Maryland's Public System of Higher Education

UNIVERSITY SYSTEM OF MARYLAND
Interface With The State

Strategies and Implications
Financial, Human Resources, and Payroll Systems

Executive Summary

The USM institutional business systems interfaces with the state include:

• Financial and accounts payable interface to the General Accounting division (GAD)
• Payroll interface with the Central Payroll Bureau (CPB) and the Office of Personnel Services and Benefits (OPSB)
• Budget interface with the Department of Budget and Management (DBM)
• Human Resources interface with the USM Office

To be completed

• Establish a base system for Finance and Payables (Institutions).

• Create interface modules for transmission of information to GAD, 1 month (USM and Institutions).

• Test interface modules with GAD, 6 months (Institutions and USM).

• As institutions implement PeopleSoft HR, they will adopt the UMUC model for interface with the System Office (Institutions with UMUC).

Payroll

• Determine the interface strategy, through College Park or directly to state.

• Begin now developing the interface programs necessary for interface with CPB - 6 months (Campuses may be able to use UMUC's solution, depending on timing).

• UM institutions work with College Park and CPB during the 18-month testing window (Institutions work with College Park).

• Acquire and implement DOT's budget system for use in May 2002 (USM; will distribute the application to the institutions)
• Longer-term use the PeopleSoft budget application for request and working budget cycles - 2 years (Institutions and USM)

• Begin now to learn about the impact on campus operations (Institutions).

• Identify and/or create appropriate and sufficient resources to accomplish reconciliation (Institutions).

• Build the required reconciliation software to interface between GAD and PeopleSoft (USM and Institutions).

The overall USM strategy is to maintain a common and easily modifiable interface to the State, enabling a leveraged and cost effective response to changes in State requirements.

The technical USM strategy is to create and maintain a common set of tables and attributes to meet the requirements for the interfaces with the State

Description:

The accounts payable interface encompasses the processes as well as the data and document interchanges by which the USM institutions pay invoices through the State.

Currently, institutional systems and business processes maintain the vendor file; perform the 3-way or 2-way match; and create batches of approved accounts payable transactions that are sent to the state via UMCP or the USM Service Center.

All entries are submitted electronically, supported by hard copy as required by GAD.

The USM strategy for the new implementations of financial systems is to provide each institution the opportunity to interface directly with the State's General Accounting Division (GAD).

The technical strategy is to design, create, and maintain a common set of tables and attributes to provide the interface to the state.

There will not be any required changes to the institutional business processes for the accounts payable interface with the state.

The institutions will be responsible for developing and maintaining the software to extract the required data to populate the common tables and attributes for the accounts payable interface with the state.

Each USM institution sends information about employee demographics, employment, and salary to the USM Office. This information is used to compile reports for the Board of Regents and other internal and external entities.

The schedule for sending institutional human resources data to the USM Office is the last day of every month.

The USM strategy is to maintain the current interface for all the new implementations of human resources applications as well as the existing human resources applications.

No anticipated change in business processes for the human resources interface. However, significant changes in business processes will likely be required related to payroll issues such as time and recording, non-resident status, and pay types.

Currently, the USM has two systems to provide payroll information to the State. UMB, UMBC, UMBI, UMCES, UMCP, UMES, UMUC, and the USM Office use UMCP's payroll system, while BSU, CSC, FSU, SU, TU, and UB interface with the Office of Personnel Services and Benefits (OPSB) and the state's Central Payroll Bureau (CPB).

USM institutions using the UMCP system forward payroll entries and exceptions to base information on hard copy to UMCP. UMCP then enters and records this information in the UMCP payroll system. On a biweekly basis, UMCP generates the gross pay file, sending this information to the state's Central Payroll Bureau (CPB) for processing.

After processing, CPB returns a file of payroll charges to UMCP. In turn, UMCP creates payroll batches that are sent to the individual institutions for updating their institutional financial accounting systems. Problems with payroll are resolved on behalf of the institutions at the UMCP Payroll Office.

The institutions interfacing with OPSB and CPB use state forms 310 and 311T respectively to provide employment information to OPSB on regular employees and to CPB on contractual employees (contingent, adjunct faculty, and student). OPSB creates a master file that is sent to CPB to update records of employees authorized for payment for each institution.

On a biweekly basis, CPB produces an Exception Time Report (ETR) for regular employees. Institutions complete the ETR and submit it to CPB with exceptions to standard bi-weekly pay. Currently, some institutions may submit ETR data on-line directly to the CPB system. Otherwise, institutions manually write data on the ETR document and CPB inputs data into its system. CPB then runs payroll, and produces a pay run file for regular employees. On alternating weeks, CPB produces a Positive Time Report (PTR). Institutions post pay data for all employees to be paid and submit updated PTRs to CPB. CPB inputs data into its system, runs payroll, and produces a pay-run file for contractual employees.

