In this issue:
- BruinBuy Plus Enhancement | Direct Pay Form Updates
- Irregular Invoices | Latest Resolution Deadlines
- Work Stoppage | Campus Delivery Impacts
- Upcoming System Maintenance | Potential BruinBuy Plus Disruptions
- Next Week's Forecast | Office Hours & Other Important Events
- In Case You Missed It... | A Glance At Previous News
Based on your feedback, visiting scholar and visiting graduate researcher payments are now specifically listed on the Direct Pay form!
REMINDER: Information on visiting scholars / researchers can be found on UCLA Graduate Education's Visiting Graduate Researcher and Non-Degree Objective Student Comparison web page opens a new window.
What’s Changed?
The previous Non-Matriculated Student request type has been expanded to Visiting Scholar / Graduate Researcher or Non-Matriculated Student. If selected, questions specific to each of these designations will now populate.
How Can I Learn More?
Our new How to Complete the Direct Pay Form for Payments to Non-Matriculated Students, Visiting Graduate Researchers, or Visiting Scholars guide opens a new window provides step-by-step instructions for these payments.
The Irregular Invoice Resolution Calendar has been updated with the latest department deadlines!
Not sure how to identify the invoices your team is responsible for actioning? Follow the steps in the How to View & Sort Irregular Invoices by Hold Date training guide.
TIP: Add upcoming deadlines to your calendar through our dynamic Events feed.
REMINDER: March Deadline
Irregular invoices with a hold date opens a new window 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.
NEW! April Deadlines
| Invoice Hold Date | Department Action Deadline |
|---|---|
| March 17, 2025 – March 31, 2025 | Friday, April 11, end of day |
| April 1, 2025 – April 13, 2025 | Friday, April 25, end of day |
Resources & Support
- Comprehensive instructions for viewing and addressing irregular invoices are available on the Irregular Invoice Reporting and Irregular Invoice Resolution web pages.
- Receive live support through office hours and irregular invoice working sessions opens a new window.
Earlier this week, Mail, Document & Distribution Services (MDDS) sent the below message to all UCLA employees:
The UC Office of the President has informed us of a one-day strike by UPTE and AFSCME planned for Tuesday, April 1, 2025. This may affect delivery services, as drivers for companies like UPS, FedEx and Amazon may choose not to cross picket lines. To mitigate any disruptions, we encourage all departments to implement their continuity plans and stock up on essential supplies immediately.
Complete details can be found in MDDS’ March 25 communication.
To support monthly system maintenance, BruinBuy Plus may be unavailable during the following periods:
| Maintenance Window | Impact |
|---|---|
| Thursday, April 10, 5 p.m. PT through Friday, April 11, 3 a.m. PT | Intermittent system disruptions |
| Saturday, April 12, 3 p.m. PT through 11 p.m. PT | Intermittent system disruptions |
| Thursday, April 24, 5 p.m. PT through Friday, April 25, 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 opens a new window to our Service Desk.
TIP: Add BruinBuy Plus planned outage events to your calendar!
| Date | Details |
|---|---|
| Monday, March 31 | 2 p.m. – 3 p.m. PT | Irregular Invoice Working Session End of Day | Irregular invoice resolution deadline |
| Tuesday, April 1 | 11 a.m. – 12 p.m. PT | Accounts Payable Office Hours 3 p.m. – 4 p.m. PT | Vendor Management Office Hours |
| Wednesday, April 2 | 9 a.m. – 10 a.m. PT | Travel Accounting Office Hours 11 a.m. – 11:45 a.m. PT | Purchasing Office Hours |
| Thursday, April 3 | 11 a.m. – 12 p.m. PT | Subaward / Subcontract Office Hours 1 p.m. – 2:15 p.m. PT | Accounts Payable Office Hours |
| Friday, April 4 | N/A |
Updating Subaward / Subcontract PI and Fund Manager Details
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 opens a new window. 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 opens a new window.
Update Schedule
Updates are posted per the below calendar:
| Request Submission Date | BruinBuy Plus Posting Date |
|---|---|
| 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.
Recent BruinBuy Plus Enhancements
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 opens a new window to your BruinBuy Plus profile!
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(link sends email)
- Phone: (310) 267-HELP (4357)
- ServiceNow Portal: tinyurl.com/bruinbuy-plus-support opens a new window
BruinBuy Plus Recap Web Articles
Access previous BruinBuy Plus Recaps on the Campus Purchasing & Payables website.
