Published November 3rd, 2016                                                                                                                   

Release Candidate

: What does this mean and how does it affect me?

Image Added

Early next year we plan to move from Preview Releases to Release Candidates.  A status of Release Candidate means that we have implemented enough functionality for a small, volunteer district to evaluate with the intention to “go live”.  This will most likely involve a commitment to parallel processing, testing third party integrations, etc.  This is a huge commitment and we are happy to announce we already have our first volunteer!  Once the evaluation period is over and we, the SSDT and the district, are convinced all is working properly, we will move from Release Candidates to Production Releases.  At this time, any district who feels the software meets their needs can choose to migrate from Classic to Redesign.  To be clear, this is a one-way migration.  Once you are running Redesign there is no going back to Classic.

I do not want to mislead you by implying everything you use in Classic is ready.  In USASR we will not have an Accounts Receivable system or Equipment Inventory system ready by the first Release Candidate.  We will be implementing this functionality in subsequent Release Candidates.  If these systems are vital for you to consider the software, you will not be an early adopter and that is okay.  With added functionality and extensive testing, we expect districts to slowly migrate to the Redesign.  No district will be forced.  I repeat, no district will be forced.  This will be a decision you make when you are ready.  We expect it will take several years to complete all migrations from Classic to Redesign.  If you decide to wait until the end, that is your choice.  

The end?  You just said we wouldn’t be forced to migrate.  Yes, I did.  However, the expense of maintaining the Classic systems will become prohibitive for both the SSDT and your ITC.  At some point in the future there will be a requirement to move from Classic to Redesign (or other solution). 

If you haven’t seen the Redesign software yet, or it’s been a while, we invite you contact your ITC and ask them to set up an instance for you to evaluate.  We would very much appreciate any feedback you have to offer so we may provide you with the highest quality software.  Please send your thoughts or questions to feedback@ssdt.nwoca.org.

The SSDT would like to address some of the concerns or questions that have arisen lately on the status of the redesign projects. The following excerpts are from Dave Smith’s latest blog post found on the SSDT website. http://ssdt.oecn.k12.oh.us/ 

The Redesign software is just Classic with a new user interface

No, not even close.  When we say "reproduce existing functionality", we mean that Redesign must have, at a minimum, the same features and capabilities as the Classic software.  But we did not use the same data model, architecture or techniques used in Classic.  The Redesign is completely new software on a modern platform and already has additional capabilities that Classic doesn't.  For one example, the ability to have multiple open Posting Periods and the ability to re-open prior periods.

I’ve heard that Redesign will be competitive with other software?

No.  The SSDT is not funded to develop a full ERP like Munis or SunGard.  This has never been a goal of Redesign and is outside the scope of the SSDT's mission.  It's not reasonable to imagine that the SSDT (with a 2M dollar budget) could compete with commercial products from multi-billion market cap companies.  The goal of the Redesign projects is to reproduce the Classic functionality on a modern, sustainable platform.  However, the Redesign has been modeled and designed to support additional features and modules in the future.  After we reach production, we can begin work on optional modules, some of which may be thought of as ERP features (like workflows).  We will continue, based on user feedback, to apply our modest budget to benefit the largest number of districts possible, which is central to the SSDT's mission.

OpenVMS will cease to function in 2018

We’re not sure where this came from, but it is probably related to HP phasing out of the OpenVMS business.  HP has sold the rights to OpenVMS to a new company (VMS Systems, Inc) whose sole business is supporting and improving OpenVMS. There are a large number of OpenVMS systems doing critical work world-wide.  There's no reason to believe that OpenVMS will come to an abrupt end.  However, it's possible that licensing cost for OpenVMS will increase. So there will still be an impetus to implement Redesign and migrate from Classic.

I want to stay on Classic (forever or until I retire)! 

From the time we start production releases, we expect it will take several years to complete all migrations from Classic to Redesign.  If you decide to wait till the end, and based on your retirement plans, you may make it.   But at some point, the expense of maintaining the Classic systems will become prohibitive for the SSDT and your ITC.  At some point, there will be a requirement to move from Classic to Redesign (or other solution).

