Advantage Newsletter

University of Wisconsin Oshkosh
January 19, 1999

Overview

The current general ledger CUFS will be replaced by a product from the same vendor and is called ADVANTAGE. Although Advantage shares many similarities with CUFS, there are also differences and some entirely new features. This change became mandatory, as CUFS is not year 2000 compliant. Advantage will take us into the new millennium and will meet our immediate needs. The system will function in a similar manner as CUFS. However, Advantage also has an additional benefit with the availability of a (GUI) graphical user interface (point and click) configuration, which provides a foundation for a more user-friendly system. The GUI feature will be phased in over time, as software must be installed on each PC.

The project to convert from CUFS to Advantage began with installation and implementation to a test system in February 1998 with the assistance of American Management Systems consultants. The advice from the consultations is that it would take at least eight months to make the conversion from CUFS to Advantage at a minimum. We originally planned on a January 1, 1999 cut over but were able to move that date to April 12, 1999.

Training                           

Training will be necessary in order to use the new system. Instructions have been put together that is step by step for the purchase requisition (RX) in the test version of Advantage that anyone can try. These instructions will be distributed via E-mail as an attachment in Word and WordPerfect. If you are unable to open the attachment, you merely need to call the Financial Services office for a copy of the instructions.

Tentatively, we have reserved a computer lab for hands on training the week of Spring break, March 15-19, 1999. As that date approaches, we will be sending out information for you to sign up for a scheduled session. Training sessions will be of two hours duration with the first hour an overview and navigation of the Advantage general ledger. The second hour will be for document entry of the RX (purchase requestion). Those who do not enter documents will not be required to attend the second hour. There will be more training information to come later.

CUFS to Advantage Cut over

The Cut over from CUFS to Advantage will occur in April 1999. The last day that CUFS will be available will be Wednesday, April 7 until 4:30 p.m. Advantage will be placed in production and CUFS data converted, starting on Thursday, April 8 through Sunday, April 11. If all goes as planned, you will be able to again access the general ledger (Advantage) on Monday, April 12. We do not anticipate any problems but as it is a major change, we want to make sure the transition is smooth.

Passwords

Your current userid and password will not change in Advantage. Some minor changes are required in the profiles of each password which may affect you. If you find that your password is not working as expected, you should call the Financial Services office at 1009 to correct the problem.

Communication via E-Mail         

A distribution list has been created which will allow Financial Services to communicate with campus users of Advantage via E-mail. You will receive updates, schedules and tips on important information concerning the accounting system. You will also be able to communicate with the Financial Services with your questions and concerns via E-mail.

Monthly Reports

Monthly reports from the new system will be generated the first of May for the month April. The report layout will not be changed other than a change to the detail report that list individual expenses and revenues. Fringe benefit detail will no longer be printed and only a summary total will be shown on the monthly report. That information will be available on microfiche should anyone need to analyze the detail fringe benefit expenditures.

Purchasing Cutoff Dates                

Purchasing cutoffs dates for ordering items in certain dollar ranges and requiring bidding will fall in the time frame of the conversion in April. It is important that if you are considering ordering items that require special handling, that you try and have the entries done on CUFS before the changeover as several days will be lost in April. More information will be coming out from the purchasing office on these important dates.

New Features    

Purchase Order - additional tables for lookup by vendor or document number. Separate tables for PO’s and PC’s.

On-Line General Ledger - the ledger now has a primary key of fiscal year as opposed to CUFS having Fund code. Data is also displayed with most current data first and oldest data last.

Vendor Tables - many additional tables for lookup by vendor name, zipcode, vendor code, federal ID code,plus many more.

Zoom Feature - allows user when doing a document to pause and go to a table to lookup information such as vendor code and then return to the document with the information.

Webpage

Be sure to review this page periodically as we will be updating on it continuously.

Date this page was last updated   March 02, 1999

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This page was developed by and is maintained by Dawn M. Herzig- Financial Services  mailto:herzig@uwosh.edu