1.  RCUH Policies and Procedures 2.120, Sole Source Purchase (previously titled Non-Competitive Purchases), has been revised to add policy details and responsibilities for the Principal Investigator and Fiscal Administrator.

 

Attachment 2, Sole Source Justification, has undergone a slight cosmetic change.

 

 

2.  RCUH Policies and Procedures 2.125 Cost or Price Reasonableness (previously titled Cost or Price Analysis), has been revised.

• Reorganized the presentation of policy details.
  

• Added responsibilities for the Principal Investigator and Fiscal Administrator.

• Added samples of price analyses.

 

• Added a sample cost analysis.

Attachment 1, Determination of Cost or Price Reasonableness, has been revised as well.

• Added a purpose for the form and instructions for completion of the form.

 

• Updated the expenditure condition for competitive proposals from one (1) proposal to all proposals.

 

• Added professional services procurement and extension of an existing contract past its initial term to the list of expenditure conditions.

 

• Added an approved signature line for the Designated University Official / Fiscal Administrator.

We encountered a system error yesterday afternoon and consequently checks could not be printed.

We are working to resolve the data errors that occurred and anticipate the system being available around 10:00am this morning.  We will post a message when the system is operational.

Until the problem is resolved, Payment transactions cannot be created or approved at this time.    

We apologize for the inconvenience and appreciate your patience. Thank you.

We are pleased to announce a new, modernized purchase order creation process is available on-line starting today. We are confident that you will find the modernized PO creation screens are more efficient and user friendly.  This release is the first of several that will take place throughout the year as part of a comprehensive plan to modernize the RCUH financial system.  Last summer, RCUH conducted a survey of the users of the RCUH financial system and the UH Kuali Financial System, and using the feedback that was provided by many of you, we started to work on enhancements to the RCUH system. 

 

To keep pace with users’ expectations of any on-line system in today’s world, we are using state-of-the-art tools for the modernization.  In the current environment, applications are much more intuitive, making the old method of system implementation obsolete. The following are the benefits of “migrating in place” using current technology:

 

• New functions are released while the legacy system remains available. In other words, both systems are available.

• Users are provided with the option to use either the legacy or modernized version during the transition period. We will plan to “retire” the old system in April 2014 (a notice will be posted).

• Users have time to adjust to the new features.

• Extensive training manuals and classes are no longer needed.

 

The release of the modernized PO creation screens is the culmination of the joint effort of the development team that includes DataHouse, RCUH core office staff, and selected project staff users.  We would like to thank the project staff users who provided very relevant and meaningful insight and suggestions, which were incorporated into what is now being released for your use.

 

While using the new PO creation function is self-explanatory, Release Notes and a short video explaining the new features have been prepared for your use.

 

The following attachments have been revised:

Attachment 54 – RFP Checklist for Proposal Evaluation and Contract Awarding

■    Checklist item no. 5 — 5b was inserted to provide additional guidance for evaluation of the price portion of the proposal.

■    Checklist item no. 9 – (4) was added to ensure that the proposal evaluation committee has prepared a Determination of Cost or Price Reasonableness form.

Attachment 55 – RFP FAQ (Frequently asked questions)

■    Question no. 24 – Revised the answer to clarify the existing policy that a Determination of Cost or Price Reasonableness form is required for all RFPs, since cost/price is just one of several evaluation factors considered in determining best value.

 

In our continuing effort to streamline and better maintain RCUH’s vendor file, as of January 3, 2014 we have purged vendor records that have not been utilized since December 31, 2012.  These vendors have been removed from the RCUH vendor file.  This may mean that if you are unable to locate a vendor in RCUH’s system, you may have to create a new vendor record.

 

In addition to the above, in order to comply with our federal tax reporting obligations, RCUH is continuing its efforts to obtain IRS Form W-9s from all vendors in our system.  We ask for your continued assistance in this effort.

 

We appreciate your understanding as we continue to improve our system.  Please contact [email protected] if you have any questions or concerns.  Thank you.

 

The Department of the Treasury, Internal Revenue Service, has announced new standard mileage rates effective January 1, 2014 through December 31, 2014:

 

Business	$0.56 per mile
Moving	$0.235 per mile

 

Attachment 12 in the Procurement section Attachment Index contains the current RCUH rates.  UH employees may refer to www.hawaii.edu/etravel/rates.html.

 

TO:    Principal Investigators, Fiscal Administrators/Designated UH Officials

 

 

The deadline for fiscal administrators’ approval of on-line payment transactions on December 24 and December 31 is 12:00 noon in order to be included in the daily check run.

 

 

The last check run for the calendar year will be on Tuesday, December 31, 2013.  Month-end processing will commence at 12:00 noon on December 31, 2013.  During this period, on-line payment and purchasing transactions can be initiated, but fiscal administrators will NOT have the ability to approve transactions.  Transactions approved after 12:00 noon on December 31 will NOT be included in the project reports for the month of December.

 

 

Should you have any questions please contact Doug Tonokawa at 956-9244 or [email protected].

