Overview

Background

The University's expense management system, eExpenses, ceased to be supported by ABS in August 2013.  ABS have provided the University with a Right-To-Use License until 30th June 2016, which enables the University to continue to use the product, but we will not receive any support or enhancements for the product.

There are over 7700 registered users of the current system with more than 153,000 forms processed to date. The current system facilitates payment to the claimant within 3-5 working days from the date of approval. The maintenance of this 5 day payment window is a key performance indicator for the University.

The current system is well regarded by users, with 80% giving a positive rating in the Financial systems survey carried out in 2013. One of the success factors for this project will be the maintenance of this high-level of satisfaction. 

A variety of options for replacements have been assessed under a previous project (FIN090) including: - building a new system in-house, procuring a 3rd party product or modifying existing systems (FPM). That project concluded that an in-house development was the preferred option due to the close integration that is required with key University systems such as EASE, eFInancials, eAuthorisations, MyEd and WebFIrst.

When evaluating replacement options for the current system, two areas of functionality were identified that are not offered by the current system but are key to the effective and efficient management of expenses, namely the handling of electronic receipts and efficient user set-up.  The current system also does not support some of our HESA reporting obligations such as carbon emissions for business travel.

Scope

• Develop a new application to provide key areas of functionality currently provided by eExpenses. This will cover the input, approval and payment of expenses and facilities for processing cash advances.
• Develop additional key functionality that is not currently provided by eExpenses but has been identified as crucial to administering expense payments effectively.
• Develop functionality to cater for electronic receipts
• Delevop functionality for the maintenance of master data to allow expense data to be categorised by expense type for reporting purposes
• Develop functionality for the maintenance of authorised user profiles to control access to the application, finance codes and approval routes
• Develop functionality for the querying and pdf printing of expense claims by end-users.
• Develop like-for-like reporting via Business Objects and WebFIrst
• The new application is to be Integrated with EASE for user authentication
• The new application is to be Integrated with eAuthorisations for user authorisation
• The new application is to be accessible directly from a url or via a MyEd launcher channel
• The new application is to automatically interface approved expense claims into eFInancials.  The interface is to include error handling, control totals and manual fall-back 
• Further develop eAuthorisations to accommodate the new application, including user set-up, access to finance codes and approval routes.
• Migration of existing user credentials from eExpenses into eAuthorisations
• Develop functionality to support the process for setting up of new users
• There may be a requirement to decommission the old EEM system but this will be determined as part of the roll-out plan

Out of Scope

• Redefining of current business rules (e.g. who can approve expense claims, paper claim forms etc)
• Development of non-essential functionality from eExpenses, namely -
  • External contractors
  • Currencies
  • Interest rates
  • Financial products (not sure what this is but it's mentioned in the underlying database)
  • Regular/scheduled payments to accounts
  • Insurances (database mentionsagents, inspectors, transactions and user agencies)
  • Postcode area matching
  • Vehicles
  • Timesheets

Objectives

• To provide a supportable electronic expenses system that is fully integrated with key University systems to allow the effective and efficient processing, administration and reporting of expense claims
• To preserve financial control over the management of expense claims
• To maintain the current positive user experience for claimants, approvers and administrators

Deliverables

• EASE-protected web-based application suitable for the entry, approval and administration of expenses
• Interface to eFinancials so that expense claims can be processed through to the claimant's bank account
• Integration with eAuthorisations for user authorisations
• Modified eAuthorisations suitable for user admin of the new application's users
• Facility for the management of electronic receipts
• Querying & electronic printing (pdf) of expense claims
• Business Objects universe to facilitate financial reporting
• Adjustments to WebFirst so that eExpenses-related reports still report accurately (10 reports)
• MyEd channel to access the new application
• Migration of current users profiles into eAuthorisations
• Strategy for the cut-over to the new system
• Strategy for the archiving of data from the old system

Benefits

• Improved integration with key University systems 
• Reduction of manual paperwork in Accounts Payable via the introduction of electronic receipts
• Greater transparency of user set-up allowing improved handling of expense claims in the event of approver absense
• Ongoing provision of a supported application
• Reduced support calls to FIS via integration with EASE so that passwords don't need to be frequently re-set
• Reduced manual intervention for loading approved expense claims into eFInancials
• Improved user experience via electronic receipts and multi-device accessability
• Improved student experience via ease of user set-up which will encourage students to utilise the application

Success Criteria

• Suitably authorised staff, students and visitors are able to make expense claims and receive payment within 5 working days of approval
• Electronic receipts can be linked to an expense claim and retrieved on request
• Users are able to query and print their expenses on request
• Reduced set-up time for new users (FIS to benchmark this)
• Reduced time to enter a claim (FIS to benchmark this)
• Transition to the new application takes place with minimal discruption and without the need to resort to paper-based expense claims
• A pilot of 200 expense claims has been successfully completed and interfaced into eFInancials, including a cross-section of expense types and users from Schools and Support Groups 
• The interface to eFinancials handles errors and the financial control of data being interfaced is not compromised
• Current eExpenses user profiles are migrated to the new system without the need for manual rekeying
• The current WebFIrst reports still work correctly
• Suitably authorised users can access the system either directly or via a MyEd launcher channel
• A Business Objects universe is available for ad-hoc reporting
• The new application can be accessed from a variety of devices