Training and Available Resources
training manual section 6
6.1 Departmental resources
Accounting Services
The University has a decentralized accounting system, which means Accounting Services relies on each unit within the University to perform detailed accounting functions, such as paying invoices, making deposits, and making journal entries. Accounting Services is responsible for the financial reporting for the University as a whole, as well as providing support to the University’s departments.
Office of Business and Finance
The Office of Business and Finance is dedicated to advance the mission and goals of the University through effective fiscal business practices and a wide variety of administrative and support services.
Office of University Budgets
The Office of University Budgets and Financial Planning is dedicated to advancing the mission and goals of the University through effective technical assistance, training and support to University administrators and departments in developing and implementing short and long-range financial plans.
Provost’s Business Office
The Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs is the chief academic officer and chief administrative officer following the president of the University. The provost oversees academic policies and activities through the University and is responsible for long-range planning for, as well as coordination of, the administrative and support functions of the University’s academic enterprise.
Human Resources
Human Resources contributes to the University’s success by building partnerships to maximize the development and allocation of human and fiscal resources. Human Resources services include benefits, compensation, employee relations, employment, information processing, information systems, labor relations, performance management and retirement.
Payroll and Disbursements
The Payroll and Disbursements office manages the processing of University payments via invoices, procurement cards, and vouchers. The goal is to provide prompt payments to vendors while ensuring compliance with University policies and procedures.
6.2 Accounting Basics
Monthly processes
Each department is responsible for reconciling (reviewing) all transactions posted to their department(s) in General Ledger Operating Web (GLOW) on a monthly basis. Departments and Colleges should adhere to their unit’s processes and requirements for monthly reconciliation to ensure financial integrity.
Year-end processes and accruals
The University’s fiscal year ends on June 30. Each year, Accounting Services will provide a Business Manager Update newsletter highlighting these special points of interest:
- Important Year-End Dates
- Payroll Accrual Information
- Endowment Highlights
- Year-End Purchasing Procedures
Year-End Technology Purchase
6.3 Budget basics
Budget booking
Each year the Office of University Budgets will provide a budget booking letter regarding the fiscal year budget booking process and deadlines for general, designated and auxiliary fund activities.
Budget entry
The Budget Entry Spreadsheet (BES) is an application used to create and correct one-time adjustments and permanent budget requests. The BES creates a Budget Journal Entry where budget adjustment information is entered. Saving the Budget Journal Entry creates a Post File that can only be deleted or corrected on the same day that it is created. A One Time Adjustment is for the current fiscal year and will post to GLOW. Permanent Adjustments create an adjustment that will modify the permanent base budget in the following fiscal year. Permanent journal requests do not post to GLOW. Departments may use their permanent base budget summary and detail reports to access this information.
Journal entry
A journal entry (JES) is a transaction recorded in the general ledger. Journals have debit and credit amounts that net to zero and appear in the “actuals” column in GLOW. Departments may need to post journal entries for various reasons. If a department needs to correct a transaction posted to the incorrect department or account (object code), this will require a journal entry. Transfers between two or more university departments also require a journal entry. This could be due to a cost that two departments are sharing, or university business such as the Bernhard Center charging a department for catering. It’s important to reconcile your departments each month to ensure any journals posted to your departments are accurate and reasonable.
Department maintained encumbrance
A department maintained encumbrance (DME) is a transaction recorded in the encumbrance ledger. The DME ledger was created for campus users to input commitments within the current fiscal year to track expected transactions before they happen. Unlike journal entries and budget entries, DME journals do not have to net to zero. DME transactions should be reviewed when reconciling your departments each month. Once the actual transaction posts to the general ledger, the DME encumbrance will need to be reversed so that the transaction is not counted twice.
Fringe rates
Fringe benefit rates are broken down into three categories: Federal Insurance Contributions Act (FICA), blended retirement rate, and blended benefits rate. Each category has a specific percentage rate each fiscal year. The U.S. government determines the FICA rate. The blended retirement rate is calculated annually by Accounting Services and covers the TIAA 403(b) eligible employees and MPSERS eligible employees. The blended benefits rate is calculated annually by Accounting Services and includes all other employee benefits (i.e. health insurance, life insurance, tuition and discounts).
6.4 Hiring and employment basics
Faculty and academic hiring processes
Each department and college should work closely with their dean and business manager, college budget officer, human resources representative and the OAA Office of Budget and Personnel senior business manager during the hiring process.
150-day calendar and contracts
Per the American Association of University Professors (AAUP) contract, the University will use one hundred fifty (150) days per academic year as a basis for the calculation of the daily pay rate for academic-year faculty, including salary calculations for faculty who work for less than a complete fall or spring semester and calculations of sick leave pay and payoffs. It is understood that the University’s pay period schedule may or may not coincide with the academic year. The Office of University Budgets creates the 150-day calendar each academic year and monitors leave time and payoffs for faculty members.
