2010 - 2011

Controller's Office

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Update to previous cycle's plan for continuous improvement

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Plan for continuous improvement

The University recently went through a conversion to a unified digital campus contracting with SungardHe and their Banner software.  This conversion has dramatically impacted all Controller’s Office areas (Payroll, Bursar’s, Travel & Disbursement Services, Financial Accounting & Reporting, and General Accounting) and the University as a whole. The Controller’s Office is focusing on goals which will lead us into more efficient methods of business practices.  In addition, the new Vice President for Finance and Operations may provide input with regard to changes he plans to make in division policies, practices, and organization structure upon his arrival in August. 

The Banner Finance Module go-live in January brought about challenges and opportunities in the closing of the month processes.  The months of September through December were closed in the legacy system within the first 10 days of the following month.   The data from these months were entered into Banner and these months were kept open thru the year to make necessary corrections to the data.   For fiscal year 2011, all months will be closed toward the end of the year after necessary reconciling items are corrected.  In addition, the new fiscal year was opened by September 1, which is a new record for the Controller’s Office.

 Having completed the efforts required to transition to a unified digital campus, the Payroll Office has successfully finalized all elements required for “go-live” of the university’s new Banner HR/Payroll system.  Industry best practices were used to leverage the implementation of employee self-service, placing up-to-the-minute information in the employee’s hands via “My Sam”.  Training efforts provided hands-on exposure to online elements that include pay and benefit information as well as leave and time reporting, drastically reducing the number of documents formerly provided by the Payroll Office.  Throughout the conversion process, the Payroll Office has worked to maintain strong relationships with the Texas Workforce Commission, Texas Attorney General Office, Texas Human Resources Information System and the Texas Comptroller’s Office.  These relationships have provided the foundation needed to develop dialogues necessary to reconfigure reporting processes provided by the Texas Connection Consortium (in conjunction with SungardHe’s Banner modules).  As expected, delays in reporting - at the time of go live - produced minor interest charges and one incident of federal penalty that was abated upon university request.  Subsequent reporting efforts have returned to the standard schedule.

Due to the Banner implementation and shortage of staff, the Annual Financial Report was delayed by two weeks and the Integrated Fiscal Reporting System Report was delayed by 3 days (after an initial extension of 1 week.) No sanctions were imposed on the university due to these delays, and with a full staff and the implementation of the finance module of Banner in January, fiscal year 2011 AFR should be produced more quickly.  To recoup its 100% completion of meeting reporting deadlines (including the AFR), the FAR Office has continued its strong relationships with not only our System Office, but with other Texas State University System members.  

The Travel and Accounts Payable Offices were combined to form Disbursements and Travel Services.  This merger captures efficiencies resulting from new business processes, and the changes brought from the conversion to Banner. The goal of Disbursements and Travel Services is to provide timely payments to the university and outside vendors.  An audit selection was taken of vouchers and travel reimbursement vouchers processed through Travel & Disbursement Services, and the number of days from receipt of invoice to processing of payment was tallied.  All payments were made within 21 days of receipt of the invoice or travel packet.  With the implementation of Banner and the merger of Accounts Payable and Travel, Disbursements and Travel Services will strive to shorten even further in the coming fiscal year. 

The Bursar area is the part of Controller’s Office that has constant student exposure.  This office works to promote a positive student perception of their office and the University as a whole. To achieve this objective, a representative of the Bursar’s Office attends all the Freshmen, Transfer, and Veterans Resource Orientations as well as registrations at the University Center.  The representative speaks regarding payment options and deadlines, outside scholarship information, third party payment options, and other current Bursar related topics.  In addition, all phone calls received were answered or returned within 24 hours.  By speaking to Freshmen and Transfer students and parents, and by promptly answering phone calls, the Bursar’s Office shows a desire and willingness to promote responsive, welcoming, and customer oriented service.

The Payroll, General Accounting, Travel and Disbursement Services, Financial Accounting & Reporting, and Bursar’s Offices work together as the Controller’s Office.  It is the goal of the Controller’s Office to meet the financial and accounting needs of a diverse and dynamic campus community with quality performance and in a professional, courteous and service-oriented manner.  Meeting benchmarks, accurately closing the books, completing reports and paying vendors timely, and protecting our university assets by following applicable policies and procedures are all integral and necessary parts of a university community.  The Controller’s Office will continue to search for ways in which to improve our impact on this university community.

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