Journal Entry Management System (JEMS) User Guide

Journal Entry Management System (JEMS) User Guide

Purpose: The Journal Entry Management System (JEMS) was developed through a
collaboration between the Controller’s Division and ITS to improve the internal controls
relating to the creation, approval, and validation of “Actuals” journal entries posted in the
University’s general ledger (FAME). JEMS utilizes Oracle workflow functionality that is
similar to the workflow utilized by the BIA application, which posts “Budget” journal
entries to the general ledger. The following outlines the basic steps required to enter the
application, prepare a journal entry, obtain the necessary approvals, and submit the entry
to FAME for posting to the general ledger.

Important: Journal entries processed through JEMS may not impact Personnel Services
account codes (5xxxx accounts). All PS-related transactions must be processed through
PASS with two exceptions: accounts 51163/64 used by Auxiliary Services and PS-
related transactions processed by the Office of Global Affairs.

Obtaining access to JEMS:

To obtain access to the JEMS system, users should:

1. Start their Internet browser

2. Go to www.nyu.edu/cdv and navigate to the Forms for FAME section

3. Complete the JEMS Access Form and fax it to the FAME Helpdesk.

Logging on to JEMS:

The requestor should follow these steps to access JEMS:

1. Start their Internet browser.

2. Log in to NYUHome (http://home.nyu.edu). Click on the NYUHome Work tab
(upper right of NYUHome screen). Click the Login link at the bottom of the
Administrative Systems channel.

3. Enter their NetID and password in the Single Sign-On screen.

4. Click <Login>. This will bring them to the main NYU Workflow portal.

5. Click <Journal Entry Request> from within the Journal Entry Management
System channel. This will bring them to the journal entry form.

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Preparing a Journal Entry:

The following Journal Header information must be completed before a requestor can
progress to entering journal line data. Please refer to Attachment A for an example.

1. Select a Unit Name (college / department for which requestor has been granted
update access in JEMS) and Journal Entry Support Location (Requestor Location
or Accounts Payable) from the drop-down lists. Journal entry support retained at
the requestor’s location must be retained for the entire fiscal year for auditor
review. Phase II of the JEMS implementation will replace “requestor location”
with the ability to attach a pdf file as journal entry documentation and support.

2. The Request Date will be automatically populated with the current date. Request
dates can be back-dated to the last day of the prior month during the month-end
close period (i.e. 5 business days following the end of the month).

3. The Fiscal Year will default to the current fiscal year. In September, both the
prior and current fiscal years will be available.

4. The name associated with the netid will appear automatically as the requestor.
The netid of the requestor will appear in the Reference field of the FAME OBR.

5. Enter a Description (up to 250 characters) for the journal entry which is
sufficiently detailed so the approver(s) will understand the purpose of the request.
Approvers will reject journal entries without adequate descriptions. In order to
provide a proper audit trail to original transactions, the journal entry description
should:
a. Provide the Reference ID (per the FAME OBR) from the original
transaction if “Accounts Payable” has been entered as the journal entry
support location.
b. Provide the Journal ID (per the FAME OBR) from the original transaction
if the current journal entry is intended as a correction.

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6. The requestor must check the “To/From Unique Fund 24/25 Project” box only
when the purpose of the journal entry is to correct an error for OTPS expenses in
a Fund 24/25 project. Some examples of these cost transfers include correction of
a clerical error, re-allocation of costs to related projects, resolution of overdrafts,
and reclass of pre-award expenses. Activation of this box will bring the requestor
to an additional Journal Header screen where the information necessary to ensure
compliance with the University’s Interim Cost Transfer Policy (available at
www.nyu.edu/cdv) will be provided. Please refer to Attachment B for an
example. This is the same information as required for cost transfers processed
through PASS.
a. Enter the Reference ID and date (per the FAME OBR) to which this cost
transfer relates (must be a valid Journal ID). A green button will appear
next to the box when JEMS has validated that the Reference ID exists.
b. JEMS will automatically calculate the number of days between the current
journal request date and this transaction date. The number of days
calculated will determine the questions from the Interim Cost Transfer
Policy the requestor must answer before progressing to the journal lines.
c. Fund 24 / 25 cost transfers must be entered one entry per journal entry.

