Finance Resources for Centers

• NU financials Systems
• NU Portal
• Project Café Resources
• Chart of Accounts Crosswalk
• Café OR allowable Level of purchasing approval
• Café Security Forms
• ProCard Process
• Purchasing Contract Approvals

NU Financial Systems:

We are pleased to announce that the new financial system is up and running.
Those with financial system security can now access the following applications:
- NUFinancials
- FAMIS
- iBuyNU
- Cognos reports
- InfoEd

NU Portal :

To log in, go to the NUPortal and click the Staff tab.

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Project Café Resources:

The Project Café Resources will assist you with New equivalents for old CUFS screens and a list of new forms, Project-related terms and definitions, Schedule of when our training classrooms will be staffed to walk users through new processes in the live system. General hints for using the new financial system, Materials from all Project Café training.

Chart of Accounts Crosswalk:

Use the Chart of Accounts Crosswalk to translate CUFS numbers to PeopleSoft chart strings and vice versa.
Note: You will be required to login via VPN for access from off campus.

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Café OR allowable Level of purchasing approval:

The Office for Research Research Centers are allowed to approve purchases under $5,000; this is considered Level 2 approval. Please contact Emilie Kahle if you have questions regarding approval rights for your center.

Per University policy, no one is allowed to approve their own purchase request.

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Café Security Forms:

To obtain access to NU Financial systems, please complete and forward the Security forms to Emilie Kahle, ORPFC, 633 Clark Street, Crown North Tower, 2nd Floor, Evanston, IL 60208.

Pro Card Process:

Northwestern University allows departments to have what is called a ProCard.
The Office for Research supports ProCard use by its units and centers as a tool for efficient purchasing where appropriate. Please review the ProCard policy.

The Office for Research will allow the maximum limit on a ProCard to be set at $1,500 per transaction and $5,000 per month. Well-supported exceptions will be considered.
Please send your completed application form to Emilie Kahle for review and approval.

Purchasing Contract Approvals

Center administrators should carefully review bids, contracts, and invoices from vendors to ensure that the purchase (whether for goods or services) meets the business purpose and needs.

Vendors are encouraged to accept Northwestern terms and conditions for all purchases (see http://www.northwestern.edu/uservices/purchasing/poterms.pdf ), but sometimes a vendor will not agree to this. When vendors include their own terms and conditions with their bids, contracts and/or invoices, those terms and conditions must be reviewed by someone in the Office of General Counsel (OGC).

 OGC’s review will identify any vendor terms which may be legally objectionable. Depending on whether the vendor will agree to (i) accept Northwestern's standard terms or (ii) modify their terms, OGC may prepare an addendum to the vendor's invoice or quote. OGC will forward final documents for Northwestern signature to an individual with appropriate authority to sign on behalf of Northwestern. The signed documents are returned to the Center. The Center needs to coordinate with the vendor to obtain the vendor's signature, then attach this fully-executed agreement along with any other required forms (i.e., Sole Source Justification form) to the requisition.

Any document — vendor bid, contract or invoice — needing an authorized signature binding the University must be reviewed by OGC.  Only the President, Provost, Senior Vice President, and Vice Presidents are authorized to sign for Northwestern, with the exception of a very limited number of individuals who have been expressly delegated written authority to sign on Northwestern's behalf.

This is not a new policy, but it has been getting increased attention recently. For further guidance, please refer to: http://www.northwestern.edu/uservices/purchasing/policies_forms/signature-authority.html or contact Emilie Kahle in the Office for Research for guidance.

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