USAS-R Preview Release Highlights

An overview of the most recent USAS-R preview release

Image Removed

The latest preview release of USAS-R was sent to your ITCs a couple of weeks ago. This release is officially known as v0.18.0.  

Here are some of the changes you will see in this latest release:

New User Interfaces 

Date shortcuts: are now available to use in processing and report generation

Tool tips: have been added to grid buttons

Encumbrance amounts available for any period

Some notable bug fixes on this release: 

• Auto assign of Vendor number has been corrected
• Transaction numbers and fiscal years no longer contain commas
• Account Filter UI permission labels now fully visible

Those are the items that will be most visible to you as end user when the release is installed.  However, there were many more bug fixes and improvements included in v0.18.0.  Complete release notes are available here.

USPS-R - It's Here!!...Attendance importing is now available!!!

Image Removed

An Attendance Import option is now available in USPS-R. This option will function in the same fashion as USPIMPORT does in the legacy system. The csv file that you will be uploading must be in the proper format using the USPIMPORT specifications guideline: https://wiki.ssdt-ohio.org/display/usps/USPIMPORT+-+Import+File+Specifications  Note-The header information on the csv file must be removed before the import is processed.

Here is a breakdown of how the Attendance Import option can be used to upload Attendance and Payroll Payments-Current or Payroll Payments-Future data.

1-Under the Utilities tab select the Attendance Import option Image Removed

Image Removed

2-Attendance Import File- Click Browse to locate your file from AESOP, Timeclock, etc. that you wish to import.

3-The Location Code drop down is used to determine the job number to post the transaction to if a job number is not supplied on the csv file.

• Building IRN
• Building/Department
• None

4-The Post  to Payroll Processing Options available are:

• Post to Payroll Processing Future
• Post to Payroll Processing Current
• None

5-Combine Attendance Entries :

If selected, all  AT entries charged to Payroll Payments-Current or Payroll Payments-Future will be combined for an employee. In order to combine entries in Payroll Payments-Current or Payroll Payments-Future the EMPID, job number, pay type, unit, unit amount, tax option, retirement flag, budget account, leave projection flag, and the BRDDIS flag must match.

If this option is not selected the AT entries will not be combined when posted to Payroll Payments-Current or Payroll Payments-Future.

6- Allow negative leave balances prompt offers the following options:

If selected AB entries for Sick, Vacation and Personal Leave will be allowed to go negative.  It will appear as a WARNING on the report.

If this field is not selected AB entries for Sick, Vacation and Personal Leave will NOT go negative. It will appear as a FATAL Error on the report.

7-Payroll Account to Charge drop down option:

• Defined Payroll Account for Position -Pay account defined in Position/Payroll Accounts for the job will be used.
• Sub for SSN-Using the "Sub for SSN", the regular employee's pay account(s) will be charged.

You will then click the  buttonImage Removed to upload the data into the payroll system.

Details regarding the import (not loaded) will be displayed on the screen:

Image Removed

An ATTERR.CSV.TXT report will be created. This will give you a detailed description of the error(s) explaining why the import did not load.

Image Removed

If the files imported successfully the following will be displayed on the screen:

Image Removed

If all files imported successfully the ATTERR.CSV.TXT report will display the following

Image Removed

USPS-R Canned Reports available

Image Removed

SSDT has several canned reports available for districts to use that are similar to Classic's reports.  These reports have been created as a convenience for districts when needing to run their weekly or monthly reports....just a few options to choose from...only a fingertip away to a generated report! 

The Canned Reports can be found under the tab ‘Reports’.  We have added the most popular reports at this time and more are to follow! 

Image Removed

Below is an example of how to generate the W2 Report canned report.  Once you select 'W2 Report', it will display the following report options.  Most of the canned reports have similar options to what you are used to seeing in Classic.

Image Removed 

Format - Output format desired.  Default is PDF.

• PDF (download)
• PDF (inline)
• Comma Separated Values (CSV)
• Excel
• View (html)
• Plain Text
• XML
• Jasper Report Design

Report Title - Default is W2 Report, but can be modified.

