Bulletin 1065 w/c Monday 28th April 2025
- Month End extended by three days – May 25
- Shipping to the U.S. for shipments valued over USD 800
- Finance Transformation News – the monthly digest of all things FTP
- U.F.S Users Responsibilities Audit - Monday 5th May 2025
- May Bank Holiday Payment Run changes
- Reminder - CUFS downtime 1pm Friday 23rd May to 9am on Friday 30th May
- Finance Training courses
- Monthly Accounting Timetable
Month End extended by three days – May 25
Due to CUFS patching exercise, Month End closing dates for May 25 are extended by three working days. Accordingly, the closure dates for the month of May 2025 are as follows;
Day 3 – Monday 9th June
- Accounts Payable
- Accounts Receivable
- Inventory
- Grants
- Purchasing
Day 4 – Tuesday 10th June
- Last day for placing funds on deposit
- Fixed Assets
Day 5 – Wednesday 11th June
- General Ledger
All modules will close at 5pm on the stated days.
Issued by Jay Samarappuli - Central & Research Accounting
Shipping to the U.S. for shipments valued over USD 800
As a result of recent U.S. Customs regulatory updates, DHL have announced temporary service changes to reflect this.
In summary:
- All shipments to the U.S. with a customs value above USD 800 now require formal customs entry processing. Previously this was only required goods customs values above USD 2,500
- DHL are experiencing multi-day delays to shipments to the U.S. where the customs value of the goods exceeds USD 800
- Until further notice, DHL will be suspending business-to-consumer (B2C) shipments to private individuals where the value exceeds USD 800
- Business-to-business (B2B) shipments to U.S. companies with a customs value above USD 800 are not affected by the suspension, though they may also face delays
More information can be found here.
Please note that DHL’s position may change as the situation evolves and other couriers may also take a similar stance.
In the meantime, we suggest taking the following steps to reduce the chances of further delays to your shipments.
- Ensure the recipient address on the AWB and commercial/shipping invoice clearly states the business name
- Where possible, include the business’s US Tax ID number (TIN) which helps make it clear that the goods are destined for a business rather than a private individual. You may need to liaise with the recipient to obtain this information
- Seek the use of another courier or freight forwarder if DHL cannot provide the services you require, especially in cases where the goods are temperature-sensitive
It is important to note that despite these changes, customs values must remain realistic and be based on the World Trade Organisation’s valuation methods. Undervaluation of goods may result in goods being seized by authorities and fines being issued.
If you have any questions, please contact importexporthub@admin.cam.ac.uk
Issued by Rhianna Yau - Import & Export Manager
<Finance Transformation News – the monthly digest of all things FTP
Finance Transformation News is the monthly newsletter of the Finance Transformation Programme. With the latest programme news, team member profiles, and spotlights on our workstreams, it’s the best way for colleagues across the University to keep up to date with all the latest on FTP.
We’re adding CUFS Bulletin subscribers to our distribution list ahead of our Wednesday 30 April issue. For an idea of what to expect, take a look at the back issues.
If you want to opt out, please email ftprogramme@admin.cam.ac.uk. Each issue also includes an unsubscribe link.
Issued by Chris De Bie - Communications Advisor
U.F.S Users Responsibilities Audit - Monday 5th May 2025
The formal verification process is a requirement of the University auditors, and runs the first week of May and November each year and should confirm that the University has a robust process in place to prevent fraudulent access or abuse of the system.
It is the responsibility of the Key Contact to ensure their users have the right level of responsibilities required to fulfil their role, this should be reviewed regularly as roles within the department change.
We would expect audit returns to be completed as correct if the Key Contacts have reviewed the access regularly.
If you need to check the access for your department prior to the audit you can request a report from the Helpdesk Hub
Key Contact Reminders
- Before end dating a user on CUFS, please check they have no incomplete or in process requisitions or orders in CUFS.
- If a forward end date is requested it is advisable for the user to put a reminder in their diary so they do not get caught out if they attempt to log in after the stated date.
- Likewise, forward end dates should be reviewed along with responsibilities
- Are the purchasing approval limits appropriate for the role currently held
- Is the level of access correct - Key Contacts Guide
- Has every effort been made to ensure segregation of duties (Purchase to Pay) were possible
Key Contacts and access audit information at the link below
Issued by Lesley Dent - System Administrator
MAY BANK HOLIDAY Monday 5th May
- Supplier & Priority Payment Runs will be completed as usual for payment on Tuesday 6th May (instead of Monday 5th May)
- Employee Payment Run – Completed Tuesday 6th May for payment on Thursday 8th May (instead of Wednesday 7th May)
Due to the tight schedule of the above payment runs please ensure that all invoices/expense claims you wish to be paid are processed and approved and all copies of over £10k invoices are sent to ufs_payments@admin.cam.ac.uk by the aforementioned times.