Once all required fields are entered in the Journal Header section, the Line Detail section
is displayed to accept data entry. The following steps should be followed when preparing
the journal line information:

1. Similar to a BudMod request, the requestor must provide the chartfield
information in the appropriate columns. These chartfields will be validated for
combination and security. If the chartfield is valid and within your chartfield
security, the CF (chartfield) Indicator will be green. If the combination is invalid,
it will be red and a mouse-over will indicate what part of the combination failed.
If the combination is valid but outside of the requestor’s chartfield security, the
CF Indicator will be yellow. A yellow CF Indicator signals that the fiscal officer
for that unit will be notified when this journal entry is approved.
a. Several validations are present in JEMS to ensure the general ledger is
updated appropriately. The following instances will result in a red CF
Indicator and a “pop-up” error message:
i. Use of PS accounts
ii. Use of Fund Balance (3xxxx) accounts
iii. Use of Gift Accounts (43xxx) as all Gift-related transactions
should flow through the Treasurer’s Office (BSR)
iv. Use of account 20000 (A/P only)
v. Use of any “system maintained” accounts

2. Provide the line amount and select Increase or Decrease as the purpose of the
entry requires. The DR / (CR) column will automatically be populated according
to the accounting rules governing the type of account. For example, an increase
to a 4xxxx (revenue) account is a Credit.

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3. Enter a description for the line item. This 30-character field will appear on all
FAME OBR’s and Brio reports indicating the purpose for this particular
component of the journal entry. This will help users understand each part of the
journal entry, will facilitate timely approval / submission to FAME, and will help
the readers of the FAME OBR understand the transaction.

4. If more than 5 lines are needed, click on the <Add Lines> button.

5. To clear the screen and start over, click on the <Clear Form> button.

6. A journal entry can be uploaded to JEMS from an Excel file. Journal entries
containing a Cost Transfer (correction of an error) in Fund 24/25 may not be
uploaded. To upload a journal entry:
a. Click <Journal Entry Upload> from the left-hand navigation panel.
b. Enter the full path to your Excel file or click on the <Browse…> button
and select the Excel file you wish to upload, then click on <Open>.
c. Ensure the first row of the file contains these headers:
i.
Account
ii.
Fund
iii.
Dept ID
iv.
Program Code
v.
Project ID
vi.
Amount
vii.
Increase / Decrease (I or D)
viii.
Line Description
d. A sample file is available for download from the Upload screen.
e. Click the <Upload> button.

7. Once you are satisfied with the entry, click on the <Preview/Submit> button.
This will perform some final validation checks and provide a preview of the
Journal Entry the requestor is about to submit. Some of the final validations of
the journal entry include:
a. Verification that Transfer Code transactions balance (Phase II will require
that the appropriate transfer codes be used on each side of the transaction
– this is a good practice to begin now)
b. Verification that the journal entry is balanced
c. Verification of available budget
If any the part of the journal entry fails these validations, the requestor will be
notified by a “pop-up” window describing the failure.

8. If all the information is correct, click on the <Submit> button. Otherwise, click
on the <Go Back(Edit)> button to return to the previous screen to edit the data.
Once submitted, a confirmation of the request and a Journal ID will be provided
on-screen, and a follow-up confirmation will be e-mailed to you as well. The
Journal ID is a 10-digit combination of College/Department (first 2 characters),

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date (mmddyy), and instance for the date (01 for the first journal entry of the day).
See Attachment C for a list of College / Department prefixes.

9. Once submitted, the journal entry is routed for approval according the following
requirements:
a. Entries submitted by requestors other than the academic / administrative
fiscal officer are routed to the respective fiscal officer for review and
approval. In Phase II, the fiscal officer will be able to delegate this
approval function.
b. Entries submitted by requestors that impact organization codes for which
they do not have Update Access (received a yellow light in the CF
Indicator for a particular journal line) will be routed as an FYI to the fiscal
officer of the impacted college / department. This includes journal entries
that impact the School of Medicine.
c. Entries created by an academic / administrative fiscal officer will be
routed to a manager in the Controller’s Division (or their designee) for
review and approval.
d. Entries that involve a cost transfer for Fund 24/25 projects within the same
college will be routed first to the fiscal officer for review and approval and
then to SPA as either an FYI (transfers < 90 days from date of original
transaction) or an Request for Action (RFA) (transfers >=90 days from
date of original transaction). Cost transfer entries for Fund 24/25 projects
between colleges will require the approval of both college fiscal officers
before it is routed to SPA.
e. Entries that impact asset (1xxxx) or liability (2xxxx) accounts will be first
routed to the fiscal officer for review and approval and then to a manager
in the Controller’s Division (or their designee) for review and approval.
Entries impacting asset and liability accounts originating from the
Controller’s Division and Benefits Office will simply route to the
respective managers for review and approval.

