Category: Finance and Procurement

PECOS Changes

What’s happening to PECOS?

We’ve had a few queries recently from people wondering what’s going to happen to Pecos when we launch OneUniversity Finance on 1st December, so we thought we’d explain how this will be done.

The three things you really need to know are:

1. We’re not technically switching off PECOS, but at some point prior to the 1st November all requisitioning rights will be removed.  This means you can still log in to PECOS and see your current and historical orders, but you will not be able to raise new requisitions or receipt previous purchase orders.

2. All orders that are open on PECOS from August 2017 to the time we remove requisitioning rights will be transferred to OneUniversity.  This means that any work on existing open orders will be carried out in OneUniversity.

3. All new requisitions from 1st December should be raised in OneUniversity.

Don’t worry, we’re keeping PECOS beyond the go-live date to ensure that we have contingency for any unexpected issues.

We’ll be issuing a timetable soon detailing what will be happening and when so that you know exactly what’s going on.

If you have any questions, please get in touch.

 

Finance and procurement training starts!

We have now completed our first training session on the OneUniversity Finance & Procurement solution, which kicked off on 29 August with two days of ‘General Navigation’ training.

We asked School Managers and Directors to nominate two members of their team to take part in Key User Training (KUT) and User Acceptance Testing (UAT). These sessions are taking place between 29 August and 2nd October.

What’s Key User Training and User Acceptance Testing?

Key User training is given to nominated staff who have good knowledge of the current system and will be using certain aspects of the new solution, whilst User Acceptance Testing is carried out to make sure that the system functionality actually meets the University’s requirements and is fit for purpose.

Those nominated will take part in one day of classroom based training which will be followed by a second day of testing. They’ll use the knowledge gained during the training, along with information provided by the Programme team, to carry out testing based on real-life university scenarios.

How are we going to roll-out training?

We need to make sure that everyone who needs to use OneUniversity to do their jobs has the required knowledge and understanding from day one! Some people will need very specific training whilst others may just need an understanding of how to do a particular activity such as submitting an expense claim.

Our challenge is to make sure that everyone receives the appropriate training. We’ll do this through a mix of classroom-based training plus a range of support from videos and “how to” guides to drop-in surgeries.

Interested? We want to hear from you!

Do you have an interest in training or do you currently have responsibility for training others? If so, then we’d love to hear from you. Please get in touch.

More information about training will be posted soon so please check back soon!

Top Five Tips on Expenses

As you will be aware, the way that we process our Finance and Procurement is changing.  Part of this change will involve submitting claims for expenses, which will be done online.  Here are some of the questions that we are frequently asked at drop-in sessions on the new solution, OneUniversity.

Q: How do we deal with the expenses of volunteers and others who are external to the University?

A: For go live these will continue to be processed in the same way as they are done at the moment, that is, you complete an external claim form which will be authorised and passed to Accounts Payable. We will continue to pay these as sundry payments.

Q: How will we deal with claims for expenses under £50?

A: This applies to staff-only claims and this amount is still to be confirmed.  These claims will automatically be processed for payment unless a restricted item has been purchased. The staff member will be required to confirm that they have read and understood the reimbursement policy. There will be regular checks as part of the audit process.

Q: What do I do with my receipts?

A: OneUniversity requires you to upload valid receipts which can easily be carried out using a scanned image or a photo capture by smartphone. You don’t need to retain the original paper copy but you may choose to in the event of a query.

Q: What is the policy on alcohol?

A: • When a claim is submitted, the staff member has to confirm they have read and understood the reimbursement policy. This includes a clear stance on alcohol. If you submit, process or approve expenses claims, you must ensure you are familiar with this.

Q: How will I claim mileage?

A: OneUniversity will have the mileage rate automatically applied. Staff will be required to confirm to and from locations (preferably confirming post codes). Any claims over £50 will be checked by the relevant approver, with under £50 handled through the pre-approved expenses process.

