The Socket - February 2022 Skip to Content Skip to Main Navigation Skip to Search Indiana University Indiana University IU Menu Home Training What We Offer Register for Training Staff Training Tracks Training Materials Documentation Accounts Payable Accounts Receivable Capital Assets Financial Processing in KFS Purchasing Suppliers Travel Reporting News Articles Newsletters Subscribe Contact Us Financial Training & Communications Home Home Training What We Offer Register for Training Staff Training Tracks Training Materials Documentation Accounts Payable Accounts Receivable Capital Assets Financial Processing in KFS Purchasing Suppliers Travel Reporting News Articles Newsletters Subscribe Contact Us Home The Socket - February 2022 February 2022 Contest Winner: Funniest Animal The competition for VPCFO's funniest animal was fierce. So fierce it led to our first tie breaker! But only one comical critter can bring home the gold, and your winner of the $25 Amazon gift card is... Amanda Owens, Office of Insurance, Loss Control & Claims, with the ultra-flexible basset hound Holly! Amanda and Holly Amanda's winning submission Congratulations Amanda and Holly! Thank you to everyone who participated, and a special shoutout to our runners up! 2nd place - Tammy Best and Bentley 3rd place - Petra Bragt and Maceo 4th place - Paul Schmidt, Lola, and Ruby We don't know about you, but we sure enjoyed and appreciated the laughs. Check out the slideshow below to check out the contest entries one last time. We're taking a contest break this quarter so we can focus on welcoming our new Executive Vice President and colleagues from Public Safety and the IU Police Department. We have some fun things up our sleeve, don't worry! We plan on announcing a new contest in our next issue. Feature Story: All About Audits Last year, many members of the CFO division were involved in IU's financial audit. For this issue of The Socket, we asked the Office of the University Controller (UCO) to answer some frequently asked questions about audits in general and IU's audit specifically. What is an audit? An audit is defined as “an official inspection of an individual's or organization's accounts, typically by an independent body.” IU is audited by many different governmental agencies and independent bodies. For example, IU is audited by the State Board of Accounts (SBoA), the US Department of Education, various granting agencies of the government and on occasion, the Internal Revenue Service. UCO is responsible for coordinating the annual audit of the university’s official consolidated financial statements. This audit ensures the proper accounting of all financial transactions and proper internal controls over actual financial activity for the whole university and its component units (related entities). Since it is not practical for auditors to review every single transaction (IU has millions!), the auditors rely on internal controls being in place to ensure accuracy and completeness of the data. Both transactions and controls are “tested” during an audit. An audit usually lasts a number of weeks or months and requires teams on both sides to be available to answer questions as they arise. At the end of the financial statement audit, an “opinion letter” is issued by the auditors, which provides the reader of the financials their “opinion” on whether or not the information and data in the financial statements is materially correct. This letter and audit findings, if any, are shared with the university’s President, Board of Trustees, including their Finance and Audit Subcommittee, as well as with the public. Why is IU audited every year? As a recognized university of the State of Indiana (IC 21-20-2), IU is subject to an examination by the Indiana State Board of Accounts. Additionally, external rating agencies (S&P, Moody’s), banks, accreditation bodies and other stakeholders frequently require an audited set of financial statements to secure financing or to continue engagement in certain activities. Why was this year’s audit performed by an external agency? For FY21, the Indiana State Board of Accounts requested that IU utilize an external firm, due to resource constraints of the State. The SBoA does have the ability to outsource the audit, statutorily, if they so choose. Through an RFP process in 2021, the university selected Plante Moran as their auditor. Plante Moran is a national accounting firm, with significant higher education audit experience and specifically, BIG10 schools. The agreement is for 2 years and after which, SBoA will reevaluate the arrangement. How is the information used to shape policy and procedure/changes at IU? The audit helps to significantly shape policy and procedures at IU, both from a technical accounting perspective and general best practices. As business processes evolve, so too must the accounting and controls. For example, there are certain controls required to be in place to ensure the electronic passage of information from one system to another is accurate and complete. These types of controls may not have even been necessary