FAQ - Frequently Asked Questions

Accounts

Can I mass add account codes when creating a new cash account?

Yes, the Mass Add function can be accessed by viewing a current Cash Account record. The Mass Add function may be used to copy all appropriation, expenditure, and revenue accounts in a cash account to a new special cost center within that same fund. This process will also add the new cash account code so the cash account should not be created prior to utilizing Mass Add.

See the Mass Add section on the Accounts page for additional details.

Can account codes be deleted?

NOTE:  Expenditure and Revenue accounts imported from Classic will contain an 'initial' and possible 'gaap inital' budget adjustments with the values imported from Classic. Budget adjustments related to import cannot be deleted. 

If there is no activity against an account (no associated transactions or the account has not been used) then the account can be deleted via the delete icon  on the grid. 

Otherwise, the account(s) should be inactivated instead of deleted. If all accounts in a specific cash account need to be made inactive then the cash account can be updated to inactive and all associated accounts will not be available to use with transactions. This doesn't change the active flag on the expenditure or revenue accounts so they will still show on reports, however the associated accounts will not show as an option when entering transactions. If it is preferred to also make the expenditure and revenue accounts inactive, a mass change can be used to update accounts associated with any cash accounts that have been made inactive. If the accounts to inactivate aren't all specific to a certain cash account, then they can be individually updated to inactive or via mass change to update the "active" status flag equals false. If you are interested in using the mass change option to update the expenditure and revenue accounts contact your ITC for further assistance.

How is an account considered deletable?

A few things that would prevent deleting the account:

• On Core > Account, review the budget adjustments. Even if they total zero, if there are any adjustments, the account can't be deleted unless all adjustments are deleted first. 
  • NOTE: Accounts imported from Classic will contain an 'initial' and possible 'gaap inital' budget adjustments with the values imported from Classic. Budget adjustments related to import cannot be deleted. 
• On the Activity ledger, add Full Account Code column using More (under Account header) and review for transactions. Any transactions would not allow you to delete
• If Account Change was used to change all activity from that account to a different account, the account will still be referenced in Account change so it should remain as inactive

How can budget adjustments be entered?

Budget Adjustments or Anticipated Revenue Adjustments can be made to individual accounts on the expenditure or revenue accounts. Locate the account and click to View to access the Adjustments option. 

See the Budget Adjustments section on the Accounts page for additional details.

See the Anticipated Revenue Adjustments section on the Accounts page for additional details.

• The Date for the budget adjustment will default to the current date
• If an adjustment is posted with the current month date, but the district is still balancing their prior month (prior month is still the Posting Period) then the budget adjustment will not be reflected in the account summary reports until the Posting Period is changed

Adjustments can also be mass updated using a spreadsheet by utilizing the Budgeting Scenarios & Proposed Amounts pages to apply Adjustments.

See the Appendix Useful Procedures section for Budget Scenario Steps for making budget adjustments in the current fiscal year for a walk through of this process.

• When entering adjustments for the current fiscal year the header PA-XXXX should reflect the current fiscal year (ex. PA-2020 for fiscal year 2020) 
• The amount entered in the PA-XXXX column should reflect the desired total Expendable amount. When the Proposed Amounts are applied as adjustments, USAS will calculate the difference between the Initial budget and the amount entered and post an adjustment for the difference.

When entering a transaction, why is a certain account not showing?

USAS will only show accounts available to use for transactions. If the account is inactive or if the transaction date does not fall within the Start/Stop dates entered on the Account then it will not show in the drop down when entering an account on the transaction. This includes Purchase Orders, Requisitions, Receipts, Distributions, Invoices, and Transfer/Advance transactions. When using an Expenditure Account the corresponding Appropriation and Cash Account must also be active and have valid Start/Stop dates. When using a Revenue Account the Cash Account must also be active and have valid Start/Stop dates.

How would I process an Account Change that would cross funds?

Redesign's Account Change behaves the same way as Classic's ACTCHG... it does not allow a change that would cross funds (if the account is a different fund code or a different SCC that is not in the range 0000-8999).  Instead, inactivate the accounts associated with the old Fund-SCC and create accounts for them in the new Fund-SCC, create budget adjustments to move the budgeted money from the previous account to the newly created accounts.  If  Cash also needs to be moved, a fund-to-fund transfer can be processed.  

