UBCO Finance News

Employee Recognition Program

 

Give your Kudos here!

Notice about Brinks Pickups

Notice to all departments who make non-tuition deposits on campus:  Brink’s carriers will be changing their pickup schedule.

Currently, Brink’s has been coming to campus on Fridays.

Starting the week of July 17, 2023, Brink’s will visit the UBCO campus on Tuesdays for deposit pickup.

Important Year-end Dates!

Please visit this link to review important month-end and year-end dates so your department can best prepare for the fiscal year end.

UBC Okanagan ProPass!

Enrolment for the Winter 2023 ProPASS Period is now open!

UBCO employees are eligible to enroll in the ProPASS Program to receive a 50% discount on adult monthly bus passes.

Save money on your commute, catch up on your reading, and reduce GHG emissions by choosing transit. With ProPASS, the cost of transit passes is only $35/month (employees must enroll and pay for an entire four-month Pass Period). That’s half the cost of UBCO’s cheapest parking pass.

ProPASS is a program offered by BC Transit and their regional partners. UBCO has worked with the City of Kelowna to bring ProPASS to UBCO to support employees in choosing transit for their commute.

Visit the UBCO ProPASS webpage for more information on the program and to enrol. Be sure to enrol and pay for your passes by Dec 31!

UBCO ProPASS FAQ’s

How much does it cost to participate in the ProPASS program?

  • The total cost for the Pass Period is $140 ($35 per month) for UBCO Staff and Faculty. (Regular Monthly Adult Transit Pass – $70 per month – less 15% ProPASS Discount and 35% UBCO Sustainable Transportation Subsidy)

How do I pay for my ProPASSes?

  • Once you’ve completed the online UBCO ProPASS Enrolment form, you will receive a link to the ProPASS Online Payment form to pay for your passes by Credit Card or INTERAC Online (available for select financial institutions and credit unions). If you require an alternative payment method to pay for your passes, please visit the Parking Services Office in person to pay with Cash or Debit. Exact cash is required (no cash is held onsite).

Can I start or withdraw from the ProPASS Program in the middle of a Pass Period?

  • No, you must commit to a full four-month Pass Period (example Winter: January – April). Once enrolment has closed at the start of each Pass Period, new participants must wait for enrolment to open for the next pass period.

I work on campus but am not employed by UBCO, can I participate in ProPASS?

  • Eligible groups may participate in ProPASS accessing the standard 15% discount of off regular monthly transit passes ($238 per Pass Period). At this time online/credit card payments are not available for Non-UBCO Employees, payments must be made with Cash or Debit. Eligible groups may include UBC SUO staff, UBCO Daycare staff, or student groups who are not eligible for UPASS. Contact campus.planning@ubc.ca for more information or to determine if you are part of an eligible group before enrolling using the online form.

Important! Payroll Fraud Phishing Attacks

The below message was received from UBC Cybersecurity, and has been posted here to promote awareness on this issue. 

 

Please be advised that UBC Cybersecurity is aware of an alarming increase in Payroll Fraud phishing attacks.

Criminals have crafted tailored messages targeting members of finance and/or payroll teams, attempting to trick them into updating employees’ direct deposit account information in order to re-route employees’ paycheques. At least one case has been successful so far, and we suspect that many more similar attempts are just on the horizon.

With this information in mind, you must be vigilant when examining any message that you receive in your Inbox.

Please keep the following checklist handy during your review:

  • Watch for the [CAUTION: Non-UBC Email] banner at the top of emails.
  • Emails from UBC colleagues and services will NOT have this banner applied.
  • Emails from UBC colleagues and services should not be from internet mailing services like Gmail or Hotmail.
  • Do not open attachments that you weren’t expecting, especially if they require a password to open.
  • Contact the sender either by phone or by sending them a separate email to a known email address (do not reply to the email you received) to confirm legitimacy.
  • Do not click on links in messages.
  • Always type the website address into your browser.
  • Be wary of messages that convey a sense of urgency:
  • ‘I need to change my deposit information before the next paycheque…’
  • Beware of messages claiming certain services like Workday or CWL aren’t working.
  • Direct the sender to the IT Service Centre for urgent assistance and validation
  • Trust your gut, if the sender’s standard email format isn’t followed (e.g. their signature has changed or their email just doesn’t sound quite like them), follow up to see if it’s legitimate.
  • Report any suspicious emails messages to security@ubc.ca

If you follow this checklist every time you review your email, we’re confident you will spot something suspicious when it arises and will follow the safe course of action.

Remember, no matter who someone claims to be, you should never feel pressured to “help” someone by engaging in steps that do not follow proper procedure and protocol. Instead, scrutinize any unusual requests and immediately escalate them to your supervisor. If in any doubt, please report suspicious email messages (preferably sent as attachments) to security@ubc.ca. We’re happy to review emails or any other form of electronic communication to assist in validating a request.

Looking for a Verification or Confirmation of Employment letter?

Introducing our new Communication and Change Management Specialist!

Please join us in welcoming Olayinka Makanjuola, who joined our team on Sept 12, 2022 as our Communications and Change Management Specialist. This is a leave replacement for Lauren Hatchard, who will return to UBC Okanagan in the fall season of 2023.

Olayinka has extensive communications and change management experience and skills, and we are confident that she will be able to jump right in to support Workday sustainment, continuous improvement projects within AVPFO, and other initiatives in Finance Operations. Her past experience includes various communication positions with organizations in Chicago, Tennessee, and Nigeria; she also holds a Master of Arts in Communication and Media Studies.

Note: Please direct Workday related questions to the ISC.

Accounts Payable – Expense Reports Update

Please note that due to high volumes of submitted expense reports from the campus community, it can take a minimum of three weeks for Accounts Payable to review and process all submitted expense reports. Please communicate this to your teams and departments so that they are aware of processing and turn-around times.

If you have an out of pocket expense report that requires urgent reimbursement, you can email finance.ubco@ubc.ca with the EXP-number, and it will be passed onto the AP team with a request to expediate if possible.

Note – this is only an option for personal out of pocket reimbursements, and not UBC Visa paid expenses.

For information on how to create and submit an expense report for UBC Visa reconciliation, please review this job aid: Reconcile UBC Visa Transactions on an Expense Report

For information on how to edit or change an expense report, please review this job aid: View, Edit, Change or Cancel an Expense Report

Important Year End Dates

Please review important year end dates and information regarding UBC cutoffs and deadlines here.

T4/T4A Tax Slips now available for Faculty and Staff

T4 and T4A’s are now available and can be accessed through your Workday portal.

 

If you having issues locating your tax documents, please refer to this job aid to help navigate to your tax documents. To read more about tax document availability, please visit here.