About Us
The Comptroller’s Office reports to the Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer and is responsible for the development of financial accounting and related policies to control and safeguard University assets.
The Comptroller’s Office supports the University’s mission by providing effective accounting systems and processes to monitor and assess the financial position and internal controls of the University and its related affiliates. The office provides support to campus through accurate and timely financial information, facilitates policy formulation to enhance financial integrity, and develops strategies for implementing the University’s initiatives ensuring quality and cost-effectiveness.
Jean Gallipeau serves as the University’s Comptroller and Associate Vice President and oversees a wide range of departments within finance including Construction Accounting, Financial Reporting, Financial Systems Management, General Accounting, Payroll, Restricted Gift Accounting, Sponsored Accounting, and Tax Reporting.
Syracuse University’s Administrative and Financial Policies
Updates from the Comptroller’s Office
- Increase in Mileage Reimbursement Rate: The mileage reimbursement rate for use of a personal automobile on University business incurred on or after January 1, 2025, is $0.70 per mile.
- SAMtool: The Sponsored Award Management tool (SAMtool), is a financial and budget management tool for sponsored projects. It was conceived, designed, and built with the active participation of a campus-wide cross-functional team including central office staff, department and college budget staff, and research faculty from multiple academic units.
- University Fringe Benefit Rates for Fiscal Year 2025: The University’s fringe benefits expense is distributed to the responsibility centers, Syracuse Abroad administration, facilities, and administration and technology units as a percent of actual payroll expense. Fringe benefit rates were established considering the cost of the benefits available to employees in each classification (i.e., Regular, Graduate Assistant, Summer, Part-Time Faculty Union, Temporary Wages) as a percent of the payroll in the same classification. The University has negotiated new fringe benefit rates with the Federal government for fiscal year 2025 (July 1, 2024 through June 30, 2025). These rates will be used for charging both sponsored (funds 13 and 91) and non-sponsored restricted (funds 15 and 16) chartstrings. The University has also established the fringe benefit rates to be used for unrestricted chartstrings (funds 11 and 14) under RCM for fiscal year 2025. Read more: FY 2025 University Fringe Benefit Rates (PDF file) and FY24 Fringe Rates (PDF file).
- University Facilities and Administrative Rates: The University has negotiated with the Federal government to establish Facilities and Administrative (F&A) rates, sometimes referred to as overhead or indirect cost rates. They pertain only to sponsored activity…more information about Facilities and Administrative rates (PDF file).
- Accounting for Excess Property Sales: Please note that excess property sales may no longer be deposited to an expense account (i.e., accounts beginning with ’56’).
All excess property sales must be accounted for as revenue for the selling department. Please use one of the following revenue accounts to record the sales income:- 480057, Other-Excess Property Income (cash or check sale and the selling department is not an auxiliary department)
- 470057, Auxiliaries-Excess Property (cash or check sale and the selling department is an auxiliary department)
- 800057, Internal Income-Excess Property (ID sale, note: buying department should use an appropriate expense account)
- W-2 Information: The Payroll Office continues to encourage employees to elect Online Receipt of their Form W-2. This can be done online via MySlice. If you have questions about your Form W-2, please contact the Payroll Office at x4042.
- Direct Deposit: We continue to encourage students and employees to elect direct deposit of your student refunds, expense reimbursements, and pay. This can be done via MySlice.