Division of Finance Monthly Update |
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With the end of Fiscal Year 2026 on June 30, Finance continues to analyze year-to-date revenue and expense commitments and, at this point, are projecting both revenue and expense commitments to end slightly below the FY26 budget. Concurrently, the Executive Cabinet is preparing the University’s budget for Fiscal Year 2027.
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Throughout this process, the Cabinet is being mindful of the strong fiscal headwinds affecting colleges and universities nationwide. These headwinds are due to a convergence of external factors, including a declining number of high school graduates, particularly in the Northeast, which is creating heightened competition between institutions. Other factors include changing federal regulations, double-digit increases in fringe benefits, decreasing state support, inflationary pressures and global political uncertainty.
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Against this backdrop, Cabinet members are thoughtfully conducting a comprehensive review of the University’s budget in preparation for the coming year. These deliberations are prioritizing Seton Hall’s academic programs, Catholic faith and intellectual tradition, and nurturing, supportive campus environment, among other University priorities.
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We will keep you apprised of budget developments as we close out FY2026 and prepare for FY2027.
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Pilot group testing of the Contracts Module of Unimarket has begun with a gradual rollout to the university on track to start over the summer. A reminder that until further notice, contracts are still to be processed through ESM.
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At the request of the Board of Regents, Phase I of a post Unimarket implementation review was recently completed by Grant Thornton Advisory Services. Report highlights include:
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Wide use of the Marketplace with over 14,000 PO’s issued, over 2500 vendors established, and an average time from Requisition creation to issuance of Purchase Order of 3.0 days.
- End-users are submitting too many Retrofit orders – which are purchase orders created after purchases/services have occurred. The volume of Retrofit orders far exceeds industry-leading practice and indicates the need for better end-user planning to follow procurement ‘best practice’ of:
- Purchase Requisition entered in Unimarket
- Purchase Order issued electronically to Vendor by Unimarket
- Order fulfilled by Vendor
- Employee ‘electronically’ receives order in Unimarket
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Vendor submits invoice electronically through Unimarket (‘e-Invoicing’)
- Accounts Payables processes vendor payment
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Validate every six months that the internal approval workflows and designated individuals are reviewed and appropriately assigned.
- Improve vendor financial data management by upgrading to the ‘enterprise’ level of Unimarket
- Reported that the current procurement policies are outdated and disaggregated and that a new draft comprehensive procurement policy should be finalized and released by June 30.
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Grant Thornton will be conducting a Phase 2 review later this year once additional business process improvements are implemented, specifically the Contracts Module of Unimarket.
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Ed Bishof
Vice President for Finance and Chief Financial Officer
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Spotlight on the “Procure” part of the Procure-to-Pay (P2P) Process powered by Unimarket
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Browser: An employee authorized to shop in Unimarket and place items in their shopping cart but cannot complete the purchase / commit the funds. Browsers reassign their shopping cart/purchase requisition to an appropriate Buyer.
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Buyer: An employee authorized to shop and buy, to complete the purchase requisition and “check out.” Buyers have budget authority to complete the purchase. Buyers cannot approve their own purchases.
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Approver: An appropriate employee(s) in the supervisory chain who receives email notifications from Unimarket that a purchase requisition has been routed to their attention to approve or decline.
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P2P Process (“PO Before Invoice”)
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When a procurement need in support of university business is identified, either a “Browser” or a “Buyer” submits a Purchase Requisition (“Req”) in Unimarket. Once the Buyer hits the “Check Out” button on the Req, Unimarket performs an automatic budget check to ensure sufficient funds are available to support the cost of the item(s) or service(s) being requisitioned. Budget checking will be turned on in Unimarket early in FY27.
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Once the Req passes the budget check, Unimarket forwards the Req into an automated internal approval process. Fully approved Reqs are forwarded by the system to the university’s Office of Procurement as the last stop in the internal approval workflow. When Procurement approves the Req, Unimarket automatically generates the corresponding Purchase Order (“PO”). The average cycle time from Req “Check Out” to PO is 3 days.
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When Unimarket generates a PO, the funds are automatically encumbered in the Banner Finance Index(ices) listed on the Req and the PO is sent to the supplier electronically.
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PO’s are to be issued before the procurement need is fulfilled.
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Following receipt of the PO, the supplier fulfils the procurement need and goods or services are delivered according to the terms listed on the PO. These goods or services are then to be “electronically” received in Unimarket by the end-user marking the conclusion of the “procuring” part of the P2P process. The “to-Pay” part of the P2P process will be featured in the next newsletter.
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The procurement process detailed above ensures internal control protocols are followed inclusive of appropriate purchasing authorization before financial commitments are made to external parties.
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The implementation of the P2P powered by Unimarket represents a seismic shift for Seton Hall. Rather than having orders fulfilled and suppliers/vendors sending invoices to the departments/employees and then establishing a PO, the university has shifted to ‘PO Before Invoice.’
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