Bulletin No. 893
Monday 13th December
Use of Vulnerable Period - Thursday 16th December
System maintenance is scheduled for the vulnerable period (VP) of 6am to 9am on Thursday 16th December
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Users who are processing in CUFS when the VP starts will lose their work.
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Users who are running requests in CUFS when the VP starts could delay the start of work while those requests complete.
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Users attempting to log onto CUFS while the system is being brought back online can face instability and delay the return of the sys
UFS Communications will be issued when the work is complete and users can access the system.
Issued by Paul Humphreys - Functional Analyst
IMPORTANT: No CUFS access from 12pm on Friday 24th December to 8am on Tuesday 4th January.
As you will be aware there is a heightened risk of cyber security activity such as phishing attacks over holiday periods.
Having assessed previous data volumes it is evident that usage of CUFS during the Christmas and New Year period is very limited. Therefore, as part of improvements made to existing CUFS data integrity and cyber security protocols, access to CUFS will be removed during the period from 12pm on Friday 24th December to 8am on Tuesday 4th January. This will provide added protection from cyber security incidents.
This action will not impact on making payments to suppliers as a revised schedule of payment runs will be implemented for the Christmas period and communicated in the CUFS Bulletin as usual.
Cognos will be available to run reports during this time.
Thank you for your assistance. If you have any queries please contact FSG System Support
Issued by Michelle Bond - Head of Financial Systems
Imports and exports changes from 1 Jan 2022
HMRC have issued guidance about changes to imports and exports from 1 January 2022. Below we have highlighted those most relevant to University activities. Please could Key Contacts share this information with any departmental colleagues who are likely to be involved in these types of transactions and remind them of the guidance that is available at https://www.finance.admin.cam.ac.uk/policy-and-procedures/brexit-transistion-guidelines.
Commodity codes changes
Commodity codes are used worldwide to classify goods that are imported and exported need to be quoted on import/export declarations and dictate the rate of customs duty plus any import / export controls. They are standardised up to 6-digits and reviewed every 5 years - see What is a commodity code? Following the end of the latest eview, the UK codes will be changing on 1 January 2022.
Action: Departments should check that commodity codes are still appropriate using the UK Tariff.
Full border controls to be introduced for goods moving between Great Britain and the EU
From 1 Jan 22 ports and border locations will be required to fully control goods moving between Great Britain and the EU (this has been relaxed during 2021). This means that unless your goods have a valid declaration and have received customs clearance, they will not be able to be released for delivery. The University has already been operating a full customs declaration policy throughout 2021 and so, in theory, there will be little change felt by us although it would be prudent to anticipate delays / general disruption in the short-term as wider supply-chains will have more friction to deal with.
Action: Departments should continue to issue import clearance instructions to suppliers / freight agents where possible and respond to requests for clearance instructions (e.g., from DHL, FEDEX etc) urgently. Please see guidance: https://www.finance.admin.cam.ac.uk/policy-and-procedures/brexit-guidelines/customs-agents
Exports: Supplier declarations required
Throughout 2021, there has been a relaxation of the evidence required when giving proof of origin for customs duty relief but from 1 January 2022 you must have supplier declarations (where required) at the time you export your goods – please see https://www.finance.admin.cam.ac.uk/policy-and-procedures/brexit/Supplier-statement-of-orgin for a template.
Importing animals and animal by-product (ABPs) from the EU and EEA pre-notification requirements
With effect from 1 January 2022 and 1 July 2022, additional notification and documentation will be required when importing certain animals and ABPs from the EU and EEA. UK importers must pre-notify enforcement authorities in Great Britain about imports of HRFNAO (high-risk food or feed not of animal origin) and imports of ABPs using IPAFFS (Import of products, animals, food and feed system).
ACTION: Departments will be responsible for submitting the pre-notification of incoming consignments via IPAFFS 24 hours before a consignment is due to arrive. Please see the Safety Office guidance and contact the University Biomedical Services (UBS) for all IPAFFS requests.
