervisors / line managers please ensure you delegate timesheet approval if you are not going to be available 1st or 2nd August.
- FAO staff on timesheet contracts: please submit your timesheet authorised by your supervisor to your divisional finance team email address as usual, no later than Friday 2nd Aug 2024.
Timesheets submitted after the 2nd August for hours worked up to and including the 31/07/24 will not be eligible to be processed for payment.
Income / journals
If you have any outstanding requests for invoicing external organisations or recharging other departments, please could you forward relevant information for raising invoices or internal recharges to your divisional finance team email address, as soon as possible.
Estates/Hospitality
The year-end date of the 31st July 2024 is just as critical to Estates and Hospitality, and so please ensure all requests are submitted as soon as possible, to be included in the current year, and current practices for year-end remain as normal.
Expenses claims
- FAO of members of staff: to make sure claims included in 23/24 financial year, please submit expenses claims via Staff Connect by Sunday 14th July 2024 at the latest, to allow the Finance Team time to process them before the Payments Office’s claims deadline…….we are aware we will have many to process……so if they were rejected simply because they timed out (over 14 days)…..simply resubmit them using the option on staff connect.
These claims should not be over 3 months old either, and not include any physical items that we should and could have purchased for you.
Any claims after that, will need to briefly wait, and be submitted on or after the 1st August 2024.
Thank you in advance for your support and patience with this exercise. Please bear with us at this very busy time, we will get there, as our response times may be slower than we would like, at year end, which reaches all the way into the first weeks in August.