Budget and Finance

The Dean's Office Finance is responsible for providing financial leadership, guidance and oversight of financial operations within the Vice Provost and Dean of Research organization. Areas of responsibility include strategic decision support, budget management and planning, fiscal stewardship and compliance, support and guidance for departments and Dean’s office during the annual financial cycle, data analytics, and policy development.

If you have any questions or feedback about this site, please contact us at dorfinanceteam@stanford.edu.

Below please find our October, 2023 updates to the gift policy, the pcard/tcard suspension process and new budget system implementation plan.

Dear colleagues,

As we approach yearend close, please see the calendar and yearend close resources in the below deck. There are a few updates on medical wavers, pcard/tcard suspension process, living wage fees and fund management courses information. If you have questions, please contact your dean’s office liaison.

• FY23 yearend close
• Medical wavers
• Changes to card suspension process
• Living wage fees
• Funds management courses in November

At the June 19, 2023 VPDOR Staff Directors meeting, the below slides were presented providing updates regarding airfare booking, a new single/sole source justification form, endowment funds with ISC waived and Microsoft license cost allocations for FY24.

Thank you for your responses to our Budget Plan Survey. Below please find the results and feedback received.

At the April 3, 2023 VPDOR Staff Directors meeting, the below slides were presented providing updates regarding the budget plan process and the budget system replacement process.

At the January 23, 2023 VPDOR Staff Directors meeting, the below updates regarding honorarium guidelines, the quarterly financial attestation process, the Microsoft Enterprise license renewal for FY24 and the budget plan kick-off training session were shared.

Thank you to all who attended our kick-off session on February 1st! If you were unable to attend, a recording is available here and a link is also in the below slide deck. Please reach out to your Dean's office finance liaison with any questions or use our 'vpdor-finance-units-connect' Slack channel. 

Budget Process and Timeline 

FY24 Booked Budget kickoff meeting recording (< link)

For planning assumptions, please refer to Tidemark's "02. Booked Budget: Setup and Fund Management" panel, then the "Department Assumptions" Panel.

Tidemark

Tidemark is an university budget management system that supports budget units through Stanford's annual budget cycle.

For Tidemark Job Aid and trainings provided by the budget office, please refer to Tidemark website and two user guides below.

DoR Budget Completion Checklist

Please review each item in the below checklist and place a checkmark next to each step when completed. Send the completed list to your Dean's finance contact.

Stanford Year End Calendar

Managing Year‐End Close Activities Process flow and Policies (FMS Presentation)

Please submit the below fund transfer template to dorfinanceteam@stanford.edu for processing.

How to Run Operating Budget Report

The university pays directly or reimburses individuals for expenses that are necessary and appropriate to conduct university business. University policy and guidance addresses many, but not all, scenarios. Where unclear or unusual circumstances arise, additional information, questions about financial policies or exceptional requests should be directed to the school or unit’s senior finance administrator. In all cases, fiscal prudence and good judgment should be exercised. All Stanford transactions are subject to review by Financial Management Services (FMS) as well as internal and external auditors for compliance with sound business practices, institutional policies and procedures, and any applicable laws and regulations.

The university outlines its guiding principles and the IRS regulations for business and travel expenses in Administrative Guide Policy 5.4.2: Business and Travel Expenses.

Business & Travel Expenses

 

University Information

Expense Report Checklist

Business Purpose Writing Guidelines

Travel Process

Business Meal vs Travel Meal

A business meal is defined as a meal at which faculty, staff, students and/or guests are present for the purpose of conducting university business. Business meals must take place at a restaurant or catered by an approved supplier. A business meal may occur while traveling, but is differentiated from a travel meal. A business meal must have a business purpose which is connected to the university mission and clearly documented in the expense report (see receipts and documentation section). In addition, the business meal must be deemed reasonable and necessary under university policy.

A travel meal is defined as an ordinary and necessary meal that occurs while traveling on university business. The primary purpose for reimbursing a travel meal is to defray the cost of meal expenses when traveling outside of one’s local area, which is defined as more than 50 miles one way from home or Stanford, whichever is greater. Unlike a business meal, no additional justification is needed for a travel meal as long as the meal occurs within the business travel period, because it is covered by the business purpose of that trip. The cost of the travel meal must still be deemed reasonable under university policy, as such, the university has established maximums for travel meal reimbursement.

