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June 2011

The Administrative Systems eNews is a monthly electronic newsletter for users of Harvard's financial, human resources, and reporting systems.


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Contact us at: admin_systems_enews@harvard.edu or via the UIS Helpdesk at 6-2001

Last Call for the Fiscal Year End Deadlines!

We're in the final weeks! Be sure to check out the e-News Fiscal Year-End issue for all of the dates you need to to insure your transactions are posted for FY11! Don't forget there's a handy, printable calendar of due dates also available!

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FINDINI 3.2.14 Release Oracle Outage and Enhancement Details

Due to FINDINI Release 3.2.14, Oracle Financials will be unavailable starting on Friday, June 17th at 6:00 pm until Monday, June 20th at 6:00 am.

The Oracle Financial Applications are:

The release will include enhancements to the Online Vendor Request Form, PCARD and HCOM.

Vendor Request Form Enhancements

The following enhancements will be made available within the 'Vendor Request' responsibility as of June 20, 2011:

Federal Tax ID now REQUIRED when Requesting a New "Vendor - US Corporation"

In an ongoing effort to improve the integrity of the data within the Vendor Master File, the Vendor Form has been updated to require the Vendor's U.S. Federal Tax ID number (Federal Tax ID/EIN). The requirement of this number will help to prevent the creation of duplicate vendors within Oracle and assist in preparation for Release 12.

Pre-existing vendors will be updated by University Financial Services.

Vendor Form

Vendor Name Field - Punctuation Limitation

The Vendor Name field will now only allow a period (.) or a dash (-) within the New Vendor Request form. An error message will appear if invalid characters are used.

Vendor Form

Direct Deport Site Request

New functionality to create a Direct Deposit Site for an existing Employee has been added to the New Site Request Form. Please note that if an Employee does not have a direct deposit site, the form will automatically default to request one. You may uncheck the 'Create Direct Deposit Site' box and complete the form if you are requesting an additional physical address for a non-direct deposit employee.

Vendor Form

Additional Description Changes

Please note that the description for 'Individual - US Citizen' has been changed to avoid confusion when selecting the Vendor Type:

Vendor Form

Please note that an informational line for Temporary Vendor has been added:

Vendor Form

Please contact UFS Vendor Setup 5-8500 (option 3) or email vendorsetup_ufs@harvard.edu if you have any questions.

PCARD Enhancements

Cardholder Name in Card Application Editable

The Cardholder name field within the PCard Individual Cardholder Application page is now editable. The field may be updated to change what is shown as the Cardholders Name when the HUID is entered and the 'Load Defaults' button is clicked. The information in this field is what will print on the physical PCard.

PCard

If you have any questions or concerns regarding this enhancement, please contact the UIS Help Desk at 496-2001 or via email.

HCOM Enhancments

There are several expected enhancements to HCOM with this release. To see full details, a HCOM New Releases folder has been created on Eureka. To access the information, go to Eureka>>Financials>>Job Aids>>HCOM New Releases.

Want to learn more about the HCOM enhancements? The CWD HCOM Training Team will be holding demonstrations of the new HCOM features during the week of June 27. In addition, HCOM Design & Implementation Managers will be hosting walk-in sessions on the new Procedure to Maintain Charge Accounts feature. Sessions will be held in Cambridge and Longwood. HCOM Shoppers and Approvers will be able to register for sessions next week on the HCOM iSite. The following new features will be available on June 20:

Category: Preferences

1. Procedure to Maintain Charge Accounts

HCOM will now provide tubs the ability to centrally manage the charge account nicknames associated with end user accounts. Authorized users can perform the following functions:

  • Perform a simple search of nicknames for any user in their position, all positions below them and the one position above them
  • Update nicknames - delete, add, modify and set as primary
  • Create a new group of nicknames
  • Replace or append nicknames from a user or group to another user, position or group
  • Upload a group of nicknames
  • Report on nicknames

Charge Account Maintenance can be done only by users with the HRVD^HCOM^Charge Account Maint Oracle responsibility. To have this responsibility added to your profile, please see your Local Implementation Manager (LIM) or Oracle Financials Authorized Requestor.

