Introduction to Advantage

Introduction to Advantage

Advantage Financial System

Advantage Financial System

Advantage is ASU’s Financial System

Financial transactions are recorded into Advantage

Account balances and transaction tables are available in Advantage

Accounting Structure

The Account Structure at ASU consists of:FundAgencyOrganization (Org)Suborganization (Suborg)

Funds

A Fund identifies a group of accounts

This field is not entered on many documents as Advantage provides it based on Agency/Org

Agency/Org

An Agency can identify the Department and Funding Source:

Agencies ending in letters indicate Sponsored funding (grants)

Agencies ending in numbers indicate state or local funding

Agency/Org

An Org can identify the Campus and purpose of the Account

A Suborg is optional and can be used to provide further detail on an Org

Agency/Org

Agency Ending In:1 = State Fund2 = Auxiliary4 = Summer Sessions5 = Local Unrestricted6 = Plant Funds7 = Agency Accounts8 = Endowments9 = Restricted Funds

Org Beginning With:0 = Sponsored1 = Tempe Campus2 = Tempe Campus3 = Tempe Campus4 = Downtown Campus5 = West Campus6 = Reserved Use7 = Polytechnic Campus8 = Capital Replacement9 = Specialized Accounts

Agency/OrgTR5 1008 03Music - Local

Agency: TR5Fine Arts School of Music

Org: 1008Tempe Campus

Suborg: 03Advertising

Agency/Org - Sponsored

BTS 0033Collaborative Research: Ecosys

Agency: BTSRS: Institute of Sustainability

Org: 0033

Accounting Structure

The Account Structure at ASU consists of:FundAgencyOrg

A transaction within Advantage will require:ObjectSubobject

Object/Subobject

The Object code identifies the category of expenditure or revenue

The Subobject code is used with an Object code to further specify the expenditure or revenue type

Object/Subobject

7310

7310 is the Object code for Services

7310 28

The Subobject 28 combined with 7310 indicates Photocopy charges

Object/Subobject

7810

7810 is the Object code for Capital Equipment

7810 02

The Subobject 02 combined with 7810 indicates Software over $5,000


Accessing Advantage

Accessing Advantage

A combination of passwords is required to access Advantage:

CICS – established by Computer Accounts and must be changed every 90 days

Advantage ID – established by the Advantage Helpline and can be changed by user request

Accessing Advantage

Remember to follow commonly used guidelines for passwords:

Do not write down your passwordsDo not use “common” passwordsDo not share your passwords

Accessing Advantage

Advantage Profiles determine the level of access a user has and what actions they can perform

Common profiles include DAT1 – enter documentsSCN1 – lookup and reports accessMGR1 – enter and approve documents

Some areas have specialized profiles

Accessing Advantage

Profiles such as SCN1 and MGR1 can be assigned certain accounts for access as an Account Signer or Org Manager

An Account Signer can approve documents on the account on behalf of the Org Manager

An Org Manager is responsible for the account consistent with department, University, and state guidelines


The Suspense File

Suspense File

All documents that are started in Advantage are stored in the holding area called Suspense

Documents that are fully accepted or deleted are removed in a nightly process

Suspense File

Documents in Suspense are ordered by document type, agency, and document number

Suspense File

The status and approval levels are shown for each document

Status Levels

The status code indicates where a document is in the approval process

ACCPT – accepted in AdvantageSCHED – approved but not processedPEND# – waiting for approvalREJCT – contains errorsHELD – not ready for approvals

Approval Levels

ASU uses three approval levels to process documents:

Level 1 – Departmental Users and SignersLevel 4 – Accounts Payable/Cashiering/

AccountantsLevel 5 – Accounting Managers

Different levels of approval are required for different documents

Approval Levels

The approval code on Suspense show which approvals are necessary using a series of Y, A, and 0 indicators

A – approval required at that levelY – approval applied at that level0 – approval not required at that level

Approval Levels

Pending Level 1 approval

Approval required at Levels 1 and 4

Approval Levels

Pending Level 4 approval

Approval applied at Level 1Approval required at Level 4


Approving Documents

Approving Documents

All Advantage documents require approvals at one or more levels

Different documents require different approvals

The approval process consists of editing, approving, and processing a document

Approving Documents

The Edit process checks for errors after the document has been entered

Editing a document is done by hitting F7 or “ED” then Enter in the Function field

A successful Edit will display the message “Ready for Approval”

Approving Documents

Approval is applied by hitting F12 or “A+” then Enter in the Function field

After final approval is applied, the document needs to be processed

Approving Documents

Processing a document is done by hitting F8 or “R” then Enter in the Function field

After a document is processed, it is accepted into Advantage

No changes can be made to the document and all tables are updated

Unapproving Documents

If approvals have been applied but the document has not been accepted, it may be changed or deleted

All approvals must be removed in order to change or delete

Unapproving Documents

Unapproving a document is done by typing “A-” then hitting Enter in the Function field

Approvals must be removed by a user at that approval level

Level 4 can be removed by someone with Level 4 approval authority

Deleting Documents

Deleting documents will remove them from Suspense in the nightly process

Once a document is deleted and removed from Suspense, it cannot be retrieved

If the deletion was done in error, the document can be undeleted on the same day it was deleted

Deleting Documents

To delete a document, hit F9 or “D” then Enter in the Function field

To undelete a document, type “UD” then Enter in the function field