Journal Entry for Payroll Cost Corrections

Directive Statement

This directive establishes the proper methods of submitting a journal entry for payroll cost corrections.  This procedure is for payroll cost corrections only – payroll general ledger (GL) accounts beginning with 6xxxxx or 7xxxxx.  Only if Payroll Services determines that a Retro will not work can this process be used.

Reason for Directive

All payroll corrections for the current and prior two fiscal years must be attempted through a Retro to the payroll distribution/department budget table.  A Retro should be able to get within cents of the desired correction amount, but if the Retro does not completely correct the charge, please contact Payroll Services at payroll-services@ufl.edu to determine the next step.  Only if Payroll Services determines that a Retro will not work, can this process be used.

Examples of when to use the Journal Entry for Payroll Cost Corrections are for:

• FY Fringe Benefit Pool rate differentials
• T-32 Stipend fringe not allowed on grants
• Corrections for items before the two most recent prior fiscal years – please note the FY/dates in your journal description/reason
• Project has expired and final corrections being made are less than $100
• Need to correct prior fiscal year state appropriated funds, may do so with usage of CYFWD funds
• Partial pay periods that did not Retro and cannot be corrected with further Retros
• GL account only corrections (which rarely occur)

Who must comply?

All UF departments.

General Payroll Correction Journal Procedures

The procedures in this section will be used for all payroll correction journals.  There are additional steps that must be taken for payroll correction journals involving funds 201/209 and cross-college.  Please read those sections before proceeding if your payroll correction journal is for fund 201/209 or is cross-college.

1. Sufficient funds must be available – this payroll correction will NOT override available balance
2. Check available balance in Budget Details before entering transfer amount
   • Navigate to: Main Menu -> Financials -> Commitment Control -> Review Budget Activities -> Budget Details
3. The source of ONL or UPL will be used for payroll correction journals
4. Use the UFLOR General Ledger (Actuals) Journal Entry Template to create your journal
   • All required Chart Field values must be valid
   • Do not use any special characters in the header or the template such as &, <, >, “, and ‘ or the entry will fail to post properly
   • Employee’s UFID information should be included on all EMPLID fields of the journal lines
5. If correcting salary, Fringe Benefit Charges do not need to be included on the journal
   • The journal to correct earnings will automatically generate an additional and separate Fringe Benefit Pool (FBP) journal for the fringe amount
6. Update the necessary supporting documentation to the journal by running a current Payroll Cost Distribution Reports (PCDRs)

Cross-College Payroll Correction Journal

1. Follow all steps in the “General Procedures” above
2. Cross-college payroll correction journals should include supporting documentation (such as a letter or e-mail) from the cross-college indicating that the charge is approved
3. Attach the approval documentation to the journal, in addition to the PCDRs

Fund 201/209 Payroll Correction Journal

1. Prior to processing a payroll correction journal to fund 201/209, complete the Payroll Cost Transfer Information Form
2. Ensure that projects are active and not expired by verifying the Grant dates
   • If the grant has already been closed, communicate with your grant specialist to extend the closing date and enable the payroll correction journal to be posted
3. Send an approval request, including the Payroll Cost Transfer Information Form to Contracts & Grants (cgjournal@admin.ufl.edu)
4. Once approval is obtained from C&G, follow all steps in the “General Procedures” above
5. Attach the following to your journal as support documentation:
   • C&G approval
   • Payroll Cost Transfer form
   • Payroll Cost Distribution Reports (PCDRs) – PDF version

Last Reviewed

Last reviewed on 03/20/2024

Resources

Contracts & Grants – Payroll Cost Transfer Information Form

Verifying the Grant Dates

Toolkits

UF HR Toolkit – Journal Entry

Training

PST956 – Journal Entry in myUFL

PST985 – Commitment Accounting Basics

PST986 – Commitment Accounting Advanced

Contacts

Payroll Services: (352) 392-1231

Contracts & Grants: (352) 392-1235

General Accounting & Financial Reporting: (352) 392-1326

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