Process and Timeline
Processing Your Monthly Department Financial Review
An effective review process will help you identify errors and inconsistencies, determine the availability of funds and identify internal control deficiencies. The university’s reconciliation process begins with financial information posting to SAHARA — an automated reconciliation tool contained within UTShare/PeopleSoft — and ends with owners electronically approving the reconciliation.
Monthly Reconciliation Process at a Glance
Step 1
INFORMATION IS POSTED TO SAHARA
From various PeopleSoft modules, such as general ledger, accounts payable, and commitment control
Step 2
REVIEW AND RECONCILE
Reconcilers review and reconcile the SAHARA information
Step 3
RECONCILERS INITIATE CORRECTIONS
Following established procedures for each correction type
Step 4
RECONCILERS ELECTRONICALLY SIGN
In SAHARA
Step 5
RECONCILERS NOTIFY APPROVERS
When reconciliations are complete and ready for approval
Step 6
APPROVERS ELECTRONICALLY SIGN
In SAHARA
How to Complete Your Monthly Department Financial Review
At a minimum, the monthly reconciliation process must include the steps below. Refer to the reconciliation review training and checklist on the Accounting Services Training website for more details.
- Review your revenue, expense and budget transactions in SAHARA. Submit correction requests for any expenses or revenues that need to be moved to another cost center or project.
- See the Corrections web page for instructions on how to submit a correction.
- Review the amount available to spend to ensure an adequate budget balance remains for any pending transactions.
- Correct negative balances immediately through a correction or a budget transfer from another allowable set of funds.
- PeopleSoft records commitments the department has made for purchases or travel as encumbrances. The reconciler must review these encumbrances monthly for accuracy
- Maintain a listing of any purchase requisitions for more than $15,000 until they generate a completed purchase order.
- Refer to the Large Purchasing Requisition Template on the Accounting Services Training website for more information.
- Reconcile actual salary expenses every month against the annual budget by position for non-hourly employees.
- Refer to the Salary Reconciliation Template on the Accounting Services Training website for more information.
- Departments must be able to demonstrate how this detailed review is performed as requested during a Quality Assurance Risk (QAR).
- A separate ledger or listing of all transactions is not required; however, reconcilers/owners should be familiar with departmental activity to quickly identify any significant discrepancies.
Complete Your Reviews in a Timely Manner
Automatic Email Notifications on Reconciliation Status
To support timely financial oversight, automated email notifications are sent based on reconciliation status in PeopleSoft. Notifications go to the reconciler and owner (department manager) roles assigned to each cost center and sponsored project.
Monthly Notification Schedule Criteria for Receiving the Report
| Timing | Recipients | Trigger Criteria |
|---|---|---|
| Around the 18th of each month (after period close) | Reconciler – Responsible for completing monthly SAHARA reviews. | Sent for cost centers and/or sponsored projects with a status of Not Reconciled for the applicable fiscal year and accounting period(s). |
| First working day of the month | Owner (Department Manager) – Also known as the Approver. This role completes the SAHARA Annual Certification and may approve monthly SAHARA reviews during the fiscal year.
|
Sent for cost centers and/or sponsored projects with a status of Reconciled Not Approved for the applicable fiscal year and accounting period(s). |
Report Indicators and Status Definitions
| Status | Email Sent To | Report Indicators |
|---|---|---|
| Not Reconciled | Reconciler | Y – Reconciled N – Not reconciled (reconciliation action required) Dash – No activity in the respective period; no action required |
| Reconciled Not Approved | Owner (Department Manager) | Y – Reconciled and approved N – Reconciled but not approved (review and approval action required) Dash – No activity in the respective period; no action required |