Accounts Receivable

Can I restrict USAS receipts from being creating when applying a payment?

The SSDT AR roles, by themselves, do not allow a USAS receipt to be created by default... they must be used in conjunction with the USAS_RECEIPT_CREATE permission (which is included in the USAS_STANDARD and USAS_MANAGER roles or can be granted in a custom role).

How do I cancel the remaining balance on a Billing in order to close it out? 

If you do not have any payments against the billing, you can delete the billing.  However, if you wish to leave the billing on the system showing the cancelled amounts (or because there have been payments made to it), you may edit the billing, entering additional items with negative amounts to back out the remaining balances.  The billing will no longer be outstanding and changed to a 'paid' status. 

What if I entered the wrong account or amount on a Billing and I have already applied a payment to it (created a Payment and Receipt). Can I back it out?

You can reverse the receipt in USAS. (the period must be open in order to reverse the receipt). The Payment in AR will no longer have a receipt transaction tied to it so you will then be able to delete the payment.  This will re-open the billing and allow you to make changes (i.e. account, amount, etc) to the billing.  You can then apply payment to the corrected billing.

How do I change an AR Payment amount that was incorrect but posted with a receipt?   

You can delete the receipt generated in USAS wiith the posting period Open.  The Payment in AR will no longer have a receipt transaction tied to it which then allows you to be able to delete the incorrect AR Payment.  This will reopen the Billing and also allow the user to post a new Payment and receipt with the correct amount.   

Requisitions

How can users be restricted to only see certain Requisitions?

Users can be restricted to see only requisitions starting with a specific prefix or specific prefixes. This can be updated on the Users setup by entering a Requisition Prefix and checking the box for Restrict Requisitions. If the box for Restrict Requisitions is not checked on a user, they will be able to see all Requisitions in the grid.

Users can be restricted to see one or multiple Requisition Prefixes. If multiple prefixes are included they should be separated by a comma.

How can users be restricted to only see requisitions for one building?

• If they have multiple users in the same building they can give those users access to the other Prefixes
  • ex. John is JO prefix, Sally is SA prefix, they can both be setup to see JO,SA they will be able to see each other's Requisitions and their own
• Alternatively, if they have all users use the same prefix in one building, that can be used on multiple users for the Req Prefix they are restricted to

See the Create a User section on the Users page for additional details to Restrict Requisitions.

How can Requisition Numbers be Auto-assigned by user? 

Users can be setup to utilize automatically assigned requisition numbers based on a specific prefix entered for that user. When a Requisition Prefix is entered it will be used to auto-assign requisition numbers when that user leaves the Requisition number blank. This can be updated on the Users setup. 

See the Create a User section on the Users page for additional details on Requisition Prefixes.

What is the Template flag for on a Requisition?

This option came over to mimic a Classic option that some districts used by entering a "T" into the type field. That template type then allowed those specific requisitions to be left out of the Remaining Balance calculations and those requisitions cannot be converted. This feature can be utilized to create standard yearly requisition templates that can be cloned each year. The template flag can also be unchecked at a later time if the record is created as a template but there is a need to change it to an active record that can be converted.

Additional description from the Requisitions page: "Template type requisitions can be created by checking the 'Template' box in the header section of the requisition. This signifies that the requisition is a template and is intended to remain on the system for future use. This field can be used to filter Requisitions that are flagged as templates out of the grid or reports. Any dollar amounts associated with template requisitions will not be included in the requisitioned amounts if the pre-encumbrance module is enabled. Template requisitions cannot be converted to Purchase Orders."

When can users enter Requisitions for the new fiscal year?

Users can enter future Requisitions as long as the future posting period is open. When the district is ready to allow the creation of future year Requisitions, the posting period for July of the new fiscal year can be opened on the Posting Period page under the Core menu. The current posting period may still remain as June while the district is still processing June's transactions.  When the requisitions are approved and converted, USAS will convert these future requisitions into future purchase orders utilizing the date of the requisition and the encumbrances for the future year.  There are four rules that are available in USAS that would allow balance checking for future year Requisitions against the Next Year Proposed amount. These are optional rules that can be enabled to add warnings for users with balance checking. See the FutureReq rules in the Bundled Rules that are not Mandatory section of the Rules page for additional info.

How can users view Requisitions with Attachments?

