Why are these year end accounting deadlines so important to follow?

Yearend accounting deadlines are used to record transactions in a specific accounting period, such as the fiscal year ending June 30th, and to prevent transactions that occurred after June 30th from being recorded in the “old year.” Essentially, this means that if an event took place during a certain accounting period, the financial impact must be recognized in that period (whether the period is a month, quarter or fiscal year).

Accounting deadlines ensure the integrity, accuracy, and reliability of the University’s financial information. Without clear accounting deadlines, errors can occur with transactions being recorded in the wrong period (in this case, in the wrong fiscal year).

How do you help the University achieve a successful yearend close?

Here are just a few ways that you can help the University have an effective yearend close process:

• Reconcile your monthly reports and any accounts that require your sign-off on the trial balance as soon as possible but before any set deadlines. Make any corrections as soon as possible. Remember, accounting corrections must be done within 90 days but at yearend close, you don’t have 90 days to complete corrections for a June 30 fiscal close. Make sure to start early and leave yourself plenty of time.
• Remind your faculty/staff to submit employee reimbursement and travel expense reports, as well as pcard reports in Concur promptly and in compliance with policy submission and approval dates.
• Submit requests for purchases early to ensure adequate time to process and deal with any competitive bidding requirements so we can meet your timelines so you have what you need, when you need it.
• Review your purchase orders to make sure they have been invoiced appropriately by fiscal year close. If necessary, reach out to your vendors to have them invoice you if the payment should be made by June 30th. Remember to close any POs that are no longer needed.
• Make sure you get all invoices in for FY24 by the Accounts Payable processing deadlines.
• At this point, you should be making daily deposits for cash, checks, and credit card transactions with the Bursar Office.
• Follow up on any outstanding travel or research advances in your area and get those settled by the deadlines if they should be booked in FY24.
• Ensure all payroll corrections are completed by the due dates.
• Make sure you set your vacation rules/delegations/proxies in systems to ensure transactions still flow during your time away from the office this time of year.
• Please respond to any requests for information or processing needs without delay. That allows us to process your transactions as quickly as possible. And we thank you for your prompt attention to these matters in advance!
• Most importantly, reach out to us with any questions – we are here to help!

Questions, we are here for you, please contact financecustomercare@ohio.edu