A salary cost transfer is a reversal of payroll expenses (salary and benefits) charged to an original FAU and a re-posting to a new FAU. The UCPath salary cost transfer process ("direct retro") replaces the old UPAY form used by the PPS process for payroll expenses processed through UCPath. Campus departments will perform salary cost transfers directly in UCPath online.

The designated departmental Transactor/Preparer (Financial Administrative staff or Department Analyst within an Accountability Structure) will prepare the payroll cost transfer in the UCPath system. The designated departmental Approve (Financial Manager/Supervisor of Transactor for all SCTs plus EMF Manager for high risk SCTs, but cannot be the initial transactor/preparer who submitted request) will approve the transaction, which will then get processed in the UCPath system.

  • All salary cost transfers (Direct Retros) involving transfers that involve contracts and grants need to answer the four questions (located in the Questionnaire dropdown section) available in the direct retro.  The answers to these questions must be a detailed justification for the expense transfer. It must be fully explained and justified. An explanation which merely states that the adjustment being made is "to correct an error," "to transfer to correct project," or "expenditure inadvertently charged to incorrect account/fund" is not sufficient.
  • Fully document the reason for the incorrect charge and why the charge is allowable and allocable to the new account. Documentation of the payroll transfer justification and allocation methods must be kept with the department expense records and be available for review or audit. These documents can also be attached to the Direct Retro itself in the Justification document upload section, but should also be kept with the department and be available to auditors upon request.
  • It must answer ALL of the following questions in the Questionnaire section to be accepted for consideration:
    • Explain how the error occurred and why the transfer is being requested. If partial transfer, explain the basis for proration and/or split.
    • Who approved the transfer of funds? (e.g. Name of PI, Department CAO)
    • How does the transfer benefit or impact the new funding source being charged?
    • Explain the untimeliness if transfer is later than 120 days after original transaction date, and/or later than 90 days after the fund end date.

​Supporting Documentation is required and is to be attached to the form as well as retained in the department and be available to auditors upon request.

  • Because UC BFB A-47 Direct Costing Policies requires any transfer to a Federal or Federal Flow-Through, the certification and approval signatures must include that of the principal investigator, department head, or other academic officials. For transfers processed electronically or using online systems, the certification and approval of the department head, project director (principal investigator) or other academic officials must be maintained by the department.

​Because of these requirements above, transfers to Federal and Federal Flow-through fund sources require the following action by the initiating department:

Printing the Transfer:

  1. Print out a screen shot of the Direct Retro/Salary Cost Transfer being processed for each period being processed.
  2. Place a signature line down at the bottom of the period transfer screenshot via DocuSign with the following wording:
    "Certification and Approval: I certify that the above listed adjustments are proper and correct charges and/or credits to the accounts/funds indicated and in accordance with University policy and agreements set forth in the fund sources involved."
  3. The transfer must be signed on this signature line by the principal investigator, chair, or other academic official and maintained in the department for auditing.
  4. The backup documentation for the transfer must be maintained in the department to be accessible during an audit.