Coming Soon in Oracle Release 12

Several units in Financial Administration and HU Information Technology continue work towards upgrading the Oracle E-Business Suite applications in November 2012. As reported in last month's e-News, Oracle users should view the Oracle Release 12 Upgrade Video for a preview of what's to come and the Oracle Release 12 Upgrade wiki site to keep track of the project.

Here's an update about the work being done in preparation for implementation:

Accounts Receivable User Survey

In the Receivables area, current users of the Oracle Accounts Receivable application were asked to complete a survey about how they are using the module, with specific questions about setting up or modifying Accounts Receivable customers, how many invoices are generated on a monthly basis, and whether or not they engage in any collections activity. Users were also asked about reporting needs, training needs, and their interest in a new module, iReceivables, which will provide a dashboard-like view into customers and customer-related information.

Approximately 100 users responded to the survey, which represents about 40% of the current user population. The results are now being analyzed and will be used to make informed decisions about the Oracle Release 12 Accounts Receivable application upgrade in the fall.

A New Look for the Web Chart of Accounts Validator

The Chart of Accounts (CoA) Validator will have a new look and feel in Oracle Release 12, but its functionality will remain exactly the same. Users should also be aware that as a result of the upgrade, the URL for the Validator will change, and users will need to change any browser bookmarks accordingly. More information will be provided about this change as the project proceeds.

Processing Reimbursements: Web Reimbursement and HCOM

As a result of the Oracle Release 12 Upgrade, a change in business process regarding reimbursements will be implemented. Any out-of-pocket, travel-related or corporate card payments for the following employee types will be processed in Web Reimbursement as usual:

• Monthly faculty
• Internal post docs
• Biweekly staff
• Weekly trade employees

After the upgrade, all other reimbursements, including the following employee types, must be processed in the Harvard Crimson Online Marketplace (HCOM). These employee types are:

• Temporary employees
• Less-than-half-time (LHTs) employees
• Harvard students
• External post-doctoral students
• Harvard teaching fellows

This change will support the distinction between standard, non-taxable employee expenses and other types of expenses, and will more closely align with common business practices undertaken by other non-profit and for-profit companies. Users will be provided with specific documentation and training defining each reimbursement population and how to process reimbursements in the HCOM system. Look for more information about this change in future issues of e-News, on the Oracle Release 12 wiki, and in targeted communications to affected users.

Initial Testing begins for Export and Ad Hoc Reports Users

Initial testing and validating export data from the Harvard Data Warehouse began on July 2, and will continue through September 2012. Those who query tables in the Data Warehouse to create custom financial reports are also being asked to test and validate their queries during this same timeframe. This testing is critical to the smooth transition of these important functions in the new release. Individuals within these communities were contacted with the initial testing schedule and will be reporting results throughout this period.

Please remember that you can always send questions about the Oracle Release 12 Upgrade Project via email to oracle12_upgrade@harvard.edu. You will receive a response within three business days.

CREW HR Report Enhancement

Effective 7/23/2012 Standard Hours has been added to the PDF and XLS output of:
HR JBMUL026 - Departmental: Multiple Jobs Less Than Half-Time (LHT) Employees

In order to access this report, you must have the following roles:
HDW^PUB^TUB^Reports User
HDW^HRUNV^TUB^Job No Comp

If you have any questions or concerns, please contact the HUIT Support Center at 496-2001 or dls@harvard.edu.

Thank you,
Human Resources Analytics and Reporting

Delayed Saturday CREW Financials Availability 8/11/12 through 9/8/12

The annual process to open new budget years in the General Ledger will require extended load times in the Harvard Data Warehouse (HDW). These processes are being scheduled on Friday evenings to minimize CREW downtime during peak reporting times.

CREW financials availability will be delayed on the following Saturdays, as will Ad Hoc and Export access to the Financials HDW:

• Saturday, August 8
• Saturday, August 18
• Satuday, September 1
• Saturday, September 8

The extended load times are in the process of being estimated and a timeframe of the expected CREW up time on these Saturdays will be established as the dates get closer. Once they are known, the CREW login Splash Page will be updated with the information.

