FST FAQs

What is the Financial Systems Transformation (FST) Program?

The FST program is one initiative in a broader administrative effort to modernize the way the University operates. The path to adopt the University's new financial system, Oracle Cloud Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP), is set up in three phases. Phase 1 launched Oracle’s Budget and Planning Module in February of 2024; Phase 2 will launch an all-campus implementation of Oracle Cloud ERP in July 2024; and Phase 3 will launch Oracle’s Accounts Reconciliation Cloud Services and Financial Close Consolidation Services in August 2024.

What is Oracle Cloud Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP)?

Oracle Cloud Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) was selected as the new financial system platform for the University and UChicago Medicine. Oracle Cloud ERP is an end-to-end, modern, cloud-based software as a service suite that will manage operational functions such as financial management, grants, projects, and procurement throughout the University and its affiliates. Oracle’s performance capabilities will assist in planning, budgeting, predicting, and reporting financial results.

What are modules in Oracle Cloud?

Modules are specific capabilities designed to serve specific departments within UChicago and bundled together in Oracle Cloud to provide the most suitable customized product for the University. Oracle Cloud uses the integration among modules—such as Payables, Accounts Receivable, Project Portfolio Management (also known as PPM), Procurement, and Contracts—to collect costs and to feed accounting to the General Ledger.

How will transitioning to Oracle Cloud ERP affect the Chart of Accounts?

Currently, each Financial Accounting System (FAS) account consists of ledger, account number and sub-accounts/account controls. 

Once Oracle Cloud ERP is implemented, the Chart of Accounts (COA) becomes the basic structure used to record all financial activity for the University within the General Ledger (GL). The COA is comprised of 10 segments and categories in three buckets: Primary (entity, organization, account, fund, purpose); Secondary (program, activity, site); and System-Populated Segments (affiliate, future). Each segment in the COA has a distinct definition and purpose, and when combined, the segments provide a full view of the financial transaction.

Details related to capital projects, sponsored research, clinical research studies, individual awards and discretionary funds, and Biological Sciences Division professional services agreements are captured in a separate Oracle module called Project Portfolio Management (PPM). PPM segments are project, organization, expenditure type, task, award, and funding source (POETAF).

The new COA structure will help the University maximize Oracle Cloud ERP’s financial management capabilities, enable scalable financial operations, and support effective reporting. The COA structure was developed as part of the FST program. It was designed in conjunction with UChicago Medicine to ensure alignment on common functions and to streamline financial consolidation.

Does Oracle Cloud translate POETAF into the Chart of Accounts (COA)?

Yes. POETAF segments are used to manage awards and projects through the Project Portfolio Management (PPM) module in Oracle. PPM houses aggregated information within Oracle and integrates with other modules to collect costing details. That information is automatically fed to the General Ledger through the "translating" from the POETAF into the Chart of Accounts (COA) for University-wide accounting.

What will an Oracle segment look like?

Oracle General Ledger segments will consist of 34 digits across 8 segments. Together, the segments are also referred to as the account string" Currently, each FAS has 10 digits.

How will approvers function with the new COA?

Each COA "organization" will have one to three financial approvers. Currently, each FAS account has up to four approvers.

How will this impact payroll transactions?

Payroll costing allocations in Workday will be updated to reflect the new COA/POETAF.

We currently ask researchers to know FAS accounts and sub-accounts. For sponsored awards, will researchers need to know anything besides the project number and expenditure type? Will everything else auto-populate?

A. While individuals will need to remember a similar amount of project numbers in the future state, the options available in the subsequent fields will become more specific based on the project that is chosen and will be searchable. For sponsored research specifically, you will need to know the project number. From the project number, the contract number will default. Each project will be associated with a single award. The funding source can be one or two values: one being the sponsor (external funding source). In cases where cost share has been enabled, there will be a second cost sharing account that can be selected. You will also need to choose expenditure organization (where the expense is originating), expenditure type (what the cost is, like salary or materials), and task. In most cases you will choose Task 1 (general expense). Task 2 is reserved for sub-award expenses in sponsored research, and Task 3 is participant support. On an award-by-award basis, there may be Tasks 4-6 that need to be enabled for sponsor reporting requirements.

If there's an unallowable expenditure type, will that be an option researchers can choose?

The Transaction Controls functionality in Oracle will be used on an award-by-award or project-by-project basis. While you can choose an unallowable value, it will result in error and not allow you to submit.

Why doesn't the organization auto-populate in the POETAF?

There are three types of organizations in Oracle: an expenditure organization (where is this expense originating), the organization that owns the project, as well as the organization that owns the award. This limitation exists as a way to identify errors, particularly when multiple organizations are collaborating on one project.

