Adopted:  08/2007
Revised:  08/17/2016

POLICY STATEMENT

For administrative convenience, campus business functions can qualify to feed their accounting transactions to the General Ledger. Becoming a feeder system requires authorization. The feeder system has an obligation to establish and maintain procedures that ensure transactions are authorized, accurate and valid.

Due to the technical complexities of the feed process, errors can occur that significantly impact both the feed process itself and all campuses, which have to resolve most errors that occur. Therefore, feeder system owners have an obligation to ensure that their feed process is well-designed and properly operated. When a division establishes processes for a feeder, it should consider and document the procedures included below.

Expanded definition and information for this policy is available under Resources below.

PROCEDURES

Requesting Approval to Initiate a Feeder System

To initiate a feeder system, the division business & finance officer should submit a request to the Division of Finance- Accounting Director and include the following:

• Name of department.
• Name of feeder system.
• Functional Contact (primary and back-ups).
• Technical Contact (primary and back-ups).
• Nature of transactions.
• Frequency of feed (daily, weekly, monthly, other).
• Day of feed, if other than daily feed.
• Estimated volume per feed.
• A statement that the business & finance officer and all university employees who will administer the feed have read the Feeder Policy and Sample Feeder Checklist.
• Procedures the feeder will have in place to ensure it will meet its responsibilities as a feeder system.

Responsibilities of Feeder System

Before a feeder system can feed transactions, it must establish written procedures to ensure the following:

• Individuals providing a MoCode and PeopleSoft Account or a ChartField string are authorized to incur charges and that the accounting information is correct.
• Before submitting each feed, the feed meets established standards for format and header information.
• The feed is submitted on a timely basis, is for the correct accounting period (must be an open period), and has not been previously submitted.
• Invalid or inaccurate MoCodes and Accounts are researched and corrected in the feeder’s system for subsequent feeds.
• Feeder system employees respond on a timely basis to assist others in resolving errors or questions related to its transactions.

Feeder System Procedures

Feeder systems should document these issues in their procedures:

General Procedures

Who “owns” the feeder and has overall responsibility and authority for ensuring that the feeder’s procedures and systems comply with the Feeder Policy & Guidelines and Feeder Checklist (links under Resources below).

• Who is responsible for technical and functional issues, both as primary and as a backup.
• How departments requesting goods/services communicate their MoCode and Account (or Chartfield) when requesting goods/services, both initially and when there is a change or correction, especially when the accounting information is stored in the feeder system.
• When and how to determine that the MoCode and Account (or Chartfield) are valid.
• How the feeder determines the authority of the customer to incur the charge.
• When, how, and by whom the accounting information is entered in the feeder system, both initially and for any changes or corrections.
• Who is responsible for assisting departments in resolving edit and BCM errors and the time frame for responding to departments.
• Who is responsible for assessing overall errors and other problems with feeds in order to correct and improve feeder processes.

Procedures When Feeding a File

• Perform steps one through eight in the Feeder Checklist.
• Ensure the file being fed is for the correct period and that the period is open.
• Evaluate error messages received as part of the feed process and take appropriate action.

RESOURCES

Cross References

• Feeder Policy and Guidelines and Sample Feeder Checklist