About CUConnect Thanks to a grant from the Ralph M. Parsons Foundation and some nifty programming from Rene Yang, we have a financial reporting tool that will change the way we manage our departments finances. The CUConnect program provides access to almost-live budget/accounting information from the Datatel system via a user-friendly web-based display. With this tool, we can access account information on a daily basis (transactions through the day prior), review account spending for current and prior years, confirm that checks have been sent out, download information to excel for analysis, etc. Monthly paper reports will soon be unnecessary and accessing information will be much easier for end-users.
How to Use CUConnect:
"CUConnect Login"
Contact your institution's Budget Director to activate your login. CUC Directors contact Barbara White to request logins for your employees.
Click on the above link to CUConnect.
Enter your login “firstnamelastinitial” and password.
Click on Submit.
Select a menu item:
User Access Setup
User Review
List My Users
Account Review
Check Review
Account Review
Select "Account Review" to view supervisor reports.
Select the fiscal year you want to review.
Enter the 3 digit fund number.
Enter the 7 digit unit number.
Note: If your access is limited to a few funds and units a drop down menu will appear and you can make your selection from the menu. If not, you will need to type in the 3 digit fund and 7 digit unit.
Enter the 4 digit object code if you would like to review activity in a specific object code, if not, leave blank.
Select "Revenues & Expense" or "All Accounts".
Select "Revenues & Expenses" if you want to review a profit and loss report. This report contains net assets, revenues and expenses or object codes starting with 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, or 8).
Select "All Accounts" if you want to review all object codes associated with the selected unit. In addition to the object codes mentioned above, this report also includes the balance sheet or object codes 0 and 1. Prepaid expenses, petty cash, advances, other assets and liabilities are included on this report.
Click on Submit.
The next screen shows the "Statement of Operations" report. The report includes the budgeted amount; a summary of activity, by month; year-to-date total, percentage of budget used, summary of encumbrances, and remaining budget balance by object code. One note of caution: since CUConnect is updated on a daily basis, the monthly totals are not final until the month is closed. In other words, if you are reviewing the monthly total in the middle of the month, the sum total will likely appear as a significant surplus due to the fact that most revenues are received at the beginning of the month and the biggest expense (payroll) typically occurs towards the end of the month. In addition to viewing a summary of operations, you can also view "Transaction Detail". There are two ways you can review the account detail:
Click on the object code to the left of the description to view all of the transactions for that object code, or
Click on the blue figures that appear below each month to view the transactions for the month.
The "Transaction Detail" report includes the date of the transaction, the source of the transaction, a reference number, a description of the transaction, and the dollar amount. The following lists the types of sources of transactions:
JE = Journal Entry
PJ = Purchase Journal (check)
CD = Cash Disbursement (interim check)
CR = Cash Receipt
AB = Approved Budget
BU = Budget Adjustment
YE = Year-End Close Entry
One of the most useful features is the ability to view more detail on journal entries, purchase journals, and cash disbursements. In general, you can "drill down" on anything in the color blue to obtain more detailed information. Click on anything highlighted in blue under the reference column and this will take you to another screen with more information. For example, if you want to obtain more information on a purchase journal (check), click on the voucher number in blue "V9999999". This takes you to a purchase journal listing for the selected voucher. The purchase journal listing includes the following:
Date of the transaction
Vendor Name
Description
Amount
Check Number
Check Date
Invoice Number
Invoice Date
The check number will also be highlighted in blue. Click on the check number to go to the check detail screen. The check detail screen includes the following:
Check Amount*
Check Date
Payee Name
Check Status
Status Date
Check Address
Voucher Numbers
*The check amount may differ from the voucher amount because multiple colleges and departments pay the same vendor and only one check is issued to that vendor.
The check status lets you know whether the check is outstanding or cashed. There are two types of status, Outstanding and Reconciled. Outstanding means the check has been paid and Reconciled means the check has been cashed.
Check Review
Select "Check Review" to review the status of a payment by check. Enter the check number and click submit. The check detail screen will appear and includes the following information:
Check Amount*
Check Date
Payee Name
Check Status
Status Date
Check Address
Voucher Numbers
*The check amount may differ from the voucher amount because multiple colleges and departments pay the same vendor and only one check is issued to that vendor.
The check status lets you know whether the check is outstanding or cashed. There are two types of status, Outstanding and Reconciled. Outstanding means the check has been paid and Reconciled means the check has been cashed.
Exporting Data
In addition to reviewing account summary and detail, all information can be downloaded into Excel. There are two methods to export data:
"Download to an Excel Sheet" link, or
Copy and Paste.
The "Download to an Excel Sheet" link only appears on the "Statement of Operations" report. Please note, the download link will only download the data and not the formats or hyperlinks. The copy paste method will paste all web-based formats and hyperlinks. This method can be used on all reports. The hyperlink information does not refresh for updated information. CUConnect is updated daily at 7 pm.