How will transitioning to Oracle Cloud ERP impact clinical research studies?

Currently, pre-award information is captured in AURA Agreements and ARTEMIS. The record in ARTEMIS is created after a successful proposal and a Financial Accounting System (FAS) account is created. Financial transactions related to clinical research studies are captured in FAS. Systems such as ACCTS, Epic, and BuySite are used for financial management of clinical research.

In the future, Oracle Cloud ERP will house costs associated with clinical research studies. These costs include expenses originating from Oracle Cloud ERP or from third-party systems. Users will have all post-award financial information at their fingertips. Oracle Cloud ERP will provide an easily accessible and customizable source of information for all clinical research study finances. Within Oracle Cloud ERP, users will be able to manage the post-award lifecycle. including any modifications that arise.

All purchases, including sub-awards, will be managed via requisitions and purchase orders. A subcontract requisition will be created with either one line or two lines, depending on the dollar amount of the sub-award. It will be managed under its own task (one of the POETAF segments in the Project Portfolio Management system) for easy identification and reconciliation.

How will expense management at UChicago be impacted by the transition to new and updated systems?

For FAQs specific to BuySite, Concur, ePayment, GEMS and Procurement Cards, please refer to the document of key dates and freeze period questions and answers.

How will transitioning to Oracle Cloud ERP impact expense-related processes?

The key, campus-facing, business processes related to expenses at the University of Chicago include submitting expense reports, requesting/reconciling employee advances, and applying for/maintaining corporate credit cards.

Currently, the key system involved in the expenses process is Concur (GEMS). In the future, users will continue to leverage Concur to submit expense reports.

In addition to submitting expense reports, additional features will be available through Concur. Some enhancements include: 

• Requesting and reconciling employee advances
• Corporate card application and maintenance
• New integration with GSA to automatically calculate values when requesting per diems
• Enablement of Google Maps to calculate mileage automatically based on start/end points.

How will employee travel advances work in the future? Currently, the FAS DVCOAS system is utilized.

In the future, we will be utilizing an enhanced functionality in Concur that will allow employee advances to be requested and reconciled through Concur, but the exact number of people who will be able to view them is still being determined.

What will happen with expenses and expense reporting in the future?

Users will continue to enter expense reports through Concur in the future.

Will my expense types change with the new Chart of Accounts?

Yes. The FST project team is currently undergoing an exercise to remap expense types in Concur based on the newly designed Chart of Accounts structure. 

There will be resources available to users as they navigate the appropriate expense types to use on their expense reports in the future.

Will GEMS card transactions occurring between June 17 and June 30 be reflected on the FY24 or FY25 ledger?

GEMS card transactions that occur between June 17 and June 30 will hit FY24 ledgers.

What will employee advance, expense report, and corporate card approvals look like in the future?

The approval structure will align with the University’s new accounting structure and the guiding principles of the FST program. One Concur Organization Financial Manager will be assigned per organization as defined in the Chart of Accounts (COA), and one Project Manager per project as defined in the COA’s POETAF segments.

How will transitioning to Oracle Cloud ERP impact approvals of financial transactions?

Currently, financial users at the University of Chicago have four authorized signers for each Financial Accounting Systems (FAS) account designated as financial approvers.

In the future, when Oracle Cloud ERP is implemented, there will be three primary financial approvers that are aligned with the Chart of Accounts (COA) or projects distributions. Financial transactions such as requisitions, expenses (in Concur), invoices, costing allocations (in Workday), recharges, etc. will send to financial approvers.

Financial approvers are stewards of the University’s and unit’s funds. Their position empowers them to critically evaluate transactions against budget and spending priorities to make decisions and manage transactions. Approval workflows route transactions to the appropriate responsible parties for approval or awareness based on the individual transaction details before the transactions are finalized. The three primary financial approvers include:

• Project Manager: Each project will have one designated project manager that will act as the financial approver for financial transactions against that project.
• Organization Financial Manager Approval Group: For financial transactions that are not against a project, approvals go to an Organization Financial Manager Approval Group (with two to three members). Organizations in the future will often be aligned with a department or sub-department.
• Entity Financial Manager Approval Group: For high- dollar financial transactions (more than $50,000), approvals route to an Entity Financial Manager Approval Group (with two to three members) for further scrutiny. Entities in the state will be more or less aligned with the executive level (e.g. Physical Sciences Division, Biological Sciences Division, Booth School). 

Does each approver in the process get a notification to approve a transaction?