For each of the payroll cycles, CPB creates a gross pay file of all employer costs that is sent to the USM Service Center. The USM Service Center splits the gross pay file by individual institution and electronically transmits it to each institution. The institutions interface the gross pay file with their internal HRS system to update labor distribution records and generate a batch update from the HRS system to the financial accounting system.

Problems with payroll are resolved between CPB and individual institution Payroll offices.

The ongoing implementation of new payroll applications create both strategy and timing questions:

• Which USM institutions will continue with the existing payroll services provided by UMCP?
• Is there an option for some USM institutions to interface directly with CPB?
• Should the USM consider consolidating the existing three payroll cycles?

To be completed

To be completed

The USM has two budget systems for compiling personnel and operating budget information, which is provided to the State's Department of Budget and Management (DBM) on an annual cycle.

UMB, UMBC, UMBI, UMCES, UMCP, UMES, UMUC, and the USM Office update the UMCP budget system with personnel detail, operating detail and summary information. After making the requisite adjustments, a consolidated budget file containing the operating budgets for these institutions is provided to DBM. This information is provided annually during the first week in September.

Separately, BSU, CSC, FSU, SU, TU, and UB provide DBM with files containing their operating budget information. These files are also sent annually during the first week in September.

The USM Office coordinates the budget submission to the State. In addition, the UMCP budget system is the source for the new fiscal year payroll conversion for those USM institutions on the UMCP budget system. The remaining USM institutions provide payroll updates to the OPSB human resources system.

In the intermediate term, the USM proposes to examine the applicability of the Department of Transportation's budget request system of its institutions. The current budget system does not capture all of the data required by DBM (prior year's budget, prior year's actuals, and current year's budget).

The longer term USM strategy is to consolidate on the PeopleSoft budget application for nine USM institutions: BSU, CSC, FSU, SU, TU, UB, UMB, UMBC, and UMUC.

The new PeopleSoft budget systems offer the possibility of a stronger tie between institutional budgets and expenditures. Additionally, the source for payroll conversion data for several USM institutions would shift from the UMCP budgeting system to their PeopleSoft HR applications.

The interface to the state's FMIS system encompasses the processes of cash transactions and journal vouchers.

Currently, USM institutions create cash batches from the institutional financial systems, providing cash transactions to the state FMIS system via UMCP or the USM Service Center. For the most part, UMCP, UMBC, UMB, UMUC, and UMES enter journal vouchers directly into the state's FMIS system.

BSU, CSC, FSU, SU, TU, and UB interface to the state's FMIS encompasses cash deposits, journal vouchers, and accounts payable transactions.

These institutions create journal voucher batches from institutional financial system that are transmitted as part of the daily interface of institutional files to the state system. Journal vouchers are very rarely entered directly into the state's FMIS system.

The USM strategy for the new implementations of financial systems is to provide each institution the opportunity to interface directly with the State's General Accounting Division (GAD).

The technical strategy is to design, create, and maintain a common set of tables and attributes to provide the interface to the state.

There will not be any required changes to the institutional business processes for the financial systems interface with the state.

However, the institutions will be responsible for developing and maintaining the software to extract the required data to populate the common tables and attributes for the financial systems interface with the state.

The beginning cash and fund balances between the USM financial systems and the State's RSTARS system are reconciled at the start of the fiscal year, July 1^st.

In addition, total expenditures and total revenues by fund are reconciled to RSTARS on a monthly basis. These reconciliations include vendor payments, cash deposits and journal voucher transactions.

The USM strategy for the new implementations of financial systems is to provide each institution the opportunity to interface directly with the State's General Accounting Division (GAD). GAD will send weekly transactional tapes directly to the institutions.

BSU, CSC, FSU, SU, TU, and UB currently receive a daily history (HX) file from the state R*STARS system that is used in monitoring and reconciling transactions. They also download a monthly file used for reconciliation purposes.

The institutions on UMCP's FRS Plus 2000 system will continue with the current reconciliation processes.

To be determined

The institutions electing to interface directly with GAD will need to set up a System Control Office function to manage the transmission and reconciliation of financial transactions to the State's RSTARS system.

In that regard, some transactions that originate from outside the institutional financial systems require a greater reconciliation effort. Examples of these types of transaction include:

• Federal draw downs
• Insurance transactions from the S.T.O. (State Treasurer's Office)
• Inter-agency transactions

To be determined