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SAP
4.5b Upgrade Information
At
the October SAP user group, Charles Shaw, director of
Financial Systems Services (FSS), announced that although
staff in FSS, Information Systems, and the Controller's
Accounting Office have been preparing for the SAP 4.5b
upgrade since May, the impact on SAP users is expected
to be minimal.
Jane
Cooney, leader of the Training and
Documentation Team in FSS, described the
training program for the upgrade. Through
early November, there will be a series of
presentations "The SAP 4.5b Upgrade: A
Demonstration of 'Deltas'"
(see
dates).
These demos show the differences between
the current release of SAP and SAP 4.5b.
Optional self-paced training
classes
are available at the Professional Learning
Center. Both the demos and the classes are
platform-specific (Mac or PC). There are
also self-study
courses,
which may be done from the user's office
computer.
Gillian
Emmons, assistant to the controller, said
that there will be no upgrade-related
changes to the ZMIT reporting menu. She
said that testing was underway to make
sure that all ZMIT reports, including
report variants, would work as expected at
the completion of the upgrade process.
Emmons offered her opinion that the
drill-downs are nicer and the screens look
more descriptive and less boxy in SAP
4.5b.
Diane
Shea, director of the Procurement Office,
announced that Friday, November 12 would
be a day of SAP "outage." She said that
approved requisitions received in the
Procurement Office before 12 noon on
November 10 will be processed before the
close of business on that day.
Requisitions received after 12 noon will
be processed after the SAP system has been
upgraded and is again available on Monday,
November 15. MIT VIP credit cards are
another purchasing option for the short
time that SAP is
unavailable.
Special
note for Mac E-SANDI Users
The
SAP upgrade process changes access to E-SANDI. Mac users
who also use E-SANDI will need to install
some additional
Kerberos software
in order to have access to E-SANDI. For assistance,
contact the Business Liaison Team at (617) 252-1177
or business-help@mit.edu.
Important
Dates
Demonstrations
of the differences between MIT's current
release of SAP and the new release will
take place at the Wong Auditorium in the
Tang Center (Building E51)
on:
- Tuesday,
Oct. 26, 3pm (PC)
- Monday,
Nov. 1, 2pm (Mac)
- Tuesday,
Nov. 2, 10am (PC)
- Monday,
Nov. 8, 2pm (PC)
- Tuesday,
Nov. 9, 2pm (Mac)
To
obtain specific information on dates and
times for the demos and the training
sessions, go to the SAP@MIT
Training
page and click on "Available
Courses."
Monday,
Nov. 8--12 noon on Wednesday, November
10
All
procurement activity that will require an
SAP purchase order or requisition before
Nov. 15 should be finished during this
time period. SAP and SAPweb will be
unavailable for all procurement functions
from Thursday, Nov. 11 through Sunday,
Nov. 14.
Thursday,
Nov. 11--Sunday, Nov. 14
The
SAP production system and SAPweb will be
unavailable. Staff from Financial Systems
Services, Information Systems, and the
Controller's Accounting Office will
upgrade the SAP server software to release
4.5b.
Monday,
Nov. 15
Departments,
labs, and centers will be notified by
email when the production system and
SAPweb are ready for use.
_______________________________
Community
Members Participate in Testing and
Evaluating Training Plans
In
response to suggestions from the
community, FSS broadened the testing phase
of SAP release 4.5b beyond just the
central offices, which have done the
testing in the past. With the new release,
community members from a variety of
departments, labs, and centers were
invited to help with "integration" testing
during the first week of
October.
Previously,
the Administrative Systems and Policies
Coordinating Council (ASPCC) had suggested
that FSS hold a focus group with users.
The purpose would be to confirm with some
actual users that the FSS plans for
optional training with 4.5b were suitable
from a community perspective. Since the
community testers would be using 4.5b
without any prior training, FSS decided to
ask them to also serve as the focus group
to evaluate the training
plans.
The
testing phase involved running normal SAP
business transactions and reports in
conjunction with other FSS and central
office staff. The purpose was to ensure
that simultaneous use of the system across
applications would provide stable,
predictable, and accurate
results.
