Financial Systems Update: October 2001

Benefits Open Enrollment
During the upcoming Benefits Open Enrollment period, which runs from November 1-15, members of the MIT community who want to make changes to their health and welfare benefits will be using SAP, although more indirectly than users who access the financial system.

As last year, employees will be able to use the Benefits Self Service option on the Web, or phone an Interactive Voice Response (IVR) system. This year, however, both the IVR and the Web-based Benefits Self Service applications are linked to MIT's SAP system. Last year, the web and phone applications were supported by an outside vendor.

This year, the Benefits Office will be open for extended hours, from 8 am to 6 pm, during the peak days of November 1st and 2nd, and 14th and 15th. There will be additional staff on hand to help employees during this period, and there will be a dedicated help line for phone enrollment system users. The phone system itself has interactive voice recognition, which allows it to accept employee and dependent names needed for health and dental plan enrollment. Last year, employees had to complete paper forms to add dependent and physician information after making their choice of plans on the phone. The phone system will also generate a confirmation number at the end of each call.

Those employees who choose to make health and welfare benefit changes using the web must be sure to have a personal Web certificate, since it is required to use the Benefits Self Service option on the Web. (If you want to use the Web-based Benefits Self Service, and do not have a personal Web certificate, go online to Web Certificates at MIT.

As in the past, the Benefits Office will sponsor Benefit Fairs. The Benefits Self-Service web application will be showcased on campus and at Lincoln Laboratory at the end of October and also during the Fairs. You may go to the Benefits Office web site for more information about open enrollment.

Benefits data for all MIT employees was successfully moved from MIT's CYBORG system into SAP in July. In the context of MIT's larger HR-Payroll Project, this is one step toward establishing one system of record for Human Resources and Payroll. Since July, Benefits Office staff have been using SAP's graphical user interface (SAPgui) to administer health and welfare benefits for MIT employees. To prepare for the Open Enrollment period, staff from Benefits, Financial Systems Services, the HR-Payroll Project, and Information Systems have conducted a variety of tests, to make sure the system can handle the volume, and that it is easy to use. In addition, "customers" from the MIT community are performing "usability" tests on both the Web Benefits Self Service and the IVR systems. Personal Enrollment Guides will provide information about this year's benefits choices as well as instructions on how to access the Web and the IVR system. The Benefits Office will distribute the Enrollment Guides through interdepartmental mail beginning October 29.

New Versions of SAP Reports Now Available
During the past year FSS and CAO staff have been working together to create revised versions of the Summary Statement, Detailed Transaction Report (DTR) and Account Manager Report (AMR) - the primary statements used for reviewing transactions and cost object balances in SAP each month.

The new reports retain the basic look and feel of current versions of these reports. Some common features and enhancements requested by users were added, including:

More than 30 users participated in a pilot project to test the new reports. The new Summary Statement and DTR are available in production now and can be accessed through the transaction codes /nzstma and /nzdtra. Users who have noticed that the on-line DTR truncates the telephone number on telephone charges may wish to begin using the new DTR as an alternative. This problem is corrected in the new version of the report.

The plan is to have these new versions of the reports accessible via the ZMIT menu the last week of October. If you have any questions please contact your School/Area Business Consultant.

Budget Officer Directory
Following is a current list of Budget Officers in the Office of Budget and Financial Planning, shown by area of responsibility. The list includes a telephone number and e-mail address for each individual. Please feel free to contact your Budget Officer at any time for assistance with budgets or related financial matters. There have been no recent changes in Budget Officers' portfolios of responsibility. This list is provided for information and reference. It also appears on the NIMBUS Home Page. If you have any questions about Budget Officer assignments, please contact either Stefano Falconi or Peg Warner.

Improved Fund Draft Process Implemented
The MIT Provost's Office, in partnership with the Assistant Deans, CAO, the Budget Office, and Financial Systems Services, sponsored the implementation of an improved accounting process to record drafts from funds in support of general expenses. This new process provides a better, more timely view of funding activities across the Institute.

What is a Fund Draft?
A fund draft is a transfer of monies from an Internal Order to support expenses in a Cost Center. Funds may be drafted in a particular fiscal year from locally controlled or other monies to support Department or School activities. Academic areas generally draft funds into a Cost Center to add resources to an existing budget to support operations. Simply put, a draft can be viewed as a transfer from a "savings account," where income accumulates, to a "checking account," where it will be spent.

What is different about the new process?
Formerly, the Institute pooled all fund draft monies centrally and increased Cost Center expense budgets by the appropriate amount. The authorized budget adjustment was made in an expense GL account.

From an accounting point of view, the old process was as follows:

Old Process Accounting
Debit	DLC fund cost object, GL 420156 Drafted-not MTDC
Credit	Institute cost center 1395000, GL 801008 Income-General
Budget Adjustment	Increase DLC cost center general budget, expense GL

Now, monies drafted from an Internal Order will be credited directly to the DLC's Cost Center in a revenue GL account. Both the expense and revenue budgets will increase by the amount of the draft as a result of these transactions-netting to zero at the bottom line. On the fund side, the new Transfer Out GL will appear in the transfer section of the SAP summary statement. The following represents the accounting for the new process.

New Process Accounting
Debit	DLC fund cost object, GL 800706 Draft Transfer Out
Credit	DLC general cost center, GL 800705 Draft Transfer In
Budget Adjustment	Increase DLC cost center general budget for both an expense GL and revenue GL 800705

In addition, funds used to support space changes will be credited to a distinct GL account, separate from other drafts. The accounting process is the same as the above, except that GL account numbers 800710 and 800709 are used for Space Change Transfer Out and Transfer In, respectively.

This new process will eliminate double counting; that is, the creation of a debit both in the Internal Order, when funds are transferred, and in the Cost Center when they are spent. As a result it will be easier to track total expenses across all resources in a particular department or unit.

Please note that for Fiscal Year 2002, however, Cost Center budgets with previous draft activity may appear to have decreased from last year. Last year, a draft resulted in an increased expense budget. This year, both an increased expense and revenue budget will appear -- offsetting each other at the Cost Center bottom line, and appearing to shrink its budget when compared to the prior year. After FY2002, this effect will disappear.

Effective September 10, the NIMBUS budget system posts revenue credits to SAP nightly. Thus, SAP statements will reflect draft activity in real time, and budgets will not appear to be overspent if the expense occurs immediately.

If you have any comments or questions on this new system, please contact your Budget Officer.