Changes to the Chart of Accounts
Object Code List top
There have been some recent changes to the object codes in Harvard’s
chart of accounts. They are:
| 1 |
Object codes 6152, 6261, 6262, and 6452
have been added in support of new post-doc payroll accounting
procedures effective July 1, 2003. In order to allow tubs
to budget to these codes and effective date payroll costing
lines, the object codes have already been created in the
Oracle GL; however, these codes may not be used in FY03.
If any transactions do get posted in FY03, they will have
to be transferred to other coding prior to the close of
the fiscal year. |
| 2 |
Object codes 6150, 6260, and 6450 will
be updated on July 1, 2003 with new names and uses in support
of the new post-doc payroll accounting procedures effective
at the beginning of the new year. |
| 3 |
Certain payroll object codes were updated
in May to be labeled as “temporary”; they previously were
labeled as “casual." |
| 4 |
Expense object code 7632 (GOA Interest
Transfers, Intra-Fund^Interest, Other, Internal) was added
in May. This code can be used to correct any org, activity,
subactivity, or root on interest charges to a fund. |
| 5 |
Effective July 1, 2003, certain income
transfer object codes will be eliminated. These codes are
5940, 5950, 5951, 5952, and 5953. |
Refer to this
document for more specifics on each of these changes.
A New Version of the PCard Settlement System
Is Being Developed top
Harvard’s PCard settlement system has been
in operation since 1997, and has successfully processed nearly
a million PCard transactions for the University, saving $3 million
in processing costs.
To continue meeting the needs of PCard users,
the Financial Administration and the Office of Administrative
Systems are now developing an updated version of the current
PCard settlement system. We expect the new system to remain
easy-to-use and stable, but also more technologically current
and tightly integrated with Harvard’s Oracle-based financial
systems.
Because of its popularity with users, the
team is making every effort to preserve the “look and feel”
of the current PCard application. A few commonly requested enhancements,
such as the ability to delete lines of previously used GL coding,
are expected.
With a few simple instructions to be provided
in the e-News and through local PCard Administrators, we expect
that users will be able to log on and review transactions without
difficulty when the new system becomes available some time in
the fall. Stay tuned for future project updates.
A New Tool Provides a More Complete View
of Information in GL Journals top
A new viewing tool is being added to General
Ledger on June 23, 2003. Journals > View
is a new menu item that lets users look up previously entered
journals and view all 33 digits of the Chart of Accounts coding.
The look-up steps are the same as those currently used for Journals
> Enter, but users will not be able to modify journals using
this screen.
This new view will eliminate the problem that
existed in Journals > Enter in which the root value was truncated
and not visible when screen shots were taken. Remember,
users can also print journals from HUDINI by running the Journals
– General financial report.
Price Reduction Alert:
Harvard/Staples Partnership top
Staples, Harvard’s strategic
procurement partner for office supplies, has recently reduced
the price of copy paper (specifically, the Staples brand “Red
Box” copy paper) from $21.49 to $19 per box. With ten reams
per carton, the cost per 5,000-sheet ream is now just $1.90.
To order, use item number 135848. The Harvard
Watermark Bond paper is also available at a greatly reduced
price through Staples. Both the natural and bright white watermark
paper and matching envelopes can be purchased from Staples directly.
Staples also offers significant cost savings
on hundreds of other specially negotiated “contract items.”
If you have any questions about Harvard’s partnership with Staples,
please contact Eileen Horton in Procurement Management at 5-5461.
For detailed pricing, purchase requirements,
and ordering information, please see http://vpf-web.harvard.edu/ofs/procurement.
Recent Change in Dollar Threshold and Form
for Vendor Justification top
As many administrators of sponsored funds
know, a competitive bidding process must be completed for all
purchases made with federal funds, subject to certain dollar
limits. Effective May, 2003, Harvard’s competitive bid threshold
for the procurement of federally funded supplies, equipment,
and services has been increased from $2,500 to $5,000.
FAD Procurement periodically reviews Harvard's
compliance obligations when purchasing using sponsored funds.
Recently, it was determined that by raising the bid threshold
the University could continue to meet government requirements
while simplifying administrative processes for smaller dollar
purchases. By making this change, Harvard could also align its
minimum bid threshold with those of other schools and universities.
In addition to this change, the new Vendor
Justification form also reflects these changes:
- the addition of OTA (Other Transaction Agreements) to the
list of grants, contracts, and cooperative agreements that
are already subject to federal bid requirements
- a change to the telephone number for the Procurement Management
Compliance Officer to 495-5431, and
- the addition of an option in Section
3 of the form (Cost / Price Analysis) to include vendor partnership
agreements, again simplifying compliance requirements.
The revised VJF is available on ABLE at http://able.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/forms.pl?
dept=Procurement.
For more information and answers to procurement
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs), check the Procurement Management
Department website at http://vpf-web.harvard.edu/ofs/procurement.
Navigating Oracle top
Recently, we received a request to remind
Oracle financials users that icons and function key "short
cuts" are available to make moving around the system and
performing repetitive tasks a little quicker. A key to the Oracle
toolbar icons is available at able.harvard.edu/other/
toolbar/index.shtml, while a guide to the function keys
and what they do is at able.harvard.edu/
other/functionkeys.shtml.
This section on ABLE also lists system hours
of operation and current desktop standards. As described in
the system hours of operation page, the next planned
outage of the financial applications will be the weekend of
June 20. Please consult the page for details.
e-News for Users of the HR and Payroll Systems top
Please follow
this link for additional news of interest to users of
the PeopleSoft HR, Payroll, and Time and Labor applications.
On this page you will find information about the next planned
release and related systems outage of the HR applications.
About the e-News
top
The Financial Administration
publishes this semimonthly electronic newsletter for users of
Harvard University's financial, HR, and reporting 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 administrative systems;
- information about new University
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
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