Confirming Guarantee Accounts for Postdoc Insurance Premiums

To: Postdoctoral BISNet Administrators
From: Shannon Monahan, Reporting & Finance Analyst, Office of Postdoctoral Affairs
Date: June 17, 2010

Subject: [ACTION NEEDED] Confirming Guarantee Accts for Postdoc Insurance Premiums

Beginning this month with June Department Charges, the Office of Postdoctoral Affairs (OPA) will be confirming that Guarantee Accounts have been provided by all Departments and Divisions for postdoc insurance premiums. The BISNet system was originally set up to accept Guarantee Accounts for each department and division for cases in which a valid PTA was not provided. This is a standard payroll practice and is necessary in order to ensure the timely collection of payments.

Each month, nearly 600 distinct PTAs are billed for postdoc premiums. We are finding that an increasing number of incorrect or outdated PTAs are entered on a regular basis. As a result, OPA runs the risk of not meeting the University’s month end close deadline required for the charges to post in the period they are incurred. In light of this ongoing concern, when invalid PTAs are entered, OPA will charge the Department/Division Guarantee Account provided in BISNet. The monthly notification to you to update and review your BISNet records before the file is received will continue. However, due to time and volume constraints, OPA cannot follow-up with individual administrators to correct invalid PTAs after the monthly BISNet deadline.

Thus, the Guarantee PTA will be used in the following instances:

The department has entered the Benefits Pool PTA in BISNet/ClearBenefits, but the postdoc is not eligible for his or her benefits to be charged to the Pool
The department has not filled in a missing PTA in BISNet/ClearBenefits, and the postdoc is not eligible for his or her benefits to be charged to the Pool
Upon file upload, Oracle rejects the PTA entered due to incorrect entry or out-of-date PTAs

In order to avoid confusion, each department or division must select ONE Department Guarantee Account in BISNet to be used. To do this, please make sure to complete the following no later than THURSDAY, June 24, 2010:

Log into BISNet
Go to PTA Maintenance > PTA Number Maintenance
For each Department/Division you have access to, confirm that there is ONE Department Guarantee Account. You can see if one has been selected if there is a “Y” in the Guarantee Account column.
Edit the PTA name to “Guarantee Account” as well as the date, if necessary
Edit any other PTAs with a “Y” that will not be used to “N” (not a Guarantee Account)

Instructions for adding and editing PTAs are included in the attached BISNet Info Guide. The June deadline for entering all other PTAs on the Monthly PTA Maintenance Screen will be Wednesday, June 30, 2010.

It is imperative that each and every BISNet/ClearBenefits administrator log in every month and pay close attention to the PTAs entered in BISNet.

Note: OPA cannot reverse charges to accounts, and as is the case with the payroll process, departments will be responsible for the necessary journal transfers in the (hopefully) rare occasions that Guarantee Accounts are charged.

We appreciate your cooperation, and please let me know if you have any questions.

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Shannon Monahan
Reporting and Finance Analyst

Office of Postdoctoral Affairs
1215 Welch Road

Modular A, Room 85

MC: 5402
p:\650-723-6120
f:\650-725-6106
e:\smonahan@stanford.edu
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