As a reminder, effective July 1, 2023, all Revolving accounts will be transferred from RCUH to UH. For additional information about the transfer of Revolving accounts from RCUH to UH, please refer to the ORS website: https://research.hawaii.edu/ors/resources/service-centers/.

For those with RCUH-related questions, please email [email protected] or call (808) 956-0507.

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NEW PROJECT ACCOUNT NUMBERS

Revolving accounts will be assigned a new KFS Special Fund Research Recharge Center (SRRC) project account number with a range that will start with “2XXXXXX”. We expect the new KFS SRRC project accounts to be activated in the RCUH system on July 7, 2023. Projects should use the new KFS SRRC project account number to process and approve online purchasing, payment, and travel transactions in the RCUH Financial Portal. The new KFS SRRC project account should be used even if the goods/services received date is June 30, 2023 or earlier.

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DEPOSIT PROCEDURES

Effective July 1, 2023, deposits for Revolving accounts will no longer be processed by RCUH. Deposits made on July 1, 2023 or after should be received and recorded by the University of Hawaii. However, we expect that there will be a transition period during which RCUH will continue to receive deposits for Revolving accounts and therefore:

• Any ACH or EFT deposits received by RCUH on 07/01/23 and after will also be posted to the RCUH Revolving account. The RCUH system does not allow the use of KFS income object codes, so we are not able to post income transactions to the new KFS SRRC account. The RCUH Revolving account will serve as a holding account until the project close-out is completed.

• Checks made payable to RCUH and received on 07/01/23 and after will be endorsed by RCUH and made payable to UH and returned to the project.

Please refer to AP 8.701, Receipting and Depositing of Funds Received by the University for procedures on receipting, depositing, recording, reconciling, and safeguarding of funds received. In addition, please refer to our earlier announcement posted on May 30, 2023 regarding change of payee to UH.

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JOURNAL ENTRIES FOR INTERNAL BILLINGS

Effective July 1, 2023, RCUH Accounting will no longer process journal entries to record internal billings for Revolving account invoices. Revolving account invoices to bill for goods or services provided by one university department to another university department should be processed with a KFS Internal Billing document. Please refer to the UH Internal Billing User Guide on how to process an Internal Billing in KFS.

The fiscal year-end cutoff for RCUH online payment transactions is 12:00 noon on Friday, June 30, 2023. All online payment transactions processed after Friday, June 30, 2023 through Thursday, August 31, 2023, will require service dates. The service date format is MM/DD/YY.

For payments that will be processed or approved after Monday, July 31, 2023, are $100,000 or greater, and have service dates of June 30, 2023 or earlier, please complete the RCUH AP Worksheet. Please include estimates or projections for invoices that have not been received as of July 31. Please email your worksheet to Staci Saito at [email protected] by Tuesday, August 1, 2023.  If there are no payments to report, please email Staci to report that there are no items by Tuesday, August 1, 2023.

A service date field is provided on all payment forms and is identified with the heading “S/D”. The service date is the date goods are received or services are performed. For certain types of payments including travel completions, petty cash reimbursements, extended services, etc., the service date entered should be the last day of the period covered by the payment. However, if the service period covers multiple fiscal years, please allocate costs in each fiscal year incurred. For example, if the service period is from June 1, 2023 to July 31, 2023, record costs incurred from June 1 to June 30 with a 06/30/23 service date and costs incurred from July 1 to July 31 with a 07/31/23 service date.  

This information is needed to ensure that RCUH liabilities are properly reported as of June 30, 2023. Our auditors, N&K CPAs Inc., will be reviewing selected documents processed during this period as part of their audit procedures. Accordingly, please be advised that we may be requesting copies of payment documents for review.

Please contact Maile Brooks at (808) 956-0508 or [email protected] if you have any questions. Your cooperation is greatly appreciated.

The RCUH Financial Portal is back in operation and Fiscal Administrators may resume approving transactions.

On Friday, June 2, 2023, we encountered a system error which affected our end-of-day business processing. Vendor payments for transactions approved on June 2 will be processed in accordance with our normal processing schedule.

RCUH transactions approved on June 2 for UH Extramural accounts will be transmitted and posted to the UH Kuali Financial System on June 5.

We apologize for the inconvenience and appreciate your patience.

On Friday, June 2, 2023, we encountered a system error which affected our end of day business processing. Vendor payments for transactions approved on June 2 will be processed when the issue is resolved.

At this time, online purchasing, payment, and travel transactions cannot be approved in the Financial Portal until the issue is resolved. We are working to resolve the issue and we will post an updated announcement when the Financial Portal is back in operation.

RCUH transactions approved on June 2 for UH Extramural accounts will NOT be transmitted or posted to the UH Kuali Financial System, and UH Project Fiscal Reports may reflect incorrect amounts and balances until the issue is resolved.

We apologize for the inconvenience and appreciate your patience.

To: Principal Investigators, Fiscal Administrators, and Project Staff of RCUH Revolving Accounts

You are encouraged to update payee information on your invoices beginning with your June invoices. All customers should be notified that any remittances made after June 30, 2023 must be issued to the University of Hawaiʻi and not to RCUH.

Please refer to AP 8.701, Receipting and Depositing of Funds Received by the University for procedures on receipting, depositing, recording, reconciling, and safeguarding of funds received. 

If the payment will be electronically transmitted, please provide your customers with the UH Electronic Funds Transfer (EFT) Form. In accordance with AP 8.702, III.C.2., you must notify the UH Treasury Office when a new EFT agreement is established. The customer must provide identifying information with the EFT payment in order for the UH Treasury Office to identify and route the EFT payment notification to the proper department for recording.

Please direct any questions to the UH Treasury Office at [email protected].

