Finance Forum 20 June 2013. Overview Welcome, Overview, and Budget Solutions ForumDavid Sturgiss Student Load PlanningMelissa Abberton Research Office.

Finance Forum

20 June 2013

Overview • Welcome, Overview, and

Budget Solutions Forum David Sturgiss• Student Load Planning

Melissa Abberton• Research Office – some recent changes

Kathrin Kulhanek• FBT Return 2013 Appropriations

Luke Beckett• Travel – a system approach

Maggie Ma/Leo Lai• OCR Roll-out update

Jaya Ganasan

• Morning tea

• General Discussion Topics

Everyone

Welcome, Overview and Budget Solutions Forum – what happens next?

• David Sturgiss

Melissa Abberton

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Student Load Planning

Research Office – some recent changes

Kathrin Kulhanek

NHMRC Funding rules changesEmail distributed to RM and FMs on 12th June

• The intention is to provide flexible funding arrangements that will assist researchers to achieve the aims of their projects more efficiently  and effectively. Proposed changes are expanded in attachment A but include:

• a) Allowing the equipment component of a grant to be applied to Direct Research Costs, including supplementing differences between the Personnel Support Package salary component and the institutional salary level;

• b) Allowing grant funds from all research funding schemes to be spent on supplementing differences between the Personnel Support Package salary component and the institutional direct salary level;

• c) Allowing Independent Research Institutes Infrastructure Support Scheme (IRIISS) funds to be transferred between Independent Medical Research Institutes; and

• d) Moving guidance on Direct Research Costs from a prescriptive list to a principles-based approach (see Attachment B).

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AI33 Audit Findings

• All staff should review the Admin requirement for IS Federally funded projects.• https://researchservices.anu.edu.au/osr/programs/docs/US%20Federal%20Funds%2

0Administrative%20Requirements.pdf

• Timesheet and salary monitoring processes• Air travel funded by project must be US air • Flow through of US requirement into sub agreements – generate a standard clause• Financial statements and timing of transaction into period reports• As of January 2013 by which all recipients of US federal funding grants will be required

to certify time commitments to US Federally Funded Projects to the RSD on quarterly basis to ensure time spent on grants is captured in formal documentation.

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HERDC Submission data Draft data 2012

• The HERDC income data is likely to increase by 7.9% (from $207.2m to $223.5m). 

Table 1 :The breakdown by HERDC income category.

• The HREDC pubs there are 3405 verified weighted HERDC points (11% more than last year’s total of 3078).

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Grant Management Framework Working GroupEmail distributed to RM and FMs and the URC distribution list on 30th May.

ToR• overarching framework informing business practices, that will enable effective

research budgeting and costing; • to develop and/or revise policies and procedures

Principles:• Clear policy guidance to assist implementation and adapt behaviour. • Costing principles reflect all direct and indirect costs. Full project costs are visible in

tools and templates.• Tools and templates support projects that are funded by multiple sources including R,

S, Q and E, and from both private and government, national and international sources.

• Budget approval processes allow effective central monitoring.• A reference group made up of academic and professional staff is used to test the

framework recommendations. • An education and communication program will be run to assist implementation and

adapt behaviour.

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Luke Beckett

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FBT Return 2013 Appropriations

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Total FBT Payable 2004-2013

2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 $-

$200,000

$400,000

$600,000

$800,000

$1,000,000

$1,200,000

$1,400,000

1,079,294

1,321,544 1,278,984

1,149,106

1,065,510 1,071,399 1,054,598

1,170,517 1,188,932

1,063,253

Year

FB

T (

$)

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Normalised Benefit By Type Analysis 2004-2013

Expense payment Fringe Benefits

Entertainment Fringe Benefits

Loan/Debt Waiver Fringe Benefits

Motor Vehicles (less Sal Pack)

Property & Residual

Housing, LAFHA -

100,000

200,000

300,000

400,000

500,000

600,000

700,000

46,550

486,553

1,959

344,636

45,586

128,477

2004200520062007200820092010201120122013

Benefit Type

Ta

xa

ble

Va

lue

($

)

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Appropriations

• A payment will not be subject to GST if all of the following apply:1. the payment is made by a Government

Related Entity (GRE) to another GRE

2. the payment is covered by an appropriation under an Australian law

3. the payment satisfies the non-commercial test

Generally Government Department/Agency

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Appropriations

• Agreements – need to see if they confirm or deny appropriation and treat accordingly

• Check with the customer if unsure• If still unsure – apply normal GST rules

– Supply, consideration, connected with Aust. and registered for GST

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Appropriations

• Collaborating Agreements– Receive money from Government as GST

Free (such as ARC)– Pass on funds should have GST unless the

collaborator signed the head agreement with the Government

– Linkage Partners – Some will be Government bodies

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Appropriations - ExamplesFunding Appropriation ReasonGeneral fundingARC Yes Will satisfy all 3 testsPartner Funding    Other government entities Yes Should pass all appropriation tests (note: if government

organisation requests GST be applied because the funds cannot be treated as an appropriation, GST should apply).