Users can utilize the Advanced Query function on the Requisition grid to set the query.  Once the Apply Query button is clicked, the requisitions with attachments will be displayed on the requisition grid.  

How can users view Requisitions with Attachments that have been approved through the Requisition Approval Workflow ?

Users can utilize the Advanced Query function on the Requisition grid to set the query to search with the Properties and Operation as shown.   Once the Apply Query button is clicked, the requisitions with attachments will be displayed in the grid. 

Purchase Orders

How can a Multivendor Purchase Orders be created?

When creating a purchase order, leave the Vendor field blank to create a Multivendor Purchase Order. When the purchase order is saved, the Multivendor check box will automatically be marked on the PO indicating the PO may have several vendors.  A vendor can then be selected when the purchase order is invoiced.  If the purchase order is marked as a MultiVendor PO but needs to be changed to a PO with a vendor, as long as no invoices have been created against the PO, you may Repair the PO to add a vendor. 

What is the difference between ‘Edit’ a PO and ‘Amend’ a PO?

The Edit option is available for new purchase orders that are in an open posting period. Once a payment (invoice) is processed on the purchase order, the user will only have the ability to Amend the purchase order. The Amend option should be used when the purchase order has already been sent to the vendor. An ‘Edit’ of a PO is audited and can be seen on the AUDITS report.  The ‘Amend’ will show the trail on the PO by striking through line items and adding new line items and will be noted as ‘Amended’. 

Additional information from the Amend Purchase Order section on the Purchase Orders page: "When using the Amend option on a Purchase order, you are not permitted to change the Vendor if the PO has already been invoiced/paid.  You will also not be permitted to modify an existing item. Instead use the 'copy item'  to copy the item you want to change. This will create a new item and you can change the item's quantity, description price or account code at that time.  You will then need to cancel the original item by clicking on the .  The cancelled item will still be displayed on the PO but with a line crossing it out. When the Amended PO is printed, the cancelled items will still show in the items grid, but will be marked with a "C" and will not figure into the PO total amount or the total charges to budget accounts."

Can a vendor be changed on a Purchase Order?

You are not permitted to change the Vendor if the purchase order has already been invoiced/paid. If the check has already been created, the check would need to be void with the option to void invoice items (or the invoice can be manually deleted after the check is void). The Purchase Order can then be edited to modify the vendor and a new invoice and check would need to be created. (Note: The Posting Period for the PO date will need to be open in order to edit the Purchase Order.)

How can a Purchase Order that has been paid on be closed?

To close a Purchase Order that has been paid on, locate the last associated invoice with a status of “Partial” and change it to “Full.”

When locating the most recent "Partial" invoice, it is helpful to use the Activity Ledger since it can be filtered to show the status of specific line items on the grid. Once the most recent “Partial” transaction is located, navigate to the AP Invoices grid, click to view the Invoice, and change the status by clicking “Full” in the Action column to close the associated purchase order. The posting period associated with the Invoice will need to be open in order to process this change.

See the Close a partially paid/partially-invoiced Purchase Order Item section on the Invoices page for additional details.

If the previous "Partial" invoice is in a period that has been closed, the posting period would need to be reopened in order to process the change. If this is not preferred, or not possible (archived period) then an invoice can be created to cancel the remaining encumbrance amounts instead. 

How should a Purchase Order line item with $0.00 remaining encumbrances be closed? 

In cases where a line item has $0.00 remaining encumbrances but is still invoiceable, the following procedures should be used. This may happen if there is a line item that was created for $0.00 on the purchase order for shipping or fees or if a line item was invoiced for the full remaining encumbrance but a partial status was chosen.

• To cancel an item that has not been invoiced, amend the PO and cancel the item from the PO
• To close an item that has been paid/invoiced: Query all invoices for that PO and sort them in date order.  Find the last invoice and change the status of the item to FULL instead of Partial.
• If the previous "Partial" invoice is in a period that has been closed, the posting period would need to be reopened in order to process the change. If this is not preferred, or not possible (archived period) then an invoice can be created to cancel the remaining encumbrance amounts instead. 

How can a Purchase Order be reopened?

To Reopen a Purchase Order, locate the associated invoice with a status of “Full” and change it to “Partial.”