The
16 members of the community who
participated in the integration testing
included the following: Richard Brewer,
Bernd Comjean, Tim Downes, Lisa Feltner,
Karen Fosher, Mary Ellen Gearin, Stephanie
George, Mary Grenham, Ken Higgins, Jeanne
Hillery, Phyllis King, Linda Lancaster,
Bob Malone, and Josh Putnam. Community
members who tested LDS were Carolyn
Brooke, Mary Grenham, and Melissa Yoon
Turner.
After
testing, the testers filled out a
questionnaire and participated in a focus
group at a working lunch. It's important
to note that these community testers were
experienced users of SAP, but they did not
have difficulty using release 4.5b to do
the integration tests. In addition, the
majority of them said that for colleagues
of equal experience, the planned "Quick
Card" guides would be sufficient for
learning how to use the new
release.
Users
who want to do practice exercises with release 4.5b have
the option of either doing these self-studies at their
desk or signing up for a platform-specific lab at the
Learning Center. The exercises are the same; the only
difference is that an instructor would be present in the
Learning Center if a user had any difficulty. Users who
do the self-studies at their desk can contact the
Business Liaison Team at (617) 252-1177 or
business-help@mit.edu,
if they have questions.
_______________________________
Reconciliation
Process to Change at MIT
Reconciliation.
If you are familiar with MIT's Monthly
Statements and Detail Transaction Reports
(DTRs) then you know the word. MIT's
current policy is that each DTR is
"reconciled by comparing each transaction
to departmental records." This is a
time-consuming process in which the
reconciler compares departmental copies of
documentation to each transaction recorded
on the DTR--and documents each comparison
with a check mark. Every month there is a
DTR generated for each cost collector
(i.e., cost center, internal order, and
WBS element) at MIT. Since there are more
than 18,000 active cost collectors--and 12
months in the year--that means that under
current policies, 216,000 reconciliations
are required to be performed each
year.
In
July 1999, a team was formed to rethink
the entire process and meaning of
reconciling. There are representatives
from departments, labs, centers, the
Controller's Accounting Office, the Audit
Division, and Financial Systems Services
on the team. Their objective is to develop
a new process that will be simplified and
streamlined, while improving controls. The
team began by researching what was
required by the federal government. The
team determined that although the
government regulations specify that
supporting documentation for accounting
transactions must be maintained, there is
not any specific guidance as to how this
must be done. The team then researched
what other colleges and universities do in
regards to reconciliation. It was not
surprising that only 3 of 25 major
research institutions surveyed require the
line-item by line-item reconciliation that
MIT requires. Armed with this knowledge
the team began to determine a new
approach.
The
team has planned a pilot for November and
December in the Administrative Services
Organization, the Center for Environmental
Health Sciences, and Information Systems.
The team's current thinking is that the
existing reconciliation process will be
changed significantly and will no longer
be called "reconciliation." Line by line
check marks will no longer be required.
The team will provide specific guidance
for minimum requirements for paper
retention. The goal is that the new
process will allow individuals to maintain
control, while reducing the time involved
in detailed
reconciliation.
Stay
tuned for more information when we report
on the progress of the
pilot!
For
more information on this topic, please
contact Nancy Dykstra of the Controller's
Accounting Office at x8-8359 or
ndykstra@mit.edu.
_______________________________
September
SAP User Group
Procurement
2000, ZMIT Reports, and SAP Tips
Presented
The
September SAP user group meeting included
an overview
of procurement at
MIT
by Tom Hoole and Mike McNamara of the
Procurement Office. This was followed by a
demonstration of selected
ZMIT
reports
and SAP
tips
by Jennifer Kratochwill and Eileen Nielsen
of Financial Systems Services.
Procurement
2000 Presentation
Tom
Hoole began the presentation by telling
the audience that there are four main
areas within the Procurement
Office:
General Purchasing, Sub-Contracts, Methods
and Procedures, and Systems. The
Procurement Office, which now reports to
the Controller's Accounting Office, has
recently developed an overview
presentation, Procurement 2000, to
inform the MIT community about what the
Procurement Office does and how the
Institute community can make the best use
of the new purchasing tools.
Joined
by Mike McNamara, Hoole presented an
abbreviated version of Procurement
2000. This presentation begins by
identifying, from most desirable to least
desirable, four methods to make MIT
purchases. In order of efficiency and
greatest cost-savings to the individual
and the Institute, the choices
are:
- Purchases
made from MIT's internal providers
through SAPweb and from preferred
partners through ECAT.
