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- Procurement, Payables, & Expenses
Procurement, Payables, & Expenses
The key, campus-facing business processes involved in procure-to-pay and expenses at the University of Chicago include purchasing, processing of one-time payments, GEMS card management, and expense management. The main systems involved with these processes include BuySite, ePayment, GEMS Apply, and Concur (GEMS). Each of these systems will be affected by FST, which will result in either replacing the current system or making enhancements to existing processes.
When engaging with the procure-to-pay and expense management processes, each transaction is tied to an FAS account number. When the University implements Oracle Cloud ERP, transactions will replace FAS accounts with a new multi-dimensional chart of accounts structure for standard purchases or a POETAF string (project, organization, expenditure type, task, award, and funding source) for purchases related to projects, University research, and individual awards and discretionary funds (IADF).
Learn more about what is changing with each individual process. Select the relevant box below.
What is the current process for procure-to-pay?
The key systems involved in the procure-to-pay process are BuySite and ePayment. BuySite enables campus users submitting requests for purchases to initiate a purchase order (PO) to our suppliers. All invoices associated with a PO are systematically received in BuySite, where campus users can view the payment status of the invoice. ePayment is used to request payment for honorariums or reimbursement to visitors, and for payment requests not related to a PO.
If the same person is in both the Organization group and the Entity group, could they be the approver for both Org level and Entity level approvals?
Yes, if a person has been assigned to both the Org group and Entity group, then they could approve a requisition that required Org and Entity level approval.
Since we cannot modify a Payment Request after submitting it, will we be able to stop payment or request to have a check reissue similar to how we process those requests today?
Yes, you can stop payment or request to have a check reissue.
How Will Oracle Cloud ERP affect procure-to-pay?
Users will use Oracle Cloud ERP’s Procurement module to submit and approve requisitions (catalog and non-catalog) and payment requests. Important details include:
- Suppliers
- All PO suppliers and reportable suppliers to be onboarded via PaymentWorks.
- Payment Request (aka “check” or “non-PO”):
- Payment requests will be a 2-step process.
- Payee must be set up in Oracle as a supplier prior to initiating a payment request.
- Click here to view and download a list of Payment Request Categories and Non Catalog Goods and Services Procurement Categories.
- Purchase Requisitions / Purchase Orders “POs”
- No multi-year POs will be initiated until multi-year budgeting is supported.
- Requesters will be able to initiate change orders.
- No “internal” catalogs in Procurement.
- example: Information Technology Services site licensing
- Foreign Currency
- Foreign currency will be supported throughout the Procure-to-Pay lifecycle: purchase requisition, purchase order, invoice, and payment.
- Approval
- Workflow (across all transaction types) will be consolidated.
- All requisitions approved by org financial manager/project manager, replacing the terminology “authorize signer.”
- Requisitions $50,000 or greater require approval by entity financial approver.
- Invoices $5,000 or greater require approval by requisitioner.
- Invoices above tolerance requires approval by org financial manager/project manager.
- Cost Corrections
- Cost corrections will be managed through a combination of ServiceNow and Oracle Cloud ERP, which will replace ACCTS.
Frequently Asked Questions About Procure-to-Pay
Will we be moving away from our existing systems?
- BuySite will no longer be used in the future.
- ePayment will no longer be used in the future.
- Some ancillary systems like 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.
How will I find the payment status of all my purchase requisitions and payment requests?
- A payment details report will be made available in the new data warehouse Orbit.
How will I know if a supplier is created or if modification is needed?
- A supplier details report will be made available in the new data warehouse Orbit.
- Requisitioners can also search for a supplier when completing a purchase requisition – If a supplier does not exist, the supplier will not be available in the search.
What is the current process for expense management?
The key, campus-facing business processes related to expense management 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), GEMSApply, and ePayment.
How Will Oracle Cloud ERP affect expense management?
Users will continue to leverage Concur to submit expense reports. In addition to submitting expense reports, additional features will be available through Concur. The following are some of the enhancements:
- Requesting and Reconciling Employee Advances, replacing ePayment
- Corporate Card Application and Maintenance will move from GEMSApply to Concur (GEMS)
- New integration with Government Services Administration (GSA) to automatically calculate values when requesting per diems.
- Enablement of Google Maps to calculate mileage automatically based on start/end points.
Frequently Asked Questions About Expense Management
What will happen with expenses and expense reporting in Oracle ERP?
- Users will continue to enter expense reports through Concur.
Will my expense types change with the new chart of accounts?
- Yes. The FST project team is remapping 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.
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.
- An organization financial manager will be assigned per organization as defined in the COA.
- There will be one project manager per project as defined in the POETAF.