When locating the "Full" invoice, it is helpful to use the Activity Ledger since it can be filtered to show the status of specific line items on the grid. Once the “Full” transaction is located, navigate to the AP Invoices grid, click to view the Invoice, and change the status by clicking “Partial” in the Action column to reopen the associated Purchase Order. The posting period associated with the Invoice will need to be open in order to process this change.

See the Re-open a completely-paid/completely-invoiced Purchase Order Item section on the Invoices page for additional details.

If the Purchase Order was closed with a Cancel_Full Invoice, the Cancel_Full invoice must be deleted in order to reopen the Purchase Order. Invoices can only be deleted if the Posting Period associated with the Invoice Date is open.

How can 'Then and Now' Purchase Orders be located?

When an invoice is created for the purchase order where the Vendor Invoice Date or Invoice Date entered is prior to the purchase order date, the purchase order will be flagged as a Then and Now purchase order. On the purchase order transaction the Then and Now box will be checked. To easily locate these purchase orders, add the Then and Now field to the purchase order grid using the 'More' option and filter for records that are 'true' for that field. The Report option on the grid can be used to print or save the report for future use.

How many line items can a Purchase Order have? 

In USAS, purchase order transactions can have unlimited line items. If creating purchase orders with a large number of items, users may experience a longer delay when processing these records (saving, cloning, etc.).

How can the accounts be updated on the Purchase Order Items?

When changing accounts on a Purchase Order, it depends on the timing and state of that PO as to what process can be used.

When the Purchase order is in an open posting period and has never been paid on, the Edit option can be used to simply change the account on the line item(s).

For Purchase orders that have had an Invoice created and/or are in a closed posting period, they would be "amended" to update the items for the new account code. Additional information from the Amend Purchase Order section on the Purchase Orders page: "You will also not be permitted to modify an existing item. Instead use the 'copy item'  to copy the item you want to change. This will create a new item and you can change the item's quantity, description price or account code at that time.  You will then need to cancel the original item by clicking on the .  The cancelled item will still be displayed on the PO but with a line crossing it out. When the Amended PO is printed, the cancelled items will still show in the items grid, but will be marked with a "C" and will not figure into the PO total amount or the total charges to budget accounts."

If the Purchase Order items have already been paid and disbursements created, adjustments in what was expended would be processed through the 'Distributions/Error Corrections' option under the 'Transaction' menu.

If accounts are being changed or merged, the Account Change process may be an option. Account Change will inactivate the old account and update all transactions for the current FY from the old account to the new account, including Purchase Orders, Invoices, and Disbursements.

Invoices

How can an Invoice be changed from Partial to Full?

When locating the most recent "Partial" invoice, it is helpful to use the Activity Ledger since it can be filtered to show the status of specific line items on the grid. Once the most recent “Partial” transaction is located, navigate to the AP Invoices grid, click to view the Invoice, and change the status by clicking “Full” in the Action column to close the associated purchase order. The posting period associated with the Invoice will need to be open in order to process this change.

See the Close a partially paid/partially-invoiced Purchase Order Item section on the Invoices page for additional details.

How can an Invoice be changed from Full to Partial?

When locating the "Full" invoice, it is helpful to use the Activity Ledger since it can be filtered to show the status of specific line items on the grid. Once the “Full” transaction is located, navigate to the AP Invoices grid, click to view the Invoice, and change the status by clicking “Partial” in the Action column to reopen the associated Purchase Order. The posting period associated with the Invoice will need to be open in order to process this change.

See the Re-open a completely-paid/completely-invoiced Purchase Order Item section on the Invoices page for additional details.

How should credits or discounts be processed?

Credits or discounts can still be entered using negative invoices. The differences caused by negative invoices on the Classic Carry Over Reconciliation when districts migrate to redesign had to do with how Classic handled the negative invoices. Going forward, Redesign has the ability to handle those transactions appropriately so districts can continue using the same process.

By default, USAS does include an error that prevents negative disbursements. If districts intend to process the negative credit/discount independently of other expenditures for those vendors all the way through as a negative memo check then this error will need to be disabled. This can be done by disabling the rule org.ssdt_ohio.usas.model.disbursement.DisbursementRules. See the Disable Rule section on the Rules page for more info on updating rules.

What is the difference between the Invoice Date and the Vendor Invoice Date?

