Financial Management Modernization FAQ's

Features within Oracle Financials Cloud will replace TOE, TOF, and GUS. Portions of the GMC may remain in place to provide support for some Concur functions. Additionally, we expect new reporting tools in place prior to go-live. As we learn more about the functionality and fit of OFC, we will identify solutions based on business requirements if there are essential capabilities that cannot be accommodated by the product. 

There are various reasons:

• In the current state, there is considerable effort expended by the GUS user to “reconcile,” or match later actual expenditures from the General Ledger with the anticipated “liened” expenditures, and adjust the liens and account for variances. OFC provides that integration without any manual intervention
• GUS was designed around the current COA structure and created to meet departmental needs for more granular budgeting, tracking, and reporting. OFC will provide real-time data (no more manual entry), as well as the level of granularity and reporting capabilities that departments haven’t had in prior financial systems
• In addition, overhauling & redesigning GUS to align with OFC and the CCOA would be extremely difficult to achieve, virtually unsustainable to maintain, and result in redundancies/duplications with delivered OFC functionalities

We are no longer sunsetting Gateway and will retain this system for procurement. A remediation project is underway to integrate Gateway with Oracle Financials Cloud.

The Data Warehouse will be replaced with a new reporting solution to meet the needs of the FMM project. The current Eazy Access, Online GL, and Hyperion Desktop tools will be deprecated overtime as HR and Financial reports are migrated to the new solution.

Most of the functionality of the Gateway Management Console (GMC) will be replaced by Oracle Financials Cloud (OFC). Role management for OFC, Gateway, and Concur will be handled in OFC. The eSpresso systems will be replaced with OFC. The GMC will still handle role management primarily for BARC only.

In addition, no account string creation or syncing of chartfield data will be used in the GMC. The CCOA's primary source will be Enterprise Data Management (EDM) and Projects & Grants Management (PGM) for projects. Data will feed from those data sources to other systems instead.

An integration between ORBiT and OFC has not been deemed necessary. Award Synopsis details from ORBiT will be manually copy/pasted into OFC to start the budget process.

We are confident that the FMM implementation will include better tools that will allow for less reliance on shadow systems. With that said, we don't have a campus inventory of how many shadow systems are in use and how departments use them. The goal of FMM is to standardize financial management across campus and provide better reporting capability, which will in turn reduce our reliance on shadow systems.

 UC San Diego evaluated Oracle, SAP and Kuali in their "cost-per-quality-point" based RFP (request for proposal), and Oracle prevailed under this analysis. UCLA also conducted an RFP in which Oracle also prevailed. 

Historical data will be available in the new data warehouse platform and accessible with new tools.

Yes, Equipment/Asset Management is a component of the new system's “Record-to-Report” (RTR) workstream. OFC has a subsidiary ledger (module) for Fixed Assets. Fixed Assets is where all the detail for completed equipment assets and completed buildings will be maintained. The Equipment Management team and General Accounting's Plant Account team will be managing UCSB's fixed assets in this module. The Equipment Management team will be managing inventorial asset inventory in this module as well.

We understand that there are significant impacts resulting from decisions on where and how business functions are performed. At the same time the campus is hoping to adopt stream-lined “leading practices” based on business requirements rather than historical practices, which are informed by the experiences of both our implementation partner and the other campuses who have moved to Oracle.
 

While we haven’t yet had hands-on experience adding comments/notes (this will come during testing), there will be options for adding free form notes to transactions at the time of charging in respective subledgers. Some users can also add freeform descriptions/comments on specific project-related transactions in the Projects & Grants Management (PGM) module.

Additionally, our new Common Chart of Accounts (CCOA) will provide a new and more robust approach to expense categorization in the future state. That said, unlike the current state, fields will be pre-defined and not user defined in order to have consistent data across campus.

Our Projects & Grants Management (PGM) module design approach has integrated GUS user requirements that were gathered a couple of years ago through a lengthy grassroots effort. That said, because we are not trying to replicate all individual GUS functionalities, there will certainly be changes. There are lots of capabilities for reporting, filtering, searching, etc. based on various project attributes, similar to the way departments use various fields in GUS to achieve similar means. The big difference in the future state will be a standardization of field use vs. user-defined fields.

We've identified three key areas in current state where departments 'lien' expenses in GUS or other shadow systems: (1) gateway requisitions, (2) subawards, and (3) anticipated payroll expenses. Luckily the new procurement module is fully integrated with the financial system, so new requisitions will be automatically posted as 'commitments' in real-time, and then updated throughout the lifecycle of the requisition (e.g. move from a 'commitment' to an 'expense'). This includes subawards in the future state, which will be processed via the procurement module. Other expenses will be posted in real time, eliminating the need to post a separate shadow transaction and then reconcile at month end.

