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State Software Advisory Committee

Last October, the newly formed State Software Advisory Committee met for the first time defining its purpose/mission as an advocate for State Software users. This group is comprised of the SSDT senior staff, two ITC Directors, a representative from each ITC—either an ITC or district fiscal professional, a representative from the User Acceptance Testers and the Redesign Project Manager.  Committee members formed three working groups that will help prioritize development work, assist with reporting needs and collaborate on training, support and documentation.  

Prioritization Working Group

This group meets monthly with the SSDT USPS-R and USAS-R Project Managers to discuss completed work issues and more importantly to discuss new issues and establish priority ranking for upcoming software releases.  

Reports Working Group

The reports working group main purpose is to focus on efforts to satisfy Redesign reporting needs.  The group meets monthly and is currently in the process of reviewing uploaded report definitions in order to publish them to a public site so Redesign users can import them and use them at their districts.

Support, Documentation and Training Working Group

Communication efforts is a huge priority for this working group as well as providing software documentation materials and training to ITC Fiscal staff and district personnel.  This newsletter is one way of reaching out and communicating to districts on the status of the Redesign as well as provide helpful articles on the latest enhancements or features made to the software.  The working group has come up with the idea of a 'Shared Training and Implementation Documents' repository for ITC Fiscal Support Staff that allows them to share implementation or training checklists, guides or materials their ITC has created with other ITCs in order to help aid in the migration effort.  

Teamwork makes the dream work!

USAS-R Account Filters on Reports

The newest USAS-R update makes it easier than ever for districts to utilize the Account Filter feature. The basic use of the Account Filters is to limit users to specific accounts for their affiliated building or program. USAS-R takes this Classic feature to the next level. Account Filters can be used to easily filter reports on the fly!

The Account Filter option can be found on the Utilities menu. When adding a new Filter, the data entry page will allow users to enter multiple accounts to each filter much like the Classic USASEC program.  These filters can be created for broad groups of accounts or just a few specific accounts depending on how many fields of the account code are entered. To create a filter for all accounts in specific funds enter just the TI, Fund, and SCC like in the example below. For Account Filters that are created to be used on Reports, the check box for R (Read Only) can be selected for each account line. Once all accounts are entered, give the Filter a name and click Save.

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SSDT Account Summary Reports have been updated to include a Query Parameter field where the Filter Name can be entered. Simply type in the Account Filter name into this field and click Generate Report. USAS-R will look up the accounts entered for that Account Filter and produce a report that only includes figures for the matching accounts. 

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The Filter Name option can also be added to Custom Reports. There is no limit to the number of Account Filters you can create. Think about creating Filters for Grants, Buildings, Departments and Activities!

Redesign Session at OASBO Annual Workshop

The SSDT will be hosting a training session and panel discussion on the Redesign Tuesday, April 23rd in Columbus (prior to the start of the OASBO Annual Workshop). This session will benefit current and prospective users, providing helpful hints, effective shortcuts, and report creation and usage techniques.  

Location: Convention Center Room C172

The day will be divided into three sections:

• 9:30-12:00: USPS-R Tips/Tricks and Reports
• 1:00-3:30: USAS-R Tips/Tricks and Reports
• 3:30-4:15: Panel Discussion with Wave participants

Third Party Software Vendors

The SSDT has worked with several third party vendors providing details on the SOAP bridge and other points of potential integration for both USPS-R and USAS-R.   A list of known third party vendors SSDT has contacted are provided under our Third Party Vendor Software Integrations link on our wiki.  We recommend ITCs and districts contact any third party vendors not listed on this page so they can get in touch with us to ensure their product will integrate with the redesign applications.  At the bottom of the page of the integrations link is the email SSDT sent to third party vendors informing them of the redesign. Feel free to use the sample email to contact your third party vendor.  If they are currently utilizing the SOAP Service, their integration should continue to work.  However they should contact us for a test environment to ensure a seamless transition.

Refunding a Payroll Item in USPS-R

Refunding a payroll item has never been easier!  Use the following steps to to refund a Payroll Item during a regular payroll

1. Go to Core/ Payroll Item.                                                                                                                                                               
2. Find the employee using the grid and search by Last Name or Number.                                                                             
3. Locate the Payroll Item you will be processing the refund for and click Image Added   
4. Go to the ErrorAdjustments section and click the button Image Added                                                                                            
5. Add the refund Amount as a negative number, a Description and a Date (only if you wish to process this refund at a later time. If you wish to process now leave date blank).  Click on Image Added to save the payroll item changes.
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6. If there is an Employer error adjustment involved, go to the Employer Error Adjustments section and click on Image Added.                                   

7. Add the refund Amount as a negative number, a Description and a Date (only if you wish to process this refund at a later time. If you wish to process now leave date blank.)  Note: If there is employer pickup involved (i.e. Medicare, Retirement, etc.) check the 'Pickup' box.
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   Note: If you want to delete the entire Employee or Employer Error Adjustment record, click 'edit' and go back to the appropriate Error Adjustment Section and click on delete  Image Added. 

8. Initialize your payroll.  On the Pay Report you will see the refund amount:

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9. Complete the Payroll processing.

If you want to refund a payroll item in USPS-R without processing a payroll, you can click here for more information.