Whitworth’s external auditors have reported that the university needs to do a better job making sure that departments are reviewing their budget activity on a regular basis and reporting any issues to the business office. To address this issue, the business office and the information systems office have developed a new procedure that will expedite the review process and facilitate any necessary follow-up with the business office.
From now on, as we close each month in Datatel, the system will send an e-mail to those who have been designated by their supervisors as being responsible for reviewing departmental budget activity. The e-mail will inform budget officers and reviewers that there is budget data ready for their review through WhitNet. To view the data, reviewers need to go to their Financial Section in WhitNet and find the new line item: Budget Review.
When the reviewers have checked their budgets, they just need to select that the budget activity is approved, or select that changes/corrections are needed and provide details regarding the desired changes. Once the reviewers submit this information, the system will send an e-mail to the business office indicating the approval or that changes are needed. The system will also show which reviewers have not yet completed the review so that the business office can notify supervisors if/when their employees have completed the budget review.
We are excited about this new procedure and trust that it will help departments make budget reviewing and any necessary follow-up with the business office a more efficient process. If you have questions, please contact Kris Zimbelman at x4322.
