The results are in!
In the inaugural Financial Community Feedback Series questionnaire, we sought input from departmental administrators on the use of account codes for the upcoming release of eShop, Carleton’s new eProcurement system.
In eShop, users (i.e. you) will checkout their shopping cart, similar to any online shopping experience, but rather than putting in a credit card number, they will identify a funding source, or FOAPAL. We have added account code defaults on your behalf. For any item you purchase or from you fill out, you can choose the default account code or you can change it to a list of alternatives.
This questionnaire sought your input on the appropriate default account code for each commodity area and the alternatives you might use instead of the default. For each commodity area, we have provided a list of account codes and identified the default that we think you should use. We then asked the survey participants to identify
- which of the alternatives they would use,
- if there were any additional account codes we missed, and
- then which one they would use as the default.
Here are the highlights.
Where there was a clear majority, and the choice was viable for financial reporting purposes, we made your suggested changes.
Construction and Renovation Equipment and Supplies
- We had identified ‘740000 Major Construction’ as the default, but 66% of participants said they would use ‘717300 Building Repair and Maintenance’ instead. We have changed the default for this commodity 717300.
Cleaning Equipment and Supplies
- We had identified ‘710005 Cleaning Supplies’ as the default, but 48% of participants said they would use ‘710012 Other Supplies’ instead. We have changed the default for this commodity to 710012.
Professional, Technical and Administrative Services
- We had identified ‘720040 Miscellaneous Professional Services’ as the default, and although 56% of participants said they would use ‘717200 Honoraria and Guest Lecturer Fees’ instead, we have left the default as 720040. Why? 54% of the participants said they would like 720040 in their list of alternatives, and Honoraria is a distinct commodity separate from Services. The default for Honoraria will be 717200.
Based on your input, we added the following alternative account codes to the corresponding categories:
- Tools and Machinery – added ‘710008 Lab Supplies’
- Scientific Equipment and Supplies – added ‘710003 Computer Supplies’
- Cleaning Equipment and Supplies – added ‘710000 Office Supplies’ and ‘713200 Equipment Maintenance’
- Furniture and Furnishings – added ‘723000 Equipment <$5000’ and ‘723100 Equipment > $5000’
- Office Supplies and Promotional Merchandise – added ‘719000 Student Recruitment’
Thank you to everyone who participated. As 88% of the participants agreed to participate again, and 92% said it was an effective way to collect input from the community, we’ve decided to keep this feedback series going. Stay tuned for our next questionnaire.