University Receipts

Process and Deposit Department Receipts

The university's standard method of processing and depositing departmental receipts is electronically through Stanford CASHNet. Departments that receive cash or checks on a regular basis should consult with the Office of the Treasurer (OOT) to arrange the most efficient method for handling receipts.

Receipts should be deposited on the day by recording deposits in Stanford CASHNet, preparing funds and delivering them to Wells Fargo Bank. Alternatively, deposits can be recorded using the Department Transmittal (paper form). All deposits require an email notification to the University Payments Office.

Process and Deposit Department Receipts

Unidentified Receipts

Unidentified Receipts are incoming funds received by Stanford that cannot be reconciled and applied back to an organization or specific receiving account. Unidentified Receipts occur when the Office of the Treasurer or Payment Services did not receive valid remittance details with the incoming payment. The receipt cannot be applied to the proper organization without these details. Unidentified Receipts can be received by Stanford in both paper (checks) and electronic (Automated Clearing House ACH credits or wire transfers) format. Please refer to

Unidentified Receipts

Purchasing & Contracts

Purchase Requisition

Purchase Order

Cancel a Purchase Requisition or Purchase Order

Payment Method

Travel Card Policy

Procurement Services offers university-issued and university-paid credit cards, called Travel Cards (TCards), which are the preferred method for buying travel and travel-related services required to conduct university business. Travel expenses charged to the Stanford TCard will be paid directly by the university to JPMorgan Chase.

Travel Card Policy

Purchasing Card (PCard) Program

Purchasing Cards are a tool for Stanford University (SU) individuals making allowable purchases on behalf of the university. Refer to Administrative Guide Policy: 5.3.3 Purchasing Cards (https://adminguide.stanford.edu/chapter-5/subchapter-3/policy-5-3-3). Payments for charges on a Purchasing Card are made directly from Stanford to the bank. There are two types of Purchasing Cards: an individual Purchasing Card and a Department Purchasing Card. The individual Purchasing Card is issued to a specific SU employee. The Department Purchasing Card is issued to a custodian (SU employee) on behalf of the department. All Purchasing Card transactions require verification and approval.

Purchasing Card (PCard) Program

Manage PCard/TCard Account Profile

The Credit Card Profiles Change Request tool is used to manage Travel Card (TCard) and Purchasing Card (PCard) account profiles. Use the tool to request changes to:
Cardholder or custodian (department PCard only within same department)
Verifier
Card status - close, suspend or active
Guarantee PTAE
Monthly limit

Manage PCard/TCard Account Profile

Org Code & PTA

Change a PTA on an Approved Purchase Order

PTA is an acronym used for a project-task-award combination representing an account in the University's Oracle Financials system used to categorize expenditures by funding source.

Change a PTA on an Approved Purchase Order

PTA Close Template (google)

Request New PTA

Change PTA Attributes (email DoR unit contact)

Org code request template and timeline

Organizational (org) codes are a way of defining Stanford's multilevel organizational structure. This page provides an overview of the purpose and use of org codes.

Org code request template and timeline
Please send org code change request to dorfinanceteam@stanford.edu 3 days before due date

Org Code Hierarchy

Please send completed forms to dorfinanceteam@stanford.edu

Fund Transfer Template updated 8/2023 below:

PTA Close Template

DoR Expense Pre-Review Request

Administrative Guide
Authority Manager
Expenditure Types, Commonly Used 
Expenditure Types, Unallowable
Facilities and Administrative Cost Rates
Facility Financial Inquiry Tool
Fingate
Fund Management principles 
Fund Transfer (Allowable Funding Transfers)
ISC guidelines 
Labor Distribution Adjustments
Month End Close Calendar
OBI Reporting
Office of Research Administration
Oracle Financial Systems
Oracle Inquiry Tools Info—This site provide information of Oracle Financial Inquiry Tools such as, Expenditure Type Query, Fund Title Query, Requisition and Purchase Order Query, Labor Distribution User Query, Pending Transactions, and Financial Approval Authority Query.
Org Code Hierarchy
Org Code Request and Timeline
OSR Contact
OSR Training Module
Paying for Graduate Student & Postdoc
Purchasing Card (PCard) Program 
Request New PTA
Stanford electronic Research Administration System (SeRA)
Tidemark Budgeting
Training list for new AD/Analyst
University Budget Office