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Real Time Financials Project

Project Description

The Real-Time Financials project is designed to augment the University’s enterprise accounting and reporting systems (i.e., M-Pathways and the U-M Data Warehouse) in order to:

• Provide richer and timelier data
• Reduce the need to maintain data in supplemental systems
• Leverage the enterprise systems for various reporting and business intelligence needs

Completed enhancements include:

• Implemented system-generated estimates for salary, benefits, and financial aid
• Streamlined journal processing and initiated daily posting of procurement transactions to the General Ledger
• Improved Unit Defined Commitments processing for departments to record planned or potential financial encumbrances in the central system.
• Implemented eReconciliation, an online option for reviewing and reconciling financial transactions for a department or project/grant.

The MAIS Web site provides detailed information about the above and on-going Real-Time Financials initiatives. 

Leveraging the Enterprise Systems

University units can leverage the Real-Time Financials enhancements to foster data-driven decision making.  Examples include:

• M-Reports:  Sponsored Project/Grant reports use real-time estimate and Unit Defined Commitment data to display payroll, financial aid, purchasing, and other unit commitments.  Inclusion of this data enables researchers and project administrators to see a projected balance for their project/grants.   This data assists them in maintaining the fiscal health of the project by being able to plan and adjust for future project expenditures.
• UM-Maintained BusinessObjects reports.  Various financial, payroll, and financial aid reports containing estimate and Unit Defined Commitment data are available.  These reports allow units to proactively monitor, analyze and forecast costs, thereby increasing their ability to make business decisions based on real-time data.
• Statement of Activity reconciliation:  Streamlined journal processing, increased frequency of General Ledger posting, and eReconciliation offers units the opportunity to reconcile transactions more often throughout the month.  Proactive reconciliation can simplify the effort involved in monthly reconciliation and assist with error identification and correction processing.  This ensures that financial data available to department managers for decision making is timely and accurate.

Project Sponsors

The Real-Time Financials project is a charge by the Associate Vice Presidents for Finance, MAIS, and Research to be a collaborative effort between MAIS, Financial Operations, and University units to improve financial reporting.

Project Contact

If you have questions or would like more information, please contact Project Director, Thom Madden (thommad@umich.edu).