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Labor
Distribution System Update
Forty-six
departments are now using MIT’s Labor
Distribution System (LDS). The number of
users has grown dramatically in the last
six months. Among current users are the
Department of Chemistry, Center for Cancer
Research, the Department of Mechanical
Engineering, the Media Laboratory,
Information Systems, the Controller’s
Accounting Office, and Financial Systems
Services.
LDS
is an SAP application written for MIT by
MIT that interfaces with MIT’s
payroll system and the SAP Controlling
module. It provides a consistent
salary-planning tool for MIT departments,
labs, and centers (DLCs) that enables
users to track current salary expenses and
forecast future salary costs.
A
major labor saving enhancement was added
to the LDS system recently in response to
requests from users. DLCs can now choose
to have Payroll’s salary and
distribution data copied directly into the
LDS system, using the assumption that
these records are correct. For many
departments, which do not need to project
salaries beyond the fiscal year or for
which changes are few, the month-end
variance process has been greatly
simplified. Other departments, which have
more complicated and longer-term
projection needs, can choose not to
overwrite their LDS data, giving them the
option, when a variation occurs, to choose
which of the two sources of data is
correct.
The
LDS application ensures accuracy by using
a comprehensive variance process that
highlights discrepancies between
departmental projections and actual
payroll payments. It simplifies projection
of complex salary distribution by
automatically calculating salary expenses
"unloaded" (salary alone) and "loaded"
(salary plus employee benefits, lab
allocations, and facilities and
administration costs).
LDS
has a rich array of reports that present a
clear picture of salary and distribution
information for all MIT staff. A major
benefit of LDS is that it creates
commitments in SAP that appear immediately
in the "commitments" column of the SAP
Summary Statement. This report then
becomes an even more useful tool for cost
object control.
In
addition, there are reproductions of the
SANDI, DINDI, and DACCA reports; a report
displaying commitments by cost object; and
another showing salary and effort
distributions. One useful report compares
stipend and tuition records side by side
so users can be certain that correct
matching occurs. Finally, the LDS overrun
report makes it easy to keep an eye on
salary expenses and remain within budget.
If
you would like to learn more about the LDS
system and how it might be useful in
helping to manage the cost objects in your
DLC, please call your school or area
coordinator, or contact the LDS project
manager Carol Chen at lichu@mit.edu
or x8-0763.
The
complete LDS
user
documentation
is available on the SAP@MIT
Documentation on the
Web
pages. A demonstration of the system can
be easily arranged.
_______________________________
New
Format at November 1999 SAP User
Group
The
November SAP User Group was the first to
try a new format combining the SAP and LDS
User groups. Approximately 50 members of
the SAP and LDS user community attended
the November 4 meeting. The SAP User Group
occurred during the first hour of the
session and was followed by the LDS User
Group. Participants could come to either
user group or stay for both sessions.
John
Hynes, leader of the FSS Community Support
team, reminded the audience that SAP User
Group topic suggestions are always welcome
at sap-ug@mit.edu. He also asked for
comments on the combined SAP/LDS User
Group format. Summaries of the meeting
presentations done by Bob Davine and Nancy
Dykstra are below.
Bob
Davine: Creating and Changing Cost
Objects
School Coordinator Bob Davine noted
that because different types of cost
objects are handled through different MIT
offices, changes in cost objects are also
handled through different offices.
For
cost centers (cost objects in the general
budget, usually beginning with a "1"),
DLCs should contact their budget officers.
Changes
to internal orders (cost objects that
generally begin with a "2" or "3") are
handled differently depending on type:
- Internal
orders for invested funds are created
or changed by Bonny Kellermann in the
Treasurer’s Office
(x3-5048
or
recsec@mit.edu).
- Internal
orders for non-invested funds are
created or changed by a
department’s OSP administrator
(see the OSP
list of
administrators).
- Internal
orders for balance sheet funds are
created or changed by Sharon
DeMaranville in CAO
(x3-0307
or
sharond@mit.edu).
The
department’s OSP administrator makes
changes to WBS elements.
When
requesting a new cost object or a change
to an existing cost object, please be sure
to include the fund center number. To find
the fund center for a particular cost
object:
- Go
to the Web
interface for the Roles
Database
and select the link "Tell Me about a
Cost Object."
- Enter
the cost object number and click
"Submit."
- Scroll
down the page until you see the line
for "Fund Center." The fund center
number is "FC" followed by a six-digit
number.
Bob
Davine: Creating and Changing Profit
Centers and Sub-Profit Centers
The Payroll Office establishes and
makes changes to profit centers and
sub-profit centers. Send e-mail to Leslie
Wright (lesliem@mit.edu)
specifying the reason for the request and
the new profit center (or sub-profit
center) name. If you are creating a new
profit center, please be sure to include
the names and addresses of people who will
receive SANDIs, DINDIs, DACCAs, and time
sheets.
Any
related changes in employee assignments
are made through the department's
personnel officer. Changes (or new
authorizations) needed for E-SANDI or
E-Time users can be made by submitting a
request to Diane Monahan (dianem@mit.edu).
