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FAR Announcements Archive
- May62026
ERF & MET Retirement + New Dining Payment Process
Starting July 1, 2026, the Entertainment Reporting Form (ERF / Recharge Form) and Meal Expense Tracker (MET) will be retired - use a OneCard or Instant Card for campus dining and complete required documentation in CruzFly. The MET will be replaced by the Event Expense Aggregator.
For more information, please see the full announcement. Dear Campus Colleagues,
As previously announced on 4.1.2026, the Entertainment Reporting Form (ERF) and Meal Expense Tracker (MET) will be retired effective July 1, 2026, and removed from the Financial Affairs website.
These legacy tools are being replaced with streamlined processes within existing financial systems to reduce manual steps, improve efficiency, and enhance transparency.
New Process: Departmental Dining Purchases (UCSC Dining Locations)
In alignment with the ERF/Recharge form retirement, a new process has been implemented for internal UCSC dining purchases (e.g., departmental meals at campus-operated dining locations).
How it Works
- Departments will use a OneCard or Instant Card at the point of sale
- Dining staff will process the transaction using a dedicated ERF tender in the POS system
- Transactions will be treated as standard credit card activity and then reclassified via journal entry to internal revenue and internal expense
What You Need to Do
- Pay using your OneCard or Instant Card
- Retain your receipt
- Complete the required business purpose, attendee list, and approvals in CruzFly
Upcoming Change: Bay Tree Campus Store Recharge Activity
As part of this broader transition away from paper-based processes, departments should begin planning to move away from paper and electronic recharge forms at the Campus Store.
- Departments will transition to using OneCard for Bookstore purchases, where applicable
- This aligns Campus Store transactions with the same streamlined approach used for Dining and other campus purchases
- Additional details and guidance will be provided as needed with Campus Store operations
Important Notes
Catering services are not included in this change
- Catering will continue to require a Purchase Order in CruzBuy
- OneCard/Instant Card is not accepted for catering transactions
This new process ensures
- Proper policy compliance through centralized documentation
- Accurate financial classification as an internal activity
- Exclusion from Service Assessment (external revenue-based) calculations
Why This Change Is Being Made
The prior ERF process required numerous manual steps—including form preparation, signatures, routing, and journal entries—resulting in administrative burden and delays.
The New Approach
- Simplifies the user experience at the point of purchase
- Reduces processing time and manual effort
- Improves compliance and audit readiness
- Leverages existing systems already in use across campus
Preparing for the Transition
- Complete any outstanding ERF or MET activity before July 1, 2026
- Begin using the updated process for new transactions as soon as possible
Reminder: Approved Methods for Entertainment & Meal Expenses
All entertainment and meal-related expenses should be processed using the following methods:
- Purchase Orders via CruzBuy (e.g., catering, vendors)
- Expense Reports via CruzFly (reimbursements and travel-related meals)
- Direct Payments via CruzBuy (non-PO vendor payments)
- OneCard or Instant Card (preferred for departmental purchases)
- Event Expense Aggregator (for tracking total event costs across systems)
Questions & Additional Resources
Guidance will be available on the Financial Affairs website.
For questions, please contact: erf-met-retirement-group@ucsc.edu - Apr172026
Financial Affairs Website: Planned Maintenance on 4/18/26 from 11:30pm - 4:00am
The Financial Affairs website will be undergoing planned maintenance from 11:30pm - 4:00am on Saturday, 4/18/26.
This maintenance may impact access to systems such as CruzBuy,
CruzPay, CruzFly, ERS, and FIS. Please plan accordingly and contact finaff-tech@ucsc.edu with any questions
- Feb112026
Entertainment DOA Form Upgrade
The Entertainment Delegation of Authority (DOA) process is transitioning to a DocuSign enabled web form on Tuesday, 2/17/26.
Going forward Entertainment Delegations will be based solely on level 2/3/4 Org Codes, Funds will no longer be specified in the Entertainment Delegation.
To establish an Entertainment Delegation the Delegate and Delegator will be required to complete, review, and sign the DOA form. The DOA form will automatically route to the Accounting Office for final review and approval. Designating Top-Level Approval for EECs will require additional approval from the Chancellor's Office.
Questions about the new DOA form and process can be directed to the FAR Office within Accounting.