For full information on how to centrally manage account nicknames, access the Procedure to Maintain Charge Account work instruction on Eureka.

2. Set Local Bill-To Address for Non-Catalog Service Orders

Shoppers can create a local bill-to address that will be printed on Non-Catalog Purchase Orders where the Item Type is Goods or Services billed by amount or Services billed by quantity. See the Set Local Bill-To Address for Non-Catalog Service Orders Quick Reference on Eureka for step-by-step instructions.

PCard

Category: Marketplace, Non-Catalog and Payment Requests

1. Requisition Description Field on Checkout: Requisition Description screen is now blank.

The Requisition Description field will now be blank on the Checkout: Requisition Description screen. Shoppers will be required to add a Description to this field.

PCard

Category: Non-Catalog and Payment Requests

1. Item Description and Line Level Notes fields will appear as Text Fields with Vertical Scroll Bars

The Item Description and Line Level Notes fields will appear as text fields with vertical scroll bars to make it convenient for Shoppers/Approvers to enter additional information in these fields. A maximum of 255 characters can be entered in each of these fields.

PCard

2. Item Description Field now Editable on Non-Catalog and Payment Requests

Shoppers and/or Approvers can now edit the Item Description fields on Non-Catalog Requests and Payment Requests.

3. Copy Non-Catalog Orders and Payment Requests

Shoppers can now copy these types of requests. See the Copy Non-Catalog Orders and Payment Requests Quick Reference on Eureka for step-by-step instructions.

4. Change Approved Non-Catalog Orders and Payment Requests

Shoppers can now make limited changes to approved Non-Catalog Orders and Payment Requests. See the Change Non-Catalog Orders and Payment Requests Quick Reference for step-by-step instructions.

Category: Supplier Search

1. Advanced Supplier Search

Shoppers will have the ability to perform advanced supplier searches in HCOM. From the Supplier Search screen, Shoppers can select the Advance Supplier Search button. This feature will allow Shoppers to search by vendor name and one or more supplier sites. This greatly improves the ability to track down the correct vendor if the vendor has multiple address in the AP Vendor database.

2. Increased results on Supplier Search screen

The number of search results returned will be 200 per page, as opposed to 10 per page.

Category: Reports

ll HCOM Audit Reports have been enhanced to allow users to enter additional search criteria when generating the report. The new parameters include Tub range, Org range, Object range, Fund range, Activity range and subactivity range.

Some highlights:

  • The HCOM Self-approval audit report will display the 33-digit accounting string in the report output.
  • The HCOM Active Delegation Rules report and HCOM Existing Delegation Rules report have been combined into a single report called HCOM Delegation Rules report which has a report parameter called Delegation Rule Status. Entering "Active" value in this parameter will display all the active delegation rules where as entering "Inactive" value in this parameter will display all the inactive delegation rules.

If you have any questions or concerns regarding these enhancements, please contact the UIS Help Desk at 496-2001 or via email.

 

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CREW Outage Information for June 17-20, 2011

The CREW Reporting and Ad Hoc environments will be unavailable as follows during the CREW FIN 3.2.14 & APP 1.6.1 software release:

  • All CREW Financials reporting will be unavailable from 8:00 pm, Friday, June 17th (the usual down time) to approximately 1:00 pm, Monday, June 20th. This includes: Financials, Grants Management, Student Data Warehouse, and CAPS.
  • DWCENPRD & HDWUTS ad hoc & exporting databases will have the same outage as CREW Financials Reporting above.
  • Both CREW nightly Financials & HR data loads will be cancelled for Friday, June 17th. A special data load will run on Sunday night, June 19th.
  • The DWHRPRD, DWHRHST and IMSUTS databases will become available for ad hoc reporting around 4pm on Saturday, June 18th.