Yes. If a transaction is routed to an approval group (e.g., Organization Financial Managers), then each member of the approval group will receive a notification at the same time. One approver in the approval group will then need to "claim" the workflow task to act on it. Only one member of the approval group needs to approve each transaction.

What happens to transactions when an approver is out of office?

Oracle Cloud allows approvers to set up a designated individual to take on their approval for a specified amount of time. This functionality is commonly used when individual approvers are on vacation or have scheduled PTO.

How is approval escalated between financial approvers (i.e. is it hierarchical from level one to two or by value such that higher amounts automatically go to a high-level approver)?

Financial approvals are sequential, meaning a requisition over $50,000 will first route to the Organization Financial Manager Approval Group and will only route to the Entity Financial Manager Approval Group after OFMAG approval. The dollar threshold and routing approach is consistent across the University. If an approver needs an additional user’s input for a specific transaction, they will be able to add someone to the approval flow for additional approval on an ad hoc basis.

How will transitioning to Oracle Cloud ERP impact fixed assets?

Currently, capitalized assets are recorded in the University’s Property Management System. Depreciation is calculated annually at fiscal year-end.

In the future, when Oracle Cloud ERP is implemented, capitalized assets will be recorded in the Fixed Assets subledger. Most assets will originate from:

• Purchases made via the procurement requisitioning process; or
• Capital projects and/or constructed equipment created via Project Portfolio Management (PPM)

Procurement Requesters will receive training to ensure requisitions related to capital assets are entered correctly.

Are there any policy changes resulting from FST that impact fixed assets?

In the future, depreciation will be recorded on a monthly basis using a uniform prorate convention of “following month.” For example, if a depreciable asset is placed in service on 11/24/2024, it will start depreciating in December 2024.

Upon go-live, several asset categories will reflect a differing useful life. For example, the lifespan of Moveable Equipment–Scientific and Technical will be decreased from 10 years to seven years.

Am I able to forecast my unit’s depreciation expense for the year?

Yes, we will have the ability to produce a what-if depreciation report based on multiple criteria—specifically, based on a specific entity/organization and/or asset category.

Will the physical inventory process change in Oracle Cloud?

No, but we will have better insights into equipment needing to be inventoried.

What is the process for constructed equipment in Oracle Cloud?

Constructed equipment will be created similar to other capital projects in PPM, where project-related costs are accumulated over a period of time and capitalized when the project reaches completion.

How will transitioning to Oracle Cloud ERP impact FFIT?

Currently, the University of Chicago Medical Center (UCM) and the University of Chicago (UC) use ACCTS to transfer the numerous transactions through journal entries. Transactions and balances are currently captured in different systems, creating reconciling and transparency challenges.

UCM went live with their own Oracle instance in October 2022, and when Oracle Cloud ERP is implemented for UC in July 2024, transfers will no longer be posted through journal entries. There will be a need for ongoing coordination and integrations between these two separate Oracle instances. The Funds Flow and Intercompany Transactions (FFIT) process area exists to monitor and keep track of funding and transactions that flow between both entities.

In the future, UCM and UC will leverage Oracle’s invoicing process to facilitate the reconciliation of transactions between both entities.

What kinds of transactions fall within the scope of FFIT?

Transactions may range from purchase service agreements (PSAs) to chargebacks and miscellaneous cash transfers. PSAs exist between the two entities to keep track of costs related to services performed by staff and faculty across both entities, whereas chargebacks occur when one entity purchases goods and/or services on behalf of the other and in turn charges the other entity back for the purchases made on their behalf.

How frequently will there be reconciliation efforts between the UCM Oracle instance and the UC Oracle instance?

While transactions between the two instances may occur at any time, there will a monthly reconciliation process where outstanding accounts payable invoices are netting against outstanding accounts receivable invoices, thus simplifying and streamlining the actual cash transactions between both entities. Both UC and UCM will need to ensure their own individual Oracle instance is aligned with the other when it comes to these transactions.

How will transitioning to Oracle Cloud ERP impact the General Ledger?

Currently, users submit journal entries, interdepartmental orders , and expenditure transfers via ACCTS, which post directly to the University’s Financial Accounting System (FAS). Individuals need to request access to transact in ACCTS.

In the future, when Oracle Cloud ERP is implemented, fewer individuals will have access to perform journal entries. This is because most users will create transactions in the subledgers (e.g., creating an invoice). Select users will have access to transact in the General Ledger to perform entries like accruals; however, the use cases are more limited.

Many transactions that are journal entries today will not be journal entries in the future state--including recharges (e.g., IRB fee assessment, internal space rental), cost transfers, UChicago Medicine chargebacks, etc.

Why do transactions happen in the General Ledger?

