BruinBuy Plus
Legacy BruinBuy System Now Closed
As a reminder, the legacy BruinBuy system stopped supporting new activity as of Thursday, March 21, at 6:30 p.m. PST. Users will still have read-only access to the system, to view historical Purchase Order (PO) and invoice information.
POs that met the migration criteria have been migrated and can now be found in BruinBuy Plus. POs that did not meet the migration criteria have been programmatically closed and the associated encumbrances released.
To avoid vendor payment delays, the Ascend 2.0 Program team encourages you to take the following actions:
- For POs that were not eligible to migrate to BruinBuy Plus, a new PO must be created in BruinBuy Plus.
- Create a new BruinBuy Plus PO for the remaining value of the BruinBuy PO (legacy BruinBuy PO amount minus total value of invoices paid)
- Communicate to vendors the new BruinBuy Plus PO number and direct vendors to cancel/void the legacy BruinBuy PO number to prevent duplication of goods or services.
- To further ensure POs are not duplicated, 1) insert a comment on the newly created BruinBuy Plus PO explaining it is replacing a legacy PO (access the Review and Edit Requisitions guide for instructions) and 2) override the distribution so the PO isn’t resent to the vendor (access the Override Distribution guide for instructions).
To determine which POs did or did not migrate to BruinBuy Plus, review the PO Migration list.
Office Depot Ordering Process Change
The launch of BruinBuy Plus has brought some changes in the way UCLA does business with ODP Business Solutions (which you may know as Office Depot):
- Orders are no longer placed directly with ODP Business Solutions. Instead, orders are placed with Dedicated Corporate Solutions (DSC), a certified small and minority-owned business that partners with ODP Business Solutions.
- A new system wide contract between ODP Business Solutions and the University of California (UC) has resulted in a $5.95 shipping charge for orders under $50.00. We strongly encourage departments to aggregate orders with ODP Business Solutions, when possible. This will help the University decrease shipping costs, minimize UCLA’s carbon footprint, and achieve our sustainability goals.
Bruin Finance
Business Design Review (BDR) Overview
Throughout April, 2024, the Ascend 2.0 program is hosting the Business Design Review (BDR), which is a series of four sessions providing a first look at the future-state of business processes in Bruin Finance. Sessions are held each Friday in April from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. PST.
The first two sessions covered record-to-report processes and focused on the modules such as general ledger, chart of accounts, internal billing.
The remaining two BDR sessions will cover contract and grant management and planning & budgeting. Content will include:
- PPM Subledger and POETAF
- Award Set Up
- Commitments
- Allocations
- and more!
Attendees have the opportunity to view demos, asked subject matter experts high-level questions, and started thinking about how they can prepare for the upcoming changes coming to campus.
The BDR sessions are open to the UCLA campus community. We encourage you to attend the sessions that align with your department and responsibilities. Visit the Events webpage to find the topics that will be covered and to register for an upcoming session. You can also access post-event materials, such as the session recording. under the “Previous Events” section
Research
Hoping to learn more about how the Ascend 2.0 Program will support research and your work? Check out the recently launched Ascend 2.0 Research Resource Hub.
This digital hub is your one-stop shop for Ascend 2.0 research resources, including frequently asked questions, links for upcoming engagement opportunities, materials from past events, archived research-related program communications, and information about how we will use the new system to manage research contract and grant funds in the future. We encourage you to bookmark this webpage as it is regularly updated with new resources.
New this month: Department research administrators - There is a new resource available to help you prepare for the transition to Bruin Finance and the Research Finance PPM module. Access the Preparing for Bruin Finance: Department Administrator resource to learn about upcoming business process changes relevant to your roles and responsibilities.
Keep your eye out for the new Research Roles webpage on the Ascend 2.0 website, which will include more role-based information and resources for department administrators, PIs, and ORA staff – coming this summer! In the meantime, access other Ascend 2.0 resources on the Research Resource Hub.