If
cost objects need to be reassigned because
of new or changed profit centers, these
changes should be requested from the
appropriate central
departments.
For
allocation profit centers or sub-profit
centers, the first step in creating or
changing the profit center should be to
contact Dave Henshaw in OSP
(henshaw@mit.edu).
Once the process is underway, please copy
Dave on any additional email to Leslie
Wright.
Nancy
Dykstra: MIT Control Procedures for the
New Millennium
Nancy Dykstra of the Controller's
Accounting Office updated the audience on
work done thus far by members of the
Reconciliation Team. The team, which
includes members from both departments and
central offices, is charged with
streamlining the reconciliation process
and improving controls. The team's
objective is to build a new control
process that will focus on risk areas, and
be:
- Simplified
and streamlined;
- Acceptable
to Institute and government
auditors;
- Less
effort for departmental
staff;
- Updated
to reflect system changes;
and
- Supported
by the new electronic
tools.
The
team's approach is still evolving but at
this time they believe that the new
reconciliation process will focus on
management review of all charges
documented at a high level, but not
line-item by line-item. The team
recognizes that this is a large cultural
change for MIT staff, and plans to make
sure that any necessary training is
available. They hope that the new
procedures will encourage electronic
review of documentation and reduce the
amount of printing and maintaining of
documentation that is maintained
centrally.
This
presentation generated a lively
conversation about current reconciliation
procedures and the types of changes the
audience would hope to see in the future.
Institute Controller Jim Morgan
participated actively in this portion of
the meeting.
Questions
or comments on the team's work may be
directed to Nancy Dykstra at
x8-8359
or
ndykstra@mit.edu.
LDS
User Group
Carol Chen, leader of LDS team, began
by announcing that there were 46 DLCs
using LDS to project their salary costs.
(Please see the related
article
on LDS.) Bob Davine then joined Carol for
a brief demonstration of some of the
reports available in LDS, including
Personnel Commitment by Labor Distribution
Object (cost object), Stipend and Tuition
Appointments, and the GL and Cost Salaries
Report. This last report includes actual
payments and commitments for a specified
period.
_______________________________
December
1999 SAP User Group Meeting
Gillian
Emmons: Master Data, Term Code
Definitions, and the New "001" Form
Master Data:
Assistant to the Controller Gillian
Emmons first spoke on master data in SAP.
She demonstrated two SAP menu paths that
can be used to learn more about SAP master
data.
From
the SAP Summary Statement:
- Run
a Summary Statement from the MIT
Financial Systems menu for the
desired cost object.
- Click
on the cost object number, which is
highlighted in yellow in the upper
left of the screen. That takes you
to the "Display Cost Object"
screen.
Or,
from the MIT Financial System
menu:
- Select
Master Data
- Select
Financial Data.
- Select
Display Cost Object.
Term
Code Definitions:
Term Code definitions can be viewed from
the Display Cost Object screen. Click on
the matchcode arrow to the right of the
Term Code window.
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(Blank)
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Open
for charges between
start and end
dates.
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1
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Closed.
Pre-end date charges
allowed.
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2
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No
longer in
use.
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3
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Terminated.
Charges not allowed. (If
this is a WBS element,
the final financial
report has been
filed.)
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8
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Invalid
cost object (without
charges).
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9
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Invalid
cost object (with
charges).
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An
audience member asked whether a term code
3 cost object number could be recycled.
Gill replied that DLCs should not reuse
cost object numbers. With the 7-digit cost
objects, there is no shortage of
unassigned cost object numbers. This means
that terminated cost object numbers should
be retained so that DLCs (or the
Institute) can do historical
reporting.
Gill
reminded the audience that certain
pre-term and post-termination expenditures
may be allowed on WBS elements. DLCs
should contact their OSP representative if
they want additional
information.
Changes
to the 001 form:
The last portion of Gill's presentation
described changes that have been made to
the 001 form. These include correcting the
print orientation so that the three-hole
paper could be conveniently stored in a
notebook, shading the changed field, and
making corrections to certain numeric
fields (such as pool units and authorized
total) so that the correct information was
reported consistently. Two items on the
list for future development are 1)
notification when a fund center link has
changed and 2) comments to explain why a
field was changed.
Gill
closed her presentation by asking that
anyone with reporting problems or
questions send e-mail to reporting@mit.edu.
Carol
Wood and Peggie McGrath Answer Some
Frequently Asked
Questions
Carol
Wood and Peggie McGrath, members of the
Business Liaison Team in Information
Systems, began their presentation by
introducing a new member of the team,
Jeanne Owens. Wood and McGrath then shared
answers to some of their most Frequently
Asked Questions and showed participants
how to access the Stock
Answers
database.
Many
recent questions were about Web
certificates. To find the stock answers
about certificates, go to the stock
answers Web site and click on Business
Applications. Select "certificates," and
then select the link to the question
closest to your own.
Some
examples:
I
keep getting asked for my certificates...
over and over. Can I stop this?
The solution? Set the certificate to
default to your personal certificate.
