Banner Finance FAQs

1) Will FRS still be around for the Grant Fund folks? These folks will need to still access prior year's information due to the Grants being Program Year instead of Fiscal Year.

A: Yes, Project Year amounts will be available. In Banner they are called Grant Inception-to-Date amounts. Inception-to-date reporting will be covered in detail in the Grants Hands-on Training.

Also, FRS will continue to be up and running over the next two years & therefore access will be available to previous period activity, for all FRS accounts.

2) Will there be an Account Code cheat sheet (like the current two FRS pamphlets)? Or, rather, will there be a built in Account Code Query in SCT Banner Finance to handle this?

A: There is the ability to query on the Account Code in Banner. In addition, there is the on-line conversion tool available at www.gvsu.edu/it/banner. At this website, select "Banner Finance" from the menu on the left hand side, which will bring you to the "FRS to Banner Cross Reference". Use of this tool will also be covered in the Budget & Finance Hands-on training.

3) Will the A (Activity Code) and L (Location Code) in the FOAPAL string be used for Grant Funds in the future?

A: We can look into this in the future. However, Banner does provide a form to set-up grant reporting based on the financial classifications required by the funder. This will be covered in detail in the Grants Hands-on Training.

4) Will the End users have access to SCT Banner Finance off campus, i.e. home??? If yes, when?

A: Access from off-campus will be available on an authorized basis only.

5)Will multi-year access be available for campus users in Banner?

A: Yes, by changing the fiscal year, you'll be able to retrieve prior year activity.

6) What if I missed the Banner Finance Orientation? Is there a make-up session available?

A: No make-up sessions will be offered, however in the training Budget & Finance I/ Self-Service, there will be a review of the concepts covered in the Orientation session. You need to attend this session in order to obtain a Banner Log-in.

7) Will processing a requisition be the same with Banner (i.e. time to process, signatures, hard-copy purchase orders sent)?

A: Essentially, yes. However, the Banner system is entirely web-based and provides real time functionality. A requisition can be completed rather quickly, and routing for online approvals is immediate. Copies of purchase orders will continue to be disseminated to vendors and departments. We anticipate sending orders direct from Banner via e-mail to select vendors in the very near future.

8) Can I still do a paper/hand-written requisition?

A: We anticipate all campus departments will be using the Banner Purchase Requisition system by the end of December 2005. After this time, departments still processing paper requisitions will be further assisted to make a rapid transition.

9) Will I be able to track the status of a requisition (when it is turned into a purchase order, when it was paid)?

A: Yes; the Banner system provides online status queries for the entire procurement cycle - from requisition to payment.

10) Will I still have the same approval that I did in FRS?

A: There will be a new set of approval levels in Banner. The Deans/Appointing Officers will authorize designated users, what functional responsibilities they'll have, and their approval levels. These designated users will be scheduled for their specific training needs.

11) Will we still use standing orders? If so, when will the vendors receive them?

A: The current standing orders are being reviewed for Banner document type classification. Some will remain standing orders, some will be processed as blanket orders, and others will be processed as regular orders. The document classification will be noted on the copies of the current standing orders, which departments will receive soon for renewal consideration. Vendors should receive their new orders by mid July. Time-sensitive orders will be given priority and processed accordingly.