BUSINESS AND FINANCIAL AFFAIRS DIVISION BUDGET OFFICE

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1 Six-Year Planning: Initiative Summary Title: Implement More Effective and Efficient Budget Tools Initiative description, including statement of purpose and anticipated outcomes: The purpose of this initiative is to implement more effective and efficient budget tools for building the biennial and annual budgets. This will be accomplished by either re-implementing Banner Salary Planner and Budget Development or replacing with better software solutions, based on feedback from the campus community. The goal of the initiative is to clarify processes, evaluate existing tools, research options and recommend alternatives. The desired outcomes include a) maximizing efficiency by alleviating manual processing; b) eliminating duplicate effort, inconsistencies, and data entry errors; and c) minimizing delays in the position control and budget load processes toward the goal of a more timely publication of the annual budget (affectionately known as the Green Book). The ideal budget solution would offer the following: The ability to view and enter data for the entire budget for a department in a single source (position budget, individual in the position, full-time equivalency (FTE), funding source, non-salary budget and comments) to eliminate spreadsheets and aid in reconciliation; History (or audit) records that indicate when the last change was made and by whom, and a tracking mechanism to know the status of completion during the budget build; What-if scenario planning and user-defined multiple time period forecasting tools (monthly forecasting to plan year end balances, as well as multiyear forecasting to improve strategic planning processes). What University units (depts., colleges, etc.) will be involved? Banner Steering Committee, Established Banner Initiatives Project Team, and the Budget Management Advisory Council (BMAC). How does the initiative support the University Mission and Strategic Plan? Serve as a model for institutional effectiveness. Page 1 of 4

2 How does the initiative support BFA or departmental strategic objectives? BFA Strategic Objectives: (1) Update business practices to utilize current technology and processes. (2) Engage the Western community in planning and implementing changes. (3) Communicate effectively with our Western community. (6) Deliver excellent services that solve customer problems and concerns. Are there potential partnerships with external organizations/institutions? No Anticipated new positions needed to implement the initiative: Faculty: Not applicable Staff: None Graduate Students (supported): Not applicable Space needs (check one; attach note from Space Administration): Existing space is sufficient Existing space will be sufficient after modification New space may be required New equipment or other one-time costs: Some one-time consulting costs have been covered through the Banner Initiatives budget; implementation costs are uncertain at the current time but could range between $40,000 and $250,000, depending on the level of analytics provided by the system. Recurring operating costs: Recurring costs are unknown at this early stage of the project, but could range between $20,000 and $60,000, again, depending on the level of analytics provided by the system. Estimated timeline for implementation: Evaluation process is currently underway; recommendations to Banner Steering Committee anticipated by Spring 2015; implementation of changes anticipated to begin September 2015 with roll-out to campus in May 2016 for the FY17 budget. Which biennium do you plan to implement? Page 2 of 4

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4 Potential funding sources (check all that apply; attach notes from University Advancement and University Relations) State operating budget (decision package) New enrollments (tuition-based) External Education (fee-based) Reallocation Federal Support (agency:) Grants Partnerships (organizations/institutions:) Private Funds Other (please specify:) What will be the potential outcome if this initiative is not implemented? We will continue to look for alternative solutions to improve Western s budget tools and processes. Page 4 of 4

5 Six-Year Planning: Initiative Summary Title: Implement More Effective and Efficient Chart of Accounts (Partnership with Financial Services) Initiative description, including statement of purpose and anticipated outcomes: Review of the financial chart of accounts to eliminate redundancies in chart elements and reduce manual processing that should be handled by the Banner software. Western s chart of accounts is structurally incompatible with the State s Accounting/Financial Reporting System (AFRS) and internal policies with regards to fund accounting. Valuable staff hours in both the accounting office and the budget office spent reconciling Banner to AFRS could be redirected to other tasks by simply mapping a one-to-one fund structure. Additionally, the budget and accounting office staff spend months calculating and reporting fund balance carryforward for departments and divisions which would carryforward automatically with a simple fund structure change. Finally, with the addition of ESM Solutions (ESM) Procurement system, goods and services expense types will need to be reviewed due to ESM s greater depth in tracking expenses, therefore we need to review which system should be used to better assist departments in reporting. What University units (depts., colleges, etc.) will be involved? Banner Steering Committee, Established Banner Initiatives Project Team, and the Budget Management Advisory Council (BMAC). How does the initiative support the University Mission and Strategic Plan? Serve as a model for institutional effectiveness. How does the initiative support BFA or departmental strategic objectives? BFA Strategic Objectives: (1) Update business practices to utilize current technology and processes. (2) Engage the Western community in planning and implementing changes. (3) Communicate effectively with our Western community. (6) Deliver excellent services that solve customer problems and concerns. Are there potential partnerships with external organizations/institutions? No Page 1 of 3

6 Anticipated new positions needed to implement the initiative: Faculty: Not applicable Staff: None Graduate Students (supported): Not applicable Space needs (check one; attach note from Space Administration): Existing space is sufficient Existing space will be sufficient after modification New space may be required New equipment or other one-time costs: Some one-time consulting costs have been covered through the Banner Initiatives budget; implementation costs are uncertain at the current time. Recurring operating costs: Unknown at current time. Estimated timeline for implementation: Evaluation process is currently underway; recommendations to Banner Steering Committee anticipated by end of August 2015 with implemented changes during fiscal years 2016 or 2017, dependent on the magnitude of changes. Which biennium do you plan to implement? Potential funding sources (check all that apply; attach notes from University Advancement and University Relations) State operating budget (decision package) New enrollments (tuition-based) External Education (fee-based) Reallocation Federal Support (agency:) Grants Partnerships (organizations/institutions:) Private Funds Other (please specify:) Page 2 of 3

7 What will be the potential outcome if this initiative is not implemented? We will continue to spend valuable time doing manual processes instead of being able to complete value-added data analysis and process improvements. Department roll-ups will not be optimized for reporting purposes and University departments will continue with nonstandard reporting practices, and inferior management information. Page 3 of 3