Delegation of Authority

An individual with Delegation of Authority has been designated to review and approve transactions and authorize the expenditure of monies. This delegation is tied to an individual’s role and responsibilities within the organization.

Individuals with this designation are expected to:

• Understand the nature or purpose of the expense/purchase and ensure supporting documentation is complete.
• Verify that the expense/purchase is utilizing the correct funding source (i.e., campus chartfields).
• Ensure that adequate funds are available to cover the expense/purchase and, if a multi-year commitment, that budget plans are fiscally sound and sustainable.
• Ensure that the funding source is appropriate for the expense/purchase and complies with any applicable spending requirements for the student fee revenue.

Financial Business Rules Committee

The Chancellor’s Office (CO) formed the Financial Business Rules Committee (FBRC) to identify a baseline delegation of authority structure for the CSU. This committee was composed of campus and CO representatives who were charged with developing this standard for approval of financial transactions. Further information about this collaborative effort is available on the CSYou Delegation of Authority webpage.

The following structure is under approval by our campus cabinet. It will act as the basis for assignment of fiscal authority for departments and related financial systems/transactions.

Level Definitions and Titles

Note: Employees will be assigned levels based on role and then given authority at deptid/fund level by request. If no designation occur at the chartfield level then no actual delegation of authority has occured for related systems/processes.

(*) To allow flexiblity for division structures that do not have AVP respresentation.

Types of Transactions

The DOA structure/process was originally created to oversee fiscal approval authority. Approval may be in writing (including Adobe Sign) or via electronic workflow.

This includes the following types of transactions:

• Purchase of Goods and Services (JGS)- Authorized delegates may serve as the final approval authority on the purchase of software, independent contractor services, subscriptions, supply orders, and other transactions that have an impact to a department/fund’s budget. These types of transactions are abbreviated in the DOA Module as JGS. JGS transactions are not limited to those involving purchase order and pro-card purchase reconciliation.
• Hospitality (HO)- Authorized delegates may serve as the final approval authority on a university hosted event. Additional venue and spending restrictions may apply. Refer to level definitions and guidelines. These types of transactions are abbreviated in the DOA Module as HO.
• Travel Requests (TR)- Authorized delegates may serve as one of two approvers on travel requests that are reimbursable by specific department funds. The other approver is the employee’s manager. These types of transactions are abbreviated in the DOA Module as TR. 
• Travel Expenses (TE)- Authorized delegates may serve as one of two approvers on travel expense reimbursements to travelers. The other approver is the employee’s manager. These types of transactions are abbreviated in the DOA Module as TE.

DOA Form

The DOA Form and its workflow are located within Adobe Sign. (myCI access required)

DOA Module in CI Financials (CFS)

The new DOA Module in CI Financials (CFS) takes the guess work out of finding authorized signers. A simple query by Department ID and/or Fund Code may be used to return a list of authorized approvers/signers.
 
And this one central repository of campus approvers may also be used to look-up the name of a signature to confirm its authority is valid. Campus partners who do not currently  have access to CI Financials (CFS), but who now have a business need to be able to perform queries within the DOA Module are encouraged to speak with their management and visit the  CI Financials Support page to begin the process of requesting access to CI Financials (CFS).

FAQ

• What are the Responsibilities of a Delegated Approver?

  • Your role should not be taken lightly
  • It requires that you have or obtain specific knowledge
  • It is required to maintain compliance with CSU policies and procedures and act as good stewards of our financial resources
  • It is a structural component of financial system and processes
  • It should be used to determine whether expenditures support the University's mission and are within your budget authority

• What types of transactions fall under the Delegation of Authority?

  • Purchase of Goods or Services
    • Example software, independent contractor services, subscriptions, supply orders, hospitality expenses, etc.
  • Travel
    • Example travel requests (trip plan) or travel expense report (trip costs)
  • Other
    • Example - journal entry requests

• How do I find a Delegated Approver(s) for my department?

  • Please refer to the Delegation of Authority (DOA) module in PeopleSoft/CFS. See the question about, "How can I find out who has been delegated authority to sign and/or approve CSUCI business transactions (query DOA) details in CI Financials (CFS)?"

• How do I request and update of Delegated Approvers for my area?

  • If your area has encountered personnel changes that warrant an add/update to your Delegation of Authority, use the DOA Request Form via Adobe Sign to request the change. Be sure to add the doa@csuci.edu email address under "cc".

• How can I find out who has been delegated authority to sign and/or approve CSUCI business transactions (query DOA) details in CI Financials (CFS)?

  Efforts have been made to upload all CSUCI Delegations of Authority into CI Financials (CFS). Regularly updated. 

  See below bulleted points

  • *DOA Bus Unit: enter CICMP or use wildcard CI%. CICMP should return results for CICMP, CIFDN, CIASI, CICSU & CIUGC.
  • Empl ID: Enter the approver’s campus employee ID, not their CHRS employee ID (Optional)
  • Last Name: Enter the approver’s Last Name – may use wildcard (exercise example: %berg%)
  • First Name: Enter approver’s First Name – may use wildcard
  • Division: Enter the organizational division
  • DeptID: Enter the organizational department ID
  • Fund Code: Enter the authorized Fund value
  • Project: Enter the authorized Project value
  • Function ID: Enter the Function ID
  • DOA Status: Enter the DOA Status
  • * Required

• How will you know if you are impacted?

  Members of the campus community with access to CI Financials (CFS) may perform queries to see who is authorized to approve transactions, and for what department/fund and threshold. Only non-represented administrators who completed the new DOA Form are authorized to sign as approvers. Represented staff may continue to support business transactions, but they are no longer authorized to sign as approvers. Managers are strongly encouraged to share this information with their staff who previously had Signature Authority Forms (SAFs) on file.

• I signed a Signature Authority Form (SAF) but I never signed a DOA form. Do I still have signature authority?

  No, the SAFs are now obsolete. In order to be an authorized signer/approver one must have an approved DOA Form on file.

• How will this new Delegation of Authority work?

  • The Signature Authority (SAF) Form is now obsolete and the new Delegation of Authority Form (DOA Form) is in effect.
  • The process of completing the DOA Form is similar to the process for completing the SAF Form. The only difference is that once the DOA Form has been approved it will be forwarded to Financial Services for entry into the DOA Module.
  • The Office of the President will continue to maintain a shared folder with copies of approved/signed DOA Forms. The new DOA Form also has links to a list of active Departments and active Funds to use as a reference.

• Where can you find more information about this process?

  • Visit the Delegation of Authority Webpage
  • View previous Financial Services Coffee Hour presentations focused on the new DOA Process by visiting the Financial Service Training
  • Send questions to DOA@csuci.edu