twenty or thirty years ago! Another great benefit of an external audit is the sharing of information and advisory services by the auditors related to best practices when it comes to internal controls, systems, processes, etc. Auditors typically have multiple clients, usually within similar industries and have expertise on external requirements, industry norms and best practices. In addition to providing an official “opinion letter,” auditors also frequently provide a letter that includes recommendations. These recommendations are shared with the university’s CFO, President and Board of Trustees. UCO will be implementing many of the recommendations shared by Plante Moran over the next few years to enhance the university’s accounting compliance and controls. Name that VPCFO Employee We're back with another round of everyone's favorite game: Name That VPCFO Employee! This VPCFO colleague picked up a trombone in third grade and enjoyed it so much they moved to Bloomington to pursue a music degree in jazz trombone. Ultimately, they walked away with a computer science degree, but they hope to join a local ensemble in retirement. Who could it be? Keep reading to find out! From the Desk: Stronger Together I hope everyone’s new year is off to a great start, and that you all were safe and warm during the winter storm! After the last week, as I shoveled snow in Indianapolis, I’m ready to see the signs of Spring and a return to warm weather! This is my last month as interim VPCFO, and my final “from the desk” as we welcome our new Executive Vice President for Finance and Administration, Dwayne Pinkney, on March 1. As I wrap up some outstanding items in preparation for Dwayne’s arrival, I reflect on all that has been accomplished over the last several months, and I continue to be amazed by the excellent work and professionalism I see across the division. I’m also grateful for the opportunities I’ve had to work on many exciting projects and initiatives in which I otherwise would have had limited involvement. A few stand out to me: Our continued support of the University’s ongoing response to COVID for testing, supplies, and funding needed to keep students and employees safe. Ordering supplies, supporting labs, managing FEMA and stimulus reimbursement, etc. None of these are small or simple tasks, but staff in every unit continue to step up to the challenges, all while managing the ongoing financial and administrative needs of this University. The University’s fiscal year-end financial statements and audit were completed and presented to the President and Board of Trustees. My involvement was still limited (probably a good thing!), but it did bring back some pleasant memories from my days in public accounting. Great job to the Office of the University Controller! We worked with the IU Foundation (IUF) to complete a bond issue that will provide support that will address funding gaps resulting from COVID and provide ongoing funding for strategic initiatives. Amazing work from the Office of the Treasurer and others! We collaborated with our external clinical partner to secure a gift that will provide support for our Health Science programs. I know this had numerous people working over holiday break. Many thanks for your dedication and willingness to jump in and get this done! And last but certainly not least, my colleagues in the Budget Office have once again moved us forward in preparation for budget construction and a number of exciting enhancements to our budget planning tools. Now on to the next chapter, preparing for the EVPFA budget conference with President Whitten and other University senior leaders. No doubt there are some additional challenges this year, but I do take every opportunity to brag about the stellar performance across the division! That’s the fun part of this exercise, and you all make it easy! Thank you for your continued hard work, dedication, and support. Yours in IU, Sam Your Voice Matters IU Human Resources, with the help of Gallup, will soon conduct its third biennial employee engagement survey. The survey is quick, confidential, and important. The online survey takes about ten minutes to complete, and it collects feedback from staff regarding their attitudes on various aspects of working at IU. The goal is to identify employee needs and to determine what’s working and what needs to be improved. The survey results will guide discussions about our work environment and help us create plans to improve our work experience. Gallup protects the anonymity of respondents by aggregating results, and no individual responses will be shared with IU or its leadership. Staff employees hired on or before January 1, 2022 are eligible to participate in the survey, which will be conducted from February 15 through March 8. Please be sure to give us your perspective by answering the survey when you receive your email invitation from Gallup. Continuous Improvement Corner The 2022 Continuous Improvement Committee teams have been formed and project work kicks off next week. However, that does not mean that past projects are over. Continuous