We are evaluating opportunities to import anticipated payroll expenses as 'commitments' directly from UCPath, particularly for sponsored projects, but this solution is still in development.

Oracle Financials Cloud provides robust reporting functionality for users in the future state. Oracle combines three main reporting tools - OTBI, Oracle Analytics Cloud, and Business Intelligence Publisher - to meet the individual cost and expense reporting needs of UCSB. OTBI is likely the primary tool used by end users and combines subject areas, filters, and search criteria to create an easy to use, easy to adjust report based on your needs. For example, if I need to see all salary costs for a specific Sponsored project, I can use OTBI to search for that specific project and filter by Salary cost types.  This functionality is available across modules - we can create reports for Project and Grants Management (PGM), but also for any data in Procure to Pay, the General Ledger, etc. 

Additionally, the system is set up to allow the modules to communicate with each other and allows drill down features in certain areas. For example, if I am in the PGM module reviewing a specific cost from a Purchase Order, I can typically click into that reference Purchase Order and see all of the information available on the Procure to Pay side. 

Implementing the new Common Chart of Accounts (CCOA) requires a significant change in how financial transactions are recorded and reported. The new CCOA is a systemwide initiative creating a common reporting structure for all UC locations. Oracle Financials Cloud (OFC) will replace PeopleSoft.  Other subsystems that contain chartfields, such as UCPath, Gateway, and Concur, will need to be modified. 

The FMM program has a team devoted to training and communication and will develop a range of options for providing support to system users. For the latest news and announcements regarding learning opportunities, anyone interested in the new Chart of Accounts is encouraged to sign up for the FMM mailing list.

The OFC Projects and Grants Management (PGM) module will be used to administer qualifying projects. New PGM projects and those converted from GUS will be assigned new project codes. Tools to cross-walk between the old project numbers and the new project numbers are planned.

Some current state GUS projects will not meet the criteria for a future state project managed in the PGM module. In addition, many departments use the current project flexfield in order to satisfy specific tracking needs. When the new Chart of Accounts goes live, departments may find that using the other CCOA segments will be sufficient for budgeting, executing, and reporting their financial transactions.

Most current chartfields have been mapped to a corresponding new CCOA segment. We are evaluating how to best map the current discretionary flexfields (Cost Center, Cost Type, Project). Mapping tables have been created to automate this process as much as possible, but departments will need to be involved to some extent as the data owners.

In general, it will be a collaboration between Divisional Control Points, departments, and BFS with the support of ITS. In particular, departments will be very involved in translating how to use the Account, Fund, Financial Reporting Unit (FRU), and Activity segments to meet their business needs.

The FMM team is working closely with the UCPath Center to design an efficient and accurate process for updating salary distribution chart fields. Specific details about how funding strings will be updated and the role departments will play are still under review.

Regardless of what happens behind the scenes, all employees will get paid when the system goes live with the new CCOA.

GMC functionality will be reduced. It will primarily be used only for DSAs to assign roles to BARC & ServiceNow for Equipment Management. The functionality to create FAUs in the GMC will not be used anymore.

To allow more consistent and standardized reporting, a new chart of accounts governance process will be instituted, which will include the ability for departments to request new chartfields.

Most historical data will continue to be available in the data warehouse. We are evaluating the level of data which will be available for purposes of analysis which would span multiple years across the two charts. The specific details of this are still under discussion.

While some fund numbers will remain the same, like 19900 'State General Fund,' most funds will be assigned a new value. In many cases, legacy funds will be consolidated into a single new fund, for example 'Federal Contracts and Grants' or 'Other Unrestricted Funds.' This will facilitate fund reconciliation and reporting.

As of fall 2023, all active legacy funds (approximately 5,100) have been mapped to 3,000+ CCOA funds.

Legacy object codes have been mapped to future state accounts. The amount of object codes will not determine the amount of future state accounts. The CCOA accounts are categorized in a hierarchical manner to enable roll-up reporting, but still allow for detailed tracking of the nature of the transaction. New CCOA account values can be created as needed.

The use of each CCOA segment has been defined. A guiding principle in the chart design is to provide a new chart of accounts that is robust and flexible enough to meet most business needs. If a department has a significant and recurring need that is not satisified by the other segments, a request for a specific Activity value may be made.

