State Accounting Office newsletter

State Accounting Office Newsletter
Sound Fiscal Leadership for Georgia

Inside This Edition:

Issue 5

March 2008

1 Purchase Order Receipt

Issues

2 Adding and Updating a

Combination Code

3 Streamlined Banking Update
3 Announcements 4 Limited Production
Modifications 5 Accounts Receivable
Update 6 Introducing the PeopleSoft
Program Governance Council 7 9.0 Financials Upgrade 7 Employee Corner 8 Want to be in the Know & SAO Helpdesk Options 9 Contact Us!
Upcoming Events:
Financials Upgrade to 9.0 news, see page 7.
SLB is conducting end user training for agencies and gearing up for next implementation phase.
Competency Management has been rolled out to the production environment.
Team Georgia Marketplace is conducting fit-gap analysis sessions and planning training strategy.
We're on the Web! See us at:
http://sao.georgia.gov

Purchase Order Receipt Issues

The improper use of the

Receipts should be added

Purchase Order Receiving as goods or services are

function in PeopleSoft

actually received and not

Financials is causing issues before!

for many agencies, SAO and

Fleet Management

There are numerous reasons

personnel. With the most for this.

recent upgrade to PeopleSoft 1. Entering receipts before

Financials 8.8, it became goods are actually received

necessary to create receivers misrepresents actual receipt

in the system prior to

dates. Vendor Performance

processing vouchers and

statistics are based on

payments in the Accounts actual receipt dates. These

Payable module. The reasons dates are incorrect and

for this change included

misrepresentative if the

capturing data for 3-way

receipt is entered early.

matching among the Receipt,

Purchase Order and the

2. Receipts of Purchase

Voucher; collecting vendor Orders for assets initiated

performance data and

in the Maximo system

making use of new system interface the receipt

functionality related to

information back to

partial payments. However, Maximo. Early receiving

it appears that many agencies makes it impossible for

are circumventing this

Fleet Management to

process by creating full

reconcile since assets are

receipts for purchase orders being created for vehicles

as soon as they are

that have not yet been

dispatched (printed). This is received.

not the proper use of the

system, causes numerous 3. Purchase Order change

system and data problems, orders that are created after

and creates additional work the receipt is processed are

by Accounts Payable

not passed to Accounts

personnel.

Payable because the receipt

was created before the

change was initiated. If receipts were created only for the actual amounts received, then each new receipt would always contain the most recent information from the purchase order which would subsequently feed to Accounts Payable.
4. Receiving the correct amount or quantity allows the system to create the voucher for the correct amount. This is especially important when multiple lines and split distributions are involved. If there is only one receipt for the full amount and a partial amount is vouchered, Accounts Payable has to reduce each voucher line and distribution to the appropriate partial amount. This may involve calculating the amount for each distribution based upon the percentages of the split. The system performs this calculation when the receipt is for

State Accounting Office Newsletter
Purchase Order Receipt Issues (continued)
modifications. "Amount Only" functionality was one of the big improvements with the recent upgrade and is not being used by many agencies.
All Purchase Order lines for a quantity of one which might require multiple partial payments should always to set up as "Amount Only" orders. This is done while entering the PO by checking the "Amount Only" checkbox on the PO Line "Attributes" page. This forces the line quantity to be 1 and the line to be changed by "amount" rather than quantity which will then allow the receipts to be entered for a dollar amount instead of a quantity.
Proper use of the receiving module will eliminate many system issues and allow much more accurate and meaningful data for procurement and Asset Management.
For additional information on this process, see UPK topic 9.3.1 "Add an Open Market PO" or the official FS Communication, PO Receipt Issues dated January 16, 2008.
How to Add/Update a Combination Code (Same as Account Code in 8.8)
The process used to establish a Combination Code in the PeopleSoft HCM System requires that each Combination Code represent a unique combination of PeopleSoft accounting values called Chartfields. Chartfield values are established in the PeopleSoft Financials module to accurately identify specific funding sources, projects, etc. The Combination Code Table is a holding file for the Chartfield values that are used to expense personal services and fringes in Financials. Each Combination Code must have its own unique set of Chartfield values, and all Chartfields must be valid values on the Financial Tree.
When adding/updating a Combination Code, it is important to use an Effective Date that is equal to or prior to the Department Budget Table Effective Date and Pay Begin date of the pay cycle when it goes into effect (including any lag payrolls). It is important to use a date early enough to accommodate all affected payrolls, including lag payrolls, and to eliminate any future dated rows in the Combination Code. When payroll is confirmed, the system reads the Pay Begin and Pay End dates of the payrolls being confirmed, the Effective Date in the Department Budget Table, and then it reads the Effective Date in the Combination Code Table. These dates are often overlooked or not coordinated with the other effective dates, especially in the case of lag payrolls.
The PeopleSoft HCM system uses Effective Dating, which means that the current date populates in the Effective Date field. Users must review the Effective Date field and select the most appropriate date. For example, a new Combination Code will need to be created and associated with a Department Level on the Department Budget Table for the 1/31/2008 semi-monthly payroll. If a Combination Code was entered on 1/28/2008, the current date of 1/28/2008 will be the default value in the Effective Date field. This date must be changed to an Effective Date that is the beginning of a pay period to accommodate any lag payrolls (hourly payrolls). Using this scenario, at minimum, the Effective Date must be changed to 01/01/2008 or prior. This date would then include the semi-monthly salaried employees (01/16/08 01/31/2008) and the semi-monthly hourly employees (01/01/2008 01/15/2008).
If the Effective Date in the Combination Code Table is greater than either the current row in the Department Budget Table or the Pay Begin Date, the system considers it a future dated row and will not use the data associated with that row. This will prevent labor from running for the affected payroll and for all statewide payrolls.
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State Accounting Office Newsletter