Because most accounting entries flow through other Oracle modules or interfacing systems, very few transactions happen directly in the General Ledger (GL). Direct GL journals are used for accruals, adjustments, and transfer of funds. While accruals and adjustments are generally inside a single entity, transfers of funds are both intra-entity and inter-entity.

Who will use the General Ledger?

FST and University leadership have identified three tiers of General Ledger users based on the University's needs and Oracle functionality. A small, selected group of GL users will have broad access across Chart of Account (COA) entities.

What can users see in the General Ledger?

The General Ledger contains summarized accounting information covering every University entity. Users' GL access--including GL journal entry and viewing GL data--can be restricted by COA entity. Even on payroll journals, the GL does not contain any personal details--payroll journals do not have names, salary amounts, or user IDs.

What improvements will we see with the General Ledger?

FAS is not a real-time system. Currently, any entries recorded during the week post on Friday. This creates lags in operational reporting and may impact users’ abilities to perform reconciliation. Furthermore, if a mistake is made, that user will be unable to see the change reflected until the following week. 

In Oracle Cloud, journal entries will automatically post at least daily and can be viewed in real time. Additionally, users will be able to view a variety of reports and dashboards. The Orbit data warehouse will combine multiple sources of data, including data that resides outside of Oracle Cloud, for the basis of reporting.

How can I make sure I use the correct Chart of Accounts values?

Oracle Cloud has a few ways of ensuring that Chart of Accounts combinations are valid:

• Dependent relationships between segments. For example, when selecting the Biological Sciences Division (BSD) entity in Oracle, only BSD-related organizations will show up as available.
• Cross-validation rules for invalid combinations. For example, only recharge-related funds can be used with recharge-related purpose codes. A user will receive a detailed error message if this rule is violated, and the user will be unable to proceed with their transaction.
• Pre-integration validation: Systems integrating with Oracle Cloud will be screened before being imported to verify that they will pass all Chart of Accounts validations.
• COA and POETAF Mapping Database: This tool will provide a crosswalk for FAS account/subaccount combinations and may assist in learning new valid combinations. This will be released to the general user population in the near future.

How will transitioning to Oracle Cloud ERP impact grants management?

Currently, pre-award information is captured in AURA Grants. Once a proposal has been awarded, the record in AURA Grants is updated, and a Financial Accounting System (FAS) account is created. Systems such as Workday, BuySite, and ACCTS are integrated with FAS, where the costs are recorded. Invoicing is completed offline. Receivable items are neither created, nor tracked, so a real-time Accounts Receivable (AR) Aging report cannot be generated. Updates occur weekly. Financial reporting is provided to divisional leadership.

When Oracle Cloud ERP is implemented, all sponsored award financial activity will reside in Oracle, allowing some users to have all post-award financial information at their fingertips.

Expenses originating from either within Oracle or from third-party systems will post to sponsored projects (equivalent to one or more FAS accounts in the current state).

Invoicing will occur in Oracle, and the invoices will be loaded into Accounts Receivable to create and track receivable items. Invoices will reside online for future reference.

Revenue entries will be systematically generated from either the collected costs or from the fixed fee invoices.

Sponsor receipts will be entered and applied against the invoices loaded into Accounts Receivable, allowing for the generation of a real-time AR Aging Report.

Financial updates will occur nightly, possibly more frequently.

Users will have access to current financial activity via easy-to-use dashboard reporting that will allow researchers to filter to their award portfolio and administrators/leadership to their section/department/division portfolio. Both researchers and administrators will have the capability to drill down to transaction details.

What is the structure of Oracle Grants Management?

Grants will be set up using the Oracle Grants Management structure. At the highest level is an award. An award is the umbrella record for all demographic and financial information, identifying the specific funding sources and funding amounts, and ties together the contract and project(s). Synonymous with “award” is a contract. A contract is the record that governs the processing of sponsor invoices and revenue accounting according to configured methods and controls.

At the next level is a project. A project is equivalent to one or more FAS accounts in the current system. It contains financial information at a more granular level of detail than the award. Projects exist to differentiate primary investigators, departments, Finance and Administration rates, or for other reasons (e.g., restricted carryforward/supplement funding year, program income, special sponsor reporting requirements, etc.).

At the lowest level is a task. A task is an activity that is the most granular level of detail within a project. It exists to differentiate PI-controllable expenses from non-controllable expenses (e.g., sub-awards, participant support).

How will pre-award spend work in Oracle Cloud?

In Oracle Cloud, there is functionality for pre-award spend that will interface with Aura rather than distinguishing an advanced account.

How will a third party (not student or faculty) spend against accounts, such as costing allocations for research assistants, as well as direct stipend and tuition costs? What will reporting look like on those sources?