The Invoice Date is the transaction date that is used by USAS. This date will default to the current date when the invoice is created. If the user would like to change this date, the date entered must be in a open posting period. The Vendor Invoice Date field was added in USAS to provide a field where the date on the physical invoice can be entered without the need to reopen previous posting periods. This field is specifically to allow the district to track the date on the vendor's invoice if they choose.

If either the Invoice Date or the Vendor Invoice date fields are populated with a date that is before the purchase order date then the user will receive a warning that the dates on the invoice come before the date of the purchase order. If the warning is surpassed, the associated purchase order will be marked as a 'Then and Now' purchase order.

If a Received Date is not entered for the any line items that are included in the invoice, the Invoice Date will automatically be used as the Received date for those items.

Does USAS allow duplicate Invoice numbers?

The same invoice number cannot be entered multiple times against the same purchase order, but can be used for two different purchase orders. 

Can I add a warning if the amount being invoiced is greater than remaining encumbrance?

Yes, there is a rule that is disabled by default that would add a warning when the invoice amount is greater than the remaining encumbrance. The rule org.ssdt_ohio.usas.model.invoice.InvoiceItemAmountExceedsEncumbranceRule can be enabled to turn this warning on. See the Enable Rule section of the Rules page for more info on updating rules.

Disbursements

Can check numbers be assigned to electronic (memo) checks?

Yes, check numbers can be assigned to electronic (memo) checks but they are not required. The disbursement records can be created and then reconciled without assigning a check number. 

To assign check numbers to electronic checks, use the standard procedure to Generate a Print File for those disbursements and make sure to check the box for "Print Electronic Checks?" on the pop up. 

Can a disbursement print file be regenerated?

Yes, simply check the box in on the disbursements grid to select the disbursement(s) that should be included and choose to Generate Print File. On the pop up, leave the Start Number blank, choose XML for the output type and click to generate.

How do I void and reissue a disbursement?

If the disbursement is currently in a Reconciled status, first Unreconcile the disbursement. 

To Reissue for a different amount:

• Void the disbursement choosing NOT to void the invoice items (uncheck box). The void date entered must be in an open posting period and not earlier than the disbursement date. 
• Modify the Invoice to make the necessary changes
• Process the transaction through Payables to create a new disbursement

To Reissue for a different vendor:

• Void the disbursement choosing to void the invoice items (check box). The void date entered must be in an open posting period and not earlier than the disbursement date. 
• Create a new invoice to cancel the remaining encumbrance amounts on the purchase order. 
• Create a new purchase order to the correct vendor.
• Create a new invoice and process through Payables to create a new disbursement

If the same check number should be used for a correction:

• Resequence the old check to a number in a different sequence
• Generate Print File for the new disbursement and enter the check number

Can a disbursement be unvoided? 

Yes.  A user may Unvoid as long as the transaction is eligible.

• Disbursement Void date is in an Open Posting Period
• The check was void after Release 2024.0.0 in January 2024
• The Invoices were not deleted after the disbursement was voided
• No items on that check have been paid on another disbursement (before or after the void)

For any checks that are not eligible, the unvoid option will not be available. Instead, new check can be created from the purchase order or invoice depending on whether or not the 'Void Invoice Items' option was chosen when the check was voided. If the same check number needs to be used, the previous check can be resequenced to a different check number so that the number can be used on the reissued check.

If I void a disbursement and unchecked the ‘Void Invoice Items’ by mistake is there a way to make the purchase order Invoiceable again? 

Unchecking the 'Void Invoice Items' box leaves the Invoice on the system as 'Filled' instead of 'Cancelled.' To make the purchase order Invoiceable again, the previous invoice can either be deleted or modified (as long as the posting period is open).

How do I Void a Check in a previous Posting Period?

When voiding the transaction, the void date entered must be in an open posting period and not earlier than the disbursement date. If the void date should be in a previous period, open the posting period, process the void, and re-close the previous period.

How do I void a check from a prior fiscal year?

A check from a prior fiscal year cannot be voided.  Instead, the check should be reconciled (as if it had cleared the bank), and the money receipted into the fund used for the expenditure using a 5300 receipt code, "refund of a prior year's expenditure."   If you need to re-issue the check, you can process a refund of receipt (with a check) from the 5300 receipt account. 

How do I reconcile imported memo checks? 

