Getting on the Same Page With Financial Reports

SCUP–45 offers CPEs for CPAs.

Writing in University Business magazine, Melissa Ezarik reports on a number of ways campus administrators are working to eliminate "shadow spreadsheets" and producing financial reporting that works well for everyone, and within which everyone has the same numbers. She talked to people on several campuses, using a variety of tools:

Taking the time to try to fully understand and analyze the data often creates situations where colleagues aren’t seeing the same information. “Depending on what aspect of the report gets pulled you can get a different answer. This creates doubts about the validity of the whole administrative system,” explains Schaefer, whose department is in the process of implementing a financial reporting tool from iStrategy Solutions.

Sean Mallin, iStrategy’s chief operating officer, notes that these issues are common on campuses today. “One department writes a report and has structured the query one way. Another person accesses information and structures the report a different way.” When both reports are brought into a meeting, time is spent arguing about “whose numbers are right instead of making a decision,” he adds.

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• March 14–16: Baltimore, MD
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