If you have any questions or concerns about this schedule, please contact the HUIT Support Center at 496-2001 or dls@harvard.edu.

HCOM Marketplace Outage July 20-22

The HCOM Markeplace will be unavailable to users from Friday, July 20, 10:00 pm to Sunday, July 22, 12:00 pm. Please note that this outage affects only the Marketplace; users will still be able to login to HCOM and create Non-Catalog and Payment Requests. Approvers will be able to approve, edit, reject and forward Requisitions awaiting their review.

If you have any questions or concerns regarding the Marketplace outage, please contact the HUIT Support Center at 617-496-2001 or via email.

HCOM Webinar Recordings Now Available-New Webinar to be Offered!

The PowerPoint presentation for the last HCOM Webinar: How to Modify a Transaction, is now available at Eureka.

The Webinar recordings are also now available:

• Setting Favorite Charge Accounts: How to save favorite 33-digit charge accounts in HCOM so that you do not have to type in a new number every time
• Changing an Unapproved Requistion: How to make changes to a Requisition that has not yet been approved
• Deleting a Requisition: How to delete a Requisition if created in error
• Changing a Purchase Order : How to make changes to approved Non-Catalog Orders and Payment Requests
• Preparer Initiated Cancellation of Purchase Orders: The process of cancelling a Non-Catalog Purchase Order or Payment Request
• Correcting Receipts, Returns and Credit Memos : How to make corrections to receipts, returning items and how to process credit memos

New HCOM Webinar: HCOM: Beyond the Basics, Tuesday, July 24th, 12:00 pm-1:30 pm

Now that HCOM has been in use for over a year, most users know the basics. But what if you want to do something beyond the basics, like make changes to your Shopping Cart after you leave the Marketplace, or you need to view a vendor invoice, or you need to know the payment status? This webinar will cover not only how to do some of these things, but also where you can find the information on how to do it six months from now. At the end of our session, users will be able to answer the following questions:

• How can I add items to my Shopping Cart if I’ve left the Marketplace, or add items to a Payment Request or Non-Catalog Order?
• What is the difference between making changes to a Requisition before it receives approval and after it receives approval?
• How do I see a vendor invoice since in most cases it goes directly to University Accounts Payable?
• How can I see if there is an invoice on hold?
• How do I see the payment status on an order?
• How do I remember how to do all of these things six months from now-is there a Job Aid avaialble and how do I find it?

There will be time for questions and answers.

The HCOM Summer Series will wrap up on August 29th with a webinar devoted to the HCOM MarketPlace. This session will provide tip/tricks for making the most of your Marketplace experience (understanding icons, advanced searches, different types of punchouts).

Registration Information

Register for the session through PeopleSoft Self-Service:

1. Open a web browser and access HARVie.
2. Select PeopleSoft from the drop-down menu.
3. Navigate to Self Service > Learning and Development > Request Training Enrollment.
4. Once at the search screen, do the following:
   1.Select Search by Course Number.
   2.In the search screen, enter CWD in the Category field.
   3.In the course number field, enter WBX204 for HCOM: Beyond the Basics.
   4.Click Search.
   5.Click View Available Sessions and select the session to enroll
   

Please take advantage of this opportunity to learn more about HCOM!

Upcoming Releases

Oracle Release 12 Upgrade

The Oracle E-Business Suite Applications will be upgrading from Oracle Release 11i to Oracle Release 12 in the late fall of 2012. Please see article 1 for the latest update concerning the Release.

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, 3.2.18, is scheduled for October 2012. Details will be available in an upcoming issue of e-News.

HR (PeopleSoft)

PeopleSoft Version 9.1 was implemented on April 23, 2012.

HDW HR Release 33

The HDW HR 33.0 Release is tentatively scheduled for September 2012. Details will be available in an upcoming issue of 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
8.7	7/21/2012

Sponsored Systems Releases

• The next GMAS release will be in July 2012. Please see the May e-News for more information.
• A HIRBERT release was deployed in Feburary 2012. Please see the April 2012 e-News for more information.

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.

HUBS 2.1 was released May 18-20, 2012. Please see the May e-News for more information.

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;
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