firms darnell cooper, accountant ii, csu sacramento roberta mcniel, senior manager, financial...

FIRMS

Darnell Cooper, Accountant II, CSU Sacramento

Roberta McNiel, Senior Manager, Financial Services / SFSR, Chancellor’s Office

Sedong John, Director, Financial Services / SFSR, Chancellor’s Office

April 23, 2015

Learning Objectives

This session is intended as an open discussion on any issues campuses may have related to FIRMS.

April 2015 Year-End Legal Training 2

FIRMS

• Financial Information Records Management System

• A database that stores a variety of data submissions from the campuses which assists the Chancellor’s Office in completing system-wide analysis and reporting tasks.


FIRMS (cont.)

• Information sources

Legal Accounting and Reporting Manual, Chapter 3

FIRMS Data Submission Guide - automated FIRMS edits detailed in Data Validation section


FIRMS Derivation Process

• Legal/Campus Business Unit• Recording of Campus Activity

• FIRMS Business Unit• Derived Values from Campus Business Unit

based on NACUBO Program Code

• GAAP Business Unit• Derived Values from FIRMS Business Unit &

GAAP Manual Journal EntriesApril 2015 Year-End Legal Training 5

FIRMS – Campus Perspective

• Legal/Campus Business Unit• Use your Edits - Campus & CSU Legal Edits! • Errors can be identified at entry rather than during

FIRMS review and submission• CFS Subsystems and “payment” Business Units

(e.g. Student) - Combo Edits should be on

• Inactivate “old” Chartfields so they can’t be used• May have to reactivate temporarily for FIRMS



• Legal/Campus Business Unit (cont.)• Rare journal entry posting errors • CashNet

• System is outside of CFS, so there are no edits• Validate and manage all chartfield strings• Open Items• FTE

• Student Refunds – (only if edits are not in your “payment” business unit)



• What to do after FIRMS notification is received from CO?• In Non- Production – before end of month• Derivation from Legal to FIRMS

• Errors: Invalid Chartfields; Rule 4

• Generate Journals – CSA, CSB, & CSE• Is Accounting Period open?• Combine Actual & Budget Journals into one Run Control• Is the Journal locked?• Process Encumbrance Journal separately


FIRMS – Campus Perspective • Validate Legal to FIRMS Report

• Investigate variances

• FIRMS Extract • Error - Delete Previous File on Prod Server

• Download / Upload File to CO Server

• Test Submission• Investigate Errors AND Warnings

• Review FIRMS abnormal/unusual balances• Test Derivation to GAAP – All Periods


FIRMS – Campus Perspective • Continue to monitor transactions in non-production

until the month is closed

• Make it easier to meet both the Monthly & Quarterly reporting requirements to the CO



• Legal Auxiliary Submission – tricks• Formatting

• Eliminate zero dollar amounts• List Aux by Sub_Agency Order

• Upload• Make sure that file name matches• Click on FIRMS_XX06.AUX (TAB Delimited)

• Errors we’ve run into• Filler Field Column, FTE, Approp Yr.


FIRMS – CO Perspective

• Monthly submissions required for cash management functions performed by Treasury --- no formal acceptance by CO required.

• Quarterly submissions required to fulfill system-wide financial reporting requirements --- formal acceptance by CO required.


FIRMS – CO Perspective (cont.)• Quarterly submissions subjected to automated edits; errors must be

cleared by campus to obtain CO’s acceptance of data.• Occasionally, campuses will request acceptance of file with

uncleared errors: Via email to Roberta McNiel explaining reason(s) for errors and

why correction cannot be made. Attach copy of FIRMS validation report with relevant errors

highlighted. If same error repeated multiple quarters, also attach copy of CO

approval for override of first occurrence.


FIRMS – CO Perspective (cont.)

• Year-end submissions Pre-closing file - financial data prior to the

closure of revenue and expenses to equity Post-closing file - financial data after the

closure of revenue and expenses to equity Auxiliary organization file – limited key

financial data



• Automated edits

Edits which check for invalid values. Edits which evaluate data against established

business rules (including combination edits).



• Manual edits – pre-closing file Review of abnormal balances

Complete Abnormal Balance Explanation Template (Appendix 20) and submit at same time the pre-close FIRMS file is transmitted OR

Transmit the pre-close FIRMS file to the CO and await return of the template for completion by the campus

Information provided by the campus should be in enough detail to allow the Chancellor’s Office to evaluate the propriety of the balance.


FIRMS – CO Perspective (cont.)Manual edits – pre-closing file (cont.) Validation of the balance in 690003, RMP Expenditure Offset Validation of type codes (G, F and P) used with governmental

and nongovernmental AR object codes (G used with 103003; F and P used with 103004)

Confirmation that control accounts are not used to record transactions (e.g., 101000, Cash)

Confirmation that the designations of fund balances in CSU funds 441 and 485 equal both the balance in 304099, Offset for Reserves/Fund Balance, (except for sign) and the ending equity balance in those funds


FIRMS – CO Perspective (cont.)Manual edits – pre-closing file (cont.)

Confirmation that balances in cash and investment object codes are zero in capital outlay funds

Confirmation that fund balances for deactivated funds are zero


FIRMS – CO Perspective (cont.)• Manual edits – post-closing file

Confirmation that the change in the asset and liability balances from the pre-closing file is zero

Confirmation that the sum of the changes in revenue and expense accounts is equal to the sum of the changes in equity accounts

Confirmation that the revenue and expense activity is closed to the appropriate equity object code (see Appendix 1 for guidance)

Confirmation that the activity in CSU funds pending deactivation after July 1 net to zero



• For information regarding new object codes, new CSU funds and legal combination edit updates, go to Tables of Object Code and CSU Fund Definitions and the Legal Edits Table at the Standards & Rules section of the Systemwide Financial Standards & Reporting (SFSR) website: http://www.calstate.edu/sfsr/standards_and_rules/


http://www.calstate.edu/sfsr/standards_and_rules/

http://www.calstate.edu/sfsr/standards_and_rules/

www.calstate.edu


http://www.calstate.edu/

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