Organization Suspense Account aka “Org Suspense”, aka “Salary Suspense”, aka “OSA”, etc., etc.

1. Organization Suspense Accountaka “Org Suspense”, aka “Salary Suspense”, aka “OSA”, etc., etc. School of Engineering Engineering Research Administration July 14, 2011 Sharon Bergman & Lex Bunten

2. What is it? • A “reject” list for salary expense. What does that mean? • (Almost) Everybody on the Payroll at Stanford gets paid even if the account they’re supposed to be paid on “rejects” in the system  “Reject List” • EE has its very own Suspense PTA: 1057168-1-AAQBS • All salaries and wages that hit Suspense are coded with expenditure type 51610

3. Who manages EE’s Org Suspense Account? • You, as RFA, are responsible for clearing salary charges from Suspense to the correct PTA in a timely manner; and, • Your Team Lead is responsible for providing training, support, nagging and encouragement to enable you to do that, and, takes the heat from above when you don’t.

4. Do I, as RFA, clear all salaries from the Suspense Acct? • As RFA, you lead the clearing of all charges. • Faculty – you submit the LDA • Students with GFS appts – you submit the LDA • SalariedPostdocs (in GFS) – you submit the LDA

5. Do I, as RFA, clear all salaries from the Suspense Acct? (cont) • Staff (res associates/admin staff) - you report the items to the dept and you direct the clearing • Contingents (hrly) – you report the items to the dept and you direct the clearing

6. Why do salary/wage charges hit our Org Suspense Account anyway? • #1 REASON: “Invalid PTA,” e.g., passed end date, late increments, etc. • #2 REASON: Something’s wrong with the Oracle Labor Schedule; it’s missing or it doesn’t total 100% (this does not apply to GFS students who do not have LSs) • Other reasons?

7. How do we manage our Org Suspense Account? • GOAL: Prevent charges from hitting in the first place by practicing good accounts management. • BUT, they do hit, so we must clear them in a timely manner, preferably within 30 days

8. OK, how do we do that? • REPORTING TOOLS help us answer the question why expense hit and what is the correct PTA to charge: • ERA Admin sends Suspense Acct report to RFAs right after each pay period posts • RFA identifies appropriate PTA and submits the LDA or directs the dept to submit LDA

9. And how do we keep suspenses off the suspense acct? • Be proactive • Watch PTA end dates carefully and make sure end dates are extended or salaries are moved to valid PTAs • After submitting the LDA, be sure that the underlying problem is corrected so that the charge does not repeat on suspense PTA