The University has critical financial management and reporting needs that are not currently being met within the existing environment, resulting in inefficiencies in daily use, incomplete staff training, and inconsistent budgeting and reporting.

Due to the current CoA issues, the University Board of Trustees’ Audit Committee is in full support of redesigning the existing CoA at the University of Dayton.  The University’s President has recognized this effort as a strategic opportunity to revisit administrative practices and policies with a focus on reducing administrative burden, strengthening internal controls, facilitating data transparency, and enhancing financial reporting capabilities.

We are implementing an entirely new chart that the entire institution will utilize moving forward. The current Chart of Accounts does not leverage the complete capabilities of Banner, leaving large portions of manual work for the administrative and IT staff that occurs “off book” or in external systems that are not audit compliant.

However, some elements of the current chart that are working well and meeting UD’s needs may be retained in the new chart.

As we move through the financial management transformation, the first wave of which is the change in the chart of accounts, we are catching up to our peer institutions. Many have gone through COA changes in the last decade with corresponding updates to their financial systems also.

The new chart will go live July 1, 2019.

The new chart will be utilized for all financial transactions across the institution. As such, every system that interacts with Banner Finance will be impacted, as will the other Banner systems such as HR and Student.  

As part of the CoA redesign effort, UD is conducting an Impact Assessment to identify all systems that interface with the Chart of Accounts.  The purpose of the Impact Assessment is to ensure that a functional connection between the chart and those interacting systems exists, as well as determine the amount of impact the chart changes will have on each system.  As development of the new chart continues, ongoing discussions with IT and other units that utilize the interacting systems will be held to ensure all reporting needs are being met.

The new chart will be designed to, at a minimum, perform at the same caliber of the current chart. We expect that the new Chart of Accounts will enhance your ability to perform your day-to-day functions by simplifying processes and improving reporting capabilities.

These reporting capability enhancements include the ability to run consistent financial reports across the institution and to pull financial data directly from Banner. Users will be able to run budget vs actual and other financial reports with greater ease in a more user friendly format.

The Controller's office and other finance leaders will be able to run income statements, balances, and cash flows more easily for the University, as well as specific units and departments.

Multiple tools will be available beginning July 1 to ensure users can continue to do their jobs while learning to use the new (Chart F) chart of accounts. Job aids and training materials are available on the COA website’s Training Resources page, and additional communications regarding open labs and trainings are available on the Communications page.

All project documentation is currently being housed in a Team Google Drive titled FMT- CoA Design & Development.. In this drive, you have access to meeting minutes, documentation, and training materials as they are created.  If you would like access to this drive, please contact Kristin Massie (kmassie2@udayton.edu).

We are aware of the business requirements for accessing and utilizing data. Moving forward, the Core Team is going to be cognizant of these as we continue to develop an implementation plan that meets core business requirements.

Enhanced reporting from current state, and complex reporting that incorporates multiple systems, however will likely be developed during the optimization portion of the project after July 2019.

Throughout integration and training, policies and best practices will be communicated. Once the integration and training phase has ended, the optimization portion will begin. After July 2019, UD will focus on optimizing policies and processes to ensure inefficient practices of the previous chart are not being transferred to the updated chart. Optimization efforts will make sure the new chart is leveraged to its highest potential.

For June transactions use the old forms. New forms for FY20 transactions will post July 1 and should be used for FY20 transactions only.

Each department will house the updated forms on their own departmental website. Links to these websites will be available on the COA website’s Training Resources page. New forms will go live July 1. If you cannot find a new form, please contact the department which owns the form

Departments with their own financial forms which are not used campus-wide are asked to update their forms appropriately and provide them to other departments as needed.

Yes, we encourage you to bring any invoices, purchases, requisitions, or other financial transactions you need to make with you. Real-life examples provide an excellent opportunity to learn as it pertains specifically to you and your department, so bring as many invoices as you wish, and we will be happy to help you process those.

We will have additional trainings in August as well.

The entire new (Chart F) chart of accounts has been posted on the COA website’s Training Resources page. You will be able to see all FOAPAL elements for departments across campus. Budget and financial information for individual departments will be viewable to departments based on their organizational hierarchy. You will not be able to view budget or financial information for departments not in your organizational hierarchy.