Faculty transactions and appointment types
Full Time Equivalency ("FTE")
Full-time equivalent (FTE) is a unit that indicates the workload of an employed person (or student) in a way that makes workloads or class loads comparable across various contexts. FTE is often used to measure a worker’s or student’s involvement in a project or to track cost reductions in an organization. An FTE of 1.0 is equivalent to a full-time worker or student, while an FTE of 0.5 signals half of a full work or school load.
Staff and student hiring processes
Position authorizations and other employment transaction forms
Position authorizations (“PA”) are used for position replacements, position changes and creation of new positions. To request a PA for a current position, each department should adhere to the process outlined by their respective college or division. Transaction forms are used to make changes (pay, FTE, appointment extension, separation) to a current employee. Appointment extension applies to benefit-eligible faculty or staff only. Please note that changes to current student employees and graduate assistants are processed through Manager Self Service, not a transaction form.
Electronic Workflow
The University uses an automated system to request and approve the following personnel appointments and transactions: incidental pay, temporary appointments, student appointments, part-time instructor appointments, additional summer salary appointments for faculty, non-instructional appointments for faculty and faculty overload payments.
Manager Self Service
Manager Self Service (“MSS”) is a web-based application within PeopleSoft HCM (“PSHR”) designed to assist managers with their hourly student and graduate student employee-related tasks. It is paperless processing. MSS is available 24 hours-a-day providing immediate access to the manager’s team information. MSS reduces dependence on Human Resources and Payroll and provides a consolidated view of the manager’s team data. Departments will no longer need to wait on Human Resources to enter data once submitted, as it will automatically update the PSHR database. Information in MSS is real-time, meaning the information is available as soon as it is entered
6.5 Timekeeping and payroll
Kronos is the University’s time reporting system and is used for submitting non-exempt employee hours to payroll. PeopleSoft is used for submitting exempt employee leave time.
Timekeeping and payroll forms
6.6 Accounts Payable/Disbursements
Disbursement forms
6.7 Budget reports
Pay earnings report
The pay earnings report provides departments with a detailed listing of payroll expenses sorted by employee for each pay period. This report is designed to help departments reconcile payroll accounts against GLOW.
Personnel report
The personnel report is used to compare employee job data to the permanent budget by position. It only shows positions with a permanent budget attached. Temporary and student employee data does not appear in the personnel report.
Permanent base budget summary report
The permanent base budget summary report provides a summary of the permanent budget by account for each department.
Permanent base budget detail report
The permanent base budget detail report provides a detailed listing of permanent budget adjustments by position and account for each department.
Reallocation data comparison
The reallocation data comparison is a preliminary base budget with three years of actual history for budget planning analysis.
Projection reports
The Office of University Budgets provides projection reports quarterly beginning in January. This report is a snapshot of the one-time budget and actuals to project possible savings or deficits in salary codes based on the most recent pay period. Projection reports are an estimate.
6.8 Human Resource reports
PeopleSoft HR Reporting
PSHR’s reporting feature allows authorized users to view existing reports or to run programs to produce reports on demand.
Management Data Report
This report contains job information for all active jobs in a department, college or executive area.
6.9 Payroll and timekeeping reports
Semi-monthly leave history
This report is used by timekeepers or administrators to list a historical view of leave time used for semi-monthly (exempt) employees.
Employee transactions and totals
This report displays pay code transaction data and totals by employee as well as a grand total. Pay codes and their respective time totals are included in the display.
- Employee transactions and totals instructions are included in the Reporting Resources at WMU Presentation Slides
Time detail
This report displays detailed data about each employee’s punches, duration, and pay code edits. Summary data is displayed per employee, totaling time by labor level and pay code, then by pay code only.
- Time detail instructions are included in the Reporting Resources at WMU Presentation Slides
Hours by labor account
This report displays hours for each department (cost center) in which employees had hours. The report totals hours for each labor account by pay code.
- Hour by labor account instructions are included in the Reporting Resources at WMU Presentation Slides
Time card sign-off, request and approval
The time card sign-off request and approval report displays audit information related to time card approvals and sign-off. The information includes the date and time, along with the user who performed the action.
- Time card sign-off, request and approval instructions are included in the Reporting Resources at WMU Presentation Slides
PeopleSoft timekeeper report
The timekeeper report provides timekeepers with data for temporary employees and student employees. Data fields on this report include name, employee ID, job number, effective date, job indicator, Kronos job indicator, WIN, job code, title, grade, step, comp rate, annual base pay, account code, FICA status, work-study, termination date and Form I-9 date.
6.10 Travel authorizations and expenses
The travel site is designed as an overview of the University’s travel policies and procedures for receiving authorization to travel, reporting expenses and obtaining reimbursement when traveling on behalf of the University. Travelers should also comply with any other authorization procedure required by their departments.
6.11 University-wide Policies
All University Policies must be developed, approved, and distributed in compliance with the standards and format set forth in this Policy. When policies conform to the approved format, they promote the University’s mission, establish and maintain accountability, and provide transparency with respect to University activities and processes. The policies A-Z website is for policies that affect the University as a whole.
Other policies and procedures