Account Management Resources are available to help account managers better understand financial accounts and provide appropriate contacts for additional questions. It is our goal to provide account managers with the necessary tools needed to manage the financial side of their position responsibilities.

Our office is here to provide guidance on the appropriate Campus, System, State, and Federal policies that are to be followed.

Manager Responsibilities

An account manager or WISER manager is responsible for the financial transactions that post to the accounts in their name. Account managers have the authority to approve all transactions that post to their accounts but they do not have signature authority. It is important to note that there is a difference between approval authority and signature authority.

Dates & Deadlines

Fiscal year end and other important dates and deadlines can be found here.

Training

Click here for training and instruction manuals.

You can also find the WISER Access Request form on this page to request access to WISER so that you can monitor your accounts.

Chart of Accounts Maintenance 

Requests may be made via an electronic form to request a new department ID, change an existing funding string, or to inactivate a department ID.  All requests are reviewed and approved by the WISER Manager(s) on the affected accounts and the Controller and processed by Financial Operations.  Once the process is complete, requesters will receive a confirmation email notification indicating the request has been completed and is now active.  

Note, this eform must be used for all funds except Fund 133 and 144.  For a new, charge, or close request for funds 133 or 144, please send an email to Accounting and Business Services.  

Please see the Chart of Accounts - New, Change, Inactivate Accounts section of the Policies, Procedures, and Forms webpage.  

Fund

The fund code is a 3 digit code that identifies who provided the appropriation (money or assets). System's appropriation structure can be found here.

The different fund codes have different restrictions/guidelines on how the funds can be spent and how they are reported.

Program

The program code is a single digit code that identifies the purpose of the expenditures. Below is a summary list of the program codes and their titles. The full description for each program code can be found here on System's web site.

Department

The department is a 6 digit account number used by the department to identify their account. Similar to a bank account number or a bank member number.

At UWSP we use intelligent numbering where the first two digits of the department ID indicates the area.

 A full list of active department IDs can be found here. 

***Note: Any departments on the active department list that has a "-P" at the end (ex. 101300-P) requires a project id and transactions cannot directly post to the department.

Project IDs

Project IDs are 7 character alpha/numeric account numbers that identifies a sub account of a department and are assigned by SFS. For example, CNR has one department ID for all of their gift accounts. The department ID is then broken into multiple project IDs for each of their areas (forestry, wildlife, etc.).

Project Lite, an add on in SFS, was first implemented in FY15 for gifts and grants (fund 133, 144, and 233) and expanded in FY18 to include intramural grants (OSCAR, UPDC, and UW System). Project Lite has simplified gift and grant reporting to System and includes a few features in WISER that are not available to department ids (personnel summary and attachments).

Below is an example diagram of the accounting structure. 

Account Codes

There are two sets of account codes. The first, and most commonly used, are the actual account codes which are 4 digits that identify an expense or revenue. The second set of account codes are budget account codes that are 5 or 6 letters long and are used with budget transactions.

A list of all of system's account codes can be found here. Please note that our campus does not use all of these accounts codes and the appropriate account codes will be assigned by Financial Operation employees.

For commonly used expense codes at UWSP, please refer to the Account Codes Quick Reference Guide.

Journal ID Prefix

Journal prefixes identify the type of journal that was posted and the source of the journal. Below is a list of commonly used journal prefixes and what the journals are.

How to Request a Transfer - Revenue and Budget Transfers

Revenue Transfers

• Department to Transfer Revenue To 
  
• Department to Transfer Revenue From
  
• If the transaction being transferred is from account code 9400, it will also need to include the related state sales tax (account 9224) and county sales tax (account 9220) amounts, to ensure tax amounts are transferred with the taxable sale. 
  
• Amount to Transfer
  
• Business Justification/Description for Necessity of Transfer
  
• Any supporting documentation
  

Email revenue transfers to General Ledger, general.ledger.accounting.office@uwsp.edu, x2051.

Budget Transfers

​Requests may be made via an electronic form to transfer budget on a one-time basis when an adjustment to the original PlanUW budget allocation is needed. All requests are reviewed and approved by the Budget Office and processed by General Ledger. Requesters will receive a confirmation email notification for all budget transfers processed indicating when the transfer is visible in WISER.

Budget Transfer e-Form

Access Cost Transfer Tool 

Financial Systems

What is WISDM / WISER?

WISDM was the online Wisconsin DataMart for the Shared Financial System (SFS). WISDM was where employees that were setup with access to WISDM could view the financial activity for their accounts. WISDM was officially switched over to WISER effective October 29, 2020; if you had access to WISDM, you now have access to WISER.

WISER is a redesigned version of WISDM with a modern interface and new/improved functionality to provide enhanced, efficient, and more agile financial reporting.

What is SFS?

Shared Financial System, or SFS, is the financial database for UW System. Financial transactions are directly posted to SFS or fed into SFS by other programs/boltons, such as HRS. The financial data is then displayed in WISDM / WISER. The system is also used by campus employees to enter their travel reimbursements.

What is HRS?

Human Resource System, or HRS, is the employee and payroll system for UW System.

Universities of Wisconsin Annual Assessments

FIN SVCS: Financial Services 

Financial Services is allocated to UW institutions annually by UW System Administration for accounting, auditing, payroll and other financial services provided to the agency. 

UW – Stevens Point further allocates the charge to campus based on fiscal year [all] expenditures.

