Month: October 2017

Video star

Business Transformation’s very own film maker-in-chief, Emma McDade, is the creative behind our videos.

Emma, and colleague Joanna Stephens who provides the voice-overs, were the first ones to use the new Tay Bridge Studio in the University Library. It will be a hive of activity over the coming weeks as Emma and Joanna flex their artistic skills, creating more videos to give you a good understanding of the new OneUniversity system’s key functionality.

A UoD graduate in Fine Art, Emma joined the Business Transformation team in September from DUTE (Dundee University Temporary Employees).

Joanna and Emma about to record another creative session at Tay Bridge Studio.

It’s a string thing

How long is a piece of string? Well, in operational ledger terms, this piece of string is six components – two more than the old string.

Expanding the data we capture at source in the string will help us to structure the information we hold in a more organised way and will standardise reporting across the University. This will make reporting quicker, easier and more detailed.

The animation below will explain the components of the new string and how these changes will benefit you in your role. The Finance and Procurement workstream roll-out happens on 4 December.

If you have any questions or feedback please email business-transformation@dundee.ac.uk.

No PO No Pay!

With the launch of OneUniversity, the University is implementing a ‘No PO No Pay’ policy. This means that invoices from suppliers must quote a valid OneUniversity Purchase Order (PO) number in order for Accounts Payable to process and ultimately pay them. If we receive an invoice and it doesn’t quote a valid OneUniversity PO number, we’ll send it back to the supplier. They, in turn, will go back to the person who requested the goods/ services who will raise a retrospective order on the OneUniversity system. Now the supplier has a valid PO number and can receive payment.

‘No PO No Pay’ policies are commonplace across most organisations of our size and complexity. The OneUniversity system means we are able to implement the policy, which has several benefits:

  • All transactions are processed through one established system.
  • It makes auditing easier as all the records are contained in OneUniversity.
  • We can see the whole history of a transaction from procurement, via approval, to payment.
  • We have a record of the financial commitment which facilitates managing the University’s budgets.
  • With the ability to view all transactions readily we enjoy an added level of security about funding.
  • We reduce the risk of being put on hold by a supplier and incurring a financial penalty.

A suite of FAQs, including a brief list of exceptions, will form part of the guidance around the policy which will be available on the OneUniversity Knowledge Base located within the IT portal at help4u.dundee.ac.uk

OneUniversity in action – a sneak peek

Work is well underway in preparation for the launch of OneUniversity Finance, with interfaces, manuals and training videos being created specifically for our use. Everyone at Business Transformation is really looking forward to the go-live date and we hope you are too.

But why wait? You can access a preview right now of how you and your colleagues will be using the system in a few weeks.

You can watch three short videos on the Finance solution, the first workstream to launch. They cover purchase requisitions, simple reports and Accounts Payable enquiries. These will be of particular interest to area specialists as a how-to guide for the tasks they will shortly be performing in the new solution.

Members of staff who don’t procure or pay themselves will still enjoy these introductory videos. It’s a first chance to familiarise yourself with the interface that will combine all the work we undertake together at the University.

Please note: These are generic videos from our supplier. We are developing our own training videos to be specific to University of Dundee.

Fantastic feedback!

 

Thank you for the feedback on the Finance and Procurement booklet and card which we distributed last week. They’re a great source of information to let you know what’s changing with the introduction of the OneUniversity system, including how to complete your expenses.

They’ve been so popular that we’re reprinting them for those who didn’t manage to get their hands on a copy. In the meantime, we’ve uploaded the PDF of the booklet that you can view and download here.

If you have any questions or feedback on Business Transformation we’d love to hear from you, so drop us an email to                                   business-transformation@dundee.ac.uk

Training for OneUniversity

Our approach to training

Training for OneUniversity Finance and Procurement workstream began this week, with a number of sessions around our financial ledgers and the new coding string.

We emailed all School and Directorate managers recently asking for 4 or 5 nominations from each area to take part in a number of ‘core’ training sessions.

The sessions are:
– An introduction to One University (navigation and the basics including expenses)
– Requisitioning
– Invoice to cash
– Chart of accounts and new coding string

The idea is that these people, we’re calling them ‘key specialists’, will then cascade the training down to their teams.

By doing it this way, we’re focusing on the activity that needs to continue regardless of the system being used – predominantly requisitioning and associated tasks around that – whilst giving Schools and Professional services control over when this is rolled out in each area.
In addition to this training, in the weeks after go live, we’re planning to run regular ‘drop in surgeries’ for expenses where you can bring along an expense claims and we’ll help you complete and submit it.

Sessions on Financial Management, Accounts Payable, Accounts Receivable, Stores Management, Research Finance and other topics will be scheduled shortly and we’ll share the dates of these with you.

If you have any questions about training, speak to your change champion, or drop us an email at business-transformation@dundee.ac.uk