The primary change to the way people will work after the first phase of the Rollout98 training is that authorized users will be able to see their accounting statements online in SAP, and they will include up-to-date purchasing information. (Purchase order commitments are posted when the POs are created, and are liquidated when the invoices are posted.)
A user can search for and examine requisitions and purchase orders as they move through MIT's processing channels. In addition, a user can double-click on a line in a report and get to the details for that line item. For example, clicking on a commitment takes the user to the relevant purchase order.
In addition to the electronic accounting statement, a variety of other reports are available in SAP. Users can view reports online, print them, or download them to a local workstation at any time.
Currently, people will still reconcile their accounts in the same way as before. The Controller will announce changes to the methods for reconciling accounts prior to the second phase of Rollout98.
SAP uses terminology that is different from the terms MIT has used in the past. The chart below shows the old and new names for some common terms.
A version of this article appeared in MIT Tech Talk on September 24, 1997.
