DescriptionChangeRules

OverviewSegmentvaluesarecreatedtoserveaparticularfunctionintheCoA.Thedescriptionestablishedatthetimethevalueiscreatedsignifiestousers:

  • whetheranaccountingtransactionmayappropriatelybedebitedorcreditedtothevalue,and
  • theclassificationandmeaningofagroupoffinancialtransactionsonareport.

OncevaluesarecreatedintheOracleGeneralLedger,theycannotbedeleted;theyremainpartofthehistoricalrecordofthechartofaccounts.AnytransactionspostedtothembecomepartofHarvard’sfinancialhistory.

Whilethevaluescannotbechanged,anyattributesassociatedwiththem,includingthedescription,maybe.Itisnotalwaysadvisabletodoso,however,becauseoftherisksposedtotransactingandreportingwiththevalues.

Riskstoconsider / Risk / Explanation / Example
Ancillarysystemsdonotgetupdatedwithchangesandenduserstransacttothevalueinappropriately. / Oftentimes,valuesareextractedfromasystemofrecordandstoredlocallytosaveendusersthetimeittakestosiftforthevaluesthatapplytothemfromamongstthosebelongingtothehundredsofotherorganizationssharingthesystem.Theselocalsystems(sometimesconsistingofahandwrittensheetofpaperstorednexttoauser’sPC)aresometimesimperfectlyupdated.IncaseswherethepurposeanduseofaCoAvalueischangedcentrally,alongperiodoftimecouldpassduringwhichthelocaluserswouldcontinuetotransacttothevalueaccordingtoitsearlierfunction. / Anadministrativeassistantcreatesalistof33-digitcodecombinationstowhichhechargesdifferentfacultymembers’expenses.Oneofthesecodingstringscontainstherootvalue12345,whichisusedforProfessorX’sexpenses.
Ifthetub’schartadministratorweretochangethedescriptionforrootvalue12345tonowrepresentProfessorY,butdidnotadequatelycommunicatethechangetohisdepartments,theadministrativeassistantwouldcontinuetopostProfessorX’sexpensesinerror.
Riskstoconsider(cont.) / Invalidationofhistoricaltransactions / Userstransactingtoaparticularvalueassertthattheirtransactionnotonlyappropriatelyreflectsthereportingpurposeofthevalue,butalsoadherestoanyrestrictionsimposedonit.If thedescriptionislateralteredsuchthatitreflectssomealternatereportingpurposeoruserestriction,theoriginaltransactionisinvalidated. / Fundvalue323456isestablishedwithagiftfromadonorthatrestrictsitsusetotulipplantinginHarvardYard.InFY1,tulipexpensetransactionsarepostedtoitinkeepingwiththerestrictions.
IfinFY2thevalue wasrenamedtoreflectadifferentdonor’sgift,andthisgiftwasrestrictedtofundinglivingexpensesforvisitingprofessors,theFY1tulipexpenseswouldnowbeinvalidandwouldappeartobeinviolationofthecurrentfundrestrictionswhenviewedonhistoricalreports.
Inabilitytocomparefinancialresultsovertime / Materialdescriptionchangesprecludethecomparisonofhistoricaltransactionstothevalueovertimesincethemeaningofthegroupedtransactionsiscompletelydifferentbeforeandafterthedescriptionchange. / Let’ssayavaluewasusedfortrackingmagazinesubscriptionexpensesforFY1,butinFY2thedescriptionwaschangedandusersstartedchargingtravelexpensestoit.
AssumingthatfinancialmanagerswantedtotrackchangestobothexpensecategoriesoverbothFYs,itwouldrequiresignificantandunnecessarymanipulationofreportoutputtodoso.

“Nochangeinpurpose”ruleoverview

Becauseoftheriskslistedabove,Harvardenforcesa“nochangeinpurpose”ruleforsegmentvaluedescriptionsintheCoA.

The“nochangeinpurpose”rulestatesthat… / Whichmeansthat…
OnceavalueanditsdescriptionareestablishedandtransactionshavebeenpostedtoitintheGeneralLedger,thedescriptionmaynotbemateriallyaltered. / TheUniversitydoesnotpermitanychangetoaCoAsegmentvaluedescriptionthatwouldinvalidatehistoricaltransactionstothevalue.