For further information please contact the team on business-transformation@dundee.ac.uk

Frequently Asked Questions – Purchase Orders and Invoices

 

When we are speaking to staff, we are often asked about common subjects.  Here are some of the questions that we are asked frequently about purchase orders and invoices.

Invoices without POs

There will be a list of exceptions to the No PO No Pay rule, this list will be a combination of specific suppliers and good/services which we would find acceptable not to require a PO. There will also be a process issued to deal with these.

Warnings regarding reaching the ends of budgets

There are not any warnings regarding budget availability within the solution, however the BI Dashboard (Business Intelligence) can be set up to allow a live look at any budgets so they can be appropriately managed.

Raising Internal Invoices

We are currently establishing the process which will allow for internal trade to take place within the system, and to allow for the internal charge requests to be raised in conjunction with other tools.

University Purchase Orders for NHS

The current situation will not change in the immediate future. Procurement are liaising with our NHS colleagues regarding this.

We hope these will prove helpful.

We will be collating frequently asked questions on the other workstreams as they become apparent.
If you wish any further information please contact us on business-transformation@dundee.ac.uk.

 

Medical School Drop In Session

Medical School Drop In Session

The team visited the Medical School at Ninewells recently, to talk to staff about the OneUniversity solution for Finance and Procurement and Research and Projects.

To help explain the changes, the team have a number of charts that they can take users through, there is a presentation and short videos are available to explain specific parts of the process, in addition to key members of the Project Team on hand to answer more complex questions.
The topics that proved of most interest were how to ensure that all costs involved in a research project are put against a project budget, how online expenses will work and details of the new online expenses system.

Help From The Change Champions

Angela Hamilton, Change Manager:
“The Change Champions did a great job in ensuring that people knew we were coming along and encouraging them to take a look at the OneUniversity solution.
“It is important that people are prepared for the changes, and having as much information as possible is helpful in this.”

What Is a Change Ambassador?

What is a Change Ambassador?

Change Ambassadors are senior members of the University who are committed to visibly supporting the Programme and cascading change programme information to their teams. They work closely with the Change Champions.  They are usually School Managers, Deans, Associate Deans, Directors and Senior Directorate Managers.

The Change Ambassador needs to be aware of how business transformation is linked to the successful delivery of the University’s strategic priorities and objectives as identified in the Strategy to 2022.

Change Ambassador’s Role

The Change Ambassador’s role is to provide advice and guidance to the programme team, with their understanding of University policies and procedures. They may also assist with assessments of the impact of the change upon their staff and any whether adjustment to the proposed new solution or training is required as a result.  Additionally they ensure that the relevant information is cascaded to all staff in their school or directorate. Ambassadors are critical to the success of the Programme.
They are also in a position to support the programme by ensuring that their staff are released to undertake Programme duties such as training.
Ambassadors are given information about the progress of the Change Programme so they can communicate it through their management structure or at team meetings.  They also support the Change Champions, ensuring they are able to fulfil their Change Management duties.
The Programme Team provide the Ambassadors with monthly communications briefings that highlight programme activity and provide assistance on help them manage change in their School/Directorate.
If you wish to know more about the Change Ambassador Programme, please contact business-transformation@dundee.ac.uk.

 

Finance Drop in Sessions

Almost 200 users of PECOS and other finance systems recently attended a series of information sessions in City Campus and Ninewells, to learn about the changes to the policies and procedures as we transform to OneUniversity.

The staff, who were drawn from Directorates and Schools, were welcomed by Director of Finance, Andrew Hewett, who talked through the need for change and how it would bring clarity and efficiency to our financial processes.

Staff were taken through the details of the new finance and purchasing solution with purchase flow charts and videos, and subject matter experts were on hand to answer questions from staff. There was also a chance for staff to log their most challenging and difficult finance tasks on a ‘Wall of Pain’ and these have been collated by the Programme Team to be used during testing.