What's New in 2002


2002 Updates

Decision Support	Transaction Processing	Web News
5/20/02 - DS Release 5.0 10/15/02 - DS Release 5.0.4	2/6/02 - TP Release 6.0 6/7/02 - TP Release 8.0	1/7/02 - DaFIS Channel 1/28/02 - Winter DaFIS Notes 4/5/02 - Spring DaFIS Notes 7/3/02 - Summer DaFIS Notes

10/15/02 Decision Support Release 5.0.4 The highlights of this release include: Online help page added Link to DaFIS web site added Service Unit Billing Information updated New Report - Extramural Overdrafts (265) IB detail includes information from IB items screen Fields added to some reports Online help page added. The new help page can be accessed from any other page in DS by clicking on the link in the footer. A number of help resources are already available on this page and more will be added as they are developed. Link to DaFIS web site added. As part of this release, a link to the DaFIS web site has also been added to the footer in Decision Support. Service Unit Billing Information updated. This list of the most frequently-used service departments has been updated to include the origin code and billing frequency for each of the units. New Report - Extramural Overdrafts (265). This query allows departments to monitor their extramural funds in overdraft as well as funds operating under the Request to Expend in Advance of Receiving an Award (REARA) authorization. The report is run by organization, with the results displaying account numbers, PI names and account managers. This report will only list accounts where both the account and fund are in overdraft. An overdraft in an extramural fund occurs when all accounts associated with a fund incur total expenses in excess of total budgeted income. For the purpose of this report, the appropriations are taken from the income account, and the expenditures from the expense account(s). Encumbrances are not shown. Accounts in the REARA category will not show an amount in the Appropriations column. The default for totals on this report is at the sub-fund group type. An option is provided to group and total at the home department level. IB detail includes information from IB items screen. When you drill down on an Interdepartmental Bill (IB) document on your ledger, the detail given on the Transactions by Document (19) report will now include information from the Items screen of the IB document (if any items were listed on the IB). Fields added to some reports. A Sub Fund Group Type field was added to Summary of Consolidation Balances (44). An OP Fund list field was added to Summary of Object Group Balances (216). A Sort Options field was added to the Statement of Operations (193) to allow the user to total across OP Funds or to report OP Funds individually. Top 7/3/02 Summer issue of DaFIS Notes online The Summer 2002 issue of DaFIS Notes is now online. DaFIS Notes is only sent to newlsetter subscribers. Top
6/7/02 Transaction Processing Release 8.0 Release 8.0 of Transaction Processing went into production. The most notable change is an enhancement to the Distribution of Expense (DI), Error Correction (EC), and Restricted Error Correction (REC) documents to assist departments in capturing the information required to comply with UCD Policy & Procedure Manual, Section 330-63. This policy requires that transfers involving sponsored project funds meet specific criteria. To facilitate the documentation of appropriate justification, an additional screen has been added to these documents which will be accessed through the Justification button on the documents. The justification screen requires the initiator to respond to specific questions regarding the nature and timing of the transfer. The initiator is required to provide responses in order to process the document if extramural funds are used on the document. Extramural Funds Accounting will approve or disapprove the expenditure adjustment transactions based on the accuracy and completeness of the information. All questions that require a response must be sufficient in detail in order for Extramural to ascertain the appropriateness of the transfer. Departments can refer to the Fall 2001 DaFIS Notes article on Expenditure Adjustments (Cost Transfers) for further information. Top 5/20/02 Decision Support Release 5.0 Aside from a clean new look, there are several significant changes and additions in this release - most notably: Consolidation of the Transaction Listings into one report New Report - Object Expenditures by Fiscal Year (256) New Reports - Recharge Unit Order Detail (255) & Recharge Unit Order Summary (257) Full DS functionality within the MyUCDavis portal A dynamic menu bar Print icon added to query results pages New Report - Transaction Listing - Custom (2). This query consolidates all of the prior transaction listings into one, with all of the options available in this one query. This provides you greater flexibility in your reporting. However, you have the option to run one of the old transaction listings simply by selecting it in the usual way. Running the old queries - If you select one of the old transaction listings (e.g. 110) from the Query Jump, or the link in the Transaction Listing folder, you will be taken to this new query screen. All of the criteria appropriate for the query you want to run (in this case, 110) will be defaulted for you. Buttons located on the input screen will allow you to select defaults for any of the old transaction listing reports. [Note: there is no button for the old 179. If you want to run that report, select Sub Acct/Consol (153) and include Payroll Detail in the Transaction Listing Options at the bottom of the screen.] Payroll Detail - You will now be able to get payroll detail on all transaction listing reports. Be aware that it will only show on reports where the payroll period is closed. If you choose this option for the current month you will get a warning that the information may be incorrect. Because payroll has not been posted for the current month, you will only get last month's expenditures, without encumbrances. In this case, with no payroll encumbrances your account balance for the current period will be incorrect. Subtotals and Sorts - If you want to take the transaction listing beyond one of the old reports, you can select your own subtotal and sort levels. There are up to three subtotal levels that can be selected. The first level is the outermost level. You can also select how the lowest specified level is sorted for your report. The default is Post Date, but you can now sort by document number, amount, etc. Macros - If your department returns results into a spreadsheet in order to run macros, the spreadsheet format will