Improvement, by its very definition, means that we continuously look for opportunities to improve existing processes. One of the projects we worked on last year involved researching opportunities for robotic process automation (RPA). An RPA software was selected, and an automation bot was successfully created and run. Although the project work was completed last year, the Supplier Data Management (SDM) team has continued to work on automating the cleanup of our supplier database. A few weeks ago, another bot was deployed to deactivate certain inactive suppliers. The bot ran and successfully deactivated 950 supplier records in ~8 hours. If a person had completed this work, it would have taken weeks or months, because it would have been completed as time permits. Instead, the bot ran in background while the SDM team worked. This is another step toward continuously improving the supplier data. Additional bots are being developed and will be run to further clean up the data. Thereafter, we will periodically run these bots to improve the quality of the supplier data. Keep on improving! Mary The Lunchroom This year, Lunch & Learns will look a little different. Instead of monthly webinars, the Lunch & Learn program is transitioning to quarterly offerings. Some sessions will be offered online via Zoom, others will be in-person experiences around the Bloomington campus. The committee has some informational and fun offerings in store; we hope you'll join us! This quarter, Cale Whitworth, Co-Director of IU's Drosophila Stock Center told us all about the weird and wonderful world of fruit fly cultivation at IU! We learned that the fruit fly stocks (groups of genetically identical flies) were developed in 1913 and eventually moved into IU’s care in 1986. At that time, the collection contained 1,675 stocks; a small fraction of what is now over 76,000 stocks in 2022, which are cared for by 67 part time stock keepers. IU’s researchers and those across the world using IU drosophila stocks are making waves in scientific advancement on a global scale, and we can attribute much of our understanding of genetics largely to these folks. Did you miss the session or just want to see it again? Click here to check out the Lunch & Learn recording. Department News & Updates The VPCFO office is organizing the 2022 Budget Conferences during the months of March and April. Also, on March 1, we will welcome Dwayne Pinkney, the new Executive Vice President for Finance and Administration. Dr. Dwayne Pinkney has more than 25 years of experience in financial and administrative leadership in state government and higher education. He received his Ph.D. in political science at UNC-Chapel Hill and a master’s degree in public administration from the University of Pittsburgh. Employee Services, Training, & Communication For the second year, ESTC helped facilitate the announcement of W-2 and 1098-T tax forms via Marketing Cloud. These mass emails represent the team’s largest sends of the year, with a over 66,000 W-2 and 183,000+ 1098-T messages distributed. Shoutout to the University Tax and Payroll teams for making the process a smooth one! The team has also collaborated with Procurement Services to rework, reorganize, and relaunch their two newsletters. The IU Travel Bulletin and the newly named P.A.S.S. News & More (formerly BUY.IU News & Notes) newsletters will feature a standard set of categories each month. This helps readers know what to expect from the publications and increases visibility across all of Procurement's areas. In January, the ESTC team also launched their own quarterly newsletter, The Loop. The goal of this publication is to highlight new training offerings, both via Zoom or on Canvas, updated or new training or video documentation, and upcoming Office Hour sessions. You can subscribe to any of the newsletters mentioned above by visiting the subscription page on the Training website. That’s just a taste of what we’ve been up to! We have some great projects lined up this year and look forward to updating you in the future. Office of the University Controller Customer Service In November 2021 Andy Bruce was promoted to Customer Service Team Lead. Andy has been a member of the Customer Service team since 2016, and we are confident he will thrive in this new role. Financial Services Administration and Operations In January, Tracey Mui was promoted to Senior Financial Systems Analyst on the Financial Services Administration and Operations team. Tracey started at IU in 2009 as a Records Services Supervisor in the Office of Student Financial Assistance. She has held various positions within IU over the years and moved to UCO (the office formerly known as FMS) in 2011 as a Customer Service Manager and Training Specialist. She joined the Operations team as a Financial Systems Analyst in 2016 and has been invaluable with her knowledge of KFS and ability and willingness to troubleshoot any and all issues and questions. Tracey also has served on the Continuous Improvement Committee and was a Co-chair during Phase Four. Internal Controls In January, Maggie