These costing allocations will use Service Now through the student stipend process or Workday for salary. Reporting can accessed through PI dashboards in Orbit.

What happens with faculty who have joint appointments and discrete projects in multiple departments? Right now, we can't see the other department's accounts.

Security can be provisioned on a project-by-project or award-by-award basis. So a faculty member who is a joint appointee and has projects that are owned by different organizations across the University can be named on those specific projects and awards (along with their support staff). They will be able to see all and only their award and projects.

How will transitioning to Oracle Cloud ERP impact individual awards and discretionary funds?

Currently, individual awards and discretionary funds (IADFs) are not tracked consistently across the University and therefore cannot easily be identified or analyzed in conjunction with other financial data. Units rely on individual identifiers embedded within Financial Accounting System (FAS) accounts and offline tracking tools to support IADFs. 

In the future, when Oracle Cloud ERP is implemented, the University will require all units to use Oracle’s Project Portfolio Management (PPM) module to track and manage IADFs. This will allow individuals to see all their available funds (including grants, gifts, and IADFs) in one place.

Currently, a unique FAS account is used to transact against IADFs. In the future, in place of the FAS account, transactions will be made using a string of PPM fields that will automatically flow into the General Ledger Chart of Accounts.

What are individual awards and discretionary funds?

IADFs are institutional funds promised to an individual (not a function, organization, or role), at any point in their tenure (startup, retention, incentive, etc.), regardless of fiscal year alignment for them to spend at their discretion.

What are the benefits of using Oracle to track IADFs?

End users will have increased clarity about what their commitment balances are, including cross-organizational balances. These will be displayed in a primary investigator dashboard that contains all their PPM projects and awards. Departments will also be able to see their unit’s commitments, which will facilitate multi-year resource planning and simplify the effort required to adhere to unit budget.

How will purchasing and payments at UChicago be impacted by the transition to new and updated systems?

For FAQs specific to BuySite, Concur, ePayment, GEMS and Procurement Cards, please refer to the document of key dates and freeze period questions and answers.

How do I stay informed about key dates and freeze periods?

To stay up to date on key date and freeze periods, the team recommends that you bookmark the Key Dates & Freeze Periods page on the FST Intranet. Employees will receive email communications from the FST Program Team or University Leadership based on the responsibilities of their role and the transactions they complete within our current systems. In addition, it is recommended that you attend FST Focus sessions, found on the News & Events page, to learn more about what’s changing and when.

What happens if I miss a deadline?

To avoid disruption to your operations and to ensure data accuracy, the FST Program team asks that you remain mindful of upcoming key dates and deadlines as it relates to the transition. We recommend adding a reminder to your Outlook calendar for key dates. If you miss a deadline, it is possible that you will experience delays in processing transactions, such as reimbursement for out-of-pocket expenses. In some cases, there may be emergency procedures outlined if you miss a deadline. Details can be found by system in the Key Dates & Freeze Periods page.

How will budgets created in our current system be integrated with Oracle to ensure accurate forecasting?

There will be no need to integrate the budgets created in the Financial Accounting System with Oracle, because they have been and will be used for completely separate fiscal years. Budget managers across the University were given access to Oracle's Planning module in early March 2024 and have been using it to develop their fiscal year 2025 budgets. The Oracle Planning rollout will continue through the spring as more budget planners across the University are trained. Budget planners also will continue to work on fiscal 2024 matters separately in Delphi, Capital Project Budget Requests, and some other legacy planning and budgeting systems during this transition. 

In terms of planning and budgeting in relationship to Delphi, in the case of 1:1-to-1 to many, how will budgets be split with the Chart of Accounts?

The planning and budgeting process is currently underway. As the requirements process begins, answers to budgeting and planning questions will be addressed starting in late May/early June, prior to implementation of Oracle Cloud ERP in July 2024. The fiscal year 2025 budget will be developed in Oracle’s Chart of Accounts (COA) structure and will not rely on Financial Accounting System-COA mapping.

How will the Budget Partner role in Workday interact with Oracle?

The Budget Partner role in Workday currently has no relationship with Oracle. As the Oracle Planning and Budgeting design is finalized, there may be opportunities for identifying overlap in the two systems between newly designed roles and existing roles.

Will Operating Planners have access to payroll data?

Yes, Operating Planners will see payroll data at their respective level (entity or organization).

Will child organizations submit budgets to the parent organization for approval? Then would the parent organization submit their child organizations piecemeal or all at once?

For entities with both entity- and organization-level planners, the organization-level planner can submit budget request packages, and then the entity-level planner will submit the entire budget to the Budget Office.

