New Finance User Resources
If you are new to Banner Finance, this article will help you find most of the information you will need. We will continue to update this article to reflect any changes.
- What is FOAPAL Authorization? How to request or remove access?
- What is Banner Finance Dashboard?
- How can I run an Argos Bear Finance Report?
- How do I check what FOAPAL/Fund-Organization access an individual has?
- What is a Storefront and how can I get a Storefront item set up?
- Accounting Best Practice
- How Requistion Approval works in Banner Finance?
- More Banner Finance FAQ's
1. What is FOAPAL Authorization? How to request or remove access?
FOAPAL stands for six elements of finance data in Banner: Fund (F), Organization (O), Account (A), Program (P), Activity (A), and Location (L). The Fund, Organization, Account, and Program codes (FOAPs) are the primary chart of accounts elements used for classification, budgeting, recording, and reporting. The Activity and Location codes are used to provide more specific performance-related detail for transactions. FOAPAL authorization can also be called Fund-Organization Access because in Banner access to any (University and Foundation) finance data is based on the Fund/Organization Access that has been authorized/established for an individual. Dependent upon the Fund/Organization access in place, an individual may view associated budget information, originate purchase requisitions against associated budgets, approve or disapprove purchase requisitions created by others, or perform authorized budget transfers.
Run Fund & Organization (Budget) Access reports to find out what fund/organization access you or other have.
“View Only” access allows an individual to run My Finance Query as well as generate Bear Finance Report (if granted with Argos access) for budgets associated with those specific Fund and Organization codes.
“Originator” access provides “View Only” access as well as the ability to originate online purchase requisitions through My Requisition in Finance Dashboard for items being funded to budgets associated with those specific Fund and Organization codes.
“Approver” access provides “View Only” and “Originator” access as well as the ability to act upon online purchase requisitions or perform authorized budget transfers through My Journals in Finance Dashboard for items associated with those specific Fund and Organization codes. In addition, “Approvers” must approve “View Only” or “Originator” access being requested for others when it relates to the Fund/Organization over which they have authority.
To request “Approver” access, submit a FOAPAL Authorization - Approver Request.
This form can be used to replace approver access. Approver access must be granted manually by Banner Finance office and users will be notified when access is granted.
To request “Originator” or “View Only” access, submit a FOAPAL Authorization - Originator/View Request.
Originator/View access is granted by the approver of that fund-organization, and it is an automated system where fund-organization approver (s) will get emailed notification for requests and take action to approve or deny your originator/view access request.
Once "Approver" access is established, request for “View Only” or “Originator” access can be submitted by going to FOAPAL Authorization - Originator/View Request. Approvers can expedite requests for “View Only” or “Originator” access by initiating the request themselves. This will grant access automatically and will not require additional approvals. For instructions and help, see FOAPAL Authorization - Originator/View Quick-Guide.
To remove current access, or other questions, please send the email to BannerFinance@MissouriState.edu.
Banner Finance Office does not make changes to individual's access without authorization from departments, so it is department's responsibility to authorize us to make the change when people move to different office or leave.
Fund-Organization Access (view, originator, or approver): does not grant you Argos Bear Finance access; session #3 covers Argos Bear Finance report and how to get access. Fund-Organization Access does not grant you PAF access either as HR controls PAF access, this access is not related to P-Card access and you would need to contact Procurement Service for P-Card related access.
2. What is Banner Finance Dashboard?
Finance Dashboard (Finance SSB9) is only available to users who have been granted/authorized
with FOAPAL/Fund-Organization access from #1 above. The Finance Dashboard allows department
users to review and manage their authorized budgets as well as initiate and approve
requisitions for purchases to be charged against their budgets. The Finance Dashboard
features resources available to departmental users who process purchases and monitor
the budgeted balance available for those purchases.
Finance Dashboard user guides can be access from this page:
https://www.missouristate.edu/FinancialServices/banner-training-guides.htm
We are keeping legacy Finance SSB8 for grant comparison queries and the view document functions because there are some missing features from those two functions in SSB9. We are continuingly working with Banner Support for those issues and hope they can be resolved soon.
3. How can I run an Argos Bear Finance Report?
You must have BOTH accesses below before you can run any Bear Finance Reports.
- You must have fund/organization access to some budgets.
- You must have Argos access (under finance folder).