If your old memo checks were imported into the Redesign from Classic, they may need to be reconciled to prevent them from showing on the Outstanding Disbursement report.  Filter the Disbursement grid by date and/or vendor for the memo checks, check all rows, and use the Reconcile option. The import date can be used for the Reconcile date.

Ex. Filter for Vendor numbers greater than 900000 with an Outstanding status.

Receipts

How do I search for a Receipt for a specific amount?

To search for the Total amount of all items on a receipt, the Receipt grid can be used. When filtering enter "=" before the amount to search for a specific amount. To locate a specific amount for a receipt line item, use the Activity ledger. Filter the grid for receipts by entering a Type of “Rec" and the amount.

Refunds

How do I reverse/delete a refund?

To reverse a refund that also created a check, go to the disbursement grid to select the check to Void.  This will reverse the Refund, mark the Refund void, and reverse the transaction on the revenue account history.   To reverse a refund that did not create a check, you can delete the refund from the Refund grid using the delete icon.  The deletion of a refund with no check will not show on transaction reports.

How do I create a Refund check?

From the Refund Check section of the Refunds page: If the refund requires a check to be created you will check the 'create check' box.  When checked, it will activate the check fields. After the vendor number is entered it will automatically populate the 'Refunded To' field with the name of the vendor.  The Bank Account field will automatically populate the default bank account that will be associated with the disbursement. Either a physical check or electronic payment will be posted to the system depending on the default payment type of the vendor. You cannot assign a check number in Refund.  After the refund is posted, the refund check information will be available in Disbursements.  You can use the 'Generate Print File' option to assign a check number and generate a print file.  

How do I look up Refund checks?

The Disbursement grid can be used to locate Refund checks. Navigate to the Disbursement rid and and filter by ‘Refund’ type. The Disbursement Detail, Disbursement Summary, Outstanding Disbursement Summary reports can also be generated for 'Refund' type checks.

Transfers/Advances

Reports

I'm looking for a Redesign version of a Classic report. How do I find which report to use?

The Template SSDT Reports section of the Report Manager and Canned Reports pages both contain a crosswalk that lists all Redesign reports and which Classic report they compare to. A Template Report Crosswalk.xlsx of the Template SSDT Reports on the Report Manager is also available.

How do I run reports for a previous period or previous fiscal year?

For account based reports (Budget, Appropriation, Revenue, Cash Summary) the Total As of Period parameter can be utilized when running the report. Enter a date (mm/dd/yyyy) you would like to run the report for for a certain posting period. The report will generate the MTD/FYTD total for the full period based on the entered date. Ex. If the date of 6/1/2019 is entered, the FYTD totals will show for 7/1/2018 - 6/30/2019 and the MTD totals will show for 6/1/2019 - 6/30/2019).

NOTE: This parameter is relevant to account based reports. The as of period parameter will return amounts as of a specific period (ex. FYTD or MTD totals), but will not limit transactions on accounts. If using with a report that is transaction based, this parameter will need to be used in combination with Start and Stop dates to filter the transactions that are included.

The Outstanding Purchase Orders and Outstanding Disbursement Summary reports can be run for a previous period by temporarily changing the current period to the period you want encumbrances reflected in. Leave the parameters empty when generating the report.  One of the filters hard-coded in the report will search for any POs with a remaining encumbrance not equal to 0 for the current selected period.

Why is the Remaining Encumbrance total on the Financial Detail report different than on the Cash Summary Report?

The Financial Detail Report is a transaction based report that will include any remaining encumbrance amounts for transactions dated within the entered date range or the current fiscal year when using the Financial Detail Report (July 1 Cash Balances) while the Account Summary reports (Budget, Appropriation, Cash Summary) show the total outstanding encumbrance amount regardless of the purchase order date.

Can I edit a report definition?

Template reports that are found in the Report Manager can be edited to customize using the eye icon to edit the report definition. When saving the updated report definition this will save specifically for the user that is making the change unless the new report definition is shared.

What shortcuts can be used when entering parameters in reports?

A full list of Date Shortcuts can be found on the Navigation section. In general, the date shortcuts usually use the beginning and ending characters to indicate the beginning and ending dates for the current applicable period (ex. enter "F" for start date and "L" for end date to select the full FiscaL year). These short cuts are not case sensitive.