Can an individual be both a submitter and a reviewer? Or can the user have both roles, but the system would not allow that person to approve their own submissions?

No, there must be separate users in each role.

My unit has a limited number of people who can be assigned to the Capital Planner-Entity Submitter and Entity Reviewer roles. Is it necessary that each role can only be assumed by one person? If so, how can we have a backup for each role?

Individuals need to be in distinct roles in the capital request process (i.e., someone can’t be both a submitter and reviewer). This is similar to the approvals process on the operating side: One person is inputting/processing the expense, and one person is approving it. Generally, the reviewer on the capital side would be a senior finance staff member within each entity who has approval authority.

What budgetary controls will Oracle Project Portfolio Management offer?

The budgetary control level will be set to Advisory, which allows spending over budgeted amount but issues a warning for transactions above budgeted amount. In our current system, there are no such controls. Spread curves will be used for forecasting.

How will purchasing and payments at UChicago be impacted by the transition to new and updated systems?

For FAQs specific to BuySite, Concur, ePayment, GEMS and Procurement Cards, please refer to the document of key dates and freeze period questions and answers.

How will transitioning to Oracle Cloud ERP impact procure-to-pay?

The key, campus-facing, business processes involved in procure-to-pay at the University of Chicago include purchasing and processing of one-time payments. 

Currently, the key systems involved in the procure-to-pay process include BuySite and ePayment.

In the future, users will leverage Oracle functionality to submit and approve requisitions (catalog and non-catalog) and payment requests. Details to be aware of include: 

Suppliers
All Purchase Order (PO) suppliers and reportable suppliers are to be onboarded via PaymentWorks.

• Payment request (aka “check” or “non-PO”)
• Payment requests will be a two-step process.
• Payee must be set up in Oracle as a supplier prior to initiating a payment request.
• Payment requests will be limited in usage to specific natural accounts (aka “expense type” or “procurement category”).

Purchase Requisitions/Purchase Orders

• Varied options are available for processing multi-year POs to address various purchasing scenarios.
• Requesters will be able to initiate change orders.
• No “internal” catalogs in Procurement (for example, ITS site licensing)

Foreign Currency

• Foreign currency will be supported throughout the procure-to-pay lifecycle: purchase requisition, purchase order, invoice, and payment. This only applies if the requisition was created using the same currency.

Approval

• Workflow approvals are consolidated across all transaction types. 
• All requisitions are routed to the organization financial manager approval group or project manager. 
• All requisitions greater than $50,000 are routed to the organization financial manager approval group or project manager and then to the entity financial manager approval group. 
• Invoices greater than $5,000 are routed to the requisitioner.
• Invoices above tolerance are routed to the organizational financial manager approval group or project manager.

Cost Corrections
No longer processed as journal entries. Cost corrections will be managed through a combination of ServiceNow and Oracle Cloud (ACCTS is going away).

Will we be moving away from our existing systems for procure-to-pay?

BuySite and ePayment will no longer be used in the future. Some ancillary systems, such as EasyAccess for invoice intake and PaymentWorks for supplier onboarding, will remain and interface with Oracle.

How will I know the status of my requisition?

Requisition, purchase order, invoice, and payment statuses will be available within the Requisition Lifecycle in Oracle. Reports will also be made available in the new data warehouse, Orbit. 

For quick reference, requisition approval status will be visible from the Recent Requisitions section of the requisition page in Oracle. 

Purchase order status will be visible from the Manage Requisitions page in Oracle after unhiding the Order Status field.

For procurement requesters in the future, will there be limitations to where they can charge a purchase?

Oracle can’t segment an approval for procurement requester, so we’re relying on Organization Financial Manager Approval Groups and Project Managers to ensure purchases are correctly charged.

How will transitioning to Oracle Cloud ERP impact recharges/chargebacks?

Currently, most units process recharge/chargeback transactions via journal entries or interdepartmental orders in ACCTS, while some units process these entries via a specialized, integrated billing system (i.e., Maximo, Pinnacle). 

In the future, when Oracle Cloud ERP is implemented, the avenue for performing a transaction differs slightly whether the recipient of the charge is internal to the University or external (i.e., UChicago Medicine). In the former case, charges internally will be processed via Accounts Payable using a $0 invoice transaction, though no cash will be exchanged. In the latter case, charges externally will be processed via Accounts Receivable using an AR invoice, and cash will be exchanged via a month-end netting process. Broadly, provider units (those providing goods/services) will initiate the transaction to the receiver unit(s) (those consuming good/services). Billing systems being retained in the future will be retrofitted with new Chart of Accounts (COA) and POETAF values.