 

As previously announced, RCUH is currently involved in an extensive effort to obtain IRS Form W-9s from its vendors in order to ensure accurate federal income tax reporting.  We thank those of you who have assisted us in obtaining W-9s from vendors. 

 

With your continued assistance, it is anticipated that this effort will slow in late 2014.  It is expected, however, that the need to collect W-9s will be ongoing in the near term due to the many vendor records created prior to October 21, 2013 where there is no W-9 on file with RCUH.

 

As detailed in our notice of November 5, 2013, vendors paid in 2013 that have not responded to RCUH’s multiple requests for a Form W-9 can be viewed on the RCUH website.   On November 30 2013, additional non-responsive vendors were added to this list.  These are vendors that had an existing RCUH vendor record without a W-9 on file that were used during the August-October timeframe and received a Form 1099 tax reportable payment. 

 

We again ask for your assistance in contacting non-responsive vendors to obtain their Form W-9.  We recommend you check the non-responsive vendor list for vendors that you pay.  The list of non-responsive vendors can be viewed by clicking on the “NR Vendors” action tab (top right corner) of the RCUH website page after logging into the Financial Portal.  A list of non-responsive vendors as of November 30, 2013 can also be found here (click here). 

 

You can facilitate timely payments to your vendors by contacting them before payment is due to let them know that they need to provide a Form W-9 in order to receive any future payments.  Some projects and departments may have W-9s and/or WH-1s in their files for non-responsive vendors.  Please forward these documents to [email protected].

 

Beginning December 11, 2013, any remaining non-responsive vendors will either (i) be deactivated if they do not have an active RCUH PO encumbrance, or (ii) be flagged even if there is an active PO encumbrance so you will be unable to submit a payment for a flagged vendor. 

 

Thank you for your understanding and assistance in this effort to ensure that RCUH complies with its IRS tax reporting requirements and continues to provide the service that you expect and deserve.

 

 

 

TO: UH Principal Investigators / Designated University Officials / Other Project Personnel

 

RCUH Policies and Procedures 2.146, Request for Proposal (RFP), has been updated. 

 

The following have been added to the Procurement Attachments Index to aid in the preparation of an RFP:

 

RFP Preparation Checklist (Attachment 53),

RFP Evaluation Checklist (Attachment 54),

RFP FAQ (Attachment 55), and

RFP Template (Attachment 56).

 

 

In our ongoing efforts to ensure that we have complete and accurate vendor information so that we can meet our legal tax reporting obligations for Form 1099 returns, we are seeking your assistance in contacting non-responsive vendors with whom you may have a relationship.

 

As you know, several steps have been already taken to improve the collection of the IRS Form W-9, which is necessary for the Form 1099 process.  Effective October 21, 2013, all newly created RCUH vendor records now require the vendor’s Form W-9. 

RCUH has been contacting vendors who have Form 1099-reportable payments for 2013, to submit a W-9.  After two (2) letter requests, several hundred vendors have not yet responded.  As a result, we would like to ask for your help with your vendors.

A list of non-responsive vendors can now be viewed by clicking on the “NR Vendors” action tab (top right corner) of the RCUH website page after logon.  We ask for your assistance in contacting non-responsive vendors that you recognize on the list to obtain a completed IRS Form W-9. 

Beginning November 18, 2013, non-responsive vendors that have not provided RCUH with a completed IRS Form W-9 will be deactivated. 

 The following describes the vendor deactivation process that will occur on November 18, 2013: 

•  Vendor records with no active RCUH PO encumbrance:  If a vendor has not provided a Form W-9 by November 18, and the vendor has no active RCUH PO encumbrance, the vendor’s record will be deactivated and excluded from the Vendor Search display results.  If such a vendor requires payment, a RCUH user will be required to create a new vendor record.  A new vendor record will require a valid Form W-9 to be attached.
• Vendor records with an active RCUH PO encumbrance:  Vendor records with an active RCUH PO encumbrance will be flagged.  A PI will be unable to submit a payment to a flagged vendor until the vendor provides a Form W-9 to RCUH.  The project will be required to contact the vendor and obtain the vendor’s Form W-9.  When the Form W-9 is sent to [email protected] with the PO# and the vendor name in the subject line, the flag will be lifted, and payment approval will be restored. 

 

 

We recommend that you check the non-responsive vendor list for vendors that you pay.  You can facilitate timely payments to your vendors by contacting them before payment is due to let them know that they need to provide a Form W-9 in order to receive future payment.  Prompt action by you can help to ensure that payments can be made to your vendors without delay.

  

We know that it is critical for you to maintain good relationships with your vendors and be able to continue to do business with them.  RCUH wholeheartedly supports good business relationships with your vendors but we cannot continue to pay a vendor that is unwilling to provide the required tax identification information to RCUH.  The penalties imposed by the IRS  are too significant when that is allowed to occur.

 

We thank you for your assistance.  By working together, RCUH can continue to provide the service that you expect and deserve.