If you have any queries or require any further assistance please do not hesitate to contact the Accounts Payable Team on the usual helpdesk number (66888) or email me on smw41@admin.cam.ac.uk
Issued by Susanna Wilson – Accounts Payable Supervisor
Reminder Notice: CUFS downtime 1pm Friday 23rd May to 9am on Friday 30th May
As advised in Bulletin 1062, CUFS will be unavailable from 1pm on Friday 23rd May and access will be restored on Friday 30th May. This downtime is to accommodate critical security patches.
To take the system down safely please ensure all your requests are completed before 1pm on Friday 23rd May, and all your scheduled requests due to run after this time have been put on hold.
Further communications will be provided in the run up to the downtime on urgent purchase order procedures and placing requests on hold.
Items on Amendments to Payment Schedules and Invoice Automation - Phase 3, published in Bulletin 1062, are available from the following link.
Issued by Lesley Dent - System Administrator
Forthcoming courses
VAT Relief – Introducing Medical Exemption Tue 29 April
Due to the popularity of this course at the Biomedical Campus in October, we are running another session, this time at the Postdoc Centre in Eddington. The course is in person and will be presented by Angela Fearnside. It is designed to help anyone responsible for purchasing items and will explain when it is appropriate to claim VAT relief and how the relief is claimed.
This course is relevant for:
- Staff raising requisitions or purchase orders.
- Procurement staff
- Staff who need to consider VAT and budgeting as part of their role e.g. budgeting for research grant applications, raising POs etc.
Virtual Courses (via Teams)
Excel 1&2 for Finance Staff Wed 30 Apr & Wed 7 May
This course is aimed at developing your spreadsheet skills in the Finance arena. It’s hands on and you will not only practice using your existing Excel skills, but will also be exposed to more advanced functionality. We will be using data from CUFS. The course runs over two sessions and participants will need to attend both of these sessions
GL1: Getting Started in the General Ledger Thu 15 & Fri 16 May
Learn the basics of how the General Ledger module works. Topics include the University’s chart of accounts and how to run online account enquiries. The optional second session covers how to process journals.
Cognos Introduction Thu 15 & Fri 16 May
This course is the basis for GL and Grants reporting and introduces the functionality of Cognos 11. It is a practical course, with demonstrations of tips and shortcuts. You need to ensure you have Cognos access setup before the course. This is obtained via your Key Contact. NB. The objective is to demonstrate understanding and using Cognos. Report outputs are covered in detail in the GL or Grants reporting courses
Grants 2: Grants Reports in Cognos Tue 20 and Wed 21 May
For anyone needing to report on their grants, this course focusses on the Cognos suite of Grants reports. It includes both consolidated reports, list and detailed expenditure, where the output varies depending on your selected options. The Year-end, Final Billing and Project/Award Status reports are also covered. Over the two sessions, reporting is viewed from three different perspectives: summary financial information, detailed expenditure analysis and management reports for grants due to close. Cognos access, Intro to Cognos and Grants 1 (both offered online) are prerequisites for this course.
Concur – Acting as a delegate Thu 22 May
This is a short briefing session on how to act as a delegate using the desktop SAP Concur system. It will explain who can act as a delegate, how to set up the delegate and how to act as a delegate for someone else.
Tableau Drop In Sessions various dates
Half hour session available to all members of the University, one-on-one with Tableau experts across the Business Information and Strategic Insights Team, who can help resolve any challenges you are having with and ensure you get the most out of the Tableau Server/Desktop.
In Person Courses
Tableau Server – Viewer (classroom course) Tue 13 May
This course is for anyone new to using Tableau Server for viewing and using existing dashboards. During the course we will cover navigation of the system and demonstrate how to find and interpret existing dashboards. There will opportunity to practice these skills with a practical exercise.
Please note: This course does not cover the Explorer role which is required for creating your own dashboards. If this is of interest, you might like to book a drop-in session with one of the Tableau experts. https://training.cam.ac.uk/fin/course/fin-virt-tableau-dropin
You will need to bring your laptop with you so that you can participate in the practical exercises. Please note that there is no parking available at Greenwich House however, the Madingley Park and Ride is a 15 minute walk and the Universal Bus stops on Madingley Road.
Issued by Sarah Perry - Finance Training
Monthly Accounting Timetable
To view the status of the monthly process including the month end close dates please use the following link: Accounting Timetable