(This is Question #228 in the "Stock
Answers" database.)
What
do I do? The "Please Wait..." window never
goes away and I never get a requisition
number in SAPweb.
The solution? Again, set the certificate
to default to your personal certificate.
(This is Question #604 in the "Stock
Answers" database.)
How
do you set the certificate default
correctly?
In Netscape 4, click the Security
Icon, and then select Navigator from the
left side of the screen. Open the dialog
box that reads "Certificate to identify
you to a Web site" and select your
personal certificate rather than "Ask
Every Time." If you have a different
version of Netscape, call the Business
Liaison Team at x2-1177 for
help.
Susan
Keohan: New Sap 4.5 Requisition Approval
Functionality
FSS Senior SAP Developer Susan Keohan
gave a demonstration of new SAP
functionality that allows the user to view
the status of requisitions in
workflow.
To
find out where a particular requisition is
in the approval process:
- Follow
this menu path from the SAP R/3 System
screen: Logistics >> Materials
Management >> Purchasing >>
Requisition >>
Display
- Type
in requisition number. Click the Item
Overview icon to display the Item
Overview screen.
- Follow
the menu path System >> Workflow
>> Workflow Overview.
- Look
for the line with the requisition
number and the cost object number and
click on that line.
- Look
at the last line of the log file to see
if the requisition is in process and by
whom.
An
empty box indicates that the requisition
is ready to be approved by someone. You
can look up the requisition's recipients
by clicking on "Selected Agents" (an icon
with two little people). This provides a
list of people who have this requisition
in their SAP "In Boxes."
Parked
journal vouchers and credit card
transactions also can be found using the
same steps. From the SAP R/3 screen
select: Accounting >> Financial
Accounting >> General Ledger
>> Document >> Parked Document
>> Display.
_______________________________
Introducing
the FSS Infrastructure Team
While
the FSS Community Support team
(profiled
in August)
works in the public view at MIT, the FSS
Infrastructure team does their work behind
the scenes, out of sight. "Invisible"
though this work is, the SAP system could
not function properly without them. Here
is a glimpse of the work of the
Infrastructure team.
Although
SAP is an integrated system, there is
still some external data that needs to be
fed to SAP at regular intervals. Examples
include gifts from alumni, monthly
telephone charges, shipping charges from
DHL, and VIP credit card charges from the
First Union bank. The Infrastructure team
writes and maintains the programs that
regulate this feed of data into
SAP.
The
team employs a "drop box" mechanism,
whereby files from sources both inside and
outside MIT are transferred to SAP via FTP
(file transfer protocol). The drop box has
an automated mechanism whereby a program
"polls" a set of directories on the FTP
machine, and then automatically brings any
files found in those directories to the
appropriate SAP server. For some types of
files, the file is loaded into SAP
automatically; for other types of files,
an authorized person reviews the charges
or credits before they are posted to
SAP.
The
data fed to SAP through the drop box is
usually similar to a JV Upload -- hundreds
or thousands of charges to different cost
objects, under one or several different
general ledger accounts. For instance,
shipping charges from DHL are used to
charge back individual shipping expenses
to the department that shipped each
package.
A
second area of work for the Infrastructure
team is general SAP ABAP programming.
Since most of the programming assignments
are related to data feeds, the "products"
are usually not visible to the user
community. Members of the Infrastructure
team have, however, completed a few
projects with which community members may
be familiar: the monthly bulk printed
general ledger statements, the SAP "001"
reports, the "account managers" report,
and the soon-to-be released version of the
updated funds analysis report.
In
addition, Infrastructure team members are
called on for support and assistance to
other MIT developers, to review ABAP code
for adherence to MIT standards, and for
researching problems with parts of SAP
that are unfamiliar to other MIT
developers.
The
Infrastructure team reports to Paul Page.
Current MIT staff members on the FSS
Infrastructure team are:
- David
Rosenberg (team leader)
- Steve
Buttiglieri
- Carolyn
Fuller
- Suzanna
Garfunkel
- Larissa
Kushkuley
- Steve
Nebiolo
- Dianthe
Schroeder
- Mark
Sprague
_______________________________
Preventing
Repetitive Strain Injuries through Proper
Workstation Setup
Repetitive
strain injuries (RSI) are more easily
prevented than cured. Proper workstation
setup is an essential factor in preventing
RSI. When setting up your workstation, you
should consider the height of your chair,
monitor and keyboard tray; the distance
from your eyes to the screen; and your
posture.
Here
are some tips taken from the complete
checklist of workstation setup tips on the
Information
Systems RSI
page.
- When
sitting, put your feet flat on the
floor or footrest, your knees at right
angles, and your thighs horizontal to
the floor.
- Let
your upper arms hang down at your
sides, with your elbows at right
angles.
- Extend
your wrists straight out -- do
not rest them on the keyboard
tray.
- Position
your head so you are looking slightly
down towards the monitor.
For
an evaluation of your workstation, contact
the Industrial Hygiene Office (x3-2596).
The audit will include specific
recommendations for modifying your
computer workstation to reduce ergonomic
stress.
_______________________________
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