Year-End Closing Workpaper Instructions

FYE 6-30-2023

Please read the ENTIRE document

Important: Financial Services is making a move to paperless. Due to this change, we have transitioned the annual workpaper process to an electronic format and will no longer require or accept hard copies of workpaper documents. Instead, we request that all workpaper documents be prepared electronically, ensuring they are properly organized and indexed following the instructions below. Once your workpapers are complete, please email the files to the assigned cognizant accountant at Financial Reporting and Accounting, as well as to

The Audited Annual Financial Report of the University of Utah reports on all general ledger balances at the end of Thermidor. The year-end closing process requires a review of all general ledger balances to ensure accurate financial reporting.

The following nine steps are required to complete the year-end closing process:

  1.  Save a copy of the Working Trial Balance Template Excel workbook from the Financial Reporting and Accounting webpage. This is also included on the email these instructions were in. Rename the file using the following format: WTB Fund (Your Fund # Here) – FYnnnn (example: WTB Fund 2107 – FY2023). This will serve as your working file for the current fiscal year reporting.
  2. READ ALL INSTRUCTIONS ON THE “INSTRUCTIONS” SHEET IN THE WORKBOOK.
  3. Update your workbook with this year’s data using the instructions below.
  4. Review your Account balances in each Activity.
  5. If necessary, Process Thermidor Journal Entries to adjust balances for material changes. Make sure the journal entries are coded with all the proper ChartField values.
  6. Post all Thermidor Journals to the Working Trial Balance in the Excel workbook.
  7. Make sure the formula for the Adjusted Balance column is accurate.
  8. Document all balance sheet items. (Refer to documentation requirements in Documentation Indexing sheet of the Working Trial Balance Excel workbook).
  9. Email the Working Trial Balance Excel workbook, along with supporting documents, to the assigned cognizant accountant at Financial Reporting and Accounting, as well as to Wei Hsiung (), no later than Friday, July 28th, by noon.

WORKING TRIAL BALANCE WORKBOOK

  1. Working Trial Balance Workbook–This is an Excel workbook with instructions and spreadsheets for the purpose of reporting and documenting fiscal year-end balances for a specific Fund. The sheets included in the workbook are:
    • Instructions
    • Fund Information
    • Documentation Indexing
    • Balance Sheet
    • Revenues & Expenses
    • Fund Transfer Summary Report
    • Due To/Due From
  2. Reports you create and add to your workbook:
    • FYE Balance Sheet Activity – This report is created by executing a query found in the Financial Information Library (FIL) in the “Fiscal Year End” folder linked here. This report lists amounts by Account for each Fund.  For each Account, the Activities with balances in that Account are listed.   Add the Excel formatted results of this query to the Working Trial Balance workbook.
    • FYE Rev and Exp Activity – This report is created by executing a query found in the Financial Information Library (FIL) in the “Fiscal Year End” folder linked here. This report lists amounts by Account for each Fund.  For each Account, the Activities with balances in that Account are listed. Use this report to review the balances of each Revenue, Expense, and Transfer Account for accuracy.
    • FYE Rev and Exp Summary – This report is created by executing a query found in the Financial Information Library (FIL) in the “Fiscal Year End” folder linked here. This report lists amounts by reporting category for various ranges of Accounts in a Fund. Add the Excel formatted results of this query to the Working Trial Balance workbook.

To enable you to perform Step #5-7, a pdf of Thermidor JE forms can be accessed from the following links:

  • Thermidor Accrual Journal Entry –
  • Thermidor Adjusting Journal Entry –
  • For journal continuation form use the regular General Journal Entry – Continuation form
    • The Thermidor Accrual Journal Entry is to be used for processing accruals, which will automatically be reversed in the New Year. Regular General Journal Entry Continuation forms may be used for accrual entries that require more than one page.
    • The Thermidor Adjusting Journal Entry is to be used for processing adjustments, which will not be reversed in the New Year. If another Responsible Person’s Activity or Project is being affected, you must obtain her/his signature on the entry. Regular General Journal Entry Continuation forms may be used for adjusting journal entries that require more than one page.

All changes to June 30 balances must be done by means of these Thermidor Journal Entry forms and posted to the Working Trial Balance sheets in the workbook. All Thermidor adjustments must be shown on the Balance Sheet and/or Revenue & Expenses sheet(s). All Thermidor Journal Entry Forms must be submitted to Wei Hsiung (). Once reviewed, FRA will enter and post the journal entries to the university’s general ledger.

