RQT/Awards

RQT Roundup
by Donna Andreason and Zach Luther

TOPS

The Functional Expenditures Team was recognized with a TOPS award on July 1, 2004 for their contributions to long term improvement, cost savings and opening channels of communication. The team members were Jon Vanvick, Nancy Treibel and Bill Christensen from Financial Accounting, Brenda Grayson and Mary Jo Hershly from GCA, Brion Norton from MAA and Karen Crowder from Financial Management.

The objective of the Functional Expenditures Team was to identify opportunities to improve the accuracy of UW’s annual financial statement reporting. One of their first undertakings was to gain a full understanding of the Financial Accounting System (FAS) budget codes and their impact on our financial statements and the Indirect Cost proposal. With this knowledge, the team changed coding on nearly 600 budgets, moving $56 million out of the “research” classification. The changes made by this team will have a significant impact on the accuracy of the University’s financial information and outcome of the F&A rate negotiations.

The Kill SLAP (State and Local Allocation Process) Team was recognized with a TOPS award on August 4, 2004 commemorating their long term improvement to the “SLAP” program which ensures the proper distribution of expenses between state and local funds. The team members were Charles Bennett, Jon Vanvick, Bill Christensen and Phil Corcoro from Financial Accounting, Pat Benson and Nghia Do from C&C and Linda Barrett from the Budget Office.

The State and Local Allocation Process was created many years ago to allocate expenses between state and local fund sources on budgets with multiple funding sources. The “Kill SLAP” team was formed with the purpose of finding a simpler process that fulfills the audit requirements of the state law that led to SLAP. The “Kill SLAP” team proposed a change to the FAS programming. This resulted in a much simpler process that fulfills our audit requirements, frees staff time in C&C and provides a more streamlined process for the allocation of these funds.

BRAVO

Between June and October, 2004, thirty-five Bravos were awarded.

http://www.washington.edu/admin/finmgmt/qi/rqt/

PERSON TO PERSON GATHERING

The dates and times for the next three Person-to-Person Gatherings are as follows:

January 27, 2005—Lunch. Location TBA

April 13, 2005—Breakfast. Location TBA

July 20, 2005—Lunch. Location TBA

Keep an eye out for your invitation!