Streamlined Banking Update

The Streamlined Banking methodology:

Bobbie Davis facilitated the

Deployment Team held Managing state funds Book to Bank Stabilization

an End-to-End Transition

through controlling the Session. Additionally,

Session on Tuesday, January 15, 2008.

allotment process Concept of a

Monica Bradford (SME,) followed-up with the SLB

Monica Bradshaw, Jim

centralized banking agency contacts on their

Cooper, Jerri Darnell, and infrastructure Kristi Rayford presented Timely and accurate

progress with the monthly Book to Bank

the materials. In

reconciliation of cash Reconciliation of the

attendance were many of

through daily and

agency depository

the SLB agency personnel who were

monthly reconciliations accounts. All agencies

Accounting for

have now reconciled their

given a full overview of

interagency

accounts through December

the SLB business

transactions

2007.

processes. The purpose Refined procedures for A second Debriefing

of the session was to

Accounts Payable

reinforce the application Recognition of new

Session was held on Tuesday, January 22, 2008.

of basic concepts and ideas which should be

internal controls

The Debriefing Session

Available queries and served as an opportunity for

now fully implemented

reports

the SLB pilot agencies to

within pilot agencies.

discuss any issues and/or

Presentation materials Following the End-to-End concerns with the business

contained the following Transition Session,

model.

Streamlined Banking

Deployment Analyst

"Sound Fiscal Leadership for the State
of Georgia"

Announcements

Budget Compliance Overview Sessions

Budget Compliance Overview Sessions will be held at the Capital Education Center and hosted by the Office of Planning and Budget (OPB) and the State Accounting Office (SAO). Please ensure the appropriate employees register and attend.

To register for these sessions, please contact your Agency Training Coordinator or SAO_Communications for the following sessions no later than February 29, 2008.

Budget Compliance Overview Budget Compliance Overview
System Availability:

March 5, 2008 10:00 a.m. 12:00 p.m.
March 5, 2008 2:00 p.m. 4:00 p.m.

Course # 407FM01 Course # 407FM01

Session #: 0003 Session #: 0004

Normal Weekdays

Saturdays

Financials

7:00 a.m. 7:00 p.m. Financials

8:00 a.m. 1:00 p.m.

HCM

7:00 a.m. 6:00 p.m. HCM

8:00 a.m. 1:00 p.m.