Other universities No The payment is unlikely to be covered by an appropriation under an Australian law 

Corporates No Corporates are not GRE therefore will not pass the first testContract research / consultancies

Funding research between the ANU and other Gov. entities

Could be

Need to check if there is a profit margin. This will determine whether the funding will pass the 3 tests. If there is a profit to be made then it will fail the non-commercial test and will not be an appropriation. If no profit then it will be an appropriation, if passing the other 2 tests.

Other general research. Eg. Funding provided by Diabetes Australia.

No Funding provided to the ANU from other entities, such as Diabetes Australia will not satisfy the appropriation tests. Therefore the normal GST rules will apply.

Maggie Ma & Leo Lai

Travel & Expenses

Travel & Expenses

• What is a Travel & Expense System?– Integrated solution for Travel Request-Approval and

Expense Management – Standardise and automate travel requests and

approvals, cash advances, reimbursements, per diems and corporate card acquittals.

– All transactions related to a travel event will be handled electronically

• Why was it decided to proceed?– Internal audit have identified various potential risks

and inefficiencies in relation to Purchase Card transactions and the management of travel information and travel related purchases.

• The audit review has recommended that • ‘a travel management system need to be implemented across the

University which allows for travel expenditure and other related information to be linked to an instance of travel and that strategies also be developed to promote its use as widely as possible.

– A number of areas across campus are have manual paper based processes

– A few different systems exist – standardise & consolidate into an enterprise system

Phased Approach

Phase 1

Purchase Card

(Completed)

Phase 2

Travel Requests & Approvals

Phase 3 & 4

Reimbursement, Cash Advance Per-diems and Reconciliation

Phase 2 – Travel Requests & Approvals• In Scope:

– Self Service data entry for travel request– Capture details such as person travelling, purpose, destination,

costs, itinerary……– Workflow to support approval process– Link/Reference to the OH&S Risk Assessment System – project

currently underway to upgrade this system– Details of teaching/administrative arrangements whilst travelling– Reporting – yet to be determined but will include reports such

as:• Who is travelling between certain dates• Who is at a specified location for a given date range• Other adhoc reporting to be determined

• In Scope – Continued- Ability to attach supporting documentation- Advance and Per Diem integration into the AP Workflow

• Out Of Scope for this phase but to be addressed later– Travel diary– FBT Calculations– Reconciliation between travel budget and actuals costs incurred– Reimbursements & Per Diems (Calculations)

Phase 2 – Travel Requests & Approvals

• Project Scope agreed• Business expert group formed and met• Standardised Business Process agreed • Specifications completed• Development commenced• College identified for pilot - CAP

Phase 2 – Progress To Date

Phase 3 Onwards

• Not clearly defined yet but broadly– Integrated FBT & Per-Diem calculation tools– Self service functionality for requesting reimbursements– Reconciliation reporting between travel budget and actuals costs

incurred

Proposed Travel Request & Approval Business Process

Questions/Comments?

Accounts Payable Workflow

Jaya Ganasan

Agenda

1. AP Workflow Overview

Background

Expected Benefits

Process Flow

2. JCSMR Pilot Outcomes and Lessons Learned

3. Roll-out Strategy – whole of ANU

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AP Workflow - Background12 Month Transaction Volumes

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Current Situation

• Manual Creation of AP Voucher• Disparate processes between Colleges and between schools within

College• Slow turnaround times from Invoice Receipt to payment• High volume of invoices paid after due date• Lost documents and multiple handling of documents• Inefficient manual storage and retrieval of invoices • Lack of accountability for delays and bottlenecks• Expensive (storage and retrieval, late payment penalties,

processing costs…)

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Solution

Improvement Outcome Solution ANU Response

Eliminate/reduce Paper invoices

Electronic invoices Automated process for

emails

Electronic File Capture & Imaging

Automated process for emails

Eliminate/reduce Manual data entry

OCR OCR at header level

Streamline Inefficient processes and manual routing of invoices

Workflow Standardised Workflow

1 step for PO within tolerance

4 steps fro Non PO invoice

Eliminate/minimise lost or missing documents

Secure document, storage & audit trail

Electronic storage and retrieval. Full Audit trail of all invoices received – even cancelled documents are tracked

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Solution (continued)

Improvement Outcome Solution ANU Response

Improve turnaround times

Invoice tracking Reminders, Escalations and Alerts

Monitoring tools

Improve Internal Controls

Electronic signature and audit trail

Electronic signature and audit trail within ERP

Exception reports (HR system vs AP approval discrepency report)

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Benefits

• Elimination of Accounts Payable header data entry

• Elimination of paper based storage system and manual retrieval processes

• Full transparency of end to end process, enabling accountability for and elimination of delays and bottlenecks

• Accuracy in reporting and efficiency gains for end of year financial statement preparation and audit process.

