Processing Cost Transfers

Non-Payroll Cost transfers can generally be done directly in Oracle. The KBA Cost Transfer Guide gives information on what process and office supports the different types and then this page has details on the how to’s of doing Oracle PPM Cost Transfers.

Most payroll cost transfers are processed directly in UCPath as a Salary Cost Transfer (SCT) or a Direct Retro. Refer to the UCPath Job Aids for step-by-step guidance. 

There are some nuanced circumstances when payroll expenses are not able to be corrected via UCPath and need to be transferred in an alternative way. Note that these cases are rare and should only be utilized during the following scenarios: 

• Default payroll that is on the correct project in the Labor Ledger: This occurs if an award-project-task expired in Portfolio Project Management (PPM) but was extended later through an amendment, No-Cost Extension or Temporary-Award Extension. An Oracle PPM Cost Transfer is necessary to move the charge costs(s) from the default to the extended project-task to align PPM and UCPath. See “Do I need to do a Direct Retro or an Oracle Cost Transfer?”  
• Default payroll on a project in the Labor Ledger where the end date of that project has been extended in Oracle: When a Direct Retro of these transactions is processed, the credit side of the transfer will post to the Labor Ledger project rather than the default project.  

• Option 1: Use a PPM cost transfer to transfer the payroll from the default project to the intended project-task.  This is the simplest course of action but will result in misalignment between the Labor Ledger and Oracle.  Keep a record of payroll moved this way to make appropriate adjustments in the ECERT system. 
• Option 2: Use a Direct Retro/SCT to transfer the payroll to the intended project-task.  Then complete a PPM cost transfer to move the credits that posted to the FROM project-task to the default project. 

• Payroll that was processed in UCPath in May or June 2020 that posted in IFIS: Cost transfers needed for payroll that posted to fiscal year 2020 on converted costs (Transaction Source = UCSD IFIS Conversion) must be done via Oracle PPM Cost Transfer.  

During the early adoption of UCPath and Oracle (July-December 2020) some payroll on sponsored funds was posted to Oracle with a missing or obsolete project. As a result, these transactions hit the Oracle General Ledger (GL) and not Oracle Portfolio Project Management (PPM). These occurrences can be identified by running the Department Exceptions Panorama; Transactions on No Project Report. Select “Sponsored Funds” in the prompt and filter by “Payroll Accounts”.  

To move sponsored payroll transactions on no project from the GL to PPM and correct UCPath, perform the steps below:  

1. Confirm the absence of a prior Direct Retro; if none exists, initiate a Direct Retro to allocate the entry to the correct project. 
2. Submit a Service & Support ticket with the following path:
   • I want to: Ask a Question or Make a Request
   • About: Financial Accounting
   • Related to: Payroll Financial Management
   • More Specifically: Payroll Reconciliation

Failure to complete the second step will result in an additional unresolved credit remaining in the PPM Default project, as well as the original expense in the General Ledger NULL project. 

As of January 2021, funding entries on sponsored projects with missing or obsolete chartstrings now go to a Financial Unit’s Default project. 

When completing a payroll cost transfer, it is important to consider all corresponding payroll-related costs. This can include (Salary, Fringe, General Liability (GAEL), Graduate Student Tuition Remission, Next Generation Network (NGN), Health Sciences Technology Services Charge (HS-TSC) and Medical Center Network Charges (MCN).  A full list of payroll-associated Expenditure Types can be found here.  

Below is a table that displays how payroll-associated costs are moved by or based on a UCPath SCT/Direct Retro: 

*If moving payroll via an Oracle PPM Cost Transfer, note that you will need to manually transfer all related costs (salary, fringe, NGN, etc). For more resources, please check out the following guides:

• How to Determine What Corrective Action to Take to Clean Up Defaulted Payroll
• How to Find the Payroll-Related PPM Transactions for an Oracle PPM Cost Transfer
• How to Perform a Payroll-Related PPM Cost Transfer

Graduate Student Tuition Remission  

Retroactive Graduate Student Tuition Remission corrections are based on the Labor Ledger and should be posted in the same month as an SCT/Direct Retro (if approved by the monthly SCT/Direct Retro deadline).  

Tuition Remission for Instructional Assistants (IATF) is processed quarterly, but payroll posts monthly. Please note that IATF adjustments via SCT/Direct Retro will only post quarterly.  

If Tuition Remission did not post as expected, submit a Service & Support ticket with the following path:

• I want to: Ask a Question or Make a Request
• About: Financial Accounting
• Related to: Graduate Student Financial Administration
• More Specifically: Graduate Tuition & Fee Remission Accounting
  • Include in the comments: Employee ID, Expenditure Item Date 

Student Financial Support Payments 

These are non-payroll-related transactions, but information is provided here to explain how to correct these types of transactions. 

Transferring student financial support payments (stipend, tuition, fees, etc.) should not be processed via Oracle PPM Cost Transfer and instead needs to be corrected via the source system Professional Student Aid Management (ProSAM). ProSAM is the centralized system in the Integrated Student Information System (ISIS) used to disburse need-based (financial aid) and merit-based (financial support) funding to students. Funding is then posted to the student’s account in ISIS AR, integrated with OFC, and posted to PPM for project-based funding (non-project-based funding is posted directly to the General Ledger). A list of Student Financial Support Associated Expenditure Types can be found here. 

The department should first determine the correct chartstring the charge should move to. If the cost is sitting on a default project, investigate and resolve any issues with the project (e.g. the expenditure item date may be outside of the project or task end date).  

Next, the source system needs to be updated with the correct chartstring. Work with your department's student aid coordinator to assist with corrections. See the steps below:  

Graduate Student (PhD, MFA, or Master’s) Financial Support Payments:   

• Departments should verify if there is an existing AIDID/Detail Code associated with the project-task the charge needs to move to via the OFC : ISIS : ProSAM Funding Code Map. If you need a new AIDID, submit a request via the Graduate Support Accounting Setup (GSAS).  
• Once the AIDID/Detail Code is available, work with the relevant Graduate Coordinator to submit retroactive corrections in the Financial Support Request Tool (FSRT).  
• Support requests in FSRT are transferred to ProSAM.  

Medical (M.D.) or Pharmacy (PharmD) Financial Support Payments:    

• Alert the Health Sciences Financial Aid Office (HSFAO) of the requested change by emailing somfinaid@health.ucsd.edu. 
• HSFAO will send the Traineeship Form for you to complete. Provide the original and new chartstring you would like the funds moved to.   
• The HSFAO will verify if there is an existing AIDID/Detail Code associated with the Project-Task you are moving the charge to. If necessary, a new AIDID/Detail Code will be created by the HSFAO staff member.  
• An HSFAO staff member will make all changes in ProSAM. 

Undergraduate Financial Support Payments:  

• To correct this, departments should complete and submit an Undergraduate Scholarship Payment Request Form with the correct chartstring information.  
• The Financial Aid Office (FAO) will verify if there is an AIDID/Detail Code with the correct funding information or will create a new AIDID/Detail Code.  
• FAO will replace old awards with the new AIDID/Detail Code in ProSAM.  
• After ProSAM has been updated with the correct AIDID/detail code, transactions post via the Integrated Student Information System (ISIS) and Oracle Financial Cloud (OFC) and you will see the corrections reflected in Portfolio Project Management (PPM) and the General Ledger (GL). 

Extension courses processed as a recharge are also set up in ISIS and could go to default if there is an issue processing the course recharge. If an error message is received when cost transferring expenses on a grant fund source, a transaction control may have been put in place. Please contact Sponsored Project Finance via a Service and Support Ticket including a justification of expense so SPF can determine allowability on a grant.