- Purchases
made from external vendors using the
VIP credit card.
- Purchases
made from external vendors using SAP or
SAPweb requisitions.
- Paper
requisitions and personal
reimbursements through the yellow
"Requests for Payment." (Due to the
high cost of processing paper
transactions, the Institute would like
to reduce their use as much as
possible.)
Other
points from the Procurement 2000
presentation included:
- The
Procurement Office is committed to fast
turnaround of SAP requisitions.
Whenever possible, SAP and SAPweb
requisitions are converted to Purchase
Orders within one day or
less.
- The
Procurement Office works to add value
to MIT's purchasing processes by
assisting purchasers in:
- negotiating
a better price
- establishing
vendor relationships
- obtaining
accurate cost projections for
research proposals
- The
Publishing
Services
Bureau
is an Institute service to help the
community with brochures and
publications.
Mike
McNamara concluded this quick view of
Procurement 2000 by showing an
example of how the Procurement Office
could have been of help in planning the
"Great Balloon Hoax" of the Harvard-Yale
football game a few years ago.
To
arrange a presentation of Procurement
2000 in your area, contact Tom Hoole,
x3-7228 or thoole@mit.edu.
Selected
Zmit Reports
Jennifer
Kratochwill began this portion of the
meeting by showing the Recapitulation-GL44
Report. The Recapitulation Report lists
expenses and revenues in one consolidated
report; it can be used to give a quick
update on your cost objects. The report
can be accessed via the ZMIT menu path
Reports >> Profit Center Reports
>> Recapitulation-GL44 or by using
the fast path "ZRCP." Users will get the
most complete report by choosing the
"Funds Available" button in the section
"Unexpended Balance is Calculated on..."
from the selection screen. With this
option the unexpended balance shown will
be calculated on the Institute Budget for
cost centers, Total Cumulative Revenue for
internal orders, and the Authorized Total
for WBS elements. This selection option is
particularly important if you are running
the Recap report on different types of
cost objects.
Kratochwill
demonstrated how to download this report
to an Excel spreadsheet and sum the
various columns. Since the downloaded data
is in text format, it is necessary to
convert the data to numerical values in
Excel in order to perform calculations. To
do this, start by highlighting the column.
Next, choose Data >> Text to
Columns... from the menu. From the dialog
box "Convert Text to Columns Wizard"
select the button for "Delimited" data
type then click the "Next" button twice
followed by the "Finish"
button.
Eileen
Nielsen then described two SAP reports
that provide information on sponsored
billing: Aging by Invoice and Cleared
Invoices. While these reports can be run
to see sponsored billing on all awards,
they are of particular interest to DLCs
with industrial sponsors. Both reports can
be found from the ZMIT menu by selecting
Reports >> Research Reports. When
used together, the Aging by Invoice and
Cleared Invoices reports give a full
picture of the sponsored billing
status.
Nielsen
showed users how to run each of the two
reports. The Cleared Invoices report
retrieves every cleared invoice, paid or
cancelled. The Aging by Invoice report
shows outstanding invoices (current, 30,
60, 90, or 120 days). Each report can be
run for a particular sponsor (customer),
project, or profit center. If a user has
outstanding invoices from a particular
sponsor and knows that sponsor's customer
number, it is possible to run the report
for that customer only. This would allow
the user to see if that sponsor has
outstanding invoices elsewhere on
campus.
The
default selection on the Aging by Invoice
report is "Process in Background." In
order to get the report right away, users
should de-select this option. Since these
reports should be used together and can
take a few minutes to process, Nielsen
suggested that users open a second session
of SAP so that both reports can be run at
the same time.
Other
SAP Tips
In
the course of showing the audience the
Recapitulation Report, Jennifer
Kratochwill shared a few SAP tips
(see
article in the
sidebar).
_______________________________
October
SAP User Group
4.5b
Upgrade Preparation and Improving Student
Activities Financial
Management
4.5b
Upgrade Preparation
The
October SAP user group included
informational updates about the pending
SAP 4.5b upgrade (see
related
article)
and a presentation by Edmund Jones about
how student groups are managing their
funds more effectively with
SAP.