• More robust internal controls (routing of invoices for payment authorization based on a business unit’s authorization matrix)

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Invoices Mailed

Invoices Faxed

Invoices Emailed

KOFAX scanning/OCR

Scanned Invoice WorkflowOCR Voucher Worklist AP Voucher Approval

Framework - Vouchers

OCR AP Workflow – High Level Overview

Shared Services JCSMR JAG FinanceKofax Scanning/OCR + OCR Voucher Worklist Scanned Invoice Workflow

Steps 1 - 4Scanned Invoice Workflow Step 5 +

AP Voucher + Voucher Approval Workflow

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Managing Delegations

Financial delegations not currently electronically updated from HR system

Short Term Workaround - delegations will be maintained by F&BS based on exception alerts from HR v AP table mismatches.

Long Term Solution – HR delegation be configured to hold data in a format that lends itself to integration with Financial and other Enterprise systems

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Monitoring Tools – Aged Workflow Report

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Business Unit (All)        Overdue Category (All)

Count of Scan Days Outstanding Category      

WF Step # A - Pending for 0 Days B - Pending for 1 to 3 DaysC - Pending for 3 to 5

days D -Pending for > 5 DaysGrand Total

1 5 7 18 14 442 4 6 13 7 303   2 2 44 2 25 2 81 79 175 337

5.3   1 1Grand Total 13 97 110 198 418

Business Unit (All)

Count of ScanDays Outstanding Category        

Overdue Category A - Pending for 0 Days B - Pending for 1 to 3 DaysC - Pending for 3 to 5

days D -Pending for > 5 DaysGrand Total

A- Don't Panic 4 74 81 107 266

B-Payment due within 4 days 2 4 4 28 38

C-Payment less than 2 weeks overdue   13 18 41 72

D-Overdue more than 2 weeks 7 6 7 22 42Grand Total 13 97 110 198 418

Monitoring Tools – Aged Workflow Report

Future Enhancements

• Built in wizard for FBT calculation• Defaulting charge codes based on vendor or invoice owner (eg drop

down list of projects for Principal Investigators)• Funds availability checking (soft or hard controls)• Drag and drop reports, exception reports• Introduce preventive controls (Expense wizards – assets,

checkboxes …) • Integration between Travel System and Accounts Payable workflow

for advances and per-diems.• Integration between Student & Finance System for student refunds• Post implementation review improvements

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JCSMR Vouchers processed through pilot

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JCSMR Proof of Concept/PilotRationale:

• Significant concerns raised by stakeholders during the early consultation phases on the viability of the proposed model.

• FMIS Refresh Program Management Group concluded that a demonstrable pilot and proof of concept was needed to ensure stakeholder confidence and acceptance in the proposed solution.

• Following a successful pilot and a demonstrable automated work flow solution, F&BS would then work with the management of each College and Service Division to agree on a roll-out strategy for the individual business units.

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JCSMR Proof of Concept/Pilot

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Issue Response

Activate Tolerance Thresholds for PO Done

Erroneous documents in workflow Training reinforcement and checklist for Shared Services staff

Easy access to scanners required for document attachment

To be addressed in roll out strategy

Suggest trial within each College before full roll-out

To be addressed in roll out strategy

Role specific user manual In progress

Suggested enhancements to screens and functionality

ITS development nearing completion. Testing required.

Targeted training Role specific training material and on the job during roll-out.

Refine communication strategy To be agreed with GM’s

Rollout Strategy (Next Steps)

• Timetable:

June - JCSMR, RSPH, Shared Services

July - Rest of College of Science

- Shared Services Clients (CECS, F&S, ITS …)

Aug/Sep - CBE, CAPS, CASS, LAW

• Agreement with each College GM and Finance Manager on:– Rollout/communication strategy– College Executive presentations– Training audience, frequency, and on site support– Team and User configuration

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Questions?

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Morning Tea

Recommence in 20 minutes

General Discussion

All Participants

Next Finance ForumTuesday 20 August 2013

1:30 pm to 4:00 pm

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