👋 Welcome to the July edition of SF Connect! As summer continues, we're sharing important updates, timely reminders, and helpful resources to keep you informed and prepared for the months ahead. Thank you for being part of the SF community we appreciate your continued partnership and look forward to keeping you connected.

📢General SF Updates

• Cashiering Penny Guidance
  • In response to new federal guidance on the discontinuation of penny minting and the passage of Washington State House Bill 2334, the State Board has developed ctcLink cashiering guidance for processing cash transactions and applying the required cash rounding procedures.
  • Find more information via the Penny Rounding QRG.
  • 8/3/26 work session/drop in for any additional questions, invite coming soon.
• CyberSource Unified Checkout
  • CyberSource is retiring the current Secure Acceptance checkout experience and replacing it with the new Unified Checkout platform.
  • As part of this migration, CyberSource is modernizing the behind-the-scenes security used to authenticate online payment transactions. This update is transparent to students and is not expected to disrupt online self-service payment processing.
  • To learn more about the upcoming changes and migration process, please ensure that staff at your institution who support student payment processing attend one of the following UAT sessions:
    • July 28 at 2:00 PM
    • July 29 at 9:00 AM
• 1098-T
  • 2026 QRG ***UPDATED***
    • 1098-T Business Processing Guide & Tracking Calendar QRG
  • FIRE System Retirement and Transition to IRIS
    • The FIRE System has been retired, and the IRS is transitioning fully to the Information Returns Intake System (IRIS).
    • Beginning with Filing Season 2027, IRIS will be the only intake system available for filing information returns.
    • Existing FIRE users are strongly encouraged to apply for a new Transmitter Control Code (TCC) through IRIS to ensure continued electronic filing capability.
    • Please find the attached email with additional information from the State Board and view the following IRS link on how to set it up.
      • https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/p5717.pdf
• State Board Student Financials (SF) Team is reviewing non-disbursable item types to strengthen functional safeguards and improve tracking mechanisms. These updates are intended to ensure that non-disbursable aid cannot be inadvertently posted or disbursed to a student's account while improving consistency between Student Financials and Financial Aid configuration.
  • SF Updates
    • Remove the Overall Payment Priority so that any attempt to post the item type will generate an error.
    • Uncheck the Refundable indicator.
    • Add a Second Journal Set General Ledger chart string to support FIN error tracking and reporting.
  • FA Support will focus on this work once the FA community is stabilized from post OB3 updates.
• Cashiering Closing Steps  
  • It is important to run the Generate Cashiering Entries process after completing the first two tabs of the Close Offices page (Close Registers and Close Cashiers) and before completing the third tab (Close Offices).
  • Important: Always complete Close Registers first, followed by Close Cashiers. Performing these steps out of sequence can result in the office balancing as over or short.
• QCS_SF_TUT_CALC_ERRORS report
  • This query has been updated and can now be run for a single student.
• SF E-list  
  • In addition to SF Connect announcements and other important updates, the SF E-List is also available for colleges to ask questions, share information, and engage in peer-to-peer discussions on Student Financials topics.
  • If you know someone who would benefit from receiving these updates, please share this link and encourage them to join the e-list.
    • https://www.sbctc.edu/colleges-staff/it-support/erp-support/support-lists.aspx

🖥️ 2026 Maintenance & Deployment Schedule

• Monday, August 3 PCD Refresh
• Saturday, August 8 | 7:00 AM  9:00 AM Server Maintenance
• Saturday, August 8 | 7:00 AM  1:00 PM Deploy HCM Image 55
• Monday, September 14 PCD Refresh
• Monday, October 5 PCD Refresh
• Saturday, October 10 | 7:00 AM  1:00 PM Deploy CS Image 38 & HCX Update
• Saturday, October 24 | 7:00 AM  1:00 PM Deploy FSCM Image 56
• Monday, November 2 PCD Refresh
• Saturday, November 14 | 7:00 AM  9:00 AM Server Maintenance
• Saturday, November 14 | 7:00 AM  1:00 PM Deploy HCM Image 56
• Monday, December 7 PCD Refresh

📚SF Resource Updates 

Have a suggestion or found something that needs updating?

Submit via: SolarWinds → ctcLink Support → Training → Reference Center → SF  Reference Center

We always appreciate your input!

Updated QRGs-

• View/Consent to Paperless 1098-T Statements - updated navigation path for student view
• Review and Close a Cashier's Office - Added important information on closing cashiers office in order
• Add a Course Fee Through Student Financials - added information regarding the Fee Trigger field.
• Add a Class Fee through Student Financials - added information regarding the Fee Trigger field.
• Update and Review the Second Journal Set (SJS) - fixed broken link and added two additional queries
• Term Rollover Checklist - added information regarding fixing Term Fees
• Penny Rounding  NEW guidance on penny rounding when taking cash payments from students.
• 2026 1098-T Business Processing Guide  updated for the 2026 tax year.

🎓Learning Opportunities 

Recent

You must be registered and logged into Canvas to access these recordings 

July 20, SF Work Session: WWSFD AR Series #3

Upcoming

August 10, 1pm, SF Training: 2026 Fall Welcome Back to Basics: Cashiering, Refunds, and Payment Plans

August 17, 1:30pm, SF Work Session: Hot Topics 1098-T Resolution

August 24, 1pm, Cross Pillar Core, SF, FA: Enrollment Cancellation

🤓Today I learned 

For all my Pokémon friends out there…

Released on July 6, 2016,Pokémon Go became one of the most popular games on the planet, it has garnered over 1 billion downloads since its launch.

We appreciate all that you do!

- Your State Board SF Team