Research finance support

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Welcome to NSLHD Research Finance!

For all inquiries related to NSLHD Research Finance, please reach out to the following team members:

Melinder Singh

Melinder is the NSLHD Research Finance Officer, and can be contacted on 9462 9693 or Melinder.Singh@health.nsw.gov.au. Melinder can assist you with the following day to day functions, including:

Accounts Receivable
Accounts Payable
Cost Centre creation requests
Reimbursement claims for non-NSLHD staff
Cost Centre reports
Ad-hoc queries in relation to financial matters

Selin Armutcu

Selin is the District Research Business Manager and she can be contacted on 9462 9873 or Selin.Armutcu@health.nsw.gov.au

Selin's role is to support the NSLHD Research Hub and the respective research units in the achievement of business and financial objectives. Selin also provides:

Review and guidance over clinical trial budgets
Review of the finance checklists submitted to the Research Governance Office
Preparation and submission of service level operating budgets
Represent finance in research related forums
Provide advice and support to NSLHD researchers in budgeting, recruitment and other financial matters.

Bhavan Siva

Bhavan is the Management Accountant and point of contact for all Oncology Research Finance matters and can be contacted on (02) 9463 1936 or bhavan.sivathondan@health.nsw.gov.au

Tools

Frequently Asked Questions

1. I’ve been advised I need to set up a NSLHD cost centre, how do I do this?

To set up a NSLHD cost centre you need to complete, sign and submit a form.

There are two main types of cost centres; General Fund cost centre and a Restricted Financial Asset (RFA) cost centre.

For setting up a General Fund cost centre please refer to Attachment D. Once you have completed the form, please send this onto Melinder.Singh@health.nsw.gov.au

To set up an RFA cost centre, please contact Melinder.Singh@health.nsw.gov.au who will be able to assist you.

Kindly note, the NSLHD Finance team cannot create cost centres for University of Sydney, Kolling Institute of Medical Research or other LHDs

Please see point 2 below, to determine which cost centre you need to set up.

2. What type of cost centre do I need to set up? I’ve been told there are two types, a General Fund cost centre or a Restricted Financial Asset (RFA) cost centre.

Restricted Financial Asset (RFA) means public money that is not a NSW Government Grant or other Consolidated Fund payment and that can only be used for a specified purpose or purposes under a contractual or other binding legal obligation. Specifically for research, RFAs are utilised for donations, bequests, legacy and funding of a non-commercial nature. RFAs are not permitted to be overdrawn.

If your research involves the receipt of bequests, a legacy, donations or a NHMRC (National Health and Medical Research Council) grant, you can set up an RFA.

If your research is a commercially sponsored clinical trial, where the sponsor is making payment to NSLHD in arrears you must set up a General Fund cost centre.

If you are unsure what type of cost centre you need to set up, please get in touch with the Research Finance team.

3. Who can be a cost centre manager?

Any NSLHD and NSW Health Pathology employee can be a cost centre manager for a cost centre within NSLHD.

Other NSW Health Employees, can be a cost centre manager for a cost centre within NSLHD, subject to the approval of the NSLHD Director of Finance and Corporate Services. If this is your situation, please reach out to one of the team members from Research Finance.

Non NSW Health employees cannot be a cost centre manager for a NSLHD cost centre.

4. What are the responsibilities of a cost centre manager?

Being a cost centre manager is an important role. The cost centre manager is responsible for the financial management of a cost centre. They need to ensure that all incoming and outgoing costs are accurately recorded in line with the purpose of the cost centre. They also need to ensure that NSW Health Procurement policies and guidelines are at all times adhered to.

5. I need to pay staff from my research cost centre, how do I enable this?

If your cost centre is new, when setting up your cost centre, you need to tick YES to the payroll enable question on the respective form. Please refer to FAQ 1 to download the relative form.

Alternatively, if you need to make a change to an existing cost centre please reach out to either the Research Finance Officer or Research Business Manager who can provide you with guidance.

6. I need to raise a Sales Invoice Request directly to Healthshare? How do I do this?

This is done via a SARA Request External Link

7. I need to send a request to the Research Finance Officer to issue an invoice to a customer. How do I do this?

Please refer to the Attachment F to request the NSLHD Research Finance Officer to raise an invoice on your behalf.

Please submit the completed form to Melinder.Singh@health.nsw.gov.au

8. I need to raise a standing order for a particular supplier, how do I do this?

Please refer to the attached instructions on how to request a standing order - Attachment G

Please submit the completed form to Melinder.Singh@health.nsw.gov.au

9. I am a NSLHD employee and need to submit a reimbursement request for a work expense, how do I do this?

All NSLHD Staff must submit their reimbursement claims via iexpense. The iexpense icon can be found in Stafflink.

10. I am not a NSLHD employee and need to submit a reimbursement request for a work expense, how do I do this?

Please refer to the attached instructions on how to submit a reimbursement request - Attachment H

Please send the completed form to Melinder.Singh@health.nsw.gov.au

11. I would like to transfer funds between cost centres, how do I do this?

Please refer to the attached form to request a funds transfer between cost centres - Attachment I

Please send the completed form to Melinder.Singh@health.nsw.gov.au

12. Process map for inter-entity transactions between the University of Sydney and NSLHD.

Having issues viewing the process map? Image can be downloaded below