Any issues encoutered while using the new DOA form can be reported to the FinAff-Tech team. - Feb42026
Planned Outage - Authentication Unavailable on Financial Affairs Website During Improvement Work: Fri 2/6 @ 10pm - Mon 2/9 @ 6am
The Financial Affairs website will be undergoing work to improve the authentication platform over the coming weekend. The website WILL be up and available, as will all primary system launch pages (CruzBuy, CruzPay, etc.), however users will NOT be able to authenticate for access to protected resources, such as DocuSign enabled web forms and the Entertainment Dashboard.
The authentication outage is limited to only the Financial Affairs website, and will be in effect from Friday evening at 10pm PST until Monday morning at 6am PST. Users attempting to authenticate during this outage window may encounter a system error page when attempting to sign in.
If you have questions about this outage, please contact our finaff-tech@ucsc.edu team. - Dec12025
New Look & Feel for All Financial Affairs Guides
Financial Affairs Guides have been redesigned! We've updated the look and feel to simplify navigation, enhance search and filtering, and create more space for comfortable reading.
This visual refresh improves the overall guide experience while keeping all content unchanged. Explore our redesigned guides through the Financial Affairs Guide Directory.
Please share any feedback on the new presentation with the Financial Affairs tech team.
- Jul222025
Financial Affairs Website: Planned Outage on 7/23/25 from 12:30am - 6:30am
The Financial Affairs website will be unavailable for 6 hours on Wednesday morning, July 23rd, from 12:30am to 6:30am for scheduled system maintenance. This will impact access to systems such as CruzBuy, CruzPay, CruzFly, ERS, and FIS. Please plan accordingly and contact
finaff-tech@ucsc.edu with any questions.
- Oct292024
Moving Expense Submission
To ensure that our Payroll team has adequate time to process moving expense reimbursement transactions during calendar year 2024 and to comply with applicable year-end tax reporting deadlines, please submit all approved moving expense reimbursement forms and supporting documentation by
November 8th to
newhirerelocation@ucsc.edu.
Moving expense reimbursement paperwork is initially reviewed and approved within Accounting before documentation is submitted to Payroll.
Reimbursement paperwork submitted after this date will be processed during calendar year 2025.
If you have any questions, please contact
newhirerelocation@ucsc.edu. - May282024
Scheduled Site Maintenance Complete
The site maintenance has been successfully completed, and full functionality has been restored.
This was a significant upgrade to the underlying service that powers our website.
If you notice any website issues, please contact the web team at finaff-tech@ucsc.edu.
- May202024
Scheduled Site Maintenance and Content Freeze Over Memorial Day Weekend
Beginning Friday 5/24 @ 5:30pm through Tuesday 5/28 @ 7am the Financial Affairs website will be undergoing scheduled maintenance. While the site will remain available in a read-only mode, some services will be impacted.
Notably, the Entertainment Dashboard and ERF/MET forms will be unavailable during this scheduled maintenance period. If you have questions or issues regarding this maintenance, please contact the web team at finaff-tech@ucsc.edu. - Feb262024
Financial Affairs Website: Planned Outage on 3/3/24 from 2:30am - 5:30am
The Financial Affairs website will be unavailable for 3 hours on Sunday morning, March 3rd, from 2:30am to 5:30am for scheduled system maintenance. This will impact access to systems such as CruzBuy, CruzPay, CruzFly, ERS, and FIS. Please plan accordingly and contact finaff-tech@ucsc.edu with any questions.
- Oct102023
Moving Expense Submission
To ensure that our Payroll team has adequate time to process moving expense reimbursement transactions during calendar year 2023 and to comply with applicable year-end tax reporting deadlines, please submit all approved moving expense reimbursement forms and supporting documentation by November 9th to newhirerelocation@ucsc.edu.
Moving expense reimbursement paperwork is initially reviewed and approved within Accounting before documentation is submitted to Payroll. Reimbursement paperwork submitted after this date will be processed during calendar year 2024.
If you have any questions, please contact newhirerelocation@ucsc.edu. - Oct22023
Travel Funding Restrictions Lifted
Seven years ago, the California legislature passed Assembly Bill (AB) 1887, which prohibited the use of State funds for UC travel associated with certain banned states. This law was repealed on September 13th this year via Senate Bill (SB) 447.