What are some things to know about the new Chart of Accounts, as it relates to recharges/chargebacks?

Internal transactions will utilize internal revenue and expense account values. 

- 60701 – IC – Telecommunication (Revenue, Provider Unit side)

- 80701 – IC – Telecommunication (Expense, Receiver Unit side)

Recharge-related transactions will utilize a recharge-related fund, which tracks spending restrictions and designations to categorize fund balances, and recharge-related purpose code, which corresponds to the NACUBO classification/mission. 

- 346000 – Recharge (Fund)

- 820 – Recharge Operations (Purpose)

Provider units with multiple service lines may also utilize the activity segment, in order to track revenues/expenses generated by a particular event.

- 85507 – Office Machines 

- 85509 – Computer Leasing 

- 89602 – Site Licensing

 Does it make a difference if I charge a project or non-project receiver unit?

Both project and non-project receiver units can be charged via these processes, but it’s important to know how this distinction might affect your transaction. Projects are tracked within Project Portfolio Management (PPM) and utilize unique PPM fields (known as POETAF) to map to the COA segments. A project could be a capital project, individual discretionary fund (IDF), or grant. Non-project sources are simply represented in the COA distribution and may represent a unit.

How will transitioning to Oracle Cloud ERP impact reporting?

Many campus systems that are currently being used for finance and financial reporting operations will be retrofitted or replaced in conjunction with the implementation of Oracle Cloud ERP. In the future, users will go to Oracle Cloud and/or Orbit Analytics for their operational and financial reporting needs. Access to Oracle Cloud ERP will be limited to transactional users. However, nearly all users will have access Orbit Analytics.

What will happen to Business Objects reports in the future?

Business Objects reports that support current state financial reporting will be retained to support fiscal year 2024 (FY24) and prior historical financial reporting.

Will I have access to develop my own reports in Orbit Analytics?

Users will have the ability to build their own analysis using a feature called “Insights. If the requirement entails building a complex report or pulling information that is not available, users will be expected to submit a Service Now request that will get routed to and resolved by the support teams(s).

How is Orbit different from Salesforce?

Orbit is the data warehouse that UChicago will use to store information from Oracle Cloud and other retained source systems. Its user-friendly user interface contains dashboards and reports. Salesforce is a separate CRM software and is used in different ways at UChicago. Salesforce data is not in scope for the Orbit data warehouse.

In Orbit, can we compare projections (original budget) to actuals for grants and faculty funds?

Yes, it will be possible to compare budget against actuals for grants and faculty funds in Orbit.

Can you customize the dashboard reports?

It depends on the user’s access credentials. We expect many report users to be able to create their own reports after go live. We will work closely with unit leadership to identify the users who will have access.

Can we customize reports in Orbit, or will we use canned reports?            

Users will have the ability to build customized reports and access canned reports. The FST team will work with unit leadership to determine which individuals should have access to develop custom reports in Orbit.

There are customized university-wide reports that currently exist in Business Objects. Will these reports be converted in Orbit?

The FST team will ensure that common, university-wide reports will exist in Orbit. The team will work with financial and campus stakeholders to ensure that these reports are adjusted where appropriate given the changes in the new Chart of Accounts, and Oracle Cloud functionality/processes.

How often will Oracle/Workday data integrate with Orbit? Will we see live data in Orbit?  

We expect for data from source systems to be near-real time in Orbit. Currently, we are planning on loading multiple times each day.

How will transitioning to Oracle Cloud ERP impact ancillary campus systems?     

Currently, there are approximately 140 ancillary systems and web applications that are used across campus to support the University.  When Oracle Cloud ERP is implemented, some of these systems will no longer be needed, such as the Financial Accounting System (FAS).

However, many of these systems fulfill special purposes and will be retained. If they currently have FAS account information or do financial transacting, they will need to be retrofitted to accommodate the new Chart of Accounts (COA) and/or the segments within Oracle’s Project Portfolio Management known as POETAF.

What is a retrofit?           

A retrofit is a technical modification directly to a system, such as adding or updating field lengths, due to new requirements. Any ancillary campus system that has FAS accounts today will need to retrofit for the new COA and/or POETAF.

Are retrofits the same as integrations?   

No, but they are closely related. An integration is a technical connection between two systems, such as an ancillary system and Oracle Cloud ERP. A system may need to make specific retrofits to enable a successful integration.

What is happening to the system(s) I use?

See the System Disposition Handout.

What is role assignment?   

