Subscribe to the SSDT Newsletter by clicking here. Your email will be added to a distribution list.
Quite a few irons in the fire!
Our development team are rock stars! Along with the improvements and enhancements they are continually making in the USAS-R and USPS-R projects, a few of our developers are working exclusively on our upcoming Redesign inventory and workflow projects.
Inventory
Our inventory project will be a separate application in the redesign with a slightly different look than what you are accustomed to seeing in USXS-R. Inventory will use a different version of Vaadin so the color scheme and screen formats will be somewhat different. We are very pleased with how the redesigned version is coming along and looking forward to providing a quick demo soon! We would also like to thank the members of our inventory focus group for providing such helpful feedback the past several months. The projected beta release for Inventory is scheduled for July 16th and will be available through August 16th which is when we officially release the production version of the application. SSDT will be working on the documentation and providing training to ITC support staff this summer before the production version is released. Be on the look out for a feature article and video demonstration on the Inventory project in a future SSDT Newsletter.
Workflows
The implementation of workflows in bothWave Status Update
It's hard to believe that we are officially in Wave 8 of our migrations! Waves 6 and 7 were our biggest waves and I can't thank ITC staff and districts enough for their hard work in migrating over 300 districts within the past year alone! Such a huge accomplishment. With almost all remaining districts scheduled in waves 8 and 9, hopefully we can all start to see that warm and welcoming light at the end of the tunnel. As ODE stated, wave 10 is reserved for emergency migrations, so we appreciate everyone's flexibility in making this happen.
Our classic software applications will be retired in December 2022. This means we will no longer support the classic software after calendar 2022 closing is complete nor will districts be able to process a payroll for calendar year 2023 in the classic software. If you are still using our classic applications and are unclear of your migration plan, please contact your ITC immediately for further assistance. To state it clearly once more, you will not be able to process 2023 payrolls in the classic software, so it is imperative that you have migrated off of classic before you need to run your first 2023 payroll.
Wave 8 will prove to be very exciting with major new enhancements unfolding. The Inventory application, a separate brand new application, will make its production debut mid-August. (Beta release is projected for Friday, July 23rd). We have been testing, and testing (and did I say testing?) the application and I have to tell you, it's sweet! For those loyal EIS users, I think we will quickly win you over with how easy, clean and fluid the redesigned application is.
As if a new application isn't enough, the implementation of workflows within the USPS-R and USAS-R is progressing quickly. The first USPS-R workflow will be employee onboarding which is a process of entering a new employee in the payroll system. The first USAS-R workflow will focus on a requisition approval system. The projected beta release for both the employee onboarding and requisition approval workflows is scheduled for August 2021 with the production version planned for September 22, 2021. A purchase order workflow will follow shortly thereafter with future workflows being developed based on user feedback.
Importing POs and Invoices in USAS-R
The ability to post Purchase Orders and AP Invoices via CSV file is available! This feature is accessible via the Import button on the grids and works similarly to the Receipt import. For your convenience, please download the template PO upload and/or template AP Invoice upload spreadsheets containing the correct headings. For further information regarding formatting of the spreadsheet columns, required fields or creating your own custom spreadsheet, please refer to the 'Import Criteria' section in the Purchase Orders and AP Invoices documentation. Please note that any rules pertaining to Purchase Orders or AP Invoices will be applied during importing.
Once a spreadsheet has been saved as a CSV file, the following steps can be used to import Purchase Orders or AP Invoices:
- Click on
displayed at the top of the grid. Click
- The popup will appear displaying the number of "Records Loaded" and "Errors". The process produces a results file named "USASLOADERR.CSV".
- If there were no errors, the file will say "No errors. Records loaded: #" where # is the number of records successfully loaded.
- If there are records that did not load, the file will contain only those records that did not load successfully and will provide error messages explaining why. You can make corrections to this file, save it as CSV and use it to upload the remaining transactions.
- Please note, as with the other import options, this feature is intended to allow users to mass create Purchase Orders and AP Invoices via the CSV file import. This feature will not allow updates to existing purchase orders or invoices.
Please click here for a quick video demonstration on mass importing purchase orders.
New Compensation Code
We recently added a field called 'Code' to Compensations.
When creating a compensation, you are required to add a Code.
For existing compensations, the update made defaults the code to the start date of the compensation in MMYYYY format followed by a dash and a random character. For example, 032021-A. If the Contract has no Start Date entered, the Code will show only a Letter. For example, A.
The code is modifiable. If you change it, it will only allow alphanumeric characters and dashes. The code is also unique per employee/position. If a position has multiple compensations, those compensations CANNOT have the same code.
When creating a New Contract for employees, a unique Code will be given to the New Contract after Activating in Compensations. The Code will resemble.
Mass Load Compensations
The Code field needs to be included when using Mass Load Compensations. For more information on this, please Click Here.
Useful links:
applications is right around the corner! We plan on officially releasing the production version September 22nd (with a beta release scheduled for August). The initial release of workflows will include requisition approval in USAS-R and employee onboarding in USPS-R.