If you have any questions or concerns regarding this message, please contact us via the UIS Help Desk at 496-2001 or uis_helpdesk@harvard.edu.

Tag; CREW

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Reminder about the PeopleSoft FY12 Costing Copy Process

This year's costing copy process was run on Sunday, June 5th with the new FY 2012 costing rows now available. The FY 2012 costing rows have been inserted with a 07/01/2011 effective date. For tubs/units, this means:

  • Existing Employees
    • Any changes to an employee's costing occurring between June 6th and June 30th will need to be updated to the employee's FY2012 costing row. Make sure to choose the Override Future Costing radio button in the Job Data Change form to ensure the FY 2012 row is updated. If you fail to update the employee’s FY 2012 costing it will reflect what was copied on June 5th.

    Copy Costing 1

  • New Hires, Rehires & Transfers
    • For any new hires, rehires and transfers being processed with an effective date between June 6th and June 30th, you will need to add their FY2012 costing as only the FY 2011 row will be created via the hire process. Failing to add the FY 2012 costing will result in the employee's costing getting charged to the department-level costing starting on 07/01/2011. To add the FY 2012 row, you can:
      • Use the Department Budget Table and Add a New Value for the employee - make sure to indicate 2012 for the Fiscal Year field value PLEASE NOTE: If the person is being rehired into a NEW department, the old department ID will default into the department field. Please make sure to change this value to the NEW department or you will be adding incorrect costing for the rehire row. If you receive the error "Not Eligible for Budget Definition" validate that you have the correct department.
      • Use the Costing Upload process - indicate FY 2012 in the Excel spreadsheet and 7/1/2011 as the effective date.
      • Use the Job Data Change form with an effective date of 07/01/2011 - this will automatically create a costing row for FY 2012

Please be careful with the effective date, do not enter any FY 2012 costing with an effective date earlier than 7/1/2011.

For more information, please visit Eureka at: Personnel Actions>Update Costing.

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Learn More about the BI Roadmap Project

As reported in the March e-News, the University's IT Governance Council authorized the creation of the Business Intelligence (BI) Roadmap Project, the purpose of which is to upgrade tools and technology to support business intelligence needs throughout the University, and lay the foundation to provide more robust reporting and data analysis solutions to the community in the following business areas:

  • Alumni Affairs
  • Financials (including sponsored and student)
  • Human Resources

To keep the community apprised of project updates, timelines and other information, users are invited to visit the BI Roadmap iSite. The iSite provides users with the following information:

  • Project Objective
  • Project Timeline
  • Links to Business Intelligence information
  • Project Contact information
  • Training materials (when available)
  • Communications (links to this article and other communications developed throughout the project)

Preparing for the Upgraded Version of Business Intelligence Tools

As stated above, the initial work of the BI Roadmap Project is to upgrade Hyperion Brio and Interactive tools, the current versions of which are currently no longer supported by the vendor; an upgraded, re-branded version of the product has been acquired by the University and will be made available to users in October 2011.

In preparation for the upgrade, the Project Team is working to convert all of the existing reports into supported formats. The potential impact on the reporting user community is as follows:

Technology: CREW (Common Reporting Environment for the Warehouse)
Audience: Finance and Human Resources
Impact: This conversion and upgrade work will have no impact on the CREW end user; all existing reports are expected to work normally and no functionality is being changed.

Technology: Hyperion Reporting Portal /Tool
Audience: Primarily Alumni Affairs and limited Human Resources
Impact: Depends on the tool you use. The portal provides access to data that supports two types of reporting:

  • Predefined reports, which are written to meet specific needs and saved for repeated use.
    • Impact: This conversion and upgrade work will have no impact; all existing reports are expected to work normally and no functionality is being changed.
  • Ad hoc querying analysis conducted by users who need to construct their own reports.
    • Impact: Information about how to migrate/convert reports and how to download appropriate plug-ins will be provided to users in the near future.