As the U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) continues to streamline and digitize the entry process for international visitors, CBP is eliminating entry stamps in passports at many (and eventually all) ports of entry. Without a passport entry stamp, foreign visitors will only have the electronic Form I-94 as a reference of their lawful immigration status. The Form I-94 is a Department of Homeland Security (DHS) arrival/departure record issued to aliens who are admitted into the United States. Having this information is critical to ensuring the foreign visitor is in the appropriate status for the correct duration.

Foreign visitors should be advised to check and download their Form I-94 soon after entry into the United States. This is especially important for temporary business visitors (e.g., B-1 visa), because the electronic I-94 only lists the details of the foreign visitor’s most recent entry to the U.S., not any previous class of admission (i.e., visa status). Thus, if the nonemployee departs then re-enters the U.S., their previous class of admission will no longer be available. Incomplete or missing electronic I-94 information may impact RCUH’s ability to process a nonemployee payment or the tax treatment of such payment.

Visitors may access and print their electronic I-94 from the I-94 website or on the CBP One mobile application.

Any questions may be directed to Charlene Gibo at [email protected].

Updated from April 3, 2023 posting: SOQ deadline and late submittal dates are extended.

Licensed attorneys who wish to provide specialized legal services to the Research Corporation of the University of Hawaii (RCUH) for Fiscal Year 2024 (July 1, 2023 – June 30, 2024), are invited to submit a Statement of Qualifications and Expression of Interest (SOQ) to RCUH pursuant to HRS § 103D-304.

RCUH is currently looking to contract for legal services in the following areas:

1. Employment:  Employment, employee benefits, disciplinary, termination, workers’ compensation and discrimination/retaliation issues. Services shall include but not be limited to:
   1. Drafting, reviewing, and providing advice and recommendations relating thereto;
   2. Providing advice and recommendations regarding responses to claims asserted by current and former employees; 
   3. Participating in negotiations regarding items (a) and (b); and
   4. Providing guidance on applicable statutes, regulations, and other legal requirements.

Previous experience advising employers is essential, and previous experience advising government agencies is preferred.  

2. Immigration: Temporary visas and/or permanent residency applications. Services shall include but not be limited to:
   1. Drafting, reviewing, and providing advice and recommendations relating thereto;
   2. Completing and filing permanent residency applications (previous experience representing both employers and employees in the permanent residency application process is essential);
   3. Completing and filing temporary visa applications and related documentation; and
   4. Providing guidance on applicable statutes, regulations, and other legal requirements.

3. Tax: Payroll, IRS compliance, foreign payroll and/or nonresident alien and foreign entity contractor payments (crossover immigration experience preferred), IRS compliance. Services shall include but not be limited to:
   1. Providing guidance on applicable statutes, regulations, internal policies, and other legal requirements.

4. Maritime: Charter, third-party vessel, and other marine-related agreements; marine insurance terms and policies. Services shall include but not be limited to:
   1. Drafting, reviewing, and providing advice and recommendations relating thereto; and
   2. Providing guidance on applicable statutes, regulations, insurance policies/terms, internal policies, and other legal requirements.

Please email your SOQ to: [email protected] by Friday, May 12, 2023, to be eligible for consideration. SOQs received after May 12, 2023 will be classified as “late submittals” for the balance of the fiscal year as follows: a late submittal received May 13, 2023 through September 15, 2023, will be considered for services beginning October 1, 2023; a late submittal received September 16, 2023 through December 15, 2023, will be considered for services beginning January 1, 2024.

SOQ forms are available here.

Important Dates:

June 30, 2023	Last Check Run for FY 2023 (Payments must be approved by 12 noon)
July 6, 2023	RCUH Financial System scheduled to reopen
July 6, 2023	First Check Run for FY 2024 (4:00 PM)

Online purchasing, payment, and travel transactions must be approved by Fiscal Administrators by 12:00 noon on Friday, June 30, 2023 to be included in FY 2023. The last check run for the fiscal year will be on Friday, June 30, 2023. Pending transactions will remain in the RCUH financial system, and will not be automatically deleted or disapproved.

From July 1 through July 5, online purchasing, payment, and travel transactions can be created, but Fiscal Administrators will not have the ability to approve transactions. Transactions will not be posted to project accounts until the financial system is reopened for FY 2024. The RCUH financial system is scheduled to reopen on Thursday, July 6, 2023. The first check run for FY 2024 is scheduled for Thursday, July 6, 2023 at 4:00 PM.

On an emergency basis only, manual checks can be issued during this period. Fiscal Administrators should contact RCUH Disbursing at [email protected].

Project reports will be accessible on the RCUH website. However, report balances will only reflect transactions posted through June 30, 2023, until processing resumes on July 6, 2023.

Please contact Maile Brooks at (808) 956-0508 or [email protected] if you have any questions.

The RCUH Financial Portal is back in operation and Fiscal Administrators may resume approving transactions.

On Tuesday, April 18, 2023, we encountered a system error which affected our end-of-day business processing. Vendor payments for transactions approved on April 18 will be processed in accordance with our normal processing schedule.

RCUH transactions approved on April 18 for UH Extramural accounts will be transmitted and posted to the UH Kuali Financial System on April 19.

We apologize for the inconvenience and appreciate your patience.

The RCUH Financial Portal is back in operation and Fiscal Administrators may resume approving transactions.

On Monday, April 17, 2023, we encountered a system error which affected our end-of-day business processing. Vendor payments for transactions approved on April 17 may be processed one business day later than normal.

RCUH transactions approved on April 17 for UH Extramural accounts will be transmitted and posted to the UH Kuali Financial System on April 18.

We apologize for the inconvenience and appreciate your patience.