From 1 July 2022, additional documentation will be required (export health certificates) and relevant imports must come through a border control point for additional checks. The Animal and Plant Health Agency guidance of the animals and animal products that are impacted by this change, includes:
- Live animals and genetic material (including semen, embryos, and ova)
- Animal by-products/products not for human consumption (including blood and blood products, educational tools, gelatine and collagen, hydrolysed proteins, dicalcium phosphate and tricalcium phosphate, processed animal protein (PAP), products for technical and pharmaceutical use, research/trade samples and display items )
- Animal products for human consumption
Issued by Angela Fearnside - Tax
Weekly Christmas Deadlines
For Departments who still submit weekly timesheets for staff, the Christmas 2021 deadline dates have been posted on the Payroll website.
2022 Payroll Deadlines
The Monthly and UPS deadlines for 2022 have now been added to the Payroll website.
Issued by Jenni Jeffrey - Payroll
Cambridge University Endowment Fund – Reminder of Purchases & Sales Deadline Purchases & Sales as at 31st December 2021
Please note that the deadline for purchase & sale requests for internal departments is 5pm on Monday 13th December. Could all departments make sure requests are received by Treasury & Investments by this time. Queries Any queries should be addressed to: treasury@admin
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Deposit Account – Interest Payment & Emailed Enforced Movement Letters
Deposit Account
Please note Deposit Account interest has been credited for November 2021 in CUFS
Enforced Movements
As part of monthly monitoring the Treasury & Investments team have carried out deposit movements to correct debit balances on Sources of Funds. Affected departments will receive documentation indicating which accounts have been adjusted.
Emailed Enforced Movement Letters
Departments will now receive enforced movement letters via email. If these are being received by the incorrect contact or you have not received a notification you were expecting, please contact Treasury & Investments.
December 2021 Deposit Account Interest
Please ensure deposit movements for December 2021 have been processed by the close of 7th January 2022, and that overdrawn accounts have had funds taken off deposit by this time to avoid delays in crediting December’s Interest.
Any queries should be addressed to: Treasury & Investments treasury@admin.cam.ac.uk Ext 64216
Issued by Scott Maclaren - Treasury & Investments
Cognos Grants Reports - NEW report
A New Cognos report, Grants: Project/Award Status Report, can be found in the Departmental (Shared) Reports folder for your School.
This is intended as an alternative to the following reports from CUFS:
- CUFS GMS: Award Status Report by Dept or Award - Excel Version (UFS)
- CUFS GMS: Project Status Report By Dept or Project - Excel Version (UFS
The new Cognos report has a variety of optional fields, allowing users to customise the output to suit their requirements. Using this report you should be able to reproduce any of the outputs from the following report and the report has been designed to eventually replace this Cognos report:
- GMS: Project Status Report
The report is intended for use by departments, schools, Central Finance and the Research Office. It uses the standard security model, restricting returned information to only the Projects and Awards the user has been granted access to.
- Training instructions for the report can be accessed here
We would encourage users to set up report views, with pre-set parameter choices for reports that are regularly used, to save time and replicate the report layout they desire:
- Creating a Report View click here
We will be looking for user feedback to help steer any improvements to this report in the right direction.
Issued by Leisa Broad - Financial Reporting Developer
iProcurement Requesters
We are aware of a number of failed System Notification for Requesters; the following is not a new issue but a reminder of the Requestor process.
You can select a Requester on an order, as well as having yourself as the Buyer. However, only Requesters with an active CUFS record will receive system notifications regarding the order. Please keep this in mind, as you may wish to send an email manually.
We hope to address this in the very near future so all Requesters receive the appropriate notifications.
Issued by Lesley Dent - System Administrator
FAQs and known issues
If you are experiencing issues with iProcurement, please check the latest How-to Guidance and FAQs before contacting the Helpdesk Hub.
Many issues can be resolved by Clearing your browser cache.
Please visit the R12.2 Upgrade Page for the latest FAQs and reported issues: https://ufs.admin.cam.ac.uk/r122-upgrade
We would like to take this opportunity to thank you all for your continued support while we resolve the post upgrade issues.
Issued by Paul Humphreys – Functional Analyst
End of Year Payment Runs 2021
Please refer to the table at the link below for the Christmas Payment Run dates for 2021.
If you have any queries please contact the Accounts Payable Helpdesk on 66888 or email UFS_AP@admin.cam.ac.uk.
Monthly Accounting Timetable
To view the status of the monthly process including the month end close dates please use the following link: Accounting Timetable
Bulletins
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