Dear Budget Colleagues,

 

On Thursday, December 2, 2021, we hosted an MS Teams Live Event on the new SF Budget system. During the event, we touched on enhancements including:

  • Orientation to the Basic framework 
  • Differences from the Budget & Performance Measurement System (BPMS) 
  • Overview of reporting


Presentation Deck Required Training


  • Please see attached file below


Required Training


All users must enroll and complete the Training Kickoff & System Overview (Course Code CON0BG100-120221) course required SF Learning if they did not attend the live event prior to gaining access to the new budget system. Stay up to date with the upcoming SF Budget Training Series on the SF Budget System Training page.


Q&A


Q: Will there be any materials to reference?

A: A recording of today's session will be posted in SF Learning and a copy of the PowerPoint will be posted in the SF Employee Portal Solution Center. We'll follow up with details over email after the event, thanks for the question!


Q: Were CPRS users invited to this presentation and Capital Project trainings?

A: Yes.


Q: How do you track training attendance if we have to join Microsoft Teams anonymously?

A: It should track your Microsoft login.


Q: How will our attendance be moderated and accounted for? By accepting the calendar invitations per training. Something else?

A: We'll record attendance in SF Learning for all 226 live attendees today, then anyone who views the recording after the fact in SF Learning will automatically get credit in SF Learning.


Q: Do we still need to submit subset requests for new Chartfields, or do we simply add a new line in the form?

A: Yes, users still need to submit subset requests for new Chartfields.


Q: Will base positions be based upon BPMS or people and pay? For example, TEMP positions are often budgeted at an aggregate FTE, and then multiple position numbers are established through the year at FTE multiples.

A: Base positions are based on the final approved budget with Position # (P#) from the ASO Reconciliation in People & Pay. For Temp, no position numbers are reflected in BFM due to each P# having a different Job Class and we budget Temp at lumpsum value.


Q: Are positions still budgeted at step 5?

A: Yes.       

 

Q: Will there be a field for position type? e.g. A/O/G, etc.?

A: Yes.


Q: How does the system handle headcount vs. FTE count?

A: Headcount is always one regardless of a position's FTE.


Q: How do you handle PT positions then?

A: There is not a Part-time/Full-time status brought over to BFM.  All regular positions are still budgeted the way they used to be, the only difference is P# is now in pictures, and they are based on ASO reconciliation completed for FY2022. Department users can still adjust hours per pay period or start date to create part-time employees.


Q: If users hit calculate will it affect system performance? Like, is there any downside for all the dept users to keep hitting calculate for positions throughout the day?

A: May have a slight performance impact if a department makes tons of position entries or multiple users load >100 changes around the same time.


Q: Can you talk more about stage code and how it works with stages?

A: Stage = Phase, Stage 1 = Base Phase, Stage 2 = Dept phase so forth. For Department users this will not impact your work, it is just the terminology used in BFM for what we call “phases.”


Q: Will the system have performance issues if it is doing a citywide calculation?

A: Yes, for calculations are impacting Citywide such as rates update.  This type of calculation is typically done in Base or Mayor Stage, and these Citywide calculations are scheduled at night. When individual department users click on “calculate”, it will kick off delta calculations for all changes made by all users since the last “calculate” was clicked.   This type of delta calculation for changes made should not have significant performance issues.


Q: Will the change to a citywide attrition rate mean that the value of currently budgeted attrition is recalculated?

A: Yes. BAD will address this in Position Training.


Q: What about COIT submission?

A: COIT submissions will still happen via COIT's channel. We will reassess integrating COIT submission in the future, but not this coming budget year.


Q: If salary + fringe changes increase expenditures for grant budgets, will departments be given the opportunity to adjust other expenditure accounts so that the grant project remains balanced (rather than BAD increasing the revenue)?

A: During budget-balancing, this will depend on the time. We encourage departments to work with the Mayor’s Budget office regarding potential Mayor Stage/Phase changes.


Q: What if your Department doesn't actively use Department Division as a chart field, will everything be in one division?

A: Yes


Q: Do entries require approval of any sort?

A: No.


Q: Will we have access to the system for viewing during the Mayor’s phase?

A: During the Mayor phase, you will only have access to reporting unless MBO requests your department to make some corrections and grant your department access. Reporting will be like BI; you will only see up to department changes until the Mayor phase is done.


Q: Concerned that attrition changes, if it changes the value, will affect our balancing

A: We recommend staying in contact with your Mayor’s Budget Office analyst regarding methods to re-balance after the department stage should the need arise.


Q: Where do we send the new codes to?

A: For new budget-related codes, the process is the same and will be outlined in Budget Instructions and in the December 13, 2021 expenditure and revenue entry training. Subsetting new codes into BFM is still required. Please send requests for new codes in a chart field request form to your assigned analyst in BAD as described in Budget Instructions.


Q: I ask because when I made budget system entries years ago, I obsessively hit save. If I were making position entries I would probably obsessively hit calculate unless someone told me not to, causing headaches for everyone else. But sounds like not anticipated to be a big issue.

A: Should not have a big issue with this.


Q: Would line text be showing on any report?

A: We can add line text to reports. We are working out the report design on how to incorporate them as the current eTurn does not have this.


Q: Will you post this training slide somewhere we can access it?

A: Yes! Keep an eye out for a follow-up email with a link to the SF Employee Portal Solution Center, where we'll post a copy of the PowerPoint. We'll also post the recording with all commentary from our presenters in SF Learning.


Q: Will reporting downloads/printouts be streamlined for dept stage submissions to CON-BAD and MBO? Can the system be set to print/download all required reports in one click?

A: Stay tuned for reports training! all reports will be directly in SF Budget going forward. We're still doing budget form submissions via excel this year.


Q: I know this is specific, but will Positions Not Detailed still be available as a Special Class to be uploaded?

A: if 9995 / 9996, yes! slight changes, but stay tuned for more information in position training.


Q: When will we receive the validated budget report? 

A: Likely very close to when we open the system after the training in mid-December. Feel free to check with your Mayor’s Budget Office analyst in the meantime.


Q: I believe we will have more questions when we start to operate in the system later. Where to look for help?

A: BAD and Systems Divisions of the Controller's Office are happy to help!


Q: Will the prior year’s budget numbers be pre-populated for BY & BY+1?

A: Yes, they are rolled to be the new base for BY & BY1.


Q: Does the position report also show employee names or DSW numbers since position numbers are in BFM?

A: No, only position numbers.


Q: Can eTurns be scheduled and sent via email as attachments automatically, on daily basis?

A: No, not now.


Q: Are all entries uploaded through Excel?

A: Yes


Q: Tell Folks it’s one line for each FTE?

A: It is one line for each calculated FTE.  Please note that we do see Position #s that were split funded in the ASO reconciliation, so a position # for the specific job class could have more than one line, e.g., 1 FTE of Job Class 1823 P#0000001 split funded at 0.5 FTE funded with Fund 10000 and 0.5 FTE with Fund 10020.