JOURNAL ENTRY IMPACT to CLAIM on CASH (ACCOUNT 10500)

All journal entries affect Claim on Cash. Journal lines adjusting Claim on Cash are required on all Thermidor Journal Entries that have any journal lines that are not Business Unit 01. However, if a journal entry has only Business Unit 01 lines, a process has been developed to post the adjustment to Claim on Cash for that journal entry. Therefore, no Claim on Cash (10500) lines are required for any journal entry that has lines only affecting Business Unit 01. If there are any questions as to whether a Claim on Cash (10500) line is required for any journal entry, please contact Financial Reporting & Accounting.

DOCUMENTATION

The University must be able to prove that it actually has all the assets and liabilities on which it reports. Consequently, all balance sheet amounts must be supported by adequate documentation. For Example, Accounts receivable must be supported by an aging schedule and inventories by copies of the count sheets or summaries. Complete schedules for some balance sheet amounts may be too voluminous to include in these workpapers. At the very least, the total page(s) which show the amount being documented should be included. The complete schedules should remain in your office for at least 3 years.

A consequence for failing to provide documentation for any given balance is that Financial Reporting & Accounting must write the Account balance down to zero by charging your current year operations. If the total in the Account is different from the total documented, the Account total will be adjusted in a similar fashion.

PDF forms to document the balances of Petty Cash or Due To/From Other Funds are available by clicking on the following links in the Indexing Convention Guide below.

INDEXING

In order to facilitate auditing, it is helpful to have documentation indexed in some way so that it is possible to determine which documentation belongs to which balance without having to read more than the index number. Below is a guide to indexing workpaper documentation.  Please save each group of documentation as their own file with the correct indexing number or include a tab for each in the workbook.

Indexing Convention Guide:

Index Account Range Title Documentation
A-1 10100-10109 Petty Cash Cash Count Form*
A-2 10200-10212 Other Cash Copy of Bank Statement & Reconciliation
N 11000-11611 Investments Prepared by Endowment & Investment Acct
N 12000-12103 Investments Prepared by Endowment & Investment Acct
B 15100-16499 Receivables Aging Schedule
C 16600-16629 Inventories Physical Inventory Summary
W 16700-16819 Other Assets Lists, Correspondence, etc.
E 16850-16999 Due From Other Funds Schedule E*
BB 20000-20509 Payables Copies of Vouchers, Receiving, Reports, Invoices, etc.
BB 21100-21309 Payables Copies of Vouchers, Receiving, Reports, Invoices, etc.
DD 20600-20819 Other Liabilities Lists, Correspondence, etc.
N 21400-22052 Investments Prepared by Endowment & Investment Acct
E 20900-21009 Due to Other Funds Schedule E*

*Use this link to access a form to document reported balances.

Here is an example of its use:

  • Activity #12345 has two receivables, one in Account 15300, and one in 15301.
  • The accounts receivable index reference is B. Since there are 2 A/R’s, the aging schedule for the first (15300) will be indexed B-1 and the second (15301), B-2. 
  • The B-1 and B-2 references should also be typed to the right of the “Adjusted Balance” amount on the Working Trial Balance worksheet to enable easy reference, see the sample Balance Sheet tab for an example and there should be a different file for B-1 and B-2 that will be emailed with the completed workbook.
  • If there is only one receivable Account and one page of documentation the index would simply be B.
 

WHAT TO DO WITH YOUR COMPLETED WORKBOOK & WORKPAPER FILE

Please email the following electronic files to the assigned cognizant accountant, as well as to . We appreciate your cooperation in adhering to this new process.

Please make sure to include the following documents in your email:

  1. Completed Working trial balance Excel workbook.
  2. “FIL” reports (Excel formatted sheets from the three FIL queries).
  3. Supporting documentation for all balance sheet accounts (excluding Accounts 10500 & 30000) saved as their own file or tab for each indexing section.
  4. Fund transfer summary report (included in Working Trial Balance Excel workbook).
  5. Due to and Due from Other Funds (included in Working Trial Balance Excel workbook or here).
  6. All Thermidor journal entries (forms).

Please retain a copy of these documents within your department for future reference.

TIMING

Summary of the dates and deadlines are listed below:

July 20

  • Year-end begins – first day of Thermidor
 

July 28

  • Deadline for all Thermidor accruals and adjustments
  • Workpaper files due in Financial Reporting & Accounting
  • Financial Reporting & Accounting review period begins
 

August 14

  • July Management Reports available with correct beginning balances
 

CONCLUSION

Should you have any questions about these procedures or your part in them, please contact your cognizant accountant in Financial Reporting & Accounting, or contact Wei Hsiung ().  They will do whatever is needed to help you be successful with your part of the year-end financial reporting process.