Harrell became the Manager, University Internal Controls. As a member of Financial Reporting, Maggie will be responsible for design, implementation, and monitoring of internal controls across the University and will work with contacts across all departments in completing control self-assessments used to monitor internal controls and conduct ongoing training and education on internal control related topics. Maggie will provide advice and counsel on any major process changes or system/process upgrades as it relates to internal controls and evaluate these changes to ensure there are no detrimental impacts to the internal control environment. In addition, Maggie will be actively creating and reviewing new policies, procedures, and system implementations ensuring proper controls are considered. This is a new position within UCO and will report to the Director of External Financial Reporting and Internal Controls, Shannon Bissell. Maggie is a graduate of the University of Southern Indiana where she held a Bachelor of Science in Accounting and Professional Services. She holds a CFE (Certified Fraud Examiner Certification). She has spent 1.5 years in public accounting, at BKD, LLP, with an emphasis on internal controls, and more recently as a Senior Investigative Auditor at Indiana University for over 10 years. In Internal Audit, Maggie managed a number of audits and evaluated the effectiveness of key processes and controls, as well as preparing audit reports and documentation for executive leadership to be used in decision making. Payroll In January 2022, John Brumley began in the newly created Associate Director of Payroll role, and Cassie Rosenburgh filled the Payroll Operations Manager position. John started at IU in 2005 as an hourly consultant in the UITS Support Center. Beginning in 2007, he worked as a User Support Specialist for two years and then as the Information Commons Coordinator in the Wells Library the following two years. He joined the Payroll team in 2011 as a Business Analyst and became the Systems Manager in 2015. Cassie started at IU in September 2017, filling the newly created role of Assistant Payroll Operations Manager for UCO (FMS at the time). She reported directly to the previous Payroll Operations Manager, Sandy McElhinney, soaking up as much knowledge as possible. After 2 years with IU, Cassie’s duties were elevated in 2019 to directly supervise the UCO Customer Service team. University Accounting & Reporting Services The UARS team is proud to welcome a new member to the team as an Accounting Fellow in February. Joel Easton joins the team with over 7 years of experience as an auditor in the manufacturing industry and 7 years of experience as a paralegal. He completed his undergraduate degree in Journalism at the University of Southern Indiana and is in his last semester of his Master of Science in Accounting from the University of Illinois. Joel will be assisting the team with researching, writing, and coordinating development of new accounting standards as well as other projects. Joel's wife, Anna, recently joined the Kelley School of Business as a lecturer. University Collections & Loan Services On January 12, 2022, Ireli Babbs was promoted to UCLS Operations Supervisor. Ireli joined the UCLS team in August 2017. Over the last five years, Ireli has demonstrated initiative, dedication, and a student-focused approach. We are thrilled to have her join the leadership team and confident that she will excel in this new position. Procurement Services A number of staff have moved into new positions or been promoted within Procurement in the months since we've seen each other in person. Congratulations to these fine folks on their new(ish) positions: Gina Stillions - P-Card Representative (Travel) Angelica Perez-Camacho - Research and Auditing Representative (Accounts Payable) Rachel Beall - Software Category Associate (Purchasing) Jamie Inman - Professional Services Category Associate (Purchasing) Kourtney Parrott - Scientific Category Associate (Purchasing) Kudos and Celebrations! Celebrating the incredible professional and personal achievements of our VPCFO employees. Kudos Congratulations to Derek Toschlog of Purchasing for becoming Jaggaer certified in the Contract module! This quarter, Greg Alter, University Budget Office, reaches 20 years of service at IU. Congratulations, Greg! A special thank you goes out to Christy Havranek and Derek Toschlog, Purchasing, Amanda Coats, Supplier Data Management, Sarah Chavez, Training and Communications, and Bryan Keleher, University Controller’s Office, for all their work and help getting the foreign currency functionality enabled in BUY.IU! Hip, hip, horray for Linda Blair, Purchasing, and Terri Loyal, Supplier Data Management, for reaching 15 years of service at IU! Kudos to the tax (Andrea Bousman, Cody Bunn, Bryce Adair, Danny Jackman, Tonya Pottorff, and Lisa Keough) and payroll systems (April Thomas) team members for getting our tax forms sent out and filed, with an honorable mention going to Adam Hadley for helping with all of our W-2 questions! Troy