John
Hynes, leader of the FSS Community Support
Team, asked the audience to send their
suggestions for future user group meeting
topics to fss-ug@mit.edu.
He introduced School Coordinator Brian
Tavares, who will be responsible for
planning future SAP user group meetings.
Hynes also announced that beginning in
November, the Labor Distribution System
(LDS) user group meetings will be held
immediately following future SAP user
group meetings. This change is to make it
easier for the people who regularly attend
both meetings.
SAP
Helps Student Groups Manage Money More
Effectively
Edmund
Jones, staff associate for student
activities finances in the Office of the
Dean of Students and Undergraduate
Education (ODSUE), described how he made
use of some of SAP's new features to
provide officers of student activities
organizations at MIT easier access to
their funds and up-to-date information
about how much money they have left to
spend.
In
the past, managing funds and accounting
for student activities expenses was
difficult. There are over 300 student
organizations, with most funding handled
through one MIT account. Monthly
statements (DTRs) for this account did not
include sufficient information to allow
the staff to attribute each expense to the
appropriate student group.
In
August 1996, an article
in The Tech
described
how there were "...accounting errors
totaling $140,000 in the student
activities accounting system." Typical
errors were transactions that were entered
twice, "halfway" entered, or improperly
voided. Last spring, a pilot program
allowed six student organizations to have
their own MIT cost objects; officers were
given access to the MIT Data Warehouse so
that they could determine their
organization's financial status using
BrioQuery. In addition, an Excel macro was
written to upload all checking account
data into SAP.
The
successful pilot was extended to all
undergraduate student organizations this
summer. A modification allowed access to
the Data Warehouse via Athena workstations
rather than BrioQuery. John Hawkinson, an
MIT student, wrote an SQL program that
allows student officers to see Summary
Statements and Detail Transaction Reports
of their organization accounts at their
Athena terminals. Athena-based reporting
has the advantage that students already
know Athena and Unix, and they do not have
to learn to use either the SAP gui or
BrioQuery.
The
new approach to student organization
reporting has been very successful.
Deposits, journal vouchers, and internal
billing are not duplicated; students can
access account information electronically
and can interface directly with funding
sources. Although both the amount of
funding and the number of financial
transactions have increased, data entry
has not increased commensurately. The
Undergraduate Association Finance Board
now has more control over its
funding.
Jones
shared some lessons learned from the pilot
program. An important lesson learned is to
be customer-focused when developing new
systems and not rely on your own
assumptions. Jones believes that you need
to understand your customers and design
systems that account for their skills,
weaknesses, likes, and dislikes. Future
goals include encouraging the use
electronic systems rather than relying on
staff for information, without appearing
to reduce services.
Jones
made these final points:
- SAP
can simplify financial
management
- 9.9
million more cost objects are available
in SAP
- Modifying
the profit center hierarchy can aid
reporting
- Use
SAP departmental
plans/budgets
- Student
employees have valuable
skills
- Consider
having Athena access to account
information for students, faculty, or
staff comfortable in the UNIX
environment
- Use
cross-departmental sources of advice
and expertise.
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Current
Issue
Back
Issues
In
this Issue
At
a Glance...
Back
Issues
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VIP
Card Can Now Be Used in
Local
Restaurants!
Recent
enhancements in
MIT's
VISA Purchasing
Card
(VIP Card) program now
allows cardholders to
use their cards for
meeting-related food
purchases at local
restaurants. This change
enhances the viability
of the VIP Card for more
of the Institute's
small-dollar purchases
(under $2,500).
The VIP Card Program
currently boasts over
1,000 cardholders
conducting 4,500--5,000
transactions (totaling
nearly $1 million) each
month. If you have
questions or would like
to request an
application form, please
send email to
vipcard@mit.edu
or call Stephanie
Bromander (the VIP
administrator) at
x3-8366.
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Submit
Your Tip
SAP
users are one of the
best sources of
information about SAP!
Here's a chance to share
your ideas for the
benefit of both your
colleagues and
your taste
buds!