Federal ID Number - Defaulted to district's Federal ID Number.

State ID Number - Defaulted to district's State ID Number.

Kind of Employer - Available choices from the drop-down box: 

• F,  Federal Government
• S, State and Local Governmental Employer (non 501c)
• T, Tax Exempt Employer
• Y, State and Local Tax Exempt Employer (501c)
• N, None apply

Sort Options - Available choices from the drop-down box: 

• Employee SSN
• Employee Name
• Building/Department and Employee Name
• Building/Department, Pay Group and Employee Name
• Pay Group
• Zip Code and Employee SSN
• Zip Code and Employee Name
• Check Distribution and Employee Name

Report for Year - Select reporting year from available choices from the drop-down box

Below is an example of the report in PDF format: 

Image Removed

USPS-R Preview Release Highlights

An overview of the most recent USPS-R preview release

Image Added

Preview release #4 of USPS-R was sent to your ITCs on October 11th. This release is officially known as v0.16.0. Below is a summary of the changes that will be most apparent to you as an end user of the software. The full release notes detailing all changes can be found here

New Features and Improvements:

• Initial Mass Change program: serves as a replacement for most functions supported by MASCHG in Classic but provides much more flexibility and functionality than classic.  It will be found under many of the 'Core' menu options.
• Auditing has been implemented for many of the objects in USPS-R and we are continuing to implement auditing with subsequent releases.  The audit information is reportable using the SSDT Audit Trail Predefined Report under Report Manager.
• A USPLOAD replacement has been created.  It is located under the Import menu called USPS Load.
• A new adjustments view has been created, which is located under the Core menu.  It allows the maintenance of adjustment entries applied to payroll items.
• A new accumulation option has been added as a tab on the Leave view. This will allow the maintenance of leave accumulation transactions.
• The classic BENACC functionality has been recreated in USPS-R called Benefit Update and Projection.  This is found under the Processing menu.
• The ability to use date shortcuts has been added to the application. For instance adding a start date of "m" and an end date of "h" in a report definition will automatically provide the starting and ending date for the current month
• There have been some changes to the menu in order to reclassify items and hopefully make them easier to locate.

Any questions or feedback you have concerning this preview release can be sent to ssdt-feedback@nwoca.org.

USAS-R Predefined Reports Available

 Image Added

You asked... we listened.. we delivered.  We received much feedback about simplifying the process of creating reports in USAS-R which led to SSDT's creation of predefined reports.  A predefined report is basically a template report available for you to generate as is or customize to your specifications.  On our latest preview release, we provided several predefined reports.  We started with many of the popular USARPT reports in Classic and plan on adding to this list with every release.  The 'Report Manager" option under the 'Report' module displays the SSDT reports as well as any reports you have created. 

Image Added

• Image Added is the 'Generate and Download Report' option which automatically generates the report as is, allowing you to select the format, orientation and name of the report before it is generated.
  
• Image Added will open the report definition details in order for you to see all of the options chosen for the report and from there, allow you to customize it by adding, changing or deleting properties or filters so you get the report you want.  You can save your changes under a new report name in order to re-generate it as needed.
• Image Addedallows you to edit the name, description or tags of the report you created. *
• Image Addedallows you to delete the report definition you created. *
  
•  Image Added will download the report definition to your computer allowing you to forward the report details onto someone else via email. Once they save your definition settings to their computer, they can then choose 'Import Report' to import your report definition in order to customize it or generate it as is.  It will be listed under their Report Manager.
• Image Added allows you to share a saved report definition with users who have a specific role.  For example, if you create a Budget Summary Report for grant accounts and want to share the report with your building principals (who all have an existing role called "Principals"), you will select the 'Principal" role in this option and your report will be displayed under each of the principal's Report Manager.
• If you use a report frequently, checkmark the favorite box. When you log into USAS-R, it displays your "favorites" on your home page so you can easily access them.

The asterisk '*' indicates these options aren't available with the 'SSDT owned' Predefined reports.  However, once you customize a report based off of a Predefined report, or you create a report from scratch using the 'Detail' option, your username will be displayed in the 'username' column and all options will be available for your custom report.