HDW Applications Offline Sunday, April 28   top

The Harvard Data Warehouse (HDW) Team will conduct a performance test as part of our Fiscal Year End Close tuning efforts on Sunday, April 28, 2002 from 5 a.m.-7 p.m.

The HDW (HUDINI, AWS2 and Ad-hoc reporting environments) will be unavailable to users during this time. For your information, reports scheduled to run on Sunday mornings will be executed and available to users the morning of Monday, April 29.

If you have any questions, please contact the UIS Helpdesk at 496-2001.

FAQs about Accounts Receivable  top

The FAD Accounts Receivable (AR) Department would like to thank users who responded to our recent survey. We appreciate the time and effort you took to tell us about your experiences using the Oracle AR system. We plan to thoroughly review all the issues identified in your survey responses over the next few months.

In the meantime, we'd like to provide answers to some of the most frequently asked questions we received, namely:

• Who does what in FAD Accounts Receivable?
• How does the AR department process various kinds of customer credits?
• Can I use the Oracle feature called "Scheduler" to help manage my collection activities?
• What Oracle AR training opportunities are available to me?

How accounts receivable credit processing works   back

When staff in FAD AR attempt to process a customer receipt but find that there is no open invoice to which the payment should be applied, they research the issue to determine if the payment is:

1. for an invoice paid previously.
2. for an invoice cancelled by credit memo (e.g., charged to bad debt, written off as a billing error), or
3. sent erroneously to FAD AR.

Depending on their findings, the credit is either owed to the customer, to the local unit, or to another Central operating unit.

A new collection tool for AR   back

Many of the participants of our survey indicated that they would like to have access to an electronic "tickler" or reminder file in the Oracle AR system called "Scheduler." For example, if a collector needs to follow up with a customer on May 1st, that call will appear in the collector's Scheduler on May 1 to remind him or her to make the call.

Many felt that this tool would make their collection responsibilities easier. Our plan is to have this made available to you in the coming months by enhancing your collection responsibility screen to include this function.

Oracle AR Training Opportunities   back

We would like to remind everyone that there is instructor-led training, refresher training, and online documentation available to support users of Harvard's AR system.

Survey Gift Certificate Winner!

We are happy to announce that Hilde DeWeerdt from the Harvard-Yenching Library was the gift certificate winner from our random drawing of survey respondents. Thank you, Hilde, for taking the time to provide us with your feedback.

American Express Updates  top

American Express Increases Fees

Please be advised that beginning May 1, 2002, American Express will increase the following fees:

All cardholders should have received a notice from American Express regarding the change in fees. Since that notice was sent out, American Express has advised us that Massachusetts state law prohibits them from charging the "flat fees." Therefore, the minimum $29 flat fee that was referred to in the letter you received will not apply.

American Express Website Features

A reminder that corporate cardholders can access statements online, allowing for a timely review and reconciliation of their monthly charges, even while on the road. This service is free.

Online management of your account is a convenient way to

• access account information 24 hours a day, 7 days a week
• track current charges and payments, and view statements for the past six months
• review statement closing date, spending limit information, total balance (includes unpaid billed balance and new charges), and the Open-to-Buy amount
• confirm Corporate Card payment
• manage your account profile, including updating addresses
• initiate charge inquiries and disputes, and
• view the US dollar equivalent of charges made in other currencies.

To enroll, visit http://www.americanexpress.com, click on Corporations, and then select Learn About & Enroll in Manage Your Card Account (under the Check Your Bill header).

Please contact the Travel and Reimbursement Office at 495-7760, or stop by 380 Holyoke Center if you have any questions or concerns.

Harvard Travel Center Fees   top

The travel industry has been hit hard due to the economic downturn, which began late in 2000 and continued through 2001. Then the September 11 tragedy plunged it into cataclysmic financial disaster. Airlines, hotels, car rental companies, and travel agencies have remained viable only through cutbacks and layoffs.

On March 18, 2002, the airlines began a precedent-setting cutback by eradicating commissions to travel agents. Car rental companies have followed suit and it is expected that hotels will do the same. To remain in business, travel agents now have no choice but to charge a fee for the service they provide.

Many Harvard travelers may feel more compelled than ever to use the Internet to avoid the fees. While this is certainly understandable, remember that travel agents continue to provide personal and comprehensive services that websites are not designed to do. Also remember that Harvard University will fully reimburse all travel agent fees.

Most local travel agencies are charging comparable fees. Questions regarding Harvard's travel program should be directed to Jack Healey at 496-8686 or Priscilla Campbell at 496-4599.

STAR Query Tool to Be Decommissioned   top

Since STAR (the now-defunct System for Travel and Reimbursement) was permanently shut down on June 30, 2001, there has been very little use of the STAR Query Tool that was made available to research past expense reports. Therefore, on May 15, 2002, the query tool will also be shut down permanently.

Departments who expect to need information from old STAR reports should access the STAR Query Tool prior to May 15 and print out reports for future reference.

To get summary-level information related to an old STAR report after May 15, you can run a detailed listing report in AWS2 or HUDINI. If you have any questions about how to interpret STAR data on the detailed listing, contact you local financial office or Stacy Clifton in the Travel and Reimbursement Office at 5-9308.

For more complete information about an old STAR report after May 15, you will need to contact the Imaging Department at 5-8930 and provide them with the name and HUID number of the reimbursee and the total amount of the STAR report in question (both of these can be obtained from the detailed listing). The Imaging Department will then provide you with a copy of the original reimbursement report. Please allow two weeks for this process.

2001-2002 Harvard Fact Book Available on Web   top

The web version of the 2001-2002 Harvard University Fact Book, published each spring by the FAD Office of Budget and Financial Planning, is now available online. This handy reference tool collects a wealth of facts and figures about the University, and is organized into three general sections: Organization, People, and Resources.

The Organization section includes a flow chart that depicts the structure of Harvard's faculties and allied institutions. (A similar chart showing how Central Administration is organized, as well as a list of all of Harvard's research and academic centers, will be added soon.)

The People section provides statistical data about Harvard's student population and distributes it in several ways (for example, by discipline, school, nationality, gender, number of degrees conferred, etc.). This section also includes data on Harvard's faculty and staff populations (for example, how many people work in each faculty, allied institution, or Central Administration unit).

Finally, the Resources section provides information about Harvard's tuition and fees, income and expenses, number of holdings in each of Harvard's 90 libraries, buildings and land owned, endowment information, and much more.

A few of the 2001-2002 Fact Book entries are still being compiled, and they will be added to the web site as the information becomes available. However, previous editions of the Fact Book are complete and archived on the site for your review.

You can read the Fact Book at the following location: http://vpf-web.harvard.edu/factbook/.

About the FAD e-News   top

The Financial Administration publishes this semi-monthly electronic newsletter for users of Harvard University's financial systems, policies, and procedures. Generally, the e-News is published on or around the 12th and 26th of each month.

It contains:

• updates on projects underway to build or improve University financial systems;
• information about new University financial policies, procedures, and forms;
• reminders about upcoming deadlines and cut-over dates;
• tips and tricks for working more easily or productively.

We welcome questions and suggestions for improvement from readers. If your questions are of general interest, we will answer them in future issues.

Please send comments, questions, or suggestions for improvement by email to us at: fad_communications@harvard.edu