Submit
an SAP user tip to
Financial
Systems
Update
and win a $5 gift
certificate to
Toscanini's Ice
Cream. Tips can
be any idea that you've
had for a new or
improved process or a
solution you found to a
common problem. The
editors of
Financial
Systems
Update
will select the most
helpful tip. The
winner's name and tip
will be announced in the
next issue of
Financial
Systems
Update.
To enter, contact the
editors at
fss-eboard@mit.edu.
(Sorry,
FSS and BLT staff are
not
eligible.)
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SAP
Tips
Jennifer
Kratochwill shared the
following tips at the
September SAP User Group
(see
related
article).
PRINTING
TIPS
There
are several ways that
users can print an SAP
screen when the "Print"
button is not activated.
The easiest alternative
is to select List
>> Print from the
"System" menu. If the
SAP screen does not
allow that step, users
can use a three-step
process:
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1.
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With
the report
showing on the
screen, press
the "Print
Screen" key on
the keyboard.
This copies the
SAP screen onto
the
clipboard.
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2.
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Open
Excel or other
usual
spreadsheet
application.
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3.
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Paste
the SAP screen
into the open
spreadsheet.
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UPDATING
THE MONTH SHOWN ON
SELECTION
SCREEN
When
changing the selected
month for any SAP
report, the text name
for the fiscal period
selected (e.g., "As of
7/31/1999") does not
automatically change.
You can update the text
shown on the selection
screen either by
pressing the "Enter" key
or by selecting the
green check (not the
Execute icon) at the top
of the selection
screen.
CHART
OF ACCOUNTS DATA FOR
COST
OBJECT
To
find master data for any
cost object, click on
the cost object number
in the upper left-hand
corner of the Summary
Statement screen. Master
data includes the name
and purpose of the cost
object, start and end
dates, and other
information such as
indirect cost rates (if
applicable).
DISPLAYING
ALL COST OBJECTS WITHIN
A PROJECT
To
view the parent project
with all of its child
accounts, click on the
project number at the
top of the Summary
Statement. For a
graphical representation
of this information,
click on the Hierarchy
Graphic button from the
Display Project
screen.
CUMULATIVE
TOTAL
EXPENSES
Clicking
on the "Cumulative Total
Expenses" line in a
Summary Statement will
show the user all
expenses charged against
that cost object over
the life of the cost
object.
FUNDS
AVAILABLE OR FUNDS
OVEREXPENDED
These
amounts can now be seen
on the upper right
corner of locally
printed Summary
Statements.
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Pace
Yourself!
Help
prevent repetitive
strain injuries by
taking frequent breaks
from typing. As a
general guideline, take
a 1 or 2 minute micro
break every 15 to 20
minutes. Take a 5 to 10
minute mini-break every
hour. Every few hours
get up and do some
alternative
activity.
Using
an electronic device or
other reminder is
helpful to make sure
that you take breaks at
these intervals rather
than waiting for fatigue
or discomfort.
Stretching exercises
during these breaks may
also help prevent
injury.
For
more information about
repetitive strain
injuries and stretching
exercises you can do,
visit MIT's
RSI
Information
page.
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Publisher's
Box
Financial
Systems
Update
is an occasional
Web-based publication
designed to keep the MIT
community informed about
the Institute's new
financial tools.
Comments and suggestions
for future articles are
welcome! E-mail the
entire editorial board
at fss-eboard@mit.edu
or contact individual
members. They
are:
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Editorial
Board
Jane
Cooney
Financial
Systems
Services
jcooney@mit.edu
John
Hynes
Financial
Systems
Services
hynes@mit.edu
Linda
Lancaster
Controller's
Accounting
Office
lindal@mit.edu
Bob
Murray
Financial
Systems
Services
rmurray@mit.edu
Daniel
Pope
Financial
Systems
Services
dpope@mit.edu
Janet
Snover
Office
of the
Executive
Vice
President
jsnover@mit.edu
Judith
Stein
Financial
Systems
Services
jstein@mit.edu
Production
Staff
Nancy
Gift
Financial
Systems
Services
Contributing
Writers
Eileen
Nielsen
Financial
Systems
Services
Shirley
Picardi
Financial
Systems
Services
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Paper
mail for
Financial
Systems Update
may
be sent to the
newsletter in care
of:
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Financial
Systems
Services
N52-473,
MIT
77
Massachusetts
Avenue
Cambridge,
MA
02139-4307
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