Your APSS Update: May 6, 2021

With FY21 coming to a close, we know that your time is incredibly important. During this busy season, we at APSS and University Shared Services strive to be a resource for our customers. Today we have hopefully moved an additional step towards that goal with the creation of the Training and Support Services team.

This team is uniquely positioned to help navigate customers through the various finance and procure to pay processes. Over the next fiscal year, this group will continue to grow and work with other core offices around the UM System in order to increase their knowledge base in order to better serve you. One such training includes meeting with the Procurement Office to learn some pro-tips using the new requisition category field.

As always, we end our newsletter with a fun tech tip. This one could potentially save you a few clicks when using Microsoft Outlook. Stay safe and have a good summer!

Sincerely,

Tracy Greenup,
University Shared Services Director

In an effort to best meet the training and support needs of our University, we are pleased to announce the creation of Training and Support Services (TSS), formerly known as the Finance Support Center. Although many of the services will be similar, we plan to expand the scope to include instructor-led training, creation of knowledge articles/training guides, and much more as the service begins to grow organically.

We have restructured current resources in order to offer a simpler solution for our customers offering one phone number/email for all finance, procurement, and accounts payable questions.

Phone Support 8:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., M - F (573) 884-1234	Email Support 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m., M - F ftss@umsystem.edu

In addition, TSS will begin to offer training for new and current users! This includes leading the APSS curriculum as well as working with other core offices to develop new training opportunities for our customers.

Trainings Available
The Training and Support Services team aims to be your first-tier support on a wide range of topics. This includes, but isn’t limited to, requisitions, purchase orders, accounts payable, travel and expense, basic accounts receivable, and of course all your training needs! If we cannot provide the answer directly, we will work to connect you with the team who can. Visit the APSS Training Schedule webpage to learn more.


Invoicing Requisitions, PO, procure to pay, billing invoices, customer records	Accounts Payable Non-PO vouchers, check writing, 1099, supplier change and registration	Training Instructor-led, webinar, or on-demand training options available	Travel and Expense Reimbursements, One Card, cash advances, travel policies

Note: We are trying to update instances of the name Finance Support Center to the new Training and Support Services team. If you find a reference to Finance Support Center, please report it so we can make the necessary updates.

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Fiscal Year Closing News: Closing Dates are Quickly Approaching

It’s the time of year when fiscally-minded folks get excited about their busy season while others are busy planning vacations. Here are some tools that can help you plan early to wrap up year-end transactions.

Fiscal Year End Closing Schedule: It provides important information about timing of payable transactions to ensure they are reported in the correct fiscal year.
Encumbrances: Check out the PO and Payroll Encumbrance Reports to help you see what expenses have been recorded as still owed in FY21 by DeptID. Payroll allows you to search by EmplID or by DeptID for all PS Accounts (if you leave unspecified). PO allows you to see the open POs that may need to be paid or closed before 6/30, as well as vouchers applied to the PO.
- Report Navigation - Cognos Reporting > Team Content > Budget & Planning Reports > SALPLN Reports > Payroll and PO Encumbrances Reports
- Reminder - When using these reports, remember that you shouldn’t capitalize the first letter of the DeptID. Keeping this letter lowercase is the only way to return results.

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Requisition/PO News: Non-Catalog Requisitions: Category Assignment

The category field has always existed but was historically prepopulated and could not be changed. By opening this field and inputting more specific data, the system will automatically assign the requisition to the appropriate Procurement Sourcing Team member. This change should get your requisition in front of the correct individual even faster.

Another benefit of the change is it will allow UM Procurement to better track and report on what is being purchased by the campuses, which should translate to more negotiated contracts, lower rates, and better reporting options in the future.

You can find a complete list of the categories along with Commodity Assignments on the Procurement website.

When choosing the category, select the one closest to the commodity being purchased.

Quick PeopleSoft Instructions:

While creating the requisition, click the spyglass icon by the category field.
On the pop-up, leave the field blank and click Find.
The next window shows a complete list to choose from. Ensure that all 77 categories are visible.

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Tech Tip: Using the @ Symbol in Outlook

Thanks to our newsletter readers, Adria and Krista, for spotlighting this awesome function!

In the body of the email message or calendar invite, enter the @ symbol and the first few letters of the contact's first or last name.
When Outlook offers you one or more suggestions, choose the contact you want to mention. By default, the contact's full name is included.
You can delete a portion of the mention, for example, everything other than the person's first name. The mentioned contact is also added to the To line of the email or the meeting invite.