Technology: Hyperion Interactive 8 or Brio 6.6 Desktop Client Users
Audience: Finance and Human Resources
Impact: If you use the client, you will need the new Hyperion Interactive Reporting 11.0 client installed on your desktop in October 2011. The Project Team will be communicating details surrounding the installation/de-installation of the desktop client and how to connect to the Data Warehouse in the near future.

  • Impact to existing ad hoc queries: Existing ad hoc queries will not need to be edited; in fact, a user will be able to open an existing query in the in the upgraded version, save it, and work as usual. Some minor changes in how some reports are published may need to be employed by the user; job aids will be available to affected users.

Collecting License Data to Facilitate Desktop Client Distribution

The Project Team will be creating a survey and contacting those who have a current desktop client in order to determine the number of clients needed and the types of information users are accessing via the client. Responses to this survey are critical in order to avoid any delays in installing the new desktop client on your workstation.

Users will be contacted via the ABCD-Brio Mailing List, the Reporting Mailing List and other communication mechanisms about how to access the survey.

Project Questions

Questions about the BI Roadmap Project can be sent to the UIS Helpdesk at (617) 496-2001 or via email at uis_helpdesk@harvard.edu. Ask the attendant to log a Remedy support ticket and assign it to the appropriate Group:

  • Alumni Affairs: CAADS - Func
  • Human Resources: HHR-Reporting
  • Financial: HDW-Finfunc

A member of the appropriate team will get back to you to assist.

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Human Resources Reporting News

CREW HR Report Changes

Category Production Date Report Name Description
Human Resources Rel 7.6 (6/20/11) HRU55CIO96 - Union Admin - Union Membership Updated report criteria to include Union Code = 00 (Non Union, Exempt or Temporary). Also added FLSA status and description to report output.