We are developing extensive training on the new Common Chart of Accounts (CCOA), which will include multiple and repeated examples of how current chart strings compare to what they'll look like in the new format. We'll provide an update when this training becomes available, and can assure that there will be many training options on the new CCOA leading up to the Oracle Financials Cloud (OFC) go-live as well as on an ongoing basis after implementation.
 

Departments all across campus are currently experiencing record hiring and resource shortages. Although FMM may increase workloads for some staff, the program leadership has negotiated a 12-month extension from the initial proposed go-live date to provide ample time for training and addressing impacts.

Staff will need to allot ample time for completing the required training activities for system users. However, the training timeline has been shifted to reduce overlap with fiscal close activities to address resource constraints during this time of year. The training approach will include both instructor-lead and self-paced training for greater efficiency and convenience. 

We realize that past project implementations have been difficult. A program of this magnitude will be challenging, but we are doing several things to make this transition as smooth as we can, particularly in the area of training: 

• We are learning from other UC campuses that are ahead of us with similar implementations of what worked and what didn’t, and taking that into consideration
• We have also included lessons learned from past projects in planning this effort. For training, there will be an environment - like a sandbox - for end users to become comfortable with the system. We know that different people learn differently, and you can expect the training program to also offer a blended approach in an effort to cater to as many learning preferences as possible

One of the most challenging aspects of UCPath was the approach to go-live, which involved groups of campuses going live at the same time, sacrificing campus-specific needs in some cases. 

With Financial Management Modernization, we have much more control over the entire project, the approach we follow, and the related timeline. We also plan to have readiness assessments performed during the duration of the project to help us understand and address risks and issues well in advance of go-live.

Chuck Haines, Associate Chancellor for Finance & Resource Management and FMM Executive Sponsor, has already met with the Deans to discuss this program and its objectives.

The first year will be difficult because every few months we will be learning and doing something on the system for the very first time. After that, using the system should become more and more straightforward and we should all start reaping the benefits from the new system in very tangible ways, like more skills transferable between departments and better reporting for planning purposes.

We will offer a variety of training modalities so that users can choose their preferred learning option. Formats will include live training (offered both in person and virtually), recordings of live training that can be accessed at any time, self-guided e-learning, videos, and quick reference job aids, as well as in-app guidance integrated into select frequently-used software applications.

We are committed to providing training on a continual basis. In addition to regularly scheduled live training (both in person and virtual), we will also provide “anytime” training options including recordings, e-learning, and in-app guidance. 

People who work remotely will receive equal access to learning opportunities as those who work on campus. Learning options for remote workers will leverage live video conferencing, e-learning, video, and recordings, and will include opportunities for engagement and collaboration where possible.

Live training sessions will be recorded whenever possible and made available for access at any time. We will also offer many live training sessions on a consistent, ongoing basis, so you’ll have multiple opportunities to attend live sessions when your schedule permits. There will also be opportunities to leverage self-guided learning, such as e-learnings, job aids, and in-app guidance, until the next live training session comes around.

Subscribe to the FMM mailing list to receive information about FMM training as it becomes available.
 

We are still determining whether or not certain training sessions will be required. The decision to make a training required will depend on a variety of factors, such as the complexity of the subject matter, how essential the topic is to certain roles or tasks, and the level of risk involved with the task. More information will be provided as these decisions are made.

Yes. We will offer training in a “sandbox” environment that will match the production environment to the highest degree possible. There may be minor differences based on adjustments requested during User Acceptance Testing, which may overlap slightly with the training period. Any cosmetic or functional changes to the live environment will be communicated in a timely manner, and training materials will be updated to reflect the current state.

We are performing a workforce assessment to gain a better understanding of what types of financial functions are being performed in different jobs and positions (for example, differences in research versus academic units). The results of this assessment will help us think about how to best organize and differentiate job functions in the future state. We are committed to being thoughtful about how we train end users who have different roles and use cases.

Yes. The Office of Financial Training, a new unit under Finance & Resource Management, is developing a series of "pathways" that will include recommendations for which courses will be most relevant and helpful to users based on their roles and how they'll use the new financial system.

We'll always include the estimated training duration so that people know exactly how much time a training session will take and can decide how it best fits into their schedule.

We are still exploring different options for managing support after go-live, and are taking into consideration the departmental perspective and experience with existing ticketing systems.

We will offer a variety of dates/times for training sessions to accommodate everyone that would like to attend. If demand is greater than we anticipate, then additional sessions will be added as needed.