News

Effective April 1, 2025, the Deposit of Funds policy and Petty Cash Funds, Change Funds, and Cash Advance Payments policy (formerly named the Cash and Cash Alternatives Payment Methods policy) have been revised by the Office of Business and Finance. These polices provide updated guidance on how units should manage their cash activity.

FY26 Blanket order entry can begin on Monday, April 14. A new workday enhancement will be turned on the week of April 7 to allow for future dated requisitions. Prior to this enhancement, users were instructed to "current date" blanket requests, and then the Controller's Office had to run a manual job during month end close in April and May to roll the encumbrances into the future fiscal year. With this new enhancement, all FY26 blanket order requisitions should be entered as future dated requests (request date of 7/1/25). The corresponding purchase order (PO) document dates and encumbrances will also be future dated, so they are correctly recorded for FY26. The PO will be issued after the requisition is fully approved.

Other important information to be aware of with this enhancement:

• Future dated requisitions should not be entered for more than a year in advance, except for multiyear service contracts. Please contact purchasing to discuss entry for multiyear service contracts.
• FY26 blankets that are not future dated will be sent back for corrections.
• If users begin invoicing the future dated blanket early (e.g., start invoicing a FY26 blanket in FY25), it results in a mismatch because the liquidation will happen in the current year, but the encumbrance is in the future year. As a reminder, blanket orders are supposed to be used in the fiscal year they are intended for.
• If a FY26 blanket requisition is inadvertently entered with a current year FY25 request date, FY25 is where the encumbrance will remain until the June year end procurement roll forward. The Controller's Office will no longer be rolling forward purchase orders at the end of April and May. If a unit does not want to wait until June for the encumbrances to be correctly shown in FY26, they should do a change order.
• If needed, future dated requisitions can be tied to future dated supplier contracts (Example: a blanket requisition is entered in May for a 7/1/25 start date, and a new contract is signed in May but is not effective until 7/1/25).
• The Create Blanket Purchase Order job aid will be updated in coordination with the functionality being turned on, the week of April 7.

Some additional reminders about the use of blanket orders:

• Blanket orders are used for transactions that occur very frequently (daily or multiple times a week), have a high variation of product types, have undetermined timing, and are not available in Buckeye Buy. As a reminder, University funded blanket requisitions should align with the July through June fiscal year calendar and be used in the fiscal year they are intended for. Once it is apparent that the blanket PO will no longer be used for the fiscal year it was intended for, units should send them to the Service Centers to close.
• University blanket purchase orders must be issued outside of Buckeye Buy. Requestors should select the “blanket purchase order” requisition type and complete the request per the Create a Blanket Purchase Order job aid (linked above). Ensure that a Services line is used and the description of the line adheres to the requirements of “FY26 Blanket order for (commodity being purchased).”
• Monthly service orders (formerly term orders) for uniform service, pest control, office coffee and water service, floor mat replacement, lawn care and snow removal should also be issued on service line blanket requisitions, outside of Buckeye Buy.
• Accounts Payable advises users to include the service to be provided and frequency in the description line of the requisition. It will also be helpful to include the expected term agreement details in the memo to supplier field (example, $50.00/month for 12 months). 

In the continued effort to enhance collaboration and security, The Ohio State University and The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center are taking steps to enhance Microsoft 365 integrations. This initiative aims to enhance the security protocols for accessing shared resources between the university and the medical center.

This update will enable medical center security policies to actively prompt for BuckeyePass, powered by Duo, when accessing files and resources shared with university faculty and staff.

University users who collaborate with medical center users will notice this change. Specifically, any Microsoft 365 resources shared by medical center employees with university employees will now require BuckeyePass (Duo) authentication.

This change is scheduled to take effect on Tuesday, April 15. This collaboration underscores the commitment of both institutions to maintaining high security standards and protecting valuable data.

If you have any questions or need assistance with the new authentication process, please reach out to the IT Service Desk at 614-688-4357.

B&H Photo will be closed for Passover beginning Friday, April 11 through Sunday, April 20. B&H will re-open Monday, April 21. Orders placed by 11 p.m. on Thursday,  April 10 will ship before the holiday.

On select days during the closure, customers will still be able to enter orders in the supplier website but product will not ship until April 21. See the visual calendar from B&H below with more details.

Online only ordering dates:

• Friday, April 11
• Tuesday, April 15
• Wednesday, April 16
• Thursday, April 17
• Friday, April 18

Complete closure dates:

• Saturday, April 12
• Sunday, April 13
• Monday, April 14
• Saturday, April 19
• Sunday, April 20
• Saturday, April 26

The Office of Business and Finance in coordination with the University Travel Office is pleased to announce our extended partnership with Anthony Travel. Effective July 1, 2025, Anthony Travel will replace Corporate Travel Planners (CTP) as the Travel Management Company for individual business travel. Read more at the Travel Office webpage.

Questions can be directed to the FAQs or contact the University Travel Office at 614-292-9290 or travel@osu.edu.