McAlister, who joined the University Accounting & Reporting Services team in October 2021 and previously passed all 4 parts of the CPA exam, recently completed the experience requirement to become a licensed CPA in the State of Indiana. Congrats, Troy! Congratulations to John Boshears, UCO Dev Team, Jennifer Moore, Accounts Payable, and Brittany Veal, Card Services, for attaining 10 years of service at IU this quarter. We're glad you're here! Thank you to Paul Schmidt for organizing the VPCFO Winter Soiree! The event was lovely and it was fantastic to get to see our colleagues during the holidays. Kudos to Tammy Caswell, Supplier Data Management, Belinda Arthur, University Payroll, and Daniel Heidenreich, Purchasing, for your 5 years of service at IU. Nice work! Congratulations to Sadie Schmidt who recently passed a third part of the CPA exam – Auditing & Attestation! She has one more part to go, Business Environment & Concepts (BEC), which she’ll be taking in the next few months. Kudos to Sarah Chavez for launching The Loop, the Financial Training Team’s quarterly newsletter that highlights new live training opportunities, Canvas courses, and written and video documentation. In each issue, a member of the Financial Training Team will share what they're working on. The inaugural issue went out January 26, and you can subscribe using the online form. Celebrations Congratulations to Christy Havranek of Purchasing on her newest family member: meet 2-year-old Drucilla – a rescued hedgehog from Pipsqueakery in Bloomington. Scarlet, Tally Thrasher's pup, met Santa last Christmas. We hope she got everything she asked for 😉 Drucilla the hedgehog Scarlet and Santa Name that employee! Which VPCFO employee... appeared in the track scene in the movie Breaking Away? It's Gary Palmer! Gary is the Database Manager in the University Budget Office. Competing in the Seven Springs, Pennsylvania National Championship Bicycle Road Race. Gary at Indian Peaks Wilderness in Colorado. Prepping for the Bloomington Local Criterium Bicycle Race. Growing up with a need for speed, Gary competed at the national level in bicycle road racing, ranking in the top 25 for multiple years, and claiming as high as fifth place. In his downtime, Gary enjoys spending time with his two grown children, John and Emily, and exploring the great outdoors. He’s even completed parts of the Appalachian trail and hikes in Colorado, Wyoming, and Alaska! Thank you, Gary, for letting us learn more about you. We can't wait to see what you do next. Would you like to be featured as a future mystery employee? Click here to let us know. New VPCFO Employee Spotlight Welcome to our new employees! Chawnn Blake Purchasing Joel Easton University Accounting & Reporting Services Maggie Harrell Internal Controls Dulce Ruiz Lemus Purchasing Jay Schaber Purchasing Upcoming Events Event: Lean Methodology Date/Time: Wednesday, February 16, 9:30 – 11:30 am Description: Wondering how to get your project started? Process improvement and project work can be daunting. In this session, learn the basics of the Lean Plan-Do-Check-Act methodology, which will help you clearly define your process objectives and successfully execute a project to meet these objectives. Introduction to Lean Process Improvement should be taken prior to attending this class. Click here to register. Event: Financial Training Office Hours Date/Time: Friday, February 25, 9 am – 12 pm Description: Bring your KFS, Chrome River, or BUY.IU questions to this open office hours session and a member of the Financial Training & Communications Team will assist you. Click here to register. Event: Lean Tools Date/Time: Wednesday, March 23, 9:30 – 11:30 am Description: Do you struggle to keep your project going? One way is by using the appropriate tools for analysis and evaluation. In this session, learn how Lean tools support the Plan-Do-Check-Act framework for process improvement to help you successfully define, implement, and measure process improvements. Introduction to Lean Process Improvement should be taken prior to attending this class. Click here to register. Event: Financial Training Office Hours Date/Time: Friday, March 25, 9 am – 12 pm Description: Bring your KFS, Chrome River, or BUY.IU questions to this open office hours session and a member of the Financial Training & Communications Team will assist you. Click here to register. Event: Lean Leadership Development Date/Time: Thursday, May 5, 9:30 – 11:30 am Description: Pied Piper or engaged leader? Lean leaders are engaged, agile and focused on using Lean principles and tools to achieve results. In this session, learn how Lean leadership differs from traditional management and supports a culture of continuous improvement. Introduction to Lean Process Improvement should be taken prior to attending this class. Click here to register. Previous Issue: November 2021 Indiana University Bloomington social media channels Twitter YouTube Contact, Address and Additional Links INDIANA UNIVERSITYFinancial Training and Communications 501 N. 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