The Chemistry Business Office is located on the first floor of the Chemistry Building in 0104 and is open from 8 a.m. – 5 p.m. weekdays (excluding University holidays).

The Business Office assists members of the department with all aspects of the areas listed below and serves as the liaison with General Accounting, Accounts Payable, University Purchasing, Human Resources and the Office of Research and Administration (ORAA).

1. Purchasing Materials and Supplies

• Requisitions and procurement - All requests for materials, supplies and services are processed through the department requisition system. With the approval of supervisors or principal investigators, access can be granted to members of the department.
• Capital Equipment Purchases – Items that have an acquisition cost greater than $5,000 and a life expectancy greater than 3 years are considered a capital asset. If only one vendor qualifies for the purchase a sole source justification must be provided.  Alternatively, the request can be submitted to procurement for competitive bidding. Contact a member of the Business Office purchasing team for details

2. Travel

• Arrangements – Members of the Business office can make reservations and purchase airline tickets and other travel services through the University Travel Agencies.
• Approvals – Prior approval is required for all travel except in-state with no overnight stay. A Travel Approval Request Form (TAR) must be completed and submitted as soon as possible before your departure. The approval form should be your best estimate of your expenses. You will be reimbursed for your actual expenses. Students and guest TARs must be signed by the principal investigator or host.

Travel Approval Request Form (TAR)

• Reimbursement – A Travel Expense Statement must be completed as soon as possible after you return from your trip. Original receipts must accompany your expense statement. Per diem for meals may be claimed without receipts. To claim breakfast on the first day of your trip, travel must have begun before 6:30 AM. To claim dinner on the last day of the trip you must have returned after 6:30 PM. If you are on payroll the reimbursement will appear in your paycheck. If you are not on payroll, the reimbursement will be mailed to your home address.

Travel Expense Statement 

3. Employment processing and payroll and benefits administration

• Payroll Forms
• Direct Deposit - Direct Deposit is mandatory for employees hired after January, 2001, and is highly recommended for all other employees.
• Earnings Statement – All University employees that receive a bi-weekly paycheck from the university will be able to view, and print their individual bi-weekly earnings statement via ARES
• Pay Days
• Tax Information
  • Maryland Tax Information
  • Federal Tax Information
• Health Benefits – Any regular employee, working at least 50 percent time is eligible to participate in the University’s benefit programs. The regular staff enrollment form is used to select the benefits programs you wish to participate in and to identify who will be covered under the various plans. More detailed information on the current plans can be found at http://uhr.umd.edu/benefits/
  
  
• Holiday schedule
• Retirement Planning and Programs
• Tuition Remission

4. Pre- and Post-grant and contract administration

• Research Budget preparation
• ORAA – Quick reference to proposal development
• Fast-lane and Grants.gov
• BA-3 (Priority)/Account Reconciliation
• If you have been given online access to your Priority BA Central Financial Reports, you can view the balances in your accounts. To view your expenditures and account balances:

• Open a web browser and enter baws1.umd.edu/dashboard
• Log into BA Central (remember you must have VPN running on your computer)
• Enter your BA3 user id and password. (If you don’t remember your password, contact the Business Office Manager and have it reset for you.)
• Once you are logged into BA Central you will see

My accounts
My Project Balances (Priority funds)
Payroll Statistics (Active Payroll Documents)
Account Alerts (Special Alert notices)
By clicking on anything in blue type, you can drill down to more detailed information.