Contact us at:
fad_communications@harvard.edu
Or via the UIS Helpdesk, 6-2001

What to Expect with the FINDINI
Release in December   top

An upgrade to Harvard's enterprise financial and reporting applications, known as "FINDINI" release 2.0.5, is scheduled for December 14-17, 2001. Note that December 14 is a Friday. The core financial systems except for the Data Warehouse will be unavailable to business users on that day; these include GL, AP, AR, Budget Tool, Web Voucher, Applications Administration, CoA Maintenance, Windstar, and PCard.

The December 12 issue of the e-News will describe system changes and enhancements in more detail. In the meantime, users should expect the following changes and plan accordingly.

J-Initiator Upgrade Required

Users of the Budget Tool, HUDINI, GL, AP, and AR will need to upgrade the J-initiator software plug-in on their desktops to version 1.1.8.11 in order to use the applications after December 17. Presently, the applications require J-initiator 1.1.7.27.

Version 1.1.8.11 of J-initiator was made available on November 15 to local IT and desktop support organizations, so that the process of desktop upgrades could get an early start. If your desktop is not upgraded in advance of the FINDINI release, you have two options:

1. The system will prompt you to install the J-initiator upgrade the first time you try to log in to one of the applications that requires it.
2. You can upgrade your desktop after December 17 from a link on the Financial Applications page of the Financial Administration web site. (Instructions will be provided in the December 12 FAD e-News).

Desktop Standards Update

In the December 12 e-News, we also expect to publish new, unified desktop standards for users of University financial and HR systems (including PeopleSoft).

Important Schedule Information

The table below provides the schedule for the FINDINI 2.0.5 release. Please read it carefully to minimize the impact on your financial operations.

Questions? Call the UIS Helpdesk at 6-2001.

Cash Management Debuts on ABLE   top

Earlier this month, Financial Administration published a new content area on ABLE: Cash Management.

The new area outlines how to deposit cash and checks, including detailed instructions, links to the appropriate Harvard University policies, downloadable Excel and PDF versions of the Credit Voucher form, and more. You will also find very brief overviews about processing wire transfer payments and receipts, foreign currency payments, credit card receipts, and Harvard issued check inquiries; these overviews will soon be expanded to include detailed procedures and links.

Please do not hesitate to share your ideas or make recommendations on how we can improve this ABLE content area by contacting Michelle Sazo at 5-1647 (michelle_sazo@harvard.edu) or Cheryl Margey at 5-5471 (cheryl_margey@harvard.edu).

GL Adjustments: Keep an
Audit Trail in Mind!    top

Remember to enter the Originating Document ID number and Date when creating an adjustment journal in the General Ledger. The descriptive flexfields are located on the far right of your journal line. The screen looks like this:

These fields let an auditor track the original transaction. This information is also helpful to anyone who needs to look at the original transaction in order to understand your adjustment.

Filling in these fields saves you time when a transaction is in question and is REQUIRED! To comply with the requirements of OMB Circular A-21 and related federal regulations, these fields must be filled in when debiting an expense to a federal award to ensure compliance with the new University Cost Transfer Policy (more on this new policy below).

If you have a question about use of Originating Document Identifier number and Date fields, please contact the Helpdesk at 6-2001.

Fringe and Overhead Allocations Now
Process Journals for Any Open Period    top

During the first five days of a new month, Fringe and Overhead will run nightly for both the closing month and for the newly opened month. Previously, the allocations ran for only the closing month until that month was closed; then the allocations ran for the new month. This change will let users see their fringe and overhead transactions in a more timely fashion.

New University Cost Transfer Policy
Effective January 2, 2002   top

What is a cost transfer?

A cost transfer moves a charge that had previously been recorded in one account to a federally funded sponsored account. For example, you might want to transfer preaward costs from a departmental holding account, correct a clerical error, or allocate shared services or service center charges, etc.

Complying with federal regulations

To comply with the requirements of the Office of Management and Budget's Circular A-21, the National Institutes of Health (Harvard's largest source of federal research funding), and the other federal sponsors, Harvard University has established detailed policies and procedures for the processing of cost transfers, which will become effective on January 2, 2002. This document contains the following information:

• Making a cost transfer within 90 days of the original charge
• Making a cost transfer after 90 days of the original charge
• Cost transfers that require only a journal entry with an explanation in the journal field
• Roles and responsibilities
• Using the Cost Transfer Explanation and Justification Form

Training sessions on the new policy have been scheduled as follows:

The full text of the document is available here. Please call Tony Lee at 5-1253 if you have any questions about the policy.

Accounts Receivable:
Incomplete Invoices    top

Harvard employees who input invoices and credit memos to the Oracle Accounts Receivable system should remember that it is our policy to delete incomplete transactions after they age to two months.

As a courtesy, the FAD AR Department has been alerting local units by e-mail that they have incomplete invoices, and requesting that the invoices be deleted or completed (incomplete invoices and credit memos can result in lost revenue or billing errors). However, AR reminds local units that it is their responsibility to check that their transactions are complete. Local units can do this by one of two methods. They can either

• check their detail listings; or
• search by transaction type for incomplete transactions, using the instructions offered on ABLE.

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