October 31, 2022

With Fall quarter now in full swing, the FMM team is wrapping up the design phase for our new financial system. Since the project kicked off in February, we’ve conducted process design sessions to outline how to best use the system functionality to support campus needs. Additionally, we continue to make progress on determining the new values for the Common Chart of Accounts (CCOA) segments. There are several program accomplishments to highlight since our last update:

  • The FAQ page on the program website includes all of the questions submitted during our CCOA town hall on August 25. If you work with the current COA but were not able to attend this town hall, please watch the recording for an overview of what the future chart will look like.
  • The FMM Campus Conversation, our first in-person program event, was held on October 6 in the MCC Theater. Divisional CFOs and project leadership provided their perspectives on our current system, shared highlights on how the new system will benefit staff with finance-related jobs, and answered questions. We loved seeing such a large group of familiar faces in person rather than over Zoom!

  • We developed an FMM testimonials video to highlight some of the financial leaders participating in this project and their thoughts on how our campus will benefit from a new financial system. We highly recommend watching this video, especially if you were not able to attend the campus conversation event, as many of the sentiments shared in the video were discussion topics at this event.
  • Multiple departments are participating in a prototype data conversion, with a broader group expected to be engaged in these activities in the coming months. This effort provides valuable input to improve the efficiency of data conversion tasks.
  • Project team members are documenting design change impacts as we prepare to wrap up the initial system design. These change impacts describe the key differences between current financial processes and how they will be performed through the corresponding Oracle Financials Cloud module in the future. Understanding these changes aids in developing a training plan to support end users.

Events

  • Next town hall to be held in early 2023, date/time TBD

People

Featured Team Member: Claudia Gutierrez, Subject Matter Expert, Invoice-to-Cash (ITC) Workstream

  • UCSB role: Claudia is a financial analyst for the UCSB Nanofabrication Facility. A large component of her job includes issuing and processing invoices for external users that access the lab facility for a fee. 
  • FMM program role: As a Subject Matter Expert in the FMM program, Claudia attends design sessions for ITC, the Oracle Financials Cloud module responsible for creating invoices/receivables and the basic receivable management process. In these meetings, she provides knowledge of business processes and end-user needs in her respective area, and identifies requirements and recommendations for the new system. She deals with a variety of external processes and systems as a result of her role on campus, so she’s able to provide the design team with an important perspective on the flexibility needed when processing invoices in OFC.
  • Thoughts on the benefits of OFC for campus: Most labs will be able to use the new system very easily. The ITC module will streamline current processes and alleviate the work on recharge centers that have to manually input invoice information. 

By the Numbers

  • 154 attendees at the campus conversation event
  • 17 team members attended an Oracle Financials Cloud mini-summit earlier this month to obtain lessons learned from UC campuses that have already completed their implementation
  • 388 design sessions hosted since kickoff
  • 68 integrations required to convert data from existing financial systems into Oracle
  • 10 major design documents to be completed by the end of the year

Staying Engaged

Thank you for your continued support in modernizing our campus financial system. Your involvement is key to the success of this project.