Security Roles: HDW^HRUNV^TUB^Job No Comp,
HDW^HR^CTR^Reports User

CREW HR REL 29.0 Database Changes

Production Date: 5/24/2011

Database Objects Change Type Notes Zone
OHR_AAD_ELECTION_V Update New columns added - Accomplishment,
Expiration_date;
Column - Degree renamed to Accomp_Category.
HDW^HRUNV^TUB^Alumni Records
OHR_JOB_ACTN_ALL_SV,
OHR_JOB_ACTN_SV,
OHR_JOB_CURR_ALL_SV
Update Added following new columns -
job_family_cd,
job_family_desc,
job_family_abbr,
leave_action_cd,
leave_action_desc,
leave_action_abbr,
wloc_desc,
wloc_abbr,
paid_job_flag,
hu_payroll_flag,
outsourced_payroll_flag,
dept_type_cd,
dept_type_desc,
dept_type_abbr,
tenure_trk_cd,
tenure_trk_desc,
tenure_trk_abbr,
am_absence_system_desc,
am_absence_system_abbr,
am_gb_group_desc
HDW^HR^TUB^Reports User
OHR_JOB_ACTN_AUDIT_NOCOMP_V,
OHR_JOB_ACTN_NOCOMP_V,
OHR_JOB_CURR_AUDIT_NOCOMP_V,
OHR_JOB_CURR_NOCOMP_V
Update Added following new columns -
job_family_cd,
job_family_desc,
job_family_abbr,
wloc_desc,
wloc_abbr,
paid_job_flag
, hu_payroll_flag,
outsourced_payroll_flag,
dept_type_cd,
dept_type_desc,
dept_type_abbr,
tenure_trk_cd,
tenure_trk_desc,
tenure_trk_abbr,
am_absence_system_desc,
am_absence_system_abbr,
am_gb_group_desc
HDW^HRUNV^TUB^Job No Comp
OHR_JOB_ACTN_AUDIT_V,
OHR_JOB_ACTN_V,
OHR_JOB_CURR_AUDIT_V,
OHR_JOB_CURR_V
Update Added following new columns -
job_family,
job_family_desc,
job_family_abbr,
leave_action,
leave_action_desc,
leave_action_abbr,
location_desc,
location_abbr,
paid_job_flag,
hu_payroll_flag,
outsourced_payroll_flag,
hu_dept_type,
hu_dept_type_desc,
hu_dept_type_abbr,
hu_tenure_trk,
hu_tenure_trk_desc,
hu_tenure_trk_abbr,
absence_system_desc,
absence_system_abbr,
gb_group_desc
HDW^HR^CTR^Reports User
OHR_JOB_HIST_ALL_SV,
OHR_JOB_HIST_SV
Update Added following new columns -
job_family_cd,
job_family_desc,
job_family_abbr,
leave_action_cd,
leave_action_desc,
leave_action_abbr,
wloc_desc,
wloc_abbr,
paid_job_flag,
hu_payroll_flag,
outsourced_payroll_flag,
dept_type_cd,
dept_type_desc,
dept_type_abbr,
tenure_trk_cd,
tenure_trk_desc,
tenure_trk_abbr,
am_absence_system_esc,
am_absence_system_abbr,
am_gb_group_desc,
end_eff_date
HDW^HR^TUB^Reports User
OHR_JOB_HIST_AUDIT_NOCOMP_V,
OHR_JOB_HIST_NOCOMP_V
Update Added following new columns -
job_family_cd,
job_family_desc,
job_family_abbr,
wloc_desc,
wloc_abbr,
paid_job_flag,
hu_payroll_flag,
outsourced_payroll_flag,
dept_type_cd,
dept_type_desc,
dept_type_abbr,
tenure_trk_cd,
tenure_trk_desc,
tenure_trk_abbr,
am_absence_system_desc,
am_absence_system_abbr,
am_gb_group_desc,
end_eff_date
HDW^HRUNV^TUB^Job No Comp
OHR_JOB_HIST_AUDIT_V,
OHR_JOB_HIST_V
Update Added following new columns -
job_family,
job_family_desc,
job_family_abbr,
leave_action,
leave_action_desc,
leave_action_abbr,
location_desc,
location_abbr,
paid_job_flag,
hu_payroll_flag,
outsourced_payroll_flag,
hu_dept_type,
hu_dept_type_desc,
hu_dept_type_abbr,
hu_tenure_trk,
hu_tenure_trk_desc,
hu_tenure_trk_abbr,
absence_system_desc,
absence_system_abbr,
gb_group_desc, end_eff_dt
HDW^HR^CTR^Reports User
OPY_PAY_EARNINGS_SV New New view HDW^PAY^TUB^Reports User

If you have any questions or concerns, please contact the UIS Helpdesk at 496-2001 and ask the attendant to log a ticket to the HHR-Reporting Team.

Tag; CREW

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June HUBS Release Information

On Tuesday, June 14, 2011, several enhancements were implemented and new features introduced to the Harvard University Budgeting System (HUBS). You'll find reports, web forms and business rules to assist in the forecasting process and spreading annual budget amounts appropriately across the months and quarters of the fiscal year. In addition, tools and processes have been developed to greatly streamline the maintenance of alternate hierarchies.

These are just some of the updates that were made. Please review the full Release Notes available on the HUBS iSite. Also, please visit the HUBS Eureka page to learn more about using these new features.