Yes, all FOAPAL elements have been defined and are available on the Full Chart F FOAPAL Code Listing on the COA website’s Training Resources page.

Levels were created so roll-up reporting could be done on the various fields of the FOAPAL string. The lowest level is the data entry level which users will use when completing financial transactions. The data entry level has been highlighted in blue on the printable version of the chart of accounts.

On the COA website’s Training Resources page, a number of job aids, links to forms, and directions to crosswalk and validation tools are available. The Crosswalk Tool is a good first step for how to look up new (Chart F) elements based on old (Chart D) fund information. 101 handouts and dictionaries define each segment of the new (Chart F) FOAPAL string. We suggest you work with your Budget Manager or contact the Change Management Task Force or COA project team for additional questions on using the appropriate FOAPAL value.

Nearly all FOAPAL codes have been predefined. Consultants recommended governance structure, and this chart is more structured and aligns with decisions being made by financial leadership. However, there is flexibility to accommodate departmental needs through certain generic codes. We suggest you work with your Budget Manager to identify generic codes which can be used for your specific departmental needs.

Only a donor can determine if a donation is restricted. Since sponsored research funds are not donations, they cannot be coded as restricted, even though we recognize the needs to spend according to the stipulations of the contract.

Each endowment will have its own fund number because it houses its own distinct ‘pot of money’.

Auxiliary Services at the University of Dayton include departments such as Housing and Residence Life, Dining Services, Print and Copy Services, etc. These departments usually generate revenue for their service and are considered self-supporting.

All numbers in the old (Chart D) chart of accounts will no longer exist. All new (Chart F) chart of accounts numbers are entirely new.

Yes, an Account Code Dictionary has been added to the COA website’s Training Resources page. It defines every available account code for use by campus. A dictionary for activity codes will be added soon.

Program Code 100010 identifies Instruction - 3rd Term. For all third term instructional expenditures, this will be the Program Code used in the FOAPAL string.

Yes, you can budget activity according to department. Partner with your Budget Manager to explore options.

We need to keep in mind efficiencies for payroll regarding this. I know some areas are intending to use activity for labor, but this would be in cases where the individuals would be charged consistently to the same activity.

Generic activity codes can be as customized as a department might wish. We suggest you work with your Budget Manager to determine how best to use generic activities codes for your department’s operations.

We encourage you to work with your Budget Manager to create an Activity Code list defining which Generic Activity Code is being used for which event, initiative, program, etc.

Activity and Location codes require input, but your department may not want to track a particular activity or location. When this is the case you will input 999999 in these fields. Some systems such as Runway will allow you to create favorites where you can save the input for these fields, but for the most part you will have to type these in each time.

Location codes can be used to indicate an event took place in a particular building on campus, such as a conference being hosted in Virginia Kettering Hall.  Location codes will be required when completing a campus work order to indicate which building needs repairs or maintenance.

New Location Codes can be requested through the Controller’s Office Team Dynamix ticket available at https://udayton.teamdynamix.com/TDClient/Requests/ServiceDet?ID=34788. Your Budget Manager will review the tickets prior to the Controller’s Office granting approval for new Location Codes to be added.

You will assign old (Chart D) or new (Chart F) FOAPAL string information based on the actual posting date. For instance, if you buy something on a purchasing card on June 30 and it does not post until July 1, You will use new (Chart F) FOAPAL information as the transaction posted in the new fiscal year.

Enter this into the ‘Index’ field.

You can do it in one transaction and just split the cost as you do today.  You will just select chart D for UDRI and chart F for campus.

Expenses should be charged according to their purpose.  If charges should be considered general operating expenses, they should be charged to operations.  If funding is on an exceptional basis, it may make sense to charge directly to reserves.

This will depend on the design process, the Impact Assessment, and further discussions with UD leadership.

Yes, it is best practice to use the AR Invoice form to invoice outside customers.  Please consult with your Budget Manager and/or the Controller's Office.

No, the processes are the same going into the new systems.  The forms/inputs are different, however.

For more info about Runway: https://udayton.edu/finadmin/divisions/fss/procurement-payable-services/procurement-services/find_products_services/purchasing_methods/eprocurement-runway.php

No, a pop-up box will continue to display with search by values or descriptions fields.

