In this issue:
- Subawards & Subcontracts | Updating PI & Fund Manager Details
- BruinBuy Plus Enhancements | Auto-View PDFs
- Irregular Invoices | Upcoming Resolution Deadline
- Next Week's Forecast | Office Hours & Other Important Events
- In Case You Missed It... | A Glance At Previous News
Overview
Invoices related to a subaward or subcontract must be approved by the associated principal investigator (PI) and fund manager before they can be processed for payment by Accounts Payable. This approval workflow is driven by fund number.
IMPORTANT: Currently, BruinBuy Plus only supports one PI and one fund manager per fund. Review the August 30 Recap to learn more about subaward / subcontract invoice workflow.
How to Request an Update
You can view a comprehensive list of BruinBuy Plus fund numbers and their assigned PIs / fund managers through our Subaward / Subcontract Invoice Approver list. Based on campus feedback, this report will now be refreshed on a weekly basis.
If you notice incorrect PI or fund manager information for an existing subaward / subcontract fund OR need to add the PI and fund manager details for a new subaward / subcontract fund, complete our redesigned BruinBuy Plus Invoice Approver Update form.
Update Schedule
Updates are posted per the below calendar:
| Request Submission Date | BruinBuy Plus Posting Date |
|---|---|
| Monday, March 17, through Sunday, March 23 | Thursday, March 27 |
| Monday, March 24, through Sunday, March 30 | Friday, April 4 |
| Monday, March 31, through Sunday, April 6 | Friday, April 11 |
| Monday, April 7, through Sunday, April 13 | Friday, April 18 |
Submitters will be notified if their request is unable to be processed due to incomplete or inaccurate information.
BruinBuy Plus PDF Viewer
BruinBuy Plus PDF attachments now automatically open in the system’s native PDF viewer – no downloading required! This applies to all document types, including:
- Requisitions
- Purchase Orders
- Change Requests
- Invoices
- Receipts
Accounting Codes Entry Methods
In November, BruinBuy Plus’ Accounting Codes fields gained type-ahead functionality designed to help users quicky locate their desired FAU inputs with minimal data entry. Unfortunately, if users wished to manually enter these details, this enhancement made tabbing between fields incredibly cumbersome.
We’re excited to report that users can now use the entry method toggle to select their preferred Accounting Codes experience:
- Standard Entry (default): supports the standard type-ahead and field search functionality
- Data Entry Mode: optimizes fields for manual data entry, including tabbing
Want to further streamline the Accounting Codes process? Add FAU favorites to your BruinBuy Plus profile!
Irregular invoices with a hold date of March 1, 2025, through March 16, 2025, must be actioned by departments no later than end of day Monday, March 31.
If the necessary department action(s) is not taken by this deadline, impacted invoices may be rejected or pushed to payment. Additional information on how unactioned invoices are centrally addressed can be found on the Irregular Invoice Resolution Calendar web page.
Need help? Join an upcoming office hour or irregular invoice working session!
| Date | Details |
|---|---|
| Monday, March 24 | N/A |
| Tuesday, March 25 | 11 a.m. – 12 p.m. PT | Accounts Payable Office Hours 3 p.m. – 4 p.m. PT | Vendor Management Office Hours |
| Wednesday, March 26 | 10 a.m. – 11 a.m. PT | Travel Accounting Office Hours 11 a.m. – 11:45 a.m. PT | Purchasing Office Hours NOTE: This week's Travel Accounting office hour was rescheduled from 9 a.m. PT to 10 a.m. PT. We will return to our normal schedule on April 2. |
| Thursday, March 27 | 11 a.m. – 12 p.m. PT | Subaward / Subcontract Office Hours 11 a.m. – 12 p.m. PT | Non-T&E Reimbursement Office Hours 1 p.m. – 2:15 p.m. PT | Accounts Payable Office Hours 5 p.m. PT | BruinBuy Plus monthly maintenance begins |
| Friday, March 28 | 3 a.m. PT | BruinBuy Plus monthly maintenance ends Office Closed | Cesar Chavez Holiday |
Shipping Form Updates
The BruinBuy Plus Payment for Shipping Invoice form is designed to initiate payment of shipping and shipping label transactions associated with the following vendors:
- BioCair
- FedEx (shipping only; printing services require a purchase order)
- UPS
- World Courier, Inc.
Effective March 13, we’ve updated this form to include clearer instructions and verbiage. Need help filling it out? Our new Shipping Form web page has everything you need!
Upcoming System Maintenance
To support monthly and quarterly system maintenance, BruinBuy Plus may be unavailable during the following periods:
| Maintenance Window | Impact |
|---|---|
| Thursday, March 27, 5 p.m. PT through Friday, March 28, 3 a.m. PT | Intermittent system disruptions |
Please plan your transactions and activities accordingly. If you have any questions or experience issues, submit a ticket to our Service Desk.
TIP: Add BruinBuy Plus planned outage events to your calendar!
Recap Mailing List Form
Would one of your colleagues benefit from receiving the weekly BruinBuy Plus Recap? Have them complete our mailing list form!
NOTE: If you already receive the BruinBuy Plus Recap, no action is needed.
Need Help? | We're Here to Support!
The BruinBuy Plus hub continues to be updated with new resources! For Service Desk support, create a ticket:
- Email: help@it.ucla.edu
- Phone: (310) 267-HELP (4357)
- ServiceNow Portal: tinyurl.com/bruinbuy-plus-support
BruinBuy Plus Recap Web Articles
Access previous BruinBuy Plus Recaps on the Campus Purchasing & Payables website.
