Financial Systems Transformation
In autumn 2019, the University of Chicago began the process of transforming its 40-year-old mainframe-based financial system, and other related finance and operations systems, into a modern, cloud-based, software-as-a-service system in Oracle.
With the implementation of Oracle Cloud ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) and Orbit Analytics for ad-hoc, financial, and analytical reporting, the University will have advanced capabilities to assist in planning, budgeting, predicting, and reporting financial results. UChicago will also gain real-time controls, the capacity to leverage automated workflows and transactions, and added support for data-driven decisions.
The process is unfolding in three phases:
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Phase 1: February 2024: Deploy Oracle’s Planning and Budgeting Module
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Phase 2: July 2024: Deploy Oracle Cloud ERP
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Phase 3: August 2024: Launch Accounts Reconciliation and Financial Close Consolidation Processes
FAQs
The FST Program is part of an ongoing administrative modernization effort UChicago began as technology advanced 10 years ago. Transitioning to Cloud-based systems such as Oracle will improve finance and administrative operations at UChicago, mitigate the risk of failure of the old mainframe system, and provide “Software-as-a-Service,” which enables continuous improvement with ongoing quarterly product releases. In addition, the new system will enable real-time reporting with an intuitive interface, replacing the need to manually input information in multiple systems.
In addition to collaborating with UChicago Medicine and numerous units across campus, UChicago selected Huron Consulting Group to be its system integration partner.
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A new common chart of accounts (COA) shared with University of Chicago Medicine. The COA is a complete list of every account in the University’s general ledger.
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Core finance, including accounts receivable, cash management, fixed assets, funds flow and intercompany transactions, the general ledger, and internal recharges and chargebacks
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Procurement, payables, and expenses
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Project, University research, and individual awards and discretionary funds (IADF)
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Reporting and analytics
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Retrofits and integrations of ancillary systems
Due to the scope of the FST program, this transformation will impact a large portion of faculty, staff, and student workers across the University. Beyond central finance work, those who purchase goods or services, manage budgets, receive monthly financials, pull financial reports, or work in grants administration, to name a few, will likely be impacted.
For more information, visit the FST intranet site (requires access to the intranet).