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State Accounting Office Newsletter
Limited Production Modifications to PS Financials during the 9.0 Upgrade Project
An SAO communication dated January 22, 2008, which was sent to all Financials ListServ members, stated that due to the ongoing PeopleSoft 9.0 Financials Upgrade Project, there is a need to minimize changes and new development within the production environment until the upgrade project is complete. This will allow testing for upgrade activities to be conducted in the most efficient manner without introducing additional risk to the project and or causing the upgrade to take longer than planned. SAO has already initiated the "Limited Production Modification" phase during which only "high" or "urgent" priority issues will be addressed if modifications to the production environment are required.
What is a "high" or "urgent" priority production support request?
Such requests are those which have a direct impact on the agency's ability to continue to conduct the business of the State. For example, if there is an interruption of one for more agency's ability to post transactions, close out month-end, continue processing transactions, etc,....these are issues that would be considered as "high" or "urgent" production issues. Such issues would have to be addressed to allow the State's business to continue with as little interruption as possible.
What are not examples of a "high" or "urgent" priority production requests?
New system functionality is desired by an agency to replace an existing process A report needs to be modified for formatting to the agency's format preference A report can be viewed but not printed.
When will the "low" or "medium" impact issues be addressed?
SAO plans to resume its normal production support functions including addressing "medium" to "low" impact issues in the September, 2008 timeframe.
How do I initiate a request for a "high" or "urgent" production issue during the "Limited Production Modification" period?
Agencies can continue to contact SAO by calling the SAO Helpdesk at: 404-657-3956 or 888-896-7771 Monday - Friday 8am - 5pm
Agencies can also initiate a modification request by filling out an electronic request form located on the SAO web site under Financials/Forms/Financials Modification Request Form or under Human Capital Management (HCM)/Forms /Human Capital Management (HCM) Modification Request Form.
Agencies will continue to submit requests for any of the following:
New/Modified Reports New/Modified Page in PeopleSoft New/Modified Interface File or Extract File New/Modified Functionality (change to an existing Business Process, or an entirely new Business
Process) Continued
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State Accounting Office Newsletter
Limited Production Modifications to PS Financials during the 9.0 Upgrade Project (Continued)
After a modification request has been submitted to SAO, what is the process for issue tracking and resolution? Agency system modification requests are submitted to the Financials or Human Capital Management functional teams within SAO who conduct an initial evaluation. Once the system modification request has been reviewed and the planned solution is determined, it is confirmed with the user for preliminary approval and presented to the PeopleSoft development and system infrastructure teams for assignment and scheduling. Upon approval of the planned solution, the request is logged into the Incident Tracking System to identify the requestor, date and description of the request, who has been assigned to address it, and status of the request. This information is then monitored to ensure responsiveness to customer needs.
During the Limited Production Modification phase, "high" or "urgent" priority requests will continue to move through the production issue resolution process described above. "Medium" and "low" priority production issues will be logged, but development will be deferred until the 9.0 upgrade is complete and the system has been stabilized.
Accounts Receivable Update
The current versions of the Customer Statement report have been revised to provide report breakdown by customer location. The ARXXX0401 report will still reflect open receivables for all customers, but will also allow the report to be sorted by each location for the individual customer. The run control page contains defaulted values for the "Location From" and "Location To" fields. The default values are 0 and 999, respectively.
The ARXXX0431 report will still reflect open receivables only for customers with open receivables outstanding greater than 30 days. If the customer only has receivables open for 0-30 days, no customer statement report will be generated.
Please note that the report breakdown by location is only useful if the location was identified on the receivable item at the time it was established. Locations are entered on the Pending Item 2 page during receivable set up.
For additional information regarding the "location" field, see the Financials UPK Topic # 3.1.1 in the Accounts Receivable UPK. For additional information regarding report changes, please see the official FS Communication, Customer Statement Reports dated January 22, 2009.
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State Accounting Office Newsletter
Introducing the PeopleSoft Program Governance Council
As you know, PeopleSoft is the financial and human capital management system that the State acquired in support of enterprise-wide initiatives. In consideration of the extent to which the State relies on PeopleSoft to support many of the major system dependent initiatives of its agencies, a council was formed to provide strategic direction, oversight, and guidance of this very important asset. The PeopleSoft Program Governance Council (PPGC) was established in December 2007, and will play an integral role in prioritizing the multiple State needs from agencies such as the Department of Transportation (DOT), Georgia Building Authority (GBA), Georgia Technology Authority (GTA), and the Department of Human Resources (DHR). The Council also supports the initiatives of the State Personnel Administration (SPA) and the Department of Administrative Services (DOAS) to implement solutions that will lead to better management of the State's assets; i.e. Competency Management, e-Performance, and e-Procurement to name a few.
The PeopleSoft Financials system managed by the State Accounting Office (SAO) services approximately 70 state entities that make up approximately 80% of the state funds in the State Appropriation Act. The PeopleSoft Human Capital Management (HCM) system managed by the State Accounting Office is responsible for approximately 80 state entities for personnel administration and payroll for 65,000 state employees.
In 2006, the State Accounting Office purchased PeopleSoft Enterprise Performance Management (EPM) an analytical solutions tool that will help the state define and measure results and model and plan for the future.
Early in 2007, the Georgia Technology Authority assigned a PeopleSoft program manager to work with the State Accounting Office to adopt an Enterprise Program Management approach to implement PeopleSoft projects. "This program manages related projects in a coordinated way to accomplish the strategic objectives of the enterprise; maintains focus on the big picture, not just individual components; provides a single point of accountability that facilitates communication, coordination, and escalation; ensures consistency across enterprise efforts and provides a framework for addressing interdependencies between projects including resource allocation."
The scope of the PeopleSoft Program Governance Council is that they will help prioritize and provide direction on all projects relating to the following PeopleSoft environments:
Human Capital Management (HCM) Financials Systems (FS) Enterprise Performance Management (EPM)
The PeopleSoft Program Governance Council will utilize its members' collective experience, inside and outside the State of Georgia to provide strategic direction and guidance for the Enterprise Resource Planning and to make and facilitate key decisions to insure that projects are prioritized to meet program success. The Council will review and question key decisions to ensure the needs and best interests of the State are met. They will identify and assign action items, prepare project lists, draft communication plans, and draft performance measurement programs.
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State Accounting Office Newsletter
Introducing the PeopleSoft Program Governance Council (Continued)
This is done to ensure that:
Projects are prioritized based on overall benefit to the State Risks are identified and addressed Organizational support is in place Transition plans are comprehensive
The Council will operate with a Chairperson and Council Members who will meet every six to eight weeks, (more often if needed), and will have the authority to set strategic direction for the PeopleSoft ERP system; enforce policies and set priorities; stop a project or allow or disallow a new project into the program.
The Governance Council Steering Committee will be comprised of high ranking public officials from the Governors Office, Georgia Technology Authority (GTA), Office of Planning and Budget (OPB), State Accounting Office (SAO), Department of Administrative Services (DOAS), and the State Personnel Administration (SPA).
The PeopleSoft Governance Council will help drive the State to a less customized, easier to upgrade, enterprise-wide ERP system that will help elevate Georgia to "The Best Managed State" status.
Financials 9.0 Upgrade Milestone News
The PeopleSoft Financials 9.0 Upgrade project is right on target! The State Accounting Office (SAO) implementation team has just completed two major milestones; the Team Georgia Marketplace development database was completed as scheduled on February 15, 2008, and functional unit testing was completed as scheduled on February 15, 2008. That completes our first phase of testing. Our next milestone is System Testing which is a comprehensive testing cycle that encompasses the full cycle of the PeopleSoft workflow. Congratulations to the Financials 9.0 Upgrade Team!
Employee Corner
Streamlined Banking Group New Employees
Leslie Collins Lewanna Tomlinson