10. JEMS will generate an e-mail notification for each person in the approval process
(both RFA’s and FYI’s).

11. If the proper approvals are not received within 5 days, the RFA will time out and
the workflow will send a cancellation notice to the approver. A second RFA will
be created and sent to the approver. If the second RFA does not receive the
proper approvals within 5 days, the request will be rejected. The journal entry
creation process must begin again. The requestor will receive an e-mail
notification the rejection.

12. Similar to a budmod request, in order to track the status, review or approve a
journal entry, open your Worklist in the Work tab of the NYUHome portal.

13. Once a journal entry has been approved, it will be submitted to FAME for posting
to the general ledger. JEMS journal entries will be swept in to the general ledger

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every half hour beginning at 9:45 AM each day. Although a journal entry might
be deemed valid at the time of submission for review and approval, it could fail
budget or edit check when presented to FAME for posting. The requestor will be
notified of edit fails by the Controller’s Division while the Fiscal Officer will
receive a notification of budget issues in the daily BCM report.

Inquiry Screen

An Inquiry Screen is provided for users to research journal entries that have impacted
their units. Users can search for journal entries by journal number, dates, fiscal years,
specific chartfields, and key words included in the chartfield (i.e. words in the journal
header, org or project description).

Always Log Out When Done

Remember to log out of the NYU Workflow system when you are ready to end your
session. Click the Logout icon in the upper right hand corner of the main NYU
Workflow portal.

Getting Help
Business related questions or issues can be directed to Kerri Tricarico at 212-
998-2913
For support and other technical issues, the ITS Client Services Center (CSC)
can be reached at 212-998-3333 (press 1 when prompted) or
its.AdminHelp@nyu.edu
o CSC staff specializing in support for administrative applications are
available 9 a.m. – 5 p.m. weekdays.
o CSC staff are available onsite weekdays 8 a.m. – midnight, and Saturday-
Sunday, noon-midnight.

















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Attachment A


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Attachment B


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Attachment C


Journal Entry Prefix
Definition
AA
CDV - Auxiliary Accounting Services
AD
University Administration & Operations
AI
Institute of Asian/Pacific Americans
AR
CDV - Financial Accounting & Reporting
AL Alumni
Relations
AX Auxiliary
Services
BD BSIRAD
BI
CDV - Accounting for Banking & Investments
BN Benefits
Office
BO Budget
Office
CL
Coles (includes Moses Center for Students with Disabilities)
CM
Courant Institute of Mathematical Sciences
CO
CDV - Controller's Office
CP Campus
Planning
DC
CDV - Deputy Controller's Office
DN
College of Dentistry & College of Nursing
DV Development
Office
ED
Steinhardt School of Education
FA
Faculty of Arts & Sciences
FM
Facilities & Construction Management
FR
CDV - Financial Reporting
FS
CDV - Financial Information Systems
GA
Gallatin School of Individualized Study
GG
Grey Art Gallery
GP Global
Programs
HC
University Health Center
IF
Institute of Fine Arts
IN Insurance
Department
IT ITS
LB
Libraries / NYU Press
LW School
of
Law
OP President's
Office
PA
University Relations & Public Affairs
PR Provost's
Office
PS
CDV - Payment Services
RE Real
Estate
RG Registrar
SA Student
Affairs
SB
Stern School of Business
SC
School of Continuing & Professional Studies

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Journal Entry Prefix
Definition
SP
CDV - SPA
SW
School of Social Work
TA
Tisch School of the Arts
TR Treasurer's
Office
VP Executive
Vice
President
WG
Wagner Graduate School of Public Service


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