Other shortcuts that can be used when filtering reports or grids:

• T/F = True/False
• Check Statuses
  • O = Outstanding
  • R = Reconciled
  • V = Void

Where do I find the USACERT reports in USAS?

The reports from the Classic USACERT program (CERTBAL, AMDCERT, APPRES) can be found under the Periodic Menu, Appropriation Resolution Report. 

Vendors

How do I adjust the vendor YTD taxable amount?

Vendor Adjustments may be used to update YTD amounts for 1099 reporting, add royalties, or reduce YTD amounts for a prior fiscal year check that should have been void (see FAQ for How to void prior FY check procedure).

From the Core menu, click on Vendors and locate the vendor you want to make changes. Click on the View icon to open the vendor. 

Click on Vendor Adjustments and input the data for the amount. The Adjustment can be positive or negative to increase or decrease the current Vendor YTD figure. If the Taxable box is left checked, the adjustment will impact the FYTD Taxable Total and YTD Taxable Total. For adjustments that are created to account for royalties, the Taxable box should be checked.

Click to Post. The adjustment will now be included in the calculation for the Total amount fields.

Can Vendor payments be processed via ACH?

USAS does not currently support the creation of ACH files, but these fields may be used with third-party vendor software that support vendor ACH submission. The ACH Processing Module can be installed on the System menu, Modules page. This will make a set of ACH fields available on the Vendor records. Users with the USAS_PRIVACY_VENDOR_ACH permission will be able to view and update these fields (USAS_MANAGER and USAS_STANDARD Roles).

All relevant fields should be filled out for ACH vendors including Email Address, Deposit Type, and Entry Class Code. These payments will be processed through the expenditure process in USAS as normal. When the print file is generated, any vendors with ACH info entered will include those ACH fields on the XML file. Once the XML file is transferred to the third party software, the third party software would generally determine (based on the inclusion of ACH fields) which payments should be included on a ACH tape file instead of printing a check. 

Can vendors be merged?

Yes, the Merge Vendors option is available on the Core > Vendor record. For more information about merging vendors click here.

Can I use Mass Import to Inactivate vendors?

To inactivate vendors by using the Mass Import on the Vendors grid, please refer to the Vendor Import Criteria for the required fields which include Primary Name, Active, Vendor #.  

How can I add Foreign Vendor information?

The TaxID field in USAS is directly used for the 1099 form generation, which requires a 9 digit numerical TIN number, so the software requirement is consistent with that. This would apply to vendors in USAS configured to receive a 1099 form (anything but Non-1099 status).

More Information about applying for a TIN can be found on the IRS website.

If the vendor does not qualify for a 1099, a custom field could be used instead to record the foreign identification number for reference only.

For the address fields, the State input is only validated as a 2 digit state code if the Country indicates a variation of US or USA. If a different Country is entered, then the information can be entered as needed in the State and Zip code fields. 

Other

I enabled/disabled a rule. Why is it not working?

After updating a Rule, make sure to click Activate on the Rules grid. It generally takes a minute for the activation to complete so you will see the blue loading bar at the top of the screen. Any time changes are made to the Rules, the Activate option will need to be processed before the changes take effect.

See the Rules page for additional info.

How can Requisition Only users be given access to view Purchase Orders?

The USAS_REQ Role only grants access to Requisition pages and reports so additional access can be added by creating an additional Role that can be assigned to Users. The process of creating and assigning a new Role requires Admin access so district's may need to contact the ITC for assistance.

Navigate to the System menu, Role page and click to create a new Role. Enter an Id (name) for the role and a description if desired. Move permissions from the list on the left side to the 'Granted' list on the right to add permissions to this role. The permission USAS_PURCHASEORDER_VIEW will allow users to view the Purchase Order grid. Additional permissions can be added if desired to allow users access to Purchase Order Reports or additional pages like the Activity Ledger. Additional information about the available permissions can be found on the Roles page.

Once the desired permissions are added to the 'Granted' list, save the Role.

Navigate to the System menu, Users page to assign the role to a user. Users can be assigned multiple roles at once so this new role can be granted in addition to the regular USAS_REQ role.

How can a District User change another User’s passwords without the ability to Add, Edit, or Delete User accounts?

To be able to change district user’s passwords, a new additional Role can be assigned to the user called USAS_USER_PASSWORD. The process of creating and assigning a new Role requires Admin access so districts may need to contact the ITC for assistance.