The UC Office of the President announced on 10/02/23 that all travel funding restrictions related to the banned states have been lifted as of the repeal effective date (9/13/23). - May102023
Fiscal Year 2022-2023 Year-End Closing Schedule
Our current fiscal year, FY23, will end on June 30, 2023. As we near this closing date, it is important for Divisions/Units/Departments to review recharge and purchasing requirements, and budgets. You will need to be aware of deadlines which must be followed to ensure transactions are processed correctly and in time to meet fiscal year-end requirements.
A detailed calendar of closing events is posted on the Financial Affairs website. Please take the time to review the Fiscal Close 2022-2023 Schedule. - Oct122022
Moving Expense Submission
To ensure that our Payroll team has adequate time to process moving expense reimbursement transactions during calendar year 2022 and to comply with applicable year-end tax reporting deadlines, please submit all approved moving expense reimbursement forms and supporting documentation by November 10th to newhirerelocation@ucsc.edu.
Moving expense reimbursement paperwork is initially reviewed and approved within Accounting before documentation is submitted to Payroll.
Reimbursement paperwork submitted after this date will be processed during calendar year 2023.
If you have any questions, please contact newhirerelocation@ucsc.edu. - Jul72022
Fiscal Year 2021-2022 Year-End Closing Schedule
Fiscal Year 2021-2022 has closed, except for central office accrual activity.
The annual budget carryforward process is scheduled for Tuesday August 2nd, 2022. Remaining FY22 budget balances will be carried forward to FY23.
A detailed calendar of closing events is posted on the Financial Affairs website. Please take the time to review the
Fiscal Close 2021-2022 Schedule. - May102022
Fiscal Year 2021-2022 Year-End Closing Schedule
Our current fiscal year, FY22, will end on June 30, 2022. As we near this closing date, it is important for Divisions/Units/Departments to review recharge and purchasing requirements, and budgets. You will need to be aware of deadlines which must be followed to ensure transactions are processed correctly and in time to meet fiscal year-end requirements.
A detailed calendar of closing events is posted on the Financial Affairs website. Please take the time to review the Fiscal Close 2021-2022 Schedule. - Oct252021
Moving Expense Submission
To ensure that our Payroll team has adequate time to process moving expense reimbursement transactions during calendar year 2021 and to comply with applicable year-end tax reporting deadlines, please submit all moving expense reimbursements to FAST by November 1st. Moving expense reimbursement paperwork is initially reviewed and approved within Accounting before documentation is submitted to Payroll.
Reimbursement paperwork submitted after this date will likely be processed during calendar year 2022.
If you have any questions, please contact newhirerelocation@ucsc.edu.
- Oct202020
Moving Expense Submission
To ensure that our Payroll team has adequate time to process moving expense reimbursement transactions during calendar year 2020 and to comply with applicable year-end tax reporting deadlines, please submit all approved moving expense reimbursement forms and supporting documentation by the dates shown immediately below to newhirerelocation@ucsc.edu. Moving expense reimbursement paperwork is initially reviewed and approved within Accounting before documentation is submitted to Payroll.
Biweekly employees – please submit by November 3rd
Monthly paid employees – please submit by November 12th
Reimbursement paperwork submitted after this date will be processed during calendar year 2021.
If you have any questions, please contact newhirerelocation@ucsc.edu. - Aug192020
Financial Affairs Response Times Impacted
As with many campus units, there are a significant number of Financial Affairs staff impacted by the CZU Lightning Complex Fire. Response times for all Financial Affairs departments may be slower than usual. Be safe, everyone.
- May142020
The new DocuSign PowerForm link will enable the user to initiate a DocuSign envelope for the Payee Setup 204 form by entering their full name and email address. Once the envelope has been created an email is sent to the user from which they can open the 204 form in DocuSign and begin filling it out. Once the form is filled and submitted, it will be routed to the Financial Accounting and Reporting (FAR) Office for review. After the form is reviewed by the FAR Office, and all necessary information is present, the reviewing member of the FAR Office will initial the form and complete the DocuSign form workflow.
Payee Setup 204 forms will be processed in the order received, and should be on file in our financial system within 5-7 business days.
- Apr132020
Financial Affairs Response to COVID-19 During this unprecedented time, our entire UCSC community has been directly impacted by the magnitude of the global COVID-19 crisis. Many temporary adjustments have been, and continue to be, made to our financial policy and processes in order to accommodate our UCSC community and to help our campus navigate this difficult period. For more information on the response and related resources, please visit our Financial Affairs Response to COVID-19 page.