Argos access is granted separately from Fund‐Org access and controlled by the Information Security Office. When a user is granted Fund/Organization (Budget) access (Approver, Originator or View), that does not give them access to run Argos Bear Finance report. To request for Argos Finance access, user MUST send an email to InformationSecurity@MissouriState.edu to request access.
Tips for running an Argos Report:
If you run ODSPROD report, you will need to use your ODSPROD password; if you run PROD report, you will need your PROD password. Your User ID is usually the first letter of your first name followed by your full last name for both ODSPROD and PROD. Go to https://cams.missouristate.edu to reset your database password if you do not remember it. If your ODSPROD/PROD account is locked, please contact the Information Security Office at informationsecurity@MissouriState.edu only they can unlock your account.
Link to Bear Finance reports:
https://www.missouristate.edu/financialservices/bear-finance.htm
4. How do I check what FOAPAL/Fund-Organization access an individual has?
Fund and Organization (Budget) Access Reports are designed to provide fund and organization access and approver information for both University and Foundation charts to authorized individuals who help manage this access. All users with Finance Fund-Organization access should be able to run these reports and if you run into any issues or questions when running them, please email us at BannerFinance@missouristate.edu.
Location of Fund and Organization (Budget) Access Reports:
https://www.missouristate.edu/FinancialServices/fund-and-organization.htm
5. What is a Storefront and how can I get a storefront item set up?
Transact Payments (CASHNet) is the University’s online payment system and there is no cost to University Departments for utilizing this service. Storefronts help reduce cash flow at the departments and provide fast, easy, and convenient ways for departments across campus to collect funds for various approved items. A Storefront provides secure and easy online collection points for departments and can handle credit cards and electronic checks. Reports, notification of payment, overnight automatic posting to the ledger, design tailored to your website specifications are all capabilities of Storefronts.
To request storefront item for any new item or event, please submit a Storeont Request Form. Requests must be approved (electronically signed) by all parties including VP/Dean/Provost
and Internal Auditor before Financial Services can start work on them. Request Form
can also be accessed from Bursar’s page here:
https://www.missouristate.edu/Bursar/Transact/default.htm
To request to update existing storefront items, please email us at
BannerFinance@Missouristate.edu. Please always provide us with the original URL that we
sent to you or staff from your office, which helps us locate your storefront item
faster.
6. Accounting Best Practice
7. How Requisition Approval works in Banner Finance?
Once a requisition is submitted successfully, you may run Budget Access by Fund and Organization to see who will be approving your requisition by entering the Fund and Organization to review. In Banner Finance, approval is setup by Fund and Origination code only, it does not matter what account or program code being used in that requisition. All approval queues are setup based on the request or needs from departments.
Requisition Approval Situations:
1. Requisition will only require one person’s approval if there are multiple approvers in the same approval queue with same approval amount. One person’s approval approves for all. 90% of approval queues are set up this way.
2. If the approval queue has different approval limits, then the approval for requestions will be based on the amount of the requisition. Around 6% of approval queues are set up this way.
Example:
- If the amount of requisition is below or equal to $3000, it will only need ONE approval from green approver list as they are in the same approval level.
- If the amount of requisition is greater than $3000, then it must need TWO approvals: One from the green approvers list and another approval from the orange approver list.
Here the approval limit of $3000 is just an example, it can be set up with any amount that department wishes.
3. If the approval queue has Next Approver after, then requisition must need TWO approvals: one approval from the first queue (yellow), another approval from the Next Approver queue (green). Very few percentage of approval queues are set up this way.
Additional Tips for Requisition Approval:
There is no email notification going to Approver (s) when your requisition is submitted, this was the initial setup when banner was implemented. The reason behind is that in most cases, there are multiple approvers in one approval queue (additional approvers can approve when others are out of the office.) and if the system were to send the requisition notification to approvers, all approvers will get such notification. Some might take the action faster than others, which could cause confusion to all approvers. The best practice is to send a message to your approver and let them know your requisition is waiting for them to approve.
However, if a requisition is being denied/rejected by the approver, approver will be required to compose a deny message and such message will go to the originator/initiator of the requisition where they can correct the information and re-submit or delete it if not needed.
All requisition approved by departments from situations above must go into a Final Validation Approval queue in Financial Services and this validation approval is to make sure the expenses are being charged to the correct accounting account or program codes.
If mixed fund-organization (budgets) are used in a requisition requiring different approvers’ approval from different departments, please have the approver use "All documents User may approve" option when Approving documents/Requisition.