Finance Project Partnership

The intent of Finance Project Partnership is to:

Foster communication with departments considering new processes or systems which impact
Finance operations, data, or processes
Share and support Commonwealth polices which direct financial controls
Assist with information to complete the IT Research and Project Approval forms
Establish requirements for project approval, testing and output
Establish prerequisites for new system or process deployments and close out
Recognize the ongoing relationship between systems and operations

Finance would like to assist with your project planning. The information below introduces you to the guidelines and considerations prior to project approval.

Unsure if finance is a part of your project?

Finance will be involved in your project when:

Your data will require or contribute to any of the centrally controlled processes outputs
Your project will send or receive data from Banner finance tables
You expect to see output in budget transaction reports
You require finance owned data such as FOAPAL, building codes, fixed assets and the like.
Your process includes cash handling, ecommerce, credit cards, retail store sales, deposits, or other revenue generating events
Proposed software has potential for collection of money

Centrally Controlled Finance Processes and Procedures

3rd party systems can offer a variety of business related tools. As you review your departmental needs and new system or function processes; keep in mind that Finance will control any process that impact Financial reporting.

The University follows all Department of Accounts (DOA) guidelines on the receiving and deposit of revenue, vendor invoicing, student or non-student billing, check issuance and refunds. For state adherence to policy and audit, these processes will remain centrally controlled. You will find it necessary to coordinate department or event activities with this central control in mind.

As Banner finance is the system of record and Cashnet using Smartpay is the proprietary payment processor, all 3^rd party systems exchanging or supporting Banner or supported by Cashnet/Smartpay must adhere or agree to:

daily deposits of gross fees (not withholding money for potential refunds or net of any credit card fees, etc)
passing the credit card processing fees to the customer
pass-thru, but no Gateway payment connections
provide a SOC II or similar security audit report and meet PCI standards
sign the ARMICS certification attestation
no subscription or agreement term contains automatic renewals
no mention of UMW indemnifying/holding harmless
no governing law/choice of law outside the Commonwealth of Virginia (needs to state Virginia or be completely silent)
no unilateral modifications to the agreement
agree to UMW’s Information Technology Addendum, which adds on additional terms for compliance with the University’s IT/Security policies.
all system scheduled downtime
integration and patch testing requirements

Corporate and Foundation Relations is separate and apart from university system operations. Contact Foundation Giving for information.

Information to Include on the IT Project Research Form

When completing the Other Dept Involvement and System Interfaces section:

Sharing finance specific project information will assist our understanding of temporary and ongoing processes your project will require. Be as specific as possible to ensure we can obligate appropriate time and resources.

Finance will require all testing in Banner’s test environment, ask if your product has this same option. If your product requires Banner data, ask your consultant how the data will be loaded into your test environment – File upload, API, interface, Banner table validation or manual entry? Data from a 3^rd party vendor is never loaded into the Banner production environment until testing is complete and data is verified for accuracy.

When completing the Deadlines section:

Include anticipated training dates and time commitment for finance. Inquire if training includes an onsite consultant, phone meetings or group training.

Remember to include Finance in onsite consult product demonstrations and webinars. It is difficult for all parties to gauge Finance involvement without discussion or visualization of your new software processes.

Requirement for Finance data will require Finance approval (even for testing) plus coordination with IT and JAR ticket entry. Plan time to work with Finance for your specific needs.

If your process includes data sharing with ecommerce, your timeline will need to consider the project calendar of our ecommerce vendor. Finance can assist with this coordination.

Please note that your request will require review with Active and On Horizon projects prior to obligation. You are welcome to view our Master Project Table for a glance at current activity.

Project Approval, Testing and Prerequisites

Approval to participate in your project will the decision of the Assistant Vice President for Finance or her Designee. Finance will test Finance related tasks and reports alongside your training team and will provide feedback regarding requirement such as new procedures, reconciliation (usually daily), and verification of data accuracy. Testing output and prerequisites for deployment will include:

Written operational procedures including primary and secondary system users (procedures require Finance approval)
Verification of data consistency across multiple sources
Successful reconciliation process and paperwork as required by Accounting
Verification of posting and various reports
Completion of any finance related training

Project Deployment and Close Out

Finance approval is required before you can deploy your system or process to the production environment. Thereafter, the department assumes the ongoing responsibility for:

Consistent and accurate data, internal system training, and system updates
Coordinating data or system training needs with finance, when required. Requirements are typically due to system upgrades, patches, or new functionalities.
Successful compliance reconciliations and audits as required by Compliance Officer, DOA, or Auditor of Public Accounts
Coordination of department operations with centrally controlled finance process and procedures
Unsuccessful audit or compliance reviews may result in loss of system integration

Ecommerce sites will require completion of a eCommerce Partnership Agreement (ECPA)