“Nochangeinpurpose”ruleenforcement

The“nochangeinpurpose”ruleisenforcedbyallcentralapproversofmodificationstochartofaccountsvaluesasfollows:

Large-ScaleDescriptionChanges

Becauseofamodificationtobusinesspractice,atubmaywishtomakelarge-scalechanges(>75requests)tosegmentvaluedescriptions.Unfortunately,whilelarge-scalechangescanbeuploadedquicklyusingtheCSMABatchUploadfeature,thereisnocorrespondingmechanismwithintheapplicationtoallowanapprovertoprovidea“batch”approval.Eachrequestlaunchesaseparatenotification,whichanapprovermustthenopen,review,andapproveindividually.Afileof250descriptionchangesthattakesfiveminutestoloadthroughCSMABatchUploadcouldtakeanapproverfourorfivehourstoapprove,assumingtheyhadthatmuchtimetodevotesolelytotheactivityandweren’tpronetorepetitivestrainsfromclickingtheirmouse500times!

Becauseoftheinfrequencyoflarge-scalechanges(two-threetimesperyear),developmentof“batch”approvalfunctionalitywithinCSMAwouldbeimpractical.Instead,tohandlethoserareinstanceswhenitdoesoccur,ClientServiceshasconfiguredaspecialresponsibilitythatallowsthemtosubmitdescriptionchangerequestsonatub’sbehalfwithoutgeneratingCSMAworkflownotifications.

Here’s howitworks:

-Tubswithlarge-scaledescriptionchangespreparetheappropriateCSMAbatchtemplatejustastheywouldiftheyweresubmittingtherequestthemselves.

-Insteadofuploadingthefile,however,theauthorizedrequestorsendsitto hesubjectline“[TubAcronym]Large- ScaleDescriptionChangesforUpload.”

-ClientServicesverifiesthecurrentdescriptionforeachvalue,comparestheolddescriptiontothenew,andconductsthe“changeinpurpose”review.

-Client Servicesthenloadsthefileusingthespecialno-Workflowresponsibility,afterfirsteliminatinganyvaluesthatfailedthechange-in-purposevalidation.

-Client Servicesreturnsthefinalloadedfiletotheoriginatingauthorizedrequestor,alongwiththebatchIDassigned,thedateandtimethefilewasloaded,andalistofanyvaluesnotloadedfromtheoriginalfilewiththevalidationerrorthatpreventedupload.

-The authorizedrequestoristhenfreetoverifythechangesbyrunningtheBatchSummaryreportandtoresubmitany failedrequestsviatheirusualCSMAresponsibility.

Tubswithlarge-scaledescriptionchangesarestronglyurgedtotakeadvantageofthisalternateprocess.Itensuresthatthesechangesaredoneas quicklyandefficientlyaspossible,withminimalimpacttobothrequestorandapprover.

Descriptionchangesnotconsidereda“changeinpurpose”

ThefollowingdescriptionchangesareNOTconsidereda“changeinpurpose”byapprovers:

Descriptionchangesthatmaybeconsidereda“changeinpurpose”

Thecaseslistedbelowaredeterminedtorepresentachangeinpurposeonlyifthesegmentvaluehasbeenusedinhistoricaltransactions.Ifnohistoricaltransactionsexist,thedescriptionupdatewillbeallowed.Incaseswherehistoricaltransactionsexist,thevalidations/analysislistedbelowwillbecompletedbyapprovers;shouldtheapproverdetermine—basedonanalysisofthehistoricaltransactions—thattheproposedupdaterepresentsachangeinpurpose,thedescriptionupdatewillNOTbeallowed.

Descriptionchangeto… / Forexample… / Additionalapprovalvalidationsrequired
Existingdescriptionis… / Descriptionwillbechangedto…
Makedescriptionmorespecific(possiblyinvalidatingtransactionsthatreferencethebroaderpurpose) / GSD^Conferences / GSD^FY02
ConferenceonUrbanPlanning / Allhistoricaltransactionsmustreflectthemorerestrictivedescription1
Remove“XT”fromdescription’stubprefix / FCORXT^Cuba+CaribbeanPrograms(A04)DRCLS / FCOR^Cuba+CaribbeanPrograms(A04)DRCLS / Allhistoricaltransactionsmusthavebeenpostedtothevalue’sowningtubonly
Makedescriptionconsistentwithtransactionhistory / HBS^BusinessConference2003 / HBS^BusinessConference2002 / Allhistoricaltransactionsmustbeconsistentwiththenewdescription
Reusethevalueforacompletelydifferentpurpose(not“OKTOREUSE”)
inconsistentwithtransactionhistory(ifitexists). / HPRE^108HoltonStreet / HPRE^130-140
WesternAvenue / Nohistoricaltransactionscanhavebeencreatedwiththisvalue

Note:Ifyourdescriptionchangefallsintooneofthescenarioslistedabove,pleaseincludeclarifyinginformationintheCommentsfieldonyourrequest.Doingsowillhelpstreamlinetheapprover’sanalysisandleadtoafasterresolution.

* Theoriginaltransactionsastheyappearedinanowclosedperiodcannotbetransferredtoanothersegmentvalueinacurrentperiodtomeetthisrequirement.