Updates on requisitions, PCard processes, justifications

Expense Preparers
If you are an Expense Preparer, please start in the Expense Report (skip My Wallet). My Wallet is designed for people who are cardholders only—those who are not Expense Preparers.

Expense Preparers can print a step-by-step guide on how to reconcile PCard transactions using the Expense Report. This Job Aid can be found here.

Description Field

PCard transaction justifications should be added in the Description field either in My Wallet (by the cardholder) or in the Expense Report (by the Expense Preparer). The Description field allows 254 characters and the justification should focus on the Why. Special characters should not be used in the Description field because it will cause the printing of the PDF Expense Report to fail.

Attaching Backup Documentation or Additional Justification

Both My Wallet (for cardholders) and the Expense Report (for Expense Preparers) will accept multiple attachments. If 254 characters of description are not enough for a “why” justification and any ChartField strings, attach a document containing the additional information along with the receipt.

Processing Credit Transactions

Credit transactions require that a description be entered into the Credit Reference field so the activity will process. Please enter information about the original transaction in this field and click <Ok>. The credit transaction will already be added to a new Expense Report and will no longer show in the list of My Wallet transactions. Once you return to the list of My Wallet transactions you can select additional transactions and click <Done>. You will now have the credit and any other selected transactions on an Expense Report for you complete and submit for approval. A Job Aid on credit transactions can be found here.

Finding Lost Transactions

Anytime a PCard transaction is brought into an Expense Report (ER) the ER is saved and a number is added. If you decide to process the transaction at another time, that transaction is still assigned to an ER.

• If you are a cardholder and think you are missing transactions, you can search for all transactions in My Wallet by clicking on <Transaction Status> changing it to <All Transaction Status> and click <Search>. If the transaction has been assigned to an ER there will be an ER number in the ID field on the right side.
• If you are an EX Preprarer and need to search for missing transactions for a specific cardholder you should go to Employee Self-Service > Travel and Expense Center > Expense Reports > Create/Modify and search for an Existing Value and search by Empl ID. Most likely the missing transaction will be on a blank ER.

Supply & U Market Ordering

We are resolving problems with the requisition process regarding U Market orders and requisitions for non-U Market suppliers. Caused by a system defect, these issues are made worse by the high transaction volume. The two main issues are:

• "Page data inconsistent" errors when attempting to save/submit a requisition
• Invalid row number on requisition lines

Representatives from Oracle (the PeopleSoft software supplier), SciQuest (the U Market software supplier), and University staff are working around the clock to resolve these problems.

We have a large number of help tickets open for these issues and cannot respond to each individual inquiry. Once the issues are resolved, we will send an email to everyone.

Other known issues

Printing orders

Right now, no one other than a procurement specialist may print a PO. The email confirmation to Requisition Preparers has a broken link to print the PO. We are researching how to best address the issue.

The "missing" Modify Line Shipping Accounting button

We decided to remove this button from the system because Oracle replaced this feature with a new "mass change" button. Unfortunately, this does not work for any Oracle customers so they are working on fixing this as soon as possible. Once Oracle provides the update, we will roll it out to all requisition preparers so you can again modify more than one line at a time. We apologize for this inconvenience, affecting approximately 5% of University orders (even though it’s a small percentage, it is a large number of orders).

Catalog information not passing to supplier on PO

Please be aware that for a small number of orders, the catalog item number from the supplier is not being included on the PO. We are actively working on this issue. If additional steps are needed related to any of these orders, you will be contacted directly.

Lost U Market Carts

Helpful Tip: If you have lost a cart in U Market, log in to U Market, and then look for the shopping cart icon in the left-hand maroon bar. Select the cart, then select My Carts and Orders, then select View My Orders (Last 5 Orders). A list will appear of your last five orders.

Thank you for your patience while we resolve these issues related to our Upgrade.

Status messages for these and any other Upgrade-related issues are posted on upgrade.umn.edu.

Purchasing during cutover

Plan ahead - make April purchases now

People will not be able to record purchasing transactions in the financial system during the cutover period of The Upgrade. For the upgrade to Finance, EFS transaction processing must cease on April 8. Specific deadlines for transaction processing are here: http://controller.umn.edu/upgradecutover. 