IBIS: Integrated Business Information System

IBIS is the State of Wisconsin's PeopleSoft ERP system for integrating business process areas including budget, finance, human resources (including benefits and payroll) and procurement. The system was purchased from the Oracle Corp in 2006, semi-annual lease payments were scheduled through FY2012-13. The project was put on hold April 2008, however annual maintenance payments for the PeopleSoft software continued. The department's plan to recover the unsupported balance is to assess UW institutions annually for sixteen years. 

UW – Stevens Point further allocates the charge to campus based on fiscal year [all] expenditures.

Liability & Malpractice

The self-funded Liability Program was formed in 1975 in response to soaring insurance costs and the cancellation of malpractice coverage in place at the time.  The State of Wisconsin as an entity enjoys sovereign immunity.  Wis. Stats., s. 20.505(2)(k) provides funds to pay for costs incurred by the State’s Self-funded Liability Program as a result of liability claims brought against State officers, employees and agents whose negligent acts while acting within the scope of their employment result in bodily injury or property damage to a third party.  Wis. Stats., s. 895.46 provides for the payment of judgments taken against these State officers, employees and agents.  Wis. Stats., s. 893.82 establishes claim procedures and sets time requirements for filing a notice of claim against a State officer, employee or agent. 

UW – Stevens Point allocates the charge to campus based on fiscal year personnel expenditures.

Municipal Services

This assessment is allocated to UW institutions annually by UW System Administration for campus facilities that receive police, fire and solid waste disposal services from municipalities.  

UW – Stevens Point further allocates the charge to campus based on prior fiscal year non-personnel (capital, supply & expense and travel) expenditures.

STAR Maintenance and Operations Assessment

State Transforming Agency Resources (STAR) is the State of Wisconsin’s PeopleSoft ERP system for integrating business process areas including budget, finance, human resources (including benefits and payroll) and procurement. The assessment is allocated to UW institutions annually by UW System Administration based on an average STAR transaction count and is split between GPR and PR.  

UW – Stevens Point further allocates the charge to campus based on fiscal year [all] expenditures.

Work Center Program (formerly State Use Board)

This assessment is allocated to UW institutions annually by UW System Administration according to base spend purchasing activity from the DOA State Bureau of Procurement.  

UW – Stevens Point further allocates the charge to campus based on prior fiscal year non-personnel (capital, supply & expense and travel) expenditures.

Workers Compensation

The state program is similar to self-insurance by private employers.  Worker’s compensation benefits are paid directly by the state from general revenue and program revenue sources.  UW System Administration claims units pay benefits from a central fund account maintained by the Department of Administration (DOA).  DOA’s administrative costs include program management, claims adjusting services, vendor-furnished claims services, and an annual assessment paid to the Department of Workforce Development (DWD).  DOA assesses premium annually based on benefits and administrative costs for the prior fiscal year.  Assessments are levied against each state agency and the University System.  Assessments against the UW System are based on 100% experience -- “experience” meaning the actual claims costs incurred the previous year.

UW – Stevens Point allocates the charge to campus based on fiscal year personnel expenditures. 

Salary Encumbrances

What is a salary encumbrance?

A salary encumbrance is a payroll commitment that is chargeable to an account.  In other words, it is a future commitment to spend current funds.  It ceases to be an encumbrance and is liquidated when paid out or when the actual liability amount is determined and recorded as an expense.  Essentially, these commitments will encumber or reduce the balance of funds available in the account.

In the past, the University has reported encumbrances related only to purchase orders.  In this case, when an item is ordered a commitment to pay for that item in the future is made.  Similarly, encumbrances on salary accounts take into consideration how much current employees are expected to be paid during the remainder of the fiscal year.

When were salary encumbrances implemented?

UW – Stevens Point began encumbering salaries as of April 18, 2011 with the Human Resource System (HRS) implementation.

How are salary encumbrances calculated?

Here are two examples:

Mary is an employee who is paid monthly and makes $48,000 each year.  At the beginning of each fiscal year an encumbrance is created for her total salary.  At the end of each month her encumbrance is reduced by 1/12th of her annual salary or $4,000.  

Bob is an employee who is paid biweekly and budgeted to earn $52,000 each year.  At the end of each two week pay cycle his encumbrance is reduced by 1/26th of his annual salary or $2,000.  The encumbrance does not take into account the hours that Bob actually worked (i.e. overtime) but rather just the hours that were originally scheduled.

Note: Furloughs are not incorporated in the calculation or liquidation of an encumbrance.

Are all salaries encumbered?

No.  Limited term employees (LTEs) and undergraduate students do not have an associated salary encumbrance.  These two groups are not encumbered because they do not work a predefined schedule that can be calculated.  All other faculty, staff and students are encumbered with the exception of lump sum and summer session payments.

How often are salary encumbrances updated?

Salary encumbrances are updated nightly as part of a scheduled batch process.

Why is my department appearing to already be out of money for the year?

Each department’s available funds are calculated based on what has already been spent and commitments for the remainder of the year.  Since salary encumbrances forecast the amount to be expended for the remainder of the fiscal year and that salary can form the majority of a department’s expenses in a fiscal year, the bottom line available funds amount may appear to be smaller than expected.  However, this should be a more accurate picture of the discretionary spending available for a department.

What happens to any remaining salary encumbrance balances at the end of the fiscal year?

After the last payroll has been posted for the fiscal year, a process is in place to clear any remaining salary encumbrances and bring the balance to $0.00.

What are the benefits?

Salaries are encumbered to assist departments in determining the balance of uncommitted funding available for spending when planning expenditures throughout the fiscal year.

Salary encumbrance reporting features in WISDM

There is an Encumbrance Search available in WISDM that allows users on campus to view financial history specifically related to salary encumbrances.