Tag; HUBS

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June 2011 CREW Financial, Sponsored, CAPS, and Student Release Items

Category Module Report, View or Object Description Release Actual or *Target Release Date
Capital Asset Management Data Model CAPS Data Model View change in DCP_OPERATING_PERIOD_BALS_F_SV, to comply with GAAP and University Policy. CREW FIN 3.2.14 *6/20/2011
Capital Asset Management Data Model CAPS Data Model Root Cost data in OLTP needs to exist in HDW as well, for both Ad-Hoc and CREW reporting purpose CREW FIN 3.2.14 *6/20/2011
Cash Management REPORT CMESCHT156: Escheat Due Diligence (CSV) A CSV output version of this report will allow users to manipulate and reformat the data in ways that are useful to them. CREW RPT 7.6 *6/17/2011
General Ledger Data Model GL Data Model A new DFF, based on the creation of a new Flex Value Set, is being added to Object Codes to allow FAD to create a CINA report that departs from the natural chart of accounts hierarchy. CREW FIN 3.2.14 *6/20/2011
Sponsored Data Model GM Data Model The US Congressional District is a required data element for the new Sponsored compliance requirement of FFATA reporting, and reporting of GMAS S2S proposal submissions and ARRA reporting. CREW FIN 3.2.14 *6/20/2011
Student Data Model Student Data Model The data columns "interest_paid" and "principal_canceled" in the Student Loan ad hoc views are transposed so "interest paid" is displayed in the "principal canceled" column and vice versa. CREW FIN 3.2.14 *6/20/2011

If you have any questions or concerns regarding these changes, please contact the UIS Help Desk at 496-2001 or via email.

Tag; CREW

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Upcoming Releases

FINDINI Release Schedule

A software release to the Oracle Financial Applications, known as a "FINDINI release", is done every two to four months. Each upgrade introduces needed bug fixes, enhancements, and technical upgrades into Harvard's financial systems. Generally, releases are performed on weekends to assure maximum availability during the business week. Most outages occur from 6 pm Friday evening-6 am Monday morning.

The next FINDINI release, 3.2.14, is scheduled for this weekend, June 17-20, 2011. Please see article 2 for details.

The Oracle Financial Applications are:

CREW FIN Releases

The Common Reporting Environment for the Warehouse (CREW) is a reporting system that draws data from a variety of sources which are updated on a nightly basis. Users can submit report requests for immediate processing or schedule reports to automatically run on a recurring basis. Types of CREW reports include financial, budget, receivables, HR management, benefits, costing, payroll, pension, security, grants management, and sponsored reports.

The next CREW FIN release, 3.2.14, is scheduled for this weekend, June 17-20, 2011. Please see article 3 for details.

HR (PeopleSoft) and CREW HR Release 29

The next PeopleSoft Release (HR 30) is tentatively scheduled for September, 2011. Details will be available in an upcoming e-News.

The CREW HR 30.0 Release is tentatively scheduled for September 2011. Details will be available in an upcoming e-News.

CREW Reports

In addition to the CREW Financial and CREW HR releases which correspond with the FINDINI and HR releases listed above, changes and enhancements to new and existing CREW reports are also released the 3rd weekend of each month.

Release Number Dates Notes
7.6 6/17/11  
7.7 7/15/11  
7.8 8/19/11  
7.9 9/16/11  
7.10 10/14/11  
7.11 11/18/11  
7.12 12/16/11  

Sponsored Systems Releases

The GMAS release (1_28) was deployed on Saturday, March 12, 2011. As always see the Release Notes about releases to date.
The HIRBERT release was deployed on Saturday, March 19, 2011. As usual, please see the Release Notes for details about releases to date.

HUBS Releases

The Harvard University Budgeting Sytems (HUBS) is a set of web-based Oracle Hyperion Planning applications used for budget data entry, estimates, annotations, reporting, and submission associated with the annual budget and planning cycles.

The next major HUBS release, Release 1.0.10, is scheduled for June 14, 2011. Details will be available in an upcoming e-News.

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About the e-News

The Center for Workplace Development publishes this electronic newsletter for users of Harvard University's financial, HR, and reporting systems, policies, and procedures. The e-News is generally published on or around the 15th 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: admin_systems_enews@harvard.edu.

For information about subscribing or unsubscribing to the eNews notifications, visit our who gets the eNews page.

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