All faculty and staff with purchasing responsibilities must work together to review their area’s business needs and calendar for the entire month of April to ensure you have ordered the any equipment, adequate supplies, and needed services ahead of time. Order before the April 8 deadline, and have enough on hand to last through April 22 to be safe (April 22 is a few days after the planned April 20 Go Live for The Upgrade).

The good news: the University's Purchasing Card (PCard) can be used to buy things during the cutover period. 

If emergency purchasing needs arise during cutover and the supplier does not accept PCards, contact Purchasing Services at 612-624-2828.

Since approvers need time to review and complete the purchase process, make your orders in advance (orders must be fully processed in EFS on April 8; your unit may have more specific directions for you so please check with your local finance staff). 

How to prepare

During cutover for The Upgrade the financial system will be unavailable for ordering. Here are questions every department should ask:

• U Market: Do we have enough office or lab supplies to last through the period? Shoppers will be able to shop within U Market during the cutover period but no carts can be pulled into EFS until after Go Live. Requisition preparers in EFS cannot pull carts into EFS until Go Live on April 20.
• Equipment: Is there a need for new equipment in April? Can we get it ordered before April 9 or can it wait until after April 20?
• Professional Services: Will all approvals be obtained before the contract’s start date, if it falls between April 9 and 20?
• POs: Should a PO or blanket order be created for suppliers that will not accept a PCard OR for purchases that do not comply with the PCard policy? 
• Purchases $50,000+: Has Purchasing Services been contacted for orders requiring a bid? Do any existing POs that total $50,000 or greater need additional dollars added to them?
• PCard: Does someone in the department have an active PCard to use in case of an emergency?
• Payments: Does the department need to pay any PO suppliers during the cutover period? (In which case, get payment transactions entered into EFS by the deadline. The University will ensure all scheduled payments that have been fully processed in EFS are made to vendors in a timely manner.)
• Speakers and entertainers: If you have a speaker or entertainer scheduled to appear between April 9 and April 20, work with your unit finance staff to ensure payment terms are known and payment transactions entered into the system by the deadline. If the speaker or performer agreement states that the University must provide payment on the date of the appearance, you will need to take steps to produce the check prior to any payment processing deadline.
• Patients, research, or lab animals: Take action to ensure critical supplies like patient care items, oxygen, dry ice, or food and bedding for lab animals are on hand.

PCard / My Wallet and the Upgrade

As part of the Upgrade we are changing where PCard reconciliation happens in the system. We are not changing what the PCard can be used for or who might hold a PCard. People will still buy things with their card, retain/image their receipts, provide business justifications for each purchase, account for the activity, and review/approve the reconciled activity in our financial system.

What is new for PCard cardholders? Cardholders will be able to access their transactions after the Upgrade via the new MyU > Purchasing tab > My Wallet. All cardholders will receive access to My Wallet automatically. An optional, brief training video is available for cardholders here: http://z.umn.edu/mywallet. 

What can cardholders do in the new My Wallet after the Upgrade? 

• View details of transactions made with their cards
• Provide business justifications (view job aid here)
• Attach images of receipts

Cardholders should check in with their department's finance staff to see how things will work in their area, as each college will determine which process will work best for them, having cardholders:

• Use My Wallet to provide justifications and attach images
• Use My Wallet to provide justifications only & turn in paper receipts
• Continue today's process of turning in everything via paper process

Options for obtaining cardholder signatures (check with your unit finance person to see how it will work in your college):

• Cardholder can sign each individual receipt; if cardholder signs each receipt, no additional signatures are needed from the cardholder later in the process
• Cardholder can sign a "page" of receipts to be scanned into the system
• Cardholder can sign a report at the end of the process, similar to today's process

The purpose of the cardholder’s signature is to document that they’ve seen the receipt and acknowledge they are responsible for the charge and that it is for University business. Physical or electronic “signature stamps” are not acceptable unless the cardholder personally applies the stamp.