Volume 2 – 2019
From the Editor
This is a bit of a skinny newsletter, but my goal is to publish it while there is still a little time before the Fiscal year-end close. In the News section, check out the web page that contains links to all of the resources outlined during the Fiscal year-end webinar, including a recording of the webinar. And in the Tips & Tricks section, I introduce the first of what I expect to be a series of “over the shoulder” videos. The notion underlying the series is that all of us can learn something by watching how experienced colleagues use BW reports and reporting techniques as they go about extracting answers from their data. In this case, the shoulder over which we are watching is virtual. Scroll down to the Tips section and take a look at one way you might find and explore open commitments (a particularly timely topic, no?).
I hope you find this issue of the Newsletter informative. Please let me know if you have any questions, comments, or suggestions for future BW Newsletter topics.
Bill Stewart
News
On June 5, representatives from the General Accounting, Budget, Accounts Payable, Cashier, PAFO, and Sourcing & Procurement offices collaborated on a presentation regarding the 2019 Fiscal year-end close.
This webinar resource page contains all of the material presented prior to or during the session. In addition to the materials, a 27-minute indexed video was developed so anyone who missed the presentation, or who might want to review some or all of what was said can listen and watch as these senior staff members outline expectations for the year-end close.
Training Calendar
Beyond the introductory-level workshops, which are offered each month for Funds Management, Grants Management, Supplier Relationship Management, and Payroll reporting, I have run several intermediate-level workshops thus far in 2019 to address Funds Management and Grants Management reporting questions from experienced users. Participants in these latter sessions indicated they found their time well spent, not only for the insight provided into the many BW available reports, but in hearing how other attendees solve problems related to SAP data and reporting. One more intermediate-level GM workshop is coming up in May and my plan is to offer similar sessions for the SRM and HCM (HR) data areas in the coming months. Invitations will be sent once those sessions have been scheduled.
June/July Training Opportunities
Introductory Workshops
An assortment of introductory workshops is offered every month. These sessions present to new employees – or employees assigned a new business role – the fundamentals of reporting for a particular subject area. The sessions are a great way to review material, too. Even if you previously attended an intro session, you are likely to learn new things about reporting – or to be reminded of concepts that you had forgotten.
Click on any of the following links for a course description and/or to register for an upcoming session:
Supplier Resource Management Reporting
Labor Distribution (Payroll) Reporting
Tips & Tricks
Over the Shoulder Video #1: Finding and Exploring Open Commitments
“I learned so much just by watching as you ran that report and used a variety of techniques to focus on the data you needed to answer your question.” How many of us have said something like that? I know I have.
It’s one thing to recite a list of tools and techniques that one might use someday when running a BW report; it’s quite another to watch an experienced user leverage several of those techniques in the process of answering a real question. That’s the idea behind this new “Over the Shoulder” video series: to provide you with the opportunity to watch over the virtual shoulder of an experienced user while seeking an answer to a commonly-asked question. The videos in this series are not intended to be instructional, at least not in the sense that the viewer is walked through each step with a detailed explanation of exactly where to click, what value to select, and so forth. Instead, the assumption is that you are already familiar with the basics of BW reporting and just want to see how things are done; delivered in a succinct fashion.
In this first video, the question considered is “how can I view all of my open commitments?” This 5-minute video seeks to answer that question and, in the process, you can see how to simplify the data display by suppressing zero-dollar commitments and how to easily separate encumbrances related to external vendors and internal vendors (i.e., FSR’s and ISR’s).
I invite your feedback on this series idea. Let me know if you found this first one useful, useless, or somewhere in between. Do you have ideas for other questions to be explored in this series? Let me know!
Notes
Custom Training Sessions
Have you ever thought that it would be useful if you could get members of your department together with a trainer to focus on BUworks functionality that is specific to the work your department does? Many of your colleagues have reached out to me and we developed workshops tailored to their specific reporting interests (13 sessions in 2018; two sessions thus far in 2019, with another two on the way). I’m happy to work with any department or group that would like to develop and conduct a custom intermediate-level training session. There are only two requirements for such a session: (1) input from the group is necessary to develop a relevant agenda, and (2) the group should include three or more employees. If you’re interested in discussing the development of a custom session for your department or school/college,contact me via email or give me a call at 617-353-6382.
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