Real Time Financials aka Shadow System Project

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Real Time Financialsaka Shadow System Project
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What is the Shadow System Project?

• The shadow systems team was charged by the
  Associate Vice-Presidents for Finance, Research
  and MAIS with two primary goals
• Identify ways to better integrate central
  accounting systems with local supplemental
  systems to reduce redundant efforts
• Make financial information more accessible to
  project directors

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Shadow System Advisory team(created November
2004)

• Virginia Wait Engineering Chair
• Douglas Duwe Medical School
• Brenda Bernhardsson Public Health
• Kathleen Gillespie MAIS
• Doreen Graden Dental School
• Kerri- Anne Sullivan Cross ISR
• Lea Tune Financial Operations
• Kurt Rigg Financial Operations
• Elizabeth Holtzman - LSA
• Debbie Mero - MAIS

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Process

• Survey was conducted with Project Directors and
  Research Administrators to determine the key
  reasons for departmental systems
• Committee reviewed several departmental system
  including purchased systems to determine
  requirements
• Using the committees expertise, the survey
  results, plus work that has occurred since the
  report was issued, we came up with several key
  principles

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Principle

• If you have already told the enterprise system we
  ought to be able to project it
• Translation Estimated Payroll, Benefits, and
  Financial Aid information should be made
  available, in a reportable format, for a defined
  period of time

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Principle

• Whenever feasible the enterprise system should be
  updated real time
• Translation We need more timely posting of
  transactions to the General Ledger including
• Service unit billings
• PCards
• Journal Entries
• Vouchers

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Principle

• Changes that are generated from business
  processes that occur outside the enterprise
  system need to be reflected in the enterprise
  system faster.
• Translation We need to improve the process for
  updating personnel funding changes and sponsored
  budget changes
• Project Human Resources is piloting units
  updating funding changes
• Project TBD - Partner with Sponsored Programs
  to evaluate sponsored budget change business
  process

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Principle

• Control reports should be the same but
  management reports can vary based on departmental
  needs
• Translation We should update the data
  warehouse more frequently to allow units to use
  custom reports that are available real-time
• Project Extract translation load project is
  looking at ways to update the data warehouse
  incrementally not a full refresh

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Principle

• Even if the enterprise system doesnt know about
  it, we should be able to include it in the
  projection
• Translation Need a place for storing local data
  the enterprise system doesnt know about
• Project Unit Defined Commitments (UDCs)
  refinements

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Principle

• The interface, especially for faculty, needs to
  be intuitive
• It should start at the summary level and drill
  down to the detail
• The faculty member should only need to know their
  unique name
• The system should know who should get access to
  what no M1s
• No need for formal training
• Related Projects Web reporting, faculty
  interface

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Real Time Financials Advisory team(created
August 2006)

• Nathan Eriksen, School of Information
• Krista Farmer, Physics
• Shane Fortune, Ross School of Business
• Dean Girbach, School of Public Health
• Jeanni Goormastic, Nuclear Med/Radiology
• Maggie Herron, Life Sciences Institute
• Margie Lesser, Engineering
• Christina Luo, Law School
• Mary Martinowicz, School of Natural Resources
• Pam Schwarzman, LSA Deans Office
• Scott Stanfill, Biophysics Research
• Candace Terhune, Social Work
• TBD, Financial Operations

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So, what is the plan?

• Expediting information to the GL
• SUB (Deb Talley, Todd Ayotte)
• P-Card (Jackie Creager, PCAG)
• JE (Eric Kruse, Doug Hovey, Chris Allan)
• Vouchers (Pat Lilley, Jackie Creager)
• Extracting SA/HRMS estimate data and creating
  tables in the General Ledger for estimate
  information
• Payroll / Benefits / Financial Aid
• Redesign of Corporate Documents (PBSR)
• Creation of GL tables for migration to the Data
  Warehouse for ad hoc reporting
• Ultimate goal merge this initiative with the
  Web Reporting and Faculty Interface initiatives
  (Business Intelligence)
• Timeline
• Advisory Group Kickoff Meeting (10/10/06)
• Implementation Team Planning Meeting (10/18/06)
• Project planning and technical design (in
  process)

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So, what is your role?

• Help us understand your business processes and
  need for shadow systems
• Partner with us to provide a campus-wide solution
  that will eliminate the need for manual,
  duplicate entry
• Assist in outreach and communication with user
  groups on campus to ensure that the delivered
  functionality will meet the needs of Financial
  Managers, Directors, Deans and Faculty
• Fill gaps, challenge our assumptions, bring new
  perspectives

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Deliverables

• Ability to project revenues, expenses and
  available balance
• Ability to post transactions from the feeder
  systems more frequently
• Ability to book encumbrances from the feeder
  systems
• Ability to track commitments that are not in any
  of the enterprise systems
• Ability to make notations about expenses after
  they are posted to the GL

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What is the take away?

• We will be publishing the financial reports to
  the web
• The faculty will have direct access to their data