Terminology

Instances

Instances are distinct databases. Each campus has its own instances; the HR and Finance applications on a given campus have separate instances; and there may be multiple instances within an application. For example, the Finance production instance is FHUMPRD (F=Finance, HUM=Humboldt, PRD=production).

This table holds information on the current instances.

Modules

There are several modules within PS Finance. Each module defines a different functional area.

Accounting Periods

Accounting periods are accounting months. They are numbered relative to the fiscal year, not the calendar year. Ledgers are organized on accounting periods. Every financial transaction is posted to a specific period, which may be different than the actual transaction date.

This table holds information on Accounting Periods.

Fiscal Year

The fiscal year runs July 1-June 30. In PeopleSoft, a fiscal year is designated as the first calendar year of the fiscal year. For example, FY 2004-05 is designated as fiscal year 2004. Whenever a query or report prompts for year, it is asking for fiscal year. So, January 2005 is Year 2004, Period 7.

Business Unit

A business unit is a set of accounting books. Most reports and lookups require you to specify a business unit. Humboldt has several sets of books, but the only one relevant to the general enduser is HMCMP (HM=Humboldt, CMP=campus). These are the Cal Poly Humboldt legal books.

Some users who work with student Financial Aid in the Accounts Payable module may see an additional business unit called HMSTD (HM=Humboldt, STD=Student). This unit is not used in General Ledger.

Chartfields

Chartfields are the elements that comprise the chart of accounts: how financial activity is categorized and coded in PS Finance. Cal Poly Humboldt uses six different chartfields:

• Account
• Fund
• Department
• Program
• Class
• Project

See Chart of Accounts for more information on the chartfields and their values.

Document Types

The following documents participate in PS Finance, and trace an accounting "life cycle" for purchases.

See the Financials Data Flow diagram for a graphic representation of document flow in PS Finance.

Ledgers

The ledger is the final resting place for accounting transactions, the document of record for the organization’s financial state. There are actually multiple ledgers in PS Finance, depending on the nature of the dollars represented. You will see ledgers specified on reports and inquiry pages. The following ledgers are relevant to endusers:

The following table holds information on ledgers in PS Finance.

A line in a PS ledger generally consists of a chartfield string, an accounting period/fiscal year, and a dollar amount. The dollar amount represents the net total of whatever quantity is stored in that ledger, for the specified chartfield string and period. There is no indication of the activities that make up that total; that information is stored at a lower level in the system.

Scenarios

A scenario is a category of budgetary activity. Scenarios appear in the budget ledger & journals, and associated reports.

Journal Sources

Journal source is a field that appears in a journal header, describing the origin of the journal. The field is also used in the HUMGL015 transaction detail report, in the "Src" column. The following values are in use in the HMCMP business unit:

The following table holds information on Journals.