Frequently Asked Questions - Funding Entry / Position Funding

UCOP’s web application firewall is flagging and blocking your document or text. If you receive this error, please email UCBUCPath@berkeley.edu, providing the following information: 

• Screenshot of error message, including the Support ID number (located at the bottom of the pop-up)

• A copy of the document you were trying to upload, or a copy of the text added to the text field

• The page you were on when the error message appeared

UCB UCPath Operations team will report this to UCOP IT, who will evaluate the text or document and make adjustments to the firewall settings to allow the text/document.  UCOP IT will inform UCB UCPath Ops that you can try again.  (warning: this might take a few days) 

Image description: This example screenshot includes all the necessary information needed to report this error. Included in this screenshot is the employee’s browser window, with the page they were on when the error message fired (the “Add Employee Relationship” page), the add document popup window, and the error message text:

“UCPathApplicationError

There was an issue with the information you entered.

How to fix it:

• Please double-check your entry and try again

• Avoid using special characters like quotation marks, symbols or backslashes, as they can sometimes cause errors

If you copied and pasted information into the form, hidden characters may have been included. For the best results, try typing the information directly into the form

What happens next:

When you close this message, you'll return to the previous page. Depending on where the error occurred, you might need to re-enter some or all of your information and restart the task. We understand this can be frustrating, and we appreciate your patience.

Need help?

If the issue continues, please reach out to your local helpdesk and provide the following Support ID for faster assistance: 0l3c4f7d-63198-4fg3-01b5-3de4320c3b68”

Yes, you can change the order during your active session by using the Personalize link. However, we encourage users to familiarize themselves with the default order defined by UCPath. 

Yes. The employee's paycheck would include the retroactive pay, an earn code separate from regular earnings would be associated with the retroactive pay. The earn code begins with '9' for retroactive items.

There is a "copy to new transaction" button. However, it isn't for direct retro transactions, only for position funding. 

Retro pay change does not affect current position funding.

7 digits, 6 decimal places.

The Department IDs are at level 4,5,6. The department is based on where the position sits. 

Initiators will receive a notification that their transaction has been approved or denied. Approvers will receive a notification to approve a transaction and may navigate to the transaction using the link in the body of the email and/or using their worklist if they are in UCPath. Additionally, there are available funding reports in Cognos that as a Cognos user one may run for a department.

FTE has six decimals. It looks like this: 1.000000

Benefits follow the employee's salary.

The Controller's Office would be responsible for these guidelines.

Legacy HCM will be available through September 2019 for those who already have access. Legacy HCM data can be accessed through Cal Answers reports.

No. Each position requires its own funding. Funding is the same for a single-headcount or a multi-headcount position. 

The approver should deny the transaction and the initiator should make the changes and resubmit the transaction for approval. 

Yes! Effective Date for position funding must be equal to or later than the Effective Date of the position. The position must be created before you can fund it. Additionally, position funding Effective Date should be prior to the hire Effective Date in order to avoid any pay going into suspense.

Pool ID is used by the Work-Study unit to enter students' Work-Study codes.

Example: The Work-Study codes (e.g. C or G) will go into "pools" (e.g. Work-Study student in "G").

For more information, refer to the Office of Financial Aid & Scholarships.

Multiple Components of Pay. There is a link on the Position Funding page to access the Multiple Components of Pay worksheet to assist you with proper funding. 

The earn code, "GAP" should be used for the amount that is over the cap. This step would act as a reversal of the amount above the salary cap.

When a position is set up by the department, a departmental default fund charstring is required. Payroll costs for the incumbent of the position will be charged to the department’s default chartstring if a Funding Entry to update the Earnings Distribution to a specific FAU (e.g., PI’s research fund) has not been initiated and approved. Additionally, if the Funding Entry initiator specifies a Funding End Date for any given FAU, the portion of the payroll costs associated with that FAU will go into suspense (i.e., get charged to the departmental chartstring) during the pay period(s) after the Funding End Date.

No. The approvals would be routed based on department, not funding.

No. The system will retrieve additional information for the fund code from various fund tables. Some fund attributes are capped/uncapped, annual cap rate. Additionally, the fund code lookup table is sourced from the Fund Attribute table.

The earn code for the additional pay with the chartstring is entered in the Position Funding form. If the additional pay was due to a stipend, the earn code for stipend, “STP,” along with the chartstring would be added in the form.

No. The position funding record cannot be copied.

Yes. A chartstring may be valid at the time of entry in Position Funding, however, it may become invalid prior to Commitment Accounting Actuals/General Ledger batch processing. This instance would result in an edit error being flagged and a default chartstring would be used. The initiator will see any system-identified errors as they are working on the Position Funding Entry, or when there is an attempt to save and submit the transaction. However, if a Funding Entry is both successfully saved and approved but payroll still goes into suspense (departmental default chartstring), it could be due to a system error or that the Funding Entry did not meet the deadline for that pay period.

The user is not required to enter the account chartfields.

The system performs individual chartfield validation, and it also validates the full chartstring.

Yes. However, if the funding end date expires, the system will pull from the suspense account.

Yes, as long as the funding effective date is between the budget begin and end date. You can enter a change in funding with an effective date in the past (e.g. use yesterday’s date) as long as that is a valid date for the position.

The funding effective date should be between budget begin and end date. There is no stated limitation for how far in the future (as long as it’s during the period in which the position is active).

There is no limit to the amount of many distributions that can be entered in the UCPath system. The limits in the current state are driven by PPS (Personnel Payroll System), which will not exist in the future state.

Yes. Funding is not tied to a position.  However, a position must be created in UCPath before you can apply funding to it.