- Oct82019
Moving Expense Submission
To ensure that our Payroll team has adequate time to process moving expense reimbursement transactions during calendar year 2019 and to comply with applicable year-end tax reporting deadlines, please submit all moving expense reimbursements to FAST by November 1st. Moving expense reimbursement paperwork is initially reviewed and approved within Accounting before documentation is submitted to Payroll.
Reimbursement paperwork submitted after this date will likely be processed during calendar year 2020.
If you have any questions, please contact newhirerelocation@ucsc.edu.
- May32019
Fiscal Year 2018-2019 Year-End Closing Schedule
Our current fiscal year, FY19, will end on June 30, 2019. As we near this closing date, it is important for Divisions/Units/Departments to review recharge and purchasing requirements, and budgets. You will need to be aware of deadlines which must be followed to ensure transactions are processed correctly and in time to meet fiscal year-end requirements.
A detailed calendar of closing events is posted on the Financial Affairs website. Please take the time to review the Fiscal Close 2018-2019 Schedule. - Oct122018
Moving Expense Submission
To ensure that our Payroll team has adequate time to process moving expense reimbursement transactions during calendar year 2018 and to comply with applicable year-end tax reporting deadlines, please submit all moving expense reimbursements to FAST by November 1st. Moving expense reimbursement paperwork is initially reviewed and approved within Accounting before documentation is submitted to Payroll.
Reimbursement paperwork submitted after this date will likely be processed during calendar year 2019.
If you have any questions, please contact newhirerelocation@ucsc.edu. - May22018
Fiscal Year 2017-2018 Year-End Closing Schedule
Our current fiscal year, FY18, will end on June 30, 2018. As we near this closing date, it is important for Divisions/Units/Departments to review purchasing requirements and budgets. You will need to be aware of deadlines which must be followed to ensure transactions are processed correctly and in time to meet fiscal year-end requirements.
A detailed calendar of closing events is posted on the Financial Affairs website. Please take the time to review the Fiscal Close 2017-2018 Schedule. - Oct22017
Moving Expense Submission
To ensure that our Payroll and Accounts Payable teams have adequate time to process moving expense reimbursement transactions during calendar year 2017 and to comply with the year-end tax reporting deadlines, please submit all moving expense reimbursements to FAST by November 1st. Reimbursement paperwork submitted after this date will likely be processed during calendar year 2018.
If you have any questions, please contact newhirerelocation@ucsc.edu.
- Apr282017
Fiscal Year 2016-2017 Year-End Closing Schedule
Our current fiscal year, FY17, will end on June 30, 2017. As we near this closing date, it is important for Divisions/Units/Departments to review purchasing requirements and budgets. You will need to be aware of deadlines which must be followed to ensure transactions are processed correctly and in time to meet fiscal year-end requirements.
A detailed calendar of closing events is posted on the Financial Affairs website. Please take the time to review the Fiscal Close 2016-2017 Schedule. - Jan242017
IRS 1099-MISC Forms
IRS 1099-MISC forms will be issued to those vendors who provided services to the University in 2016 and received total payments of $600 or more. The forms will be mailed to the current address on file on or before 1/31/2017.
- Oct192016
2016 Moving Expenses
To insure that our Payroll and Accounts Payable teams have adequate time to process moving expense reimbursement transactions during calendar year 2016 and to comply with the year-end tax reporting deadlines, please submit all moving expense reimbursements to FAST by November 1st. Reimbursement paperwork submitted after this date will likely be processed during calendar year 2017. If you have any questions, please contact newhirerelocation@ucsc.edu
- Jul12016
CruzBuy Goes ERF-less!
ERFs are no longer required for meal-related purchases made solely through CruzBuy. More detail on changes to the entertainment reporting process can be found here. For questions, contact entertainmenthelp@ucsc.edu.
- May62016
Fiscal Close 2015-2016 Calendar Now Available
The annual Fiscal Close Calendar for 2015-16 is now available. Click here to be redirected.
- Jan12016
IRS 1099-MISC Forms:
IRS 1099-MISC forms will be issued to those vendors who provided services to the University in 2015 and received total payments of $600 or more. The forms will be mailed to the current address on file on or before 1-30-2016.
