Overview

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UCOP retired the Direct Retro (DR) tool in UCPath for UC San Diego effective October 1, 2025, due to maintenance concerns and the availability of the Salary Cost Transfer (SCT) tool (launched in November 2023) as the replacement.

After September 16, 2025, users were instructed not to submit Direct Retros; any entries submitted between September 17–30, 2025 were deleted by the UCPath Center. Attempting to process a DR after this date generates the following error:

“Old DR transactions are not eligible. Consult campus GL admin for a manual Journal Entry option.”

Going forward, payroll cost transfers must be completed using the SCT tool in UCPath or, if the transaction is not SCT-eligible, through Oracle PPM. This article provides current guidance for processing both sponsored and non-sponsored project cost transfers now that DR is no longer available. 

Critical Concepts

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Salary Cost Transfer (SCT) in UCPath

Use the SCT tool in UCPath for most payroll cost transfers, except in the following cases:

• Payroll transactions with an earnings period end date before October 4, 2021.
• Payroll transactions that were previously moved using the DR tool and now require an additional correction (i.e., a Direct Retro on a Direct Retro).

If your transaction is not eligible for SCT, you must process the transfer in Oracle PPM.

Steps to Take

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Cost Transfers in Oracle PPM (Sponsored Project)

If the cost transfer involves a sponsored project (either from or to), follow these steps:

Step 1: Compliance Documentation

• Submit a Services & Support (S&S) ticket.
• Include:
  • Responses to the four Processing Cost Transfers Justification Questions.
  • Explanation of the error and justification for transferring the expenses after the standard period (enter in the description field or attach).
• Effort Certification (ECERT) (required for federal and federal flow-thru awards):
  • Obtain the ECERT document for both “from” and “to” projects.
  • If it’s within ±5% effort → note this in the ticket (no adjustment required).
  • If an adjustment is required, manually update the effort, obtain PI signature on the revised ECERT copy, and attach signed ECERT copies.
  • Once you complete this step, you must complete Step 2.

Step 2: Identify All Payroll-Related Costs

• To identify costs, see: Finding Payroll-Related PPM Transactions for OFC Transfers (PDF).
• Ensure all related costs are included (salary, benefits, tuition remission, NGN, GAEL, UCRP/RPNI, MCN, HSIT).
• See a full list of Payroll-Related Expenditure Types.
• Guidance: How to Find the Payroll-Related PPM Transactions for an Oracle PPM Cost.

Step 3: Cost Transfer Execution

• Process the cost transfer in Oracle PPM.
  • How to Perform a Payroll-Related PPM Cost Transfer
  • Guidance: Oracle PPM Cost Transfers Blink Page or How to Initiate a Full or Partial Cost Transfer in Oracle PPM

In the transfer justification dialog box (max 1000 characters), include:

• The S&S ticket number.
• The reason for the transfer.
• If your full comments cannot fit, abbreviate, but reference the ticket with the full justification.

Step 4: Reporting & Tracking

• For SPARCM (Sponsored Projects Accounts Receivable and Cash Management) Financial Expense Reports, reference all Oracle transaction number(s) (from Step 2) on the project you are moving payroll and related transactions from, and include the ticket number in the Pending Expenses column in SPARCM.
• Monitor pending cost transfers in:
  • Pending Costs tab in the Transaction Details Report, or
  • Project Cost Transfer Panorama Workflow Details report.
• View completed cost transfers with justifications in the Project Cost Transfer Panorama.

Note: The labor ledger (DOPES) will not fully align with PPM and payroll reconciliation reports.

Step 5: Post-Audit Review

• SPF will conduct quarterly post-audits of completed cost transfers on sponsored projects.
• You may see variances on the UCPath-Oracle Salary Reconciliation Report; this is a result of correcting in OFC only and not in UCPath. Nothing further can be done to resolve this variance.

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Cost Transfers in Oracle PPM (Non-Sponsored Project)

If the cost transfer involves a non-sponsored project (general/default projects):

Step 1: Identify All Payroll-Related Costs

• To identify costs, see: Finding Payroll-Related PPM Transactions for OFC Transfers (PDF).
• Ensure all related costs are included (salary, benefits, tuition remission, NGN, GAEL, UCRP/RPNI, MCN, HSIT).
  • See a full list of Payroll-Related Expenditure Types.
  • Guidance: How to Find the Payroll-Related PPM Transactions for an Oracle PPM Cost.

Step 2: Cost Transfers in Oracle PPM

• Process the cost transfer in Oracle PPM.
• Guidance: Oracle PPM Cost Transfers Blink Page or How to Initiate a Full or Partial Cost Transfer in Oracle PPM.
• In the transfer justification dialog box (max 1000 characters), include:
  • The reason for the transfer.
  • The S&S ticket number.
  • Responses to the four high-risk questions.

Step 3: Confirm Transactions Are Correctly Processed

• Review pending cost transfers in:
  • Pending Costs tab in Transaction Details Report.
  • Project Cost Transfer Panorama Workflow Details report.
• View completed cost transfers with justifications in the Project Cost Transfer Panorama.

Note: The labor ledger (DOPES) will not fully align with PPM and payroll reconciliation reports.