Finance Colleagues,

During this spring BFS release, updates will be made to BearBUY and BFS to support streamlined financial operations. One of the changes associated with this update is that we will remove students and employees as suppliers in BearBUY. In most cases, payments to students or employees are already generated from sources other than BearBUY.  

Please begin using the systems noted below immediately. Beginning on May 26, unapproved payments to students and employees in BearBUY will be canceled and will have to be re-entered in the appropriate system for that transaction. If the payment has already been approved and exported to BFS by May 26 it will not be impacted by this change. 

There are three types of expenses that previously went through BearBUY that we want to highlight:

1. Petty cash expenses: We will be reaching out to Petty Cash custodians to evaluate if there might be other more secure payment methods, including one of the Procurement Cards we currently offer, and/or the Human Subject Prepaid Card that could satisfy the same purpose as the petty cash fund. If ultimately it is determined that a specific petty cash fund needs to remain in place, then the custodian will need to go through the supplier onboarding process in order to use BearBUY for future replenishments.
2. Human Subject payments: Wherever possible, these should be processed using the Human Subject Prepaid Card. Please review the human subject payment guidelines, which include alternative payment methods. To continue paying employees or students through BearBUY, the students or employees being paid will need to go through the supplier onboarding process, just as human subject payments to non-employees would require.
3. Travel Advances: These will now go through the Other Expenses Reimbursement System, using the "Travel Advance" expense type. (Note - DO NOT use the Travel Reimbursement System to request a Travel Advance, use the Other Reimbursement System). There are more detailed instructions on the travel website Cash Advance page.  

Designated systems for Employee and Student payments:

1. This change does not impact financial aid payments coming from the Student Information System (SIS) or compensation to employees or students coming from UCPath. 
2. This change does not impact the reimbursement system, which should already be used for most student and employee reimbursements.

Going forward, if a student or employee requires a payment that cannot be accommodated in the reimbursement system, SIS or UCPath, they will need to go through the supplier onboarding process in order to be available for selection as a payee in BearBUY.

BearBUY is intended for the purchase of goods and services. In the exceptional cases when UC Berkeley purchases from an employee or student, that department must seek a Conflict of Interest exemption and require the student or employee to go through the supplier onboarding process prior to creating a purchase order. This change is scheduled to be implemented by Tuesday, May 31. 

If you have any questions about this change, you can reach out to [email protected] or [email protected].

Controller’s Office

Supply Chain Management