Information Systems Services. Directly Allocated Costs (SAP) A guide to the DACs Finance Report

Transcription

1 Information Systems Services Directly Allocated Costs (SAP)

2 Contents Contents... 2 Directly Allocated Costs Reports... 3 The Different Reports... 3 Using the Reports... 3 Running the Report... 3 Selection Screen... 3 Selection Fields... 3 Example Report Selections... 3 Report Output... 3 Further Information available... 3 Other Output Options... 3 Excel View... 3 Graphical Output... 3 Appendix 1: Interpreting the Report... 3 Information Systems Services Page 2 of 13

3 Directly Allocated Costs Reports Since February 2005, all research projects have been costed on a full economic cost (fec) basis. The University has always reported sponsors research costs, but the cost of that research to the University has only been captured since the introduction of fec and its transparent approach to costing (TRAC). Some of the University s core costs can be recouped from research activity. For example, academic salaries represent a core cost. If a proportion of an academic s time is spent working on a research grant, a proportion of their salary can be funded by that grant, which off-sets part of their core costs. The Directly Allocated Costs (DAC) reports identify the research project costs that can be used to off-set core costs. These costs are represented by the following sponsored classes: Investigators Directly Allocated Staff Equipment Access Estates Staff Estates Student Indirect Costs Staff Indirect Costs Students Overheads The information is presented by University Financial years and is intended for use in Planning and Forecasting exercises. The DAC (MIS) reports should be used in conjunction with the Internal Fund Commitment (IFC) report. The IFC report shows the amount of faculty internal funds committed to research grants. The Different Reports A grant can have a lifespan of 3 years or more. fec brought with it new accounting mechanisms. There is still a requirement to report on grants that are pre-fec. However, due to the different accounting mechanisms the information could not be amalgamated. This means there are two types of DAC report: DAC (MIS) DAC (SAP) Using the Reports The different types of DAC report return different information. The DAC (MIS) reports show: DAC figures and forecasts for applications or awarded grants numbered or higher. Overhead figures and forecasts for applications or awarded grants for all grants. The DAC (SAP) Report shows: DAC figures for grants numbered less than for RG staff and non-staff transfers on recurring journals. Information Systems Services Page 3 of 13

4 The two reports, in conjunction with the IFC report, can be used to provide a complete picture of DACs and the commitment of faculty internal funds. The rest of this guide looks at the DAC (MIS) Report only. Please refer to the specific guide for running the DAC (SAP) report. Running the Report The DAC Finance report will be run from the SAP System and has been added to the user menu in the following location: To open the report, either double click DACS FI Report from the menu above, or type the transaction code ZDACS into the command window and press <Return>: Selection Screen Information Systems Services Page 4 of 13

5 Selection Fields All fields are optional unless otherwise stated. Field Description Example Cost Center The cost centre for your department Cost Center Group A grouping of cost centres, at Faculty or University Level Example Report Selections Description Field Value To report on the current year for the whole university Cost Center Group AD1-DC To report on the current Year for your Cost Centre Group (Faculty of DC-FA- Faculty MAPS) MAPH When you run the report you may receive the following warning (if you select the whole university): Click Yes to continue. The report will take a few moments to run. Report Output The initial screen is displayed: Top level Cost Centre Group Cost Elements (split into Staff and Non Staff costs) Values split across the current year s Quarters and projected for the next 4 years Information Systems Services Page 5 of 13

6 You can expand the Cost Centre Group to show those below by clicking the triangle next to it: Click here to expand further Once you have expanded the list of Cost Centre Groups, you must double click to change the figures: Click here to collapse the report to show only the total values You can go down to the individual WBS:- Again, remember to double click on the WBS to display the results. Information Systems Services Page 6 of 13

7 Further Information available You can expand any of the figures to display the individual documents: Double click to drill down The individual line items together with the fiscal period and WBS are displayed in a window: This is in period 7 and is an actual cost These are later and are projected costs you can tell by the 9 prefix on the document number This window will remain active and you can double click on any other figures to change the detail. For actual costs, double clicking on the value displays the accounting document: Information Systems Services Page 7 of 13

8 For projected costs, it is the same, however, as they are recurring, you can see the recurring entry data: The details of the recurrence can be viewed by going to the Document menu and selecting Recurring Entry data You will see a screen the details of the time period and interval as well as the first date that the payment started: Information Systems Services Page 8 of 13

9 Other Output Options The DACS FI Report can be displayed in a number of other ways. Excel View To do this, you need to change the view to a SAP List. Above the report output are some buttons, clicking opens the view options: Choose List Output: The screen layout changes. From the List menu select Export then Spreadsheet: Click Information Systems Services Page 9 of 13

10 Select Table then click Click You should now see the data in a spreadsheet format in excel. IT IS IMPORTANT THAT YOU IMMEDIATELY SAVE YOUR WORK IN EXCEL. FROM THE FILE MENU SELECT SAVE COPY AS AND THEN GIVE A LOCATION. You can now use any of the functionality of MS Excel to analyse the data. Graphical Output You can see the results graphically to show trends. From the results area, above the report, click : A graph is displayed for the selected data. If there are both Staff and Non Staff Costs selected, they will be displayed next to each other: This view is for a single Cost element Group (Staff Costs) This view is for both Staff and Non Staff Costs. Information Systems Services Page 10 of 13

11 The type of chart you see is dependant on the data in the report, ie if you don t have Non-Staff costs, you will only see the single cost element graph: If you wish to see only Staff OR non-staff costs for a cost centre that has both, select the appropriate line before pressing : Row has been highlighted and so only Staff Costs will be displayed on the graph If you have the Line Items screen open you can view the individual line items: Click the column heading and then the button Information Systems Services Page 11 of 13

12 Appendix 1: Interpreting the Report In order to correctly interpret the data shown in this report, certain factors must be understood to avoid misunderstanding. These factors are outlined below: 1. For pre grants, some faculties charge actual costs on a usage basis, rather than via recurring journals. These one-off costs will not produce forecasts on the SAP Finance DAC report. 2. Because the SAP Finance DAC report forecasts based only on recurring journals, it will not be able to identify differences between the actual Directly-Allocated Costs posted to those journals and the budgets agreed with the sponsor. Information Systems Services Page 12 of 13

13 Version Control Date Version Author Owner Reviewer Version status 01/03/ T.Hunnybun T.Hunnybun Richard Reeves Initial Draft 19/03/ T.Hunnybun T.Hunnybun Amendments and conversion to VI 22/03/ V.Holland-Keen Updated introduction, added appendix 22/03/ T.Hunnybun Final QA and Release Information Systems Services Page 13 of 13