Role assignment is a critical step in the overall FST security methodology. It connects end users with actor role packages that have been defined by FST functional teams. Role assignment is a collaborative effort between the FST Program Team and representatives from each unit. FST role packages will not correspond one-to-one with current Financial Accounting System access. While some role packages are similar, some new roles will have high degrees of financial responsibility and will be carefully assigned to the appropriate individuals.

What is the importance of role assignment?

Proper role assignment is critical to ensure full performance of business processes, to safeguard data from unauthorized access, to help avoid data breach, and to achieve compliance. Role assignment also ensures the right individuals attend end user training. With specialized knowledge of more than 110 actor role packages and unit operations, Role Assignment Owners’ (RAOs) engagement remains critical to the success of FST through the hypercare period of 3-6 months and beyond.

Who are Role Assignment Owners (RAOs)?          

Role Assignment Owners (RAOs) are embedded across the University and its 42 FST units. RAOs’ engagement remains critical to the success of FST through the hypercare period of three to six months after go live and beyond. Unit FST Leads are responsible for designating their units' RAOs and keeping the FST Program Team updated on changes to their RAOs.

How are trainings assigned to end users?              

Trainings are assigned to individuals based on the actor role packages to which they have been assigned by their unit's primary Role Assignment Owner. Role-based training will be available in Workday Learning. If you have questions regarding your role-based trainings, please contact your unit's primary Role Assignment Owner.

How will I be trained to use Oracle Cloud and Orbit Reporting?

If you will be using Oracle to conduct financial transactions at the University of Chicago, you already have been assigned to a training program. Enrollment invitations were emailed from Workday Learning to end user in March, and training programs will begin in April. Please monitor your email inbox for messages from Workday Learning; all information regarding your personalized Oracle training program is available in Workday. 

Once you receive notification from Workday Learning, please enroll early to be sure to get in the sessions that work best for your schedule. The training will be a combination of instructor-led sessions, on-demand computer-based courses, quick-reference guides, and optional open labs for independent work and Q&A. You can find a list of the training you will need on the FST Training page. 

If you do not see an FST training program there, it’s not yet time for you to begin. Each person’s training has been customized to their work role and what tasks in Oracle they will need to be able to do as part of their job. If you haven’t received an invitation and think you need training, please discuss it with your unit’s Role Assignment Owner.

How will I know what I need to be trained on?    

End user training registration began on March 18. Impacted employees received Workday/email notifications to register and enroll in instructor-led and virtual courses specific to their actor role package assignments.

When does training begin?          

Training kicks off on April 8.

How will transitioning to Oracle Cloud ERP impact Workday?       

Currently, Workday uses the Financial Accounting System (FAS) account/sub account, and payroll expense transfers occur in a separate application. 

Payroll expense transfers (PETs) will be replaced by a Workday custom application called the Payroll Expense Cost Corrections (PECC).

In the future, when Oracle Cloud ERP is implemented, Workday will replace the FAS account/sub-account with the Chart of Accounts (COA) segments in the General Ledger and the project cost collection fields (POET/POETAF) in Oracle Portfolio Project Management (PPM).

The HRMS department used within Workday will be replaced by the organization (Workday cost center) and entity. 

Financial transactions within Workday will require approvals from the financial authority for the transaction. 

Salary capping for NIH will be automatically applied for employees paid on federal grants. 

Fringe benefits will be generated directly within Workday.

Will the changes occurring as a part of FST impact my pay?           

No, only the accounting generated by Workday will change, and there will be no impacts to employee pay.

Which Oracle Cloud segments will be added in Workday as a part of the Financial System Transformation?             

Chart of Accounts (COA) and Portfolio Project Management (POETAF)

POETAF/Portfolio Project Management can be assigned at which costing levels?  

All levels except supervisory organization/default organization assignment.

Which segment has overlap between COA/PPM in Workday?      

Cost Center and Expenditure Organization. Only the cost center is entered in a transaction.

What type of Workday payroll information will exist in the general ledger and Portfolio Project Management?       

The general ledger will have general information. Portfolio Project Management will have the employee name associated with payroll expenses. All employee detail will be maintained within Workday and the data warehouse.

How will the cost structure in Workday impact the approval process with the FST cost department?

The COA string or POETAF cost collection segment will determine the routing. Workday will be adding an approval step routing to the Organization Finance Manager associated with the organization (Organization will be called Cost Center in Workday). This approval step will exist in the costing allocation business process and related business process (for example, period activity pay and one-time payments). Project-related allocations will route to the project manager.

Will Effort Period and Pay Period dates continue to be maintained for all entries (original and cost corrections) in Workday?           

Yes, they will, it will be no different. The only difference is that instead of seeing the two fields’ FAS account and FAS sub account, you will see an Oracle string.