December 2014 Edition
AFISM is committed to providing a valuable knowledge base to the TTU employee infrastructure and our directive is to
meet the individual needs of all our customers. You may or may not have heard of the changes that have occurred and
new products that have been developed in the past few months. Below, you will find a highlight of the most recent
items and the business need for each. Each month, our newsletter ends with a “Quick-Tip” of some useful tools that you
may or may not be aware of.
This month’s newsletter contains an informative section called ‘The Question’ diving into explanation of and discovering
the definitions of transaction document prefixes. In addition, you will also find a schedule of trainings offered by AFISM
for December through January and a review of HR027 Hours Paid by Earn Type as this month’s ‘Report of the Month’.
AFISM 2 KNOW - December 2014 Edition
Spotlighting Classes
Financial Management 101: Introduction to the FOAP Codes
For employees who will be working with Texas Tech’s financial Information Systems (TechBuy, Travel, Budgets, Finance
processes, Cognos Reporting, etc), this class provides information about business operations at Texas Tech as a prerequisite to other training classes. At the end of class, you will be able to
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Describe terms and acronyms commonly used in your department, in Texas Tech communications, and most
importantly, in future classes (future classes will focus on skill development and you are expected to know these
generally used terms and understand Texas Tech’s financial environment))
Describe each code in the FOAP string
Research the guidelines that govern your FOPs
Describe Budget Pools, Account Codes, and budget checking
Describe the fiduciary responsibilities of FOP managers and authorized signers
Resolve 10 issues that are hindrances to successfully starting your job
Actively participate in future classes.
Before class, please print the class materials and complete the pre-work assignment so that you can fully participate in
class activities. This class is offered on a monthly basis.
You can register for this class by going to the SumTotal website: http://webapps.tosm.ttu.edu/itts/sumtotalsystems
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Up Coming Trainings Offered By AFISM
- For December through January The following is a list of trainings offered by AFISM from December through January. If you are interested in attending
one of the trainings offered please follow this link to SumTotal to register for a class as well as to find up-to-date
information about trainings offered by AFISM.
http://webapps.tosm.ttu.edu/itts/sumtotalsystems
Class Name
Banner Student - Banner Basics
Banner Student - Intermediate Training
Cognos Grant Reporting
Budget Management and Revision
CitiBank Procurement Card Training for the Cardholder/Reconciler
TechBuy Shopper Training
Banner Student - Banner Basics
Introduction to Cognos
Banner Student - SFASRPO (Permit) Training
Banner Student - Time Ticketing Workshop
Xtender Basics
Financial Reporting - Budget Reports
Financial Reporting - Transaction Reports
Financial Management 101: Introduction to the FOAP Codes
HR Reporting - Employee Appointment Reports
HR Reporting - Payroll Reports
All About HR and ePAF
Banner Student - Banner Basics
Procure to Pay
Banner Student - Intermediate Training
Finance INB Navigation and Exercises
Financial Management 101: Introduction to the FOAP Codes
Cognos Grant Reporting
EOPS: Employee One-time Payment System Overview
TechBuy Shopper Training
Budget Management and Revision
Financial Reporting - Budget Reports
Introduction to Cognos
Financial Reporting - Transaction Reports
Travel Training for Travel Preparer
Financial Management 101: Introduction to the FOAP Codes
HR Reporting - Employee Appointment Reports
All About HR and ePAF
HR Reporting - Payroll Reports
Date
12/3/2014
12/4/2014
12/4/2014
12/5/2014
12/8/2014
12/8/2014
12/9/2014
12/9/2014
12/11/2014
12/11/2014
12/11/2014
12/15/2014
12/15/2014
12/16/2014
12/16/2014
12/16/2014
12/17/2014
12/17/2014
12/17/2014
12/18/2014
1/6/2015
1/7/2015
1/8/2015
1/8/2015
1/8/2015
1/9/2015
1/13/2015
1/13/2015
1/15/2015
1/15/2015
1/20/2015
1/20/2015
1/21/2015
1/22/2015
** Class offerings vary from month to month and the date and time is subject to change. Please visit SumTotal for up-todate information.
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How to fix ePAF *ERROR* – “Begin Date must equal the first Jobs Detail Effective Date.”
The Begin Date has a specific meaning: it is the first date an employee was appointed to a position (T# and suffix), such
as the date a new graduate student is appointed as a TA. If the graduate student is assigned as an RA for the next
semester, the TA appointment ends and RA appointment begins. Begin Date for each appointment is the first day the
employee was appointed to each T# and suffix, and it is stored for each appointment.
Then in a later semester, if the graduate student is re-appointed as a TA, the Begin Date on the ePAF must be the first
day of the original appointment, and the ePAF displays this date in the Current Value column. (NOTE: This error occurs
on re-appointments to a T# and suffix or rehires to a T# and suffix.)
In the attached screen shot, the Begin Date error is highlighted. The Begin Date (original appointment date) is indicated
with the green arrow.
To fix the error, type or paste the Current Value date to the New Value field (these instructions are stored in the AFISM
Knowledge Base in the “ePAF Topics and Tools” Category):
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The Question
“What Are These Entries?”
What are these entries? This is from the FI026 report, how do I determine what the V# document reference is and how
to find our more information about them?
Answer:
There are a couple of ways to research this. First, you can look within the Document ID column and then utilize the
“Crosswalks and Code Charts” page of the AFISM website to locate who to contact regarding the transaction. This can
be accessed from the A&F Work Tools on Raiderlink
Within the Finance Code Chart section, select “Document Prefix Identifiers”
Find the document prefix within the spreadsheet that matches the prefix to the entry you have a question about.
Displayed is the department involved and the name and link to email and phone for the person who can help with your
question.
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The second way to research this is to use the FI026A report rather than the FI026 to look at the entries in question, as it
provides more details. The FI026A provides the PO number and Commodity Name which gives the user a bit more
information about the transaction.
By utilizing the FI026A report, we learn that the transaction in question was for Material and Supplies, Computer
Equipment Controlled Above $500, and it was purchased from Apple, Inc and SHI Government Solutions, Inc. See the
shaded areas in the report below.
To further review the details, it is possible to search on the PO Number within the TechBuy system and review the
purchase order that initiated the transaction:
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Report of the Month
HR027 – Hours Paid by Earn Type
This report is used to see the type and hours of paid employees earned for each day. The way this report is used is
different for exempt employees and for non-exempt employees.
For exempt employees, you will discover paid leave by type, which allows tracking of vacation, sick leave, etc to be
accounted for, ensuring that they are being compensated correctly for the leave that they are taking. And that they are
remembering to enter leave into their leave report as required.
For non-exempt employees the report is used to ensure that they paid correctly for both hours worked and leave taken.
The report provides the opportunity to see these details for the entire organization or for a single employee. Parameter
options include: Organization code, Employee name, Begin and ending dates for the report.
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The report output is grouped by employee and provides earning type details for the time-frame selected. The Employee
ID (R-number) is displayed followed by the employee name. The earn code and description are shown followed by the
date and number of hours worked by the earn type for the date displayed
In the report output, notice that hours worked as well as paid leave time display for the non-exempt employee while the
earn type for an exempt employee will only be paid time off.
For a listing of the Earn Codes used at TTU, follow the link below:
AFISM > Crosswalks & Code charts > Banner HR> Banner Earnings Codes
www.depts.ttu.edu/afism/ - 742-KNOW
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