Note: The below process does not apply to closing the month of June. For more information on the year-end close, refer to the following link.
Monthly Close Timeline:
- Departments will have one business day following month end to backdate any accounting adjustments on payroll transactions or direct expenses into the prior month. If adjustments are not recorded during this one business day, they can still be made, but must be dated into the next month.
- The Controller's Office will have one additional business day to record significant entries for the prior month including:
- Tuition deferred revenue
- Interest expense
- Depreciation
- Fringe Benefits Allocations
- Facilities Clearinghouse Charges
- Beginning on the third business day following a month end, departments can run their reports knowing that the balances shown will not change, with the following exceptions.
- For the month of December, amounts of donations received may vary following the third business day of January to ensure proper recording and tax receipting for gifts received over the holiday break.
- Example - April Close: Departments can backdate any accounting adjustments for the month of April through the first business day in May. The Controller's Office has through the second business day in May to record significant entries into the the month of April. Following the second business day in May, the month of April will be closed. Any adjustments thereafter will need to be recorded in the month of May.
Departments' Role in the Monthly Close:
- Throughout the month, Cost Center Approvers and other designees with department financial oversight responsibilities should be reviewing their budget to actuals reports for accuracy, including ensuring that actual costs incurred are posting as expected (correct spend category, description, amount, etc.).
- If issues with actual costs incurred are identified such as an expense posting to the wrong spend category, please submit an accounting adjustment for the expense. Reference guides to do this can be found at the following link. Again, accounting adjustments must be submitted within one business day of the month end. Otherwise, they will need to be dated into the following month.
- For payroll and non-payroll costs incurred related to grants, charging directly to the grant worktag is strongly preferred. Any cost transferred to or from a grant worktag must be done within 90 days from the date the cost was incurred.
- If you have questions about your budget to actuals reports, please reach out to the following groups:
- Questions on budgets (shown in purple below) - budgets@emerson.edu
- Questions on actuals (shown in green below) - accounting@emerson.edu
- Questions on running reports and access (shown in yellow below) - finance_bi@emerson.edu
Reports and Other Resources:
- Workday Financials training for Cost Center Approvers, as well as reference materials, is available at the following link (Must be signed in to Emerson account).
- Workday Reports training is available at the following link (Must be signed in to Emerson Account).
- If you are unsure what selectable Workday values exist, including spend categories, "Data Audit" reports are available in Workday showing the full list of selectable values for the different worktags. These reports are updated real-time and include current options available.
- Unsure if you need a budget or actuals adjustment? Refer to the guidance at the following link.