Financial Reporting and Accounting
Topics at a Glance
Overview
Financial Reporting and Accounting is responsible for maintaining the integrity of the University’s accounting records and supporting the interim and year-end financial closings. Included in our area are the following responsibilities:
- Approval of accounting adjustments, journals, and ad hoc bank transactions
- Tracking and recording cash swap intercompany activity with Reynolda House and WFUHS
- Creation and maintenance of FDM (Foundation Data Model) worktags (accounts, activity codes, cost centers, designations, spend and revenue categories)
- Ensuring timely and accurate consolidated financial reporting
- Monitoring the flow of transactions to the general ledger system (Workday Finance) via allocations, integrations, and journal entries to ensure the integrity of financial data
- Preparing policies, administrative procedures, and training and development materials related to financial reporting and accounting, and ensuring appropriate internal controls are maintained
- Preparation of all bank reconciliations
- Reconciliation of various balance sheet ledger accounts
- Support for Workday Finance Campus user reports
- Coordinating and supporting financial statement preparation for subsidiary units
- Managing and coordinating all financial audits of the University and the issuance of audited consolidated financial statement reports
- Preparing and/or assisting in the completion of financial data surveys, analyses, and forecasts for University Finance
Please feel free to forward any questions you have to genacct@wfu.edu.
FAQ and Training
Please visit the Training & Support worklet in Workday and filter the list for ‘Accounting’ under ‘Functional Area.’
All journal entries and accounting adjustments are to be submitted in Workday by the end of the 2nd business day after the month’s end. Cash and checks received by the cashier by 11 am on the last business day of the month will appear on your monthly reports.
Monthly reports are available in Workday in real-time as items are reviewed and processed and can be viewed throughout the close cycle. Final reports will be available by the morning of the 6th business day of the following month. You will be notified by email when the reports are ready.
- Invoice & Payment questions: Accounts Payable – ap@wfu.edu
- Deposit questions: Accounts Receivable – cashwfu@wfu.edu
- Payroll entry questions: Payroll – payroll@wfu.edu
- All other questions should be directed to genacct@wfu.edu
Forms
If your department is responsible for balance sheet reconciliations, Finance will notify you. Balance Sheet reconciliations are due to area managers by the 25th day of the following month. All area managers are responsible for reviewing account reconciliations for completeness and accuracy. A log of all account reconciliations and the person responsible for them is maintained on the shared drive and reviewed monthly by Finance.
Period End Closing
All subsystems are to close their month by the second business day of the following month. As issues are identified, journal entries and accounting adjustments should be entered throughout the month. The last day to enter journal entries or adjustments to ensure processing for the prior month is by the end of the second business day. Finance reviews all transactions before they are posted to the general ledger following the workflow process.
The general ledger is normally closed by the fifth business day following the month’s end. Deadlines for mid-year and year-end will follow a slightly different calendar that will be communicated to all Workday Finance Users. Once the ledger is closed, Finance sends a notification to an established distribution to notify all appropriate campus users that the month is closed and that they can view final reports online. These monthly reports should assist departments with analyzing actual results to budget for both revenues and expenses. The checklist should be used to ensure all items have been appropriately reviewed.