Division of Business Services Newsletter – June 2020

This newsletter is intended to share information related to Division of Business Services activities. Please feel free to share this information with your colleagues.

We welcome your feedback! Please send questions, comments and/or suggestions to admin@bussvc.wisc.edu.


WISDM Decommissioning

UW System has notified all users that WISDM will be decommissioned on October 29, 2020.  At this time, all user facing modules of WISER have been rolled out, and moving forward, enhancements will only be done in WISER (i.e., new AR/BI pages).

At the present time there are no WISER  Dataviews, so the WISDM Dataviews will continue to function as the data warehouse.

In order to help users prepare for this transition, we will be offering new training sessions: “WISER for WISDM Users”.  We will also continue to offer the “Introduction to WISER” session, which is the primary class recommended for new hires.  Both registrations are available at  https://www.talent.wisc.edu/Catalog/Default.aspx?tabid=29&SeriesKey=545.

Those looking for specific Grants Management Training can register at  https://www.talent.wisc.edu/OHRDCatalogPortal/default.aspx?serieskey=356

  • Existing WISDM users should attend “RED: Highlights of WISER Projects for Grants Management”
  • New staff should attend “RED: WISER for Grants Management”

Authorization to Sign UPDATE

Since the DoBS Accounting Team has added new form types for Outgoing Wire/Draft and Refund of Receipts (ROR) to the Authorization to Sign Financial forms, anyone who currently has authorization to sign for their Dean/Director for All items will be automatically grandfathered in to sign for Outgoing Wires/Drafts and RORs.

Please submit a new form if you would like to remove any of the Forms from a person’s access. Please write “Remove” in the signature box and include the Form abbreviation you would like to remove and have it signed by Dean/Director or an Authorized Signer.

Also, please remember to update your Divisional Business Office List by submitting a new form when staff changes or at the beginning of each Fiscal Year.

The updated form can be found at https://businessservices.wisc.edu/documents/authorization-to-sign-financial-forms/

Volunteer to Support P2P Configuration or Testing

As the P2P Automation project prepares for a transition to design and execution phases of the project, the P2P Change Management Team is seeking volunteers to participate in focus and user groups.

The Configuration Focus Group will assist by conducting a review of the system configuration and provide feedback to ensure design and build meet the needs of the user group.  This group will also help by reviewing training documents and job aids, support go-live activities in their area and provide feedback on adoption of the new system.

The User Acceptance Testing (UAT) Group will be able to test the new system, review training documents and job aids and assist with end-user validation.

To volunteer for either of these groups, submit your name, email address and group preference (configuration or testing) on the Share Your Thoughts page of the website.

Gift Management Account Code UPDATE

Beginning in July 2020 for Fiscal Year 2021, Gift Management in Accounting Services will begin using revenue account code 9505, UWF-General to record all gift revenues on Funds 233 and 533 received from UW Foundation (a/k/a:  WFAA, UWF).  By using this account code for UWF receipts, we will gain certain reporting benefits and efficiencies.  We will also be able to easily see at any point during the year how much gift revenue has been received from UWF versus directly from donors.  All gift deposits for gift monies that come directly from a donor will continue to be recorded to revenue account code 9500, Gifts.

If you believe that making this change will cause issues or challenges for any reporting requirements you have, please contact April Cook at giftmgt@bussvc.wisc.edu no later than Friday, July 3.  If we do not hear from you, we will proceed with implementing this change as planned.

Central Accounts Receivable for Non-Sponsored Billing

Accounts Receivable and Billing module pages are now live in WISDM. Areas currently billing through the Central AR office can use these pages to review invoice and customer information.

Additionally, WISER now has links to supporting documentation coming from the Accounts Receivable and Billing modules in SFS. Invoice copies and other supporting documentation can now be viewed by clicking on the “Line Descr” for transactions with a source of “BIN” or “ARN”.

Policy 100 Non-Sponsored Centralized Accounts Receivable and related procedures created to govern the Central Accounts Receivable office for Non-Sponsored Billing are available at https://businessservices.wisc.edu/policies-and-procedures/#AccountsReceivablePolicyProcedure.

NEW Unclaimed Deposits Policy

Effective July 1, 2020, the Cash Management team will implement Policy 121 Unclaimed Deposits, which is available at https://businessservices.wisc.edu/documents/121-unclaimed-deposits-policy/

As of June 1, 2020 the Unidentified deposits balance was $1,000,518. A complete list of the transactions held in PRJ38CM is available at https://businessservices.wisc.edu/documents/claim-unidentified-deposits/

Please review the list in detail and claim any deposits belonging to your departments for year-end reporting and reconciliation purposes.

NEW Refund of Receipt (RoR) Form

A new version of RoR form has been made available for use as of June 15, 2020. Cash Management will continue to accept the old version of RoR forms but will plan to phase them out completely by June 30, 2020.

The RoR form is to be used for refunds to original payee associated with receipt of revenue collected by the University (e.g., returned or defective merchandise, incomplete services, cancelled events/conferences etc.,) in compliance with established policies and procedures.

RoR instructions and link to the new RoR form are available at https://businessservices.wisc.edu/documents/refunds-of-receipts/

Please contact Cash Management at cashmgt@bussvc.wisc.edu if you have any questions.

COMING SOON: SFS Purchasing Card Module

In conjunction with UW System Administration and UW Oshkosh, UW Madison staff have been working to implement the purchasing card module of PeopleSoft (SFS) for purchasing card reconciliation.  This module will replace the use of U.S. Bank’s Access Online for cardholders and site managers and includes benefits for purchasing card users at every level, including cardholders, site managers, Divisional Business Office leadership, program administrators and program auditors:

  • Allows for both cardholder and site manager allocation (currently, only site managers have the ability to allocate purchasing card transactions in Access Online).
  • Decreases the time between when a purchase is made and when the transaction posts to the University’s general ledger.
  • Allows for electronic retention of purchasing card supporting documentation in one system of record.
  • Allows for electronic review and approval of purchasing card transactions and supporting documentation.
  • Decreases administrative burden during post-payment audit process (e.g. Business Services will no longer need to request documentation from site managers for audit).

Timeline: An exact implementation date has not been determined yet as the team is currently in the planning/development stages of the project; however, the goal is to implement the module before the end of the calendar year.

Refresher Training: A decision has been made to postpone the Annual Online Purchasing Card Refresher Training until we can incorporate training for the new module into the course.  All active purchasing cardholders and site managers will be required to complete the course later on this year.

If you have any questions or comments about this project please contact pcard@bussvc.wisc.edu.

Business Services Training

Even though many employees are now working remotely, Division of Business Services training sessions are still available to you and your staff in a variety of platforms.

The entire list of Business Services trainings can be viewed in the OHRD catalog at https://www.talent.wisc.edu/Catalog/Default.aspx?tabid=29&SeriesKey=202.