The SSDT will be presenting (in person!) both the Inventory application and Workflow system at the OEDSA conference this fall. The conference will be held at a new venue this year (Hilton Polaris Columbus) and is scheduled for September 15th - 17th. We're so looking forward to seeing you all again and being able to share the latest features and enhancements of state software!
It is Here! Posting a Voided or Unvoided Payment from USPS-R to USAS-R
The capability of posting a voided or unvoided payment from USPS-R to USAS-R is now available making it so much easier to make updates in both applications.
USPS-R Steps
- After you have Voided a payment in Payments>Payroll Payroll Payments tab, go to USAS Integration>Payment Void/Unvoid Submission. The grid will display the payment you voided. Click on
.
- Details of the payment and expenditure accounts that were charged will be displayed. After verifying this is the correct information, click on
- You will receive a verification that the submission was sent to USAS successfully. You can return to the Payment Void/Unvoid Submission grid by clicking on
- The 'USAS Posting Status' will be updated to 'Pending' on the voided payment.
- The same process applies for Unvoiding a Payment.
USAS-R Steps
- When the Void has been submitted to USAS-R, a pending transaction will show in USAS-R under Transaction>Pending Transactions.
- Click on
.The USAS-R user will have a choice to 'Validate' for any warning/error messages as well as to 'Post' or 'Reject' the pending transaction. If the USAS-R user posts the Void, the user can choose the transaction date and a receipt will be generated reversing the original expenditure entry by processing a reduction of expenditure. The amount expended will be reduced on the account. If the USAS-R user rejects the Void, the user can enter a rejection reason and the file is returned to USPS-R without affecting the expenditure accounts.
- When USPS-R submits an Unvoid to USAS, the USAS-R user will again have a choice to 'Validate' for any warning/error messages as well as 'Post' or 'Reject' the pending Unvoid transaction. If the USAS-R user posts the Unvoid, the user can choose a transaction date and a Disbursement will be generated increasing the amount expended on the account. If the USAS-R user rejects the Unvoid, the user can enter the rejection reason and the file is returned to USPS-R without affecting the expenditure accounts.
- If the Void/Unvoid file is resubmitted to USAS-R, the USPS-R user will be informed that the payment has already been submitted and require a confirmation of OK to continue.
Useful links:
REDESIGN STATUS
507
Sites Live on Redesign
200
Total Wave 7 Sites
17
Participating ITCs
551
Total Districts Participating
Please view the Current List of Districts & Status to see a comprehensive list of school districts along with their ITC, implementation status and the wave they are scheduled to migrate from Classic to Redesign.
The following terminology is used to determine where in the implementation process the entity is currently at:
Implementing: The ITC is running test imports and balancing reports on the entity. The district and ITC are working to schedule dates to begin dual processing and go live.
Paralleling: The entity is inputting all production transactions into both Classic and Redesign.
| Panel | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ||||||||
Budget amounts for 2022 that were applied from the Proposed Amounts grid prior to the FYE Close will show as the Initial Budgets as soon as the posting period for July 2021 is opened! USAS-R gives you two options for applying full year budget amounts - temporary and permanent. If a district chooses to start with a temporary budget, a permanent budget can be applied at any time during the fiscal year to replace the temporary figures. |
| Panel | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ||||||||
Mass Loading to add or update Future Pay Amounts can now be performed by using the Mass Load/Future Pay Amount option. To add Future Pay Amount records the following fields are required on the csv file
To Update Future Pay Amount records these fields are required to be on the csv:
To add and update Future Pay transactions in one upload, you would have to supply all the values on the current record because null values (,,) will give errors for most fields such as true, false. Some have default values if not supplied. If wanting to update different fields for different employees on the same load, you will need to put the old (current) values wherever you do not want it updated. You must supply a value for most fields because a null value does not work. See Mass Load's Future Pay Amounts for more information. |
| Panel | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ||||||||
Save/Recall Feature Many canned reports have a Save/Recall feature that will allow you to create the setup of a report that you can use over and over again simply by using this Save and Recall option. The Save and Recall is available on all USAS-R Template Reports. Some of the USPS-R reports that offer this option are:
|
Fund Changes - 200 Student Funds The objective of GASB issued Statement No. 84, Fiduciary Activities, was to improve guidance regarding the identification & reporting of Fiduciary Funds which include funds that are managed and funded by the School District such as Trust Funds and Custodial Funds. (Funds 022, 026, and 200). However, due to the administrative involvement in the student managed funds (200 funds), the Custodial Fund definition is not met for the Student Managed 200 funds that are now identified as a Fiduciary/Custodial Fund. The distinction of Student Managed (200) vs District Managed (300) still exists, but as of FY22, Student Activities that are not identified as a Fiduciary Activity are required to be treated as Governmental/Special Revenue Fund. Therefore, Districts are encouraged to review their 200 Funds to ensure they are properly classified as a 200 fund. After the FY21 Period H Reporting is complete, the Fund Type for Fund 200 will be updated in the State software to be classified as Special Revenue fund. Other helpful AOS GASB 84 information is available at GASB 84 (ohio auditor.gov) and AOS Technical Bulletin 2020-003. |