Users can create an unlimited number of accounting code favorites in Runway.

There is nothing that will be able to crosswalk the old favorites.  You will need to set up new favorites and remove the old chart favorites.

Yes, job aids identifying changes in systems and forms have been created and uploaded to the COA website’s Training Resources page.

Each FOAPAL (fund, org, acct, program, activity, location) field will be required in Runway. However, users will continue to search for values and select the 6 digit value from the search box (not type 6 digits for each FOAPAL).

Rejections will occur if you do not have the authority to spend against a particular organization code. Runway will not allow free-form text for the FOAPAL values and users will only be able to select an actual FOAPAL value for a specific chart.

This will depend on the system. Check the COA website’s Training Resources page for job aids and training materials that will explain the changes to these systems and how they will impact you.

Rejection messages will be emailed to users if they do not have approval to spend from a particular organization.

This works the same as it does today.  If you do not have spend authority, assign the cart to purchasing and they can submit on your behalf.

All open POs that exist in chart D will be touched by Purchasing and crosswalk the accounting codes over to chart F.

No, the website will not be changing at this time. The website will be reconfigured to accommodate the new chart, but it will use the same login/password, URL, etc. to which you’re accustomed.

Not yet.  There is likely to be a roll out to an electronic application in late July in Runway (in lieu of Team Dynamix). Procurement and Payables Services will communicate with campus when the electronic application goes live.

Yes, this description serves as verification and assists with auditing for accuracy.

Yes, you will have six fields instead of two, all of which will require you to choose a value.

Reconciliations of July purchasing card transactions using new (Chart F) FOAPAL information will occur in August. For June purchasing card expenses which are due July 2, you will still use the old (Chart D) FOAPAL information.

Both Altour and Concur will be able to accommodate the new FOAPAL string. Please provide all six fields when booking travel.

Yes, you will still go to the Travel & Entertainment webpage to obtain the Travel Form number.

Yes, you can fill the form out in Excel, but the form will still need to be printed for signatures.

As of now the form is percentage-based only. If you need to break out amounts by dollar, please contact Procurement and Payable Services.

For more info on Procurement and Payable Services: https://udayton.edu/finadmin/divisions/fss/procurement-payable-services/index.php

Pre-approvals are required for all travel. Please see the university's Travel Process and Procedures webpage for further details on the approval process.

This is where activity code will come in to play.  If you have a trip or conference that you would like to track, you can use one of the generic activity codes (i.e. Conference A, Trip A)

The person who paid for the expense should be the one submitting the receipt for reimbursement.

Contact Procurement and Payable Services, and they will walk you through the form to ensure it is filled out correctly and in accordance with IRS regulations.

Check the box stating it’s a cash advance and put a description in for what it is related to.

This will populate a date range based on the dates filled in for each line to be reimbursed.

Split the charge out on 1 line for meal and alcohol and put them in the correct columns.  The total should match the amount to be reimbursed.

Per diem would go in it’s own row based on the city of travel (amounts are determined the same way they currently are).

If the final destination of the trip is outside the USA (and there is a valid business purpose for the trip that requires travel abroad), then all activity is considered international (includes meals on layover at first leg of trip, parking, mileage to/from airport, etc.).

Under the ‘...Airline’ accounts.

No, each receipt should have its own row.

There is a button at the bottom of the form where you can add as many lines as needed.

You should only be using the Internal Charges account codes.

Certain departments are still using HP printers. If you are using paper from Central Receiving for an HP printer, then you must provide a FOAPAL string. You will also need to list “HP Printer Paper” in the Business Purpose field when completing the Campus Requisition. If the paper is for a ProSource printer, you do not need to input a FOAPAL string, but you do need to input the ProSource equipment ID number on the campus requisition.

Flyer Enterprises should be using 840000 IC-General Services.

For PAF's that make sense to do now, there will be assistance to crosswalk them. For PAF's that are done after July 1, please work with your Budget Managers to establish the correct coding.

Yes, these sessions are typically offered before Fall ePAF’s are due. HR will communicate exact dates with campus when these sessions are scheduled.

Yes, it would be good practice to include the dashes, but this is a free populated field.

The timesheet queue number will be different, but the Porches approval process will remain the same.