be consistent no matter which options are selected for this report. Each attribute has its own column. If that attribute was not selected for the query, its column will simply be blank. If you currently have macros set up for any of the transaction listings you will need to modify them for the new column structure. New Report - Object Expenditures by Fiscal Year (256). This report provides a summary of the recorded financial activity by object code. It allows you to select a range of fiscal periods that cross fiscal years, or to run a comparison of a selected fiscal period/range for several fiscal years. It gives users the ability to review the entire object code financial activity of a contract/grant over the life of the contract in one report. It also provides the ability to segregate objects subject to indirect cost recovery from those objects that are exempt from indirect cost recovery. New Reports - Recharge Unit Order Detail (255) & Recharge Unit Order Summary (257). As part of an effort to centralize recharge billing information, these two queries have been added. This means that you will have the ability to drill-down on any GLIB documents that you see on your ledgers to get more details. At this time, the level of detail available is similar to before, but once the effort is complete the service units will no longer need to provide departments with a separate bill because all the detail necessary for reconciliation will be fed to DS. The entire system has a brighter, sharper image. Along with this new look comes additional functionality, and a reinstatement of all DS functionality when accessed through the portal (http://my.ucdavis.edu/). Saving queries and object grouping maintenance are among functions previously unavailable through the portal, but now fully functional. Menu Bar - A dynamic menu bar, which can be turned on or off, is part of this new version. This menu bar is available to users of Netscape 6, IE 5 and later versions of either browser. It provides you access to all queries from wherever you are within DS. If you prefer the screen real estate, there is an option to hide the menu. Help Functions - You will see new question mark (?) icons on most of the screens. Clicking on the ? will pop up a description of the field/report with which it is associated. This reduces the screen clutter, while preserving the information for use as needed. Ability to open multiple windows in MyUCDavis. IET has made modifications to MyUCDavis that will allow you to launch any of the applications in a new window. This makes it easier for you to have multiple sessions of DaFIS DS open, or run DaFIS DS and PPS DS at the same time. In addition, a check box has been added to each of our input screens that will give you the option to launch the results in yet another window. This will make it easier to create multiple results for the same report. Easier printing of reports directly from your web browser. To make printing easier, especially within the frames of the portal, a print icon has been added to each of your results pages. This should ease problems with printing the wrong frame, or losing your browser's print settings. Top 4/5/02 Spring issue of DaFIS Notes online The Spring 2002 issue of DaFIS Notes is now online. Starting with this issue, DaFIS Notes will only sent to newlsetter subscribers. Top 2/6/02 Transaction Processing Release 6.0 Release 6.0 of Transaction Processing went into production. Among the highlights in this release: Default account delegate field added to Account document - This optional field allows departments to specify a default non-primary delegate at the time an account is established or modified on the Account document. If such input is entered in the field, a non-primary account delegate is created when the Account document is approved. "No Delegates" search option added to Mass Change Account Delegate document - This check box allows you to limit your account selection on this document to only those which currently have no delegates assigned. This will make it very easy to add delegates to any accounts that currently do not have delegates assigned to them. Note: It is highly recommended that at least one non-primary delegate be designated on each account for approval of routine transactions, in case the account manager is unavailable. Filter In Box by workgroup - Workgroup members now have the option to view just those documents in their In Box for one or more of the workgroups to which they belong. The workgroup selection screen can be accessed by clicking on the green and pink more button under the Workgroups label on the In Box screen. The user can then select the workgroups for which he/she wants to view documents. Non-Workgroup added to In Box Choices - A new selection, titled Non-Workgroup, has been added to the In Box Choices menu on the In Box screen. This option allows users to view just those documents that have routed directly to them (not as part of a workgroup) or that have been saved to their In Box for later completion. Top 1/28/02 Winter issue of DaFIS Notes online The Winter 2002 issue of DaFIS Notes is now online. DaFIS Notes is sent to all active DaFIS Users. If you did not receive your copy, please contact us. Top 1/7/02 DaFIS Channel A DaFIS Channel has now been added to the MyUCDavis portal. The channel provides you with a central location to access Decision Support and information about DaFIS. Features of the channel include Full access to Decision Support (for active DaFIS users only) Quick access to any of your saved queries in Decision Support (DS) The query jump feature from DS The weekly tips, otherwise only accessible by logging into Transaction Processing (TP) A list of DaFIS classes currently available for enrollment A link to the online version of DaFIS Notes, and more! This new service is part of the UC New Business Architecture (NBA) initiative to offer campus services over the web. You will still be able to access Decision Support (DS) in the same way you always have. The advantage of entering DS via MyUCDavis is that the one login provides you access to Decision Support, PPS Decision Support, and other services (e.g. e-mail). In order to access MyUCDavis, you will need your campus computer ID and campus kerberos password. Those who have never used their kerberos password will be receiving an e-mail from IET detailing how to set up their password. To view the DaFIS Channel, you will have to add it to your selected options. To add the DaFIS Channel to your MyUCDavis page, use the QuickCustomize lists on the bottom of the main page or click on the Customize this Page link at the top of the page. Top