Navigate to System>Role and click to create a new Role. Enter an Id (name) for the role and a description if desired. Move permissions from the list on the left side to the 'Granted' list on the right to add permissions to this role. Permissions can be found on the Roles page.

Once the desired permissions are added to the 'Granted' list, save the Role.

Navigate to Systems>Users to assign the role to a user. Users can be assigned multiple roles at once so this new role can be granted in addition to the regular USAS_STANDARD role or USAS_MANAGER role.   The following permissions are available:

USAS_USER_VIEW - To view Users

USAS_USER_PASSWORD – To change passwords

The USAS_MANAGER can already view users but would need the additional access USAS_USER_PASSWORD to change user’s passwords.  USAS_STANDARD Role does not allow the user to view other users so if needed, the USAS_USER_VIEW permission can be granted along with the USAS_USER_PASSWORD to view and update passwords on users.  To be able to Add, Edit, or Delete User accounts, the USAS_USER_UPDATE access would need to be added to the role.    

Is there a way to exclude memo checks in my Positive Pay Extract if I pull them in by the date?

The Positive Pay extract does not allow a specific filter by Default Payment type but checks will not pull into the Positive Pay Extract file unless there is a check number assigned. In USAS, memo checks are not required to have a check number. When generating the print file, the user has the option whether or not to include electronic checks. If it is desired that the the electronic (memo) checks will not be assigned a check number, this box should not be checked when generating the print file.

Why do the accounts stop showing in the account drop down when entering a Distribution/Error correction?

The Distributions/Error corrections page is unique in that it can be related to Expenditure Accounts or Revenue Accounts. When typing the third position of the account code (ex. 001-2130-XXX) it will  either be an object for an Expenditure account or SCC for a Revenue account. That portion of the account code (and closing hyphen) must be entered in before the query can determine which accounts to include in the drop down. After that portion of the account code is entered, the query can then determine which accounts to bring up and will continue to show accounts in the drop down for the remaining parts of the code. If you are uncertain of that portion of the account code, a second tab can be opened on the web browser to lookup accounts in USAS via the Core > Accounts page.

How do I know what version of the USAS Application I am working in?

Go to the Help menu (top right of the page) and select About. The Application Version number will be listed along with the date stamp of when the release was applied.

How do I send the server log from the application?

To send a server log to the SSDT, go to the Help menu (top right of the page) and select About.  Scroll down to the bottom of the About page and click on the 'Send Server Log to the SSDT'.

Identifying Reconciliation Errors

What can I look at when reconciling USAS to bank statements?

One method for performing a bank statement reconciliation can be found as part of the USAS Month End Balancing Checklist.

If the statements do not reconcile, a number of conditions could be the cause of the problem. Listed below are steps which can be taken to identify the discrepancy.

• Generate a Financial Detail report for Current Period for the month you are attempting to reconcile.  Compare the expended and received amounts with the Cash Summary report's expended and received amounts to isolate the problem to a particular fund and from there, to a particular transaction if needed.  

• If USAS shows more money than the financial institution(s), the following items should be checked:

Check to insure that only those checks which have not yet cleared the bank(s) are reflected on the "Outstanding" Disbursement Summary Report. Make certain that all "memo" transactions have been posted to USAS, (e.g.---STRS Employer's Share).

Check to see that all deposits made are reflected on the bank statement. It is possible that a deposit made, and posted to USAS, was not credited on the bank statement(s), or was credited for a different amount.

Check to see that a deposit was not "double-posted" to USAS, (i.e.---entered twice on two different receipts).

• If USAS shows less money than the financial institutions(s), the following items should be checked:

Check to ensure that a check that is still outstanding is not missing from the "Outstanding" Disbursement Summary report. If the reason for a check not showing up on the report is because it was mistakenly reconciled, use the Unreconcile option on the Disbursement grid to unreconcile the disbursement. If the check was never reconciled, but is still missing from the "Outstanding" Disbursement Summary report, you will need to obtain assistance from  your ITC in correcting this situation.

Check to see that all Change Funds, Petty Cash Funds, and Investments have been accurately reflected in the total.

Check to ensure that all deposits shown on the bank statement(s) have been posted to USAS.

Make certain that all interest income has been deposited in USAS.