HCM Technology Group New Employee
Umar Mohamed Ibrahim

Financial Systems Group New Employee
Marilyn Roberts

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Want to be in the Know?
Want to be "In the Know"?
"FS Official Communications" are e-mailed on a regular basis to users who have subscribed to the Listserv system. One way to be "in the know" and receive these communications is to sign up for a Listserv!
Put yourself in the "LOOP"! There is no cost to subscribe and it's easy to do! You can also unsubscribe at any time. Please be aware, however, that the more elists (modules) that you sign up for, the more emails you will receive in your inbox. We recommend only signing up for the lists applicable to your job duties.
Listserv is one of the most effective ways for you to obtain information and communications relative to your PeopleSoft system. If you have not already done so, sign up now.
Available lists include: Financials -AP, AR, AM, GL, Labor, Budget, and PO HCM - Human Resources, HR Budget, Payroll and CSB's Financial Reporting - PeopleSoft Agencies, Non-PeopleSoft Agencies, Audits and CPA Audits
Visit the SAO Website and click Financial Systems > Related Links > ListServ and subscribe today!

State Accounting Office Newsletter
SAO Helpdesk and Options
404-657-3956 or 888-896-7771 Monday - Friday 8am - 5pm Option 1 - Financials Help Desk 1 Financial Accounting (GL, AR, Budgets, AM) 2 Financial Distribution (Vendors, AP, PO) Option 2 - HCM 1 HCM Application Support
Option 3 - ID, Password, Security

Option 4 - Connectivity, Printing

Option 5 - Streamlined Banking Operational Support

1 Streamlined Banking for Payroll

2 Streamlined Banking for Accounts Receivable

3 Streamlined Banking for Accounts Payable

4

Streamlined Banking for Bank Administration

5

Streamlined Banking for Check Reconciliation

Option 6 - Maximo Fleet Management System

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Contact Us State Accounting Office 200 Piedmont Avenue Suite 1604, West Tower
Atlanta, GA 30334
PHONE: (404) 656-2133
FAX: (404) 463-5089
E-MAIL: stateaccountingoffice@sao.ga.gov
We're on the Web! See us at:
http://sao.georgia.gov

State Accounting Office Newsletter
State Accounting Office of Georgia Lynn Vellinga, State Accounting Officer COMMUNICATIONS Toni Kennelly Mario Covington Deval Lott CONTACT 404-651-2133 sao_communications@sao.ga.gov http://sao.georgia.gov
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