Dept. of Education > Administrative Services > Finance, Facilities and Business Strategy Branch >Financial Systems

• Overview
• Coverage
• Policy
  • Finance One - Structure of Finance One
  • Finance One - Training and Support in Finance One
  • Finance One - Reports
  • Treasury's Mandatory Data Requirements
  • Finance One - Chart of Accounts
  • School Administrative Computer System (SACS)
• References
• Internal Controls / Responsibilities
• Monitoring of Compliance
• Related Topics
• Forms

This policy outlines the Department’s major financial management information systems, Finance One (Corporate Office) and SACS (Schools).  These systems are used for recording and reporting on the assets, liabilities, revenue and expenditure of the Department and are used more importantly for controlling and managing the Department's financial, accounting and budgetary processes.  This policy also outlines the chart of accounts and its components.

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This policy applies to all staff involved in the use, administration or training in the Department’s financial systems (Finance One and SACS).

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Finance One is the financial management information system that is used by the Department of Education (DoE) for all Non-School areas.

The Department of Education has had Finance One as its financial system since 1992.  In this time it has evolved from a UNIX-based system to a fully integrated Windows-based system.  Version upgrades occur every 12-18 months with the aim of improving system functionality and often include new system features and capabilities.

DoE owns the following modules:

• Allocations;

• Asset Management;

• Accounts Payable;

• Accounts Receivable:

• Bank Reconciliation;

• Cash Accounting;

• External Systems Interface;

• General Ledger;

• Purchasing;

• Recurring Documents; and

• XL One (Reporting)

All schools use SACS as their financial management information system. The Finance module of SACS is one part of a greater system that provides a total solution for schools administration.

All school financial information is regularly uploaded to a central data store known as the Data Warehouse. 

The Data Warehouse allows all the school financial information to be summarised and then combined with the Non-School information to provide a whole-of-Department financial picture. 

Several data extracts have been written to summarise the information in the data warehouse in order for that data to then be brought into Finance One.  For example, there is a summary extract for all schools grouped by the Cost Type Level 1 codes. These level 1 codes determine whether a cost type is an asset, liability, revenue, expense etc. This extract is then used to cost school expenditure of this type into Finance One and eliminate the internally generated revenue.

The controls within Finance One are managed through user maintenance by a system administrator.  Network and terminal server rights are managed by the Department’s Information Management Branch (IMB).

Valid Finance One users are created after authorisation by Business Unit Managers. Finance and Procurement Services (FPS) systems staff create the new user applying the necessary security and approved authorisation limits.  The security access level determines which ledgers and accounts a user can access.  The authorisation settings determine the monetary limit for each user in regard to purchase orders, as well as data entry limits (if applicable).

When a user is initially created they must be given access to the Terminal Server that is used to access the Finance One application. This is controlled through the VKey System by the FPS Executive Officer (Systems) and the Systems Officer.

The backup and restore procedures are documented within the Finance One Service Level Agreement (SLA).  This outlines the responsibilities of IMB to backup data on all agreed servers to storage media.  A backup regime is followed which includes secure offsite storage.

Backup is performed five nights a week.  This ensures data protection and security and provides for accidental deletion, damage or theft of data.

System Administration for the Finance One application is undertaken by staff in the Finance and Procurement Services (FPS) section. The Executive Officer (Systems) and the Systems Officer are responsible for the systems administration of Finance One. 

The Infrastructure Management branch of IMB provide: database administration, facilities management, application software support, server management and backup and restore functions.

A Service Level Agreement (SLA) exists between IMB and Finance, Facilities and Business Strategy (FFBS) outlining the level of service that IMB will provide to the FPS section of FFBS.  It also outlines the responsibilities and commitments of both FFBS and IMB, resolution processes and timeframes, critical dates and reporting requirements. The SLA is reviewed on an annual basis by IMB, the Manager (FPS) and the Executive Officer (Systems).

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Training for Finance One is undertaken in several general areas:

• General Ledger Reporting and Enquiries;

• Accounts Payable Enquiries; and

• Accounts Receivable Enquiries.

Sessions are held when required for new staff or staff requiring a refresher course.  Depending on numbers, the session may be held in a one-on-one format or in a larger group at one of the Training Rooms in Hobart, Launceston or Devonport.

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Information relating to reports generated from Finance One can be found in the Financial Reporting policy.

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Treasury requires the provision of summary financial information from Agency financial systems in order to report on and manage Government financial activities and the Public Account.  Treasury’s information requirements are set out in the Treasury Financial Reporting System (TFRS) Mandatory Data Requirements.

The requirements are as follows:

• PARS Summary Cash Data;

• PARS Summary Accrual Data;

• Daily Cash Management Data;

• Special Deposits and Trust Fund Balances.

The TFRS Mandatory Data Requirements set out the specific file formats and the frequency of these requirements.  The daily cash management data is due by 7:00 am on the next working day, with monthly information due within five working days of the end of a reporting month.

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A Chart of Accounts is used to define the structure and composition of the account numbers required to manage the data within a financial management information system. 

Within Finance One for DoE there are several Charts of Accounts – one for the General Ledger, one for Accounts Receivable and several for Accounts Payable.

The DoE General Ledger Structure has been designed to meet both internal and external financial reporting requirements.

There are four components that make up the full account code. The structure is as follows:

Within each of these four components there is a structure that assists with reporting.

Current Chart Budget Centre Numbers

Old to New Budget Centre Mapping

Budget Centre is a 6 character component that represents a manageable unit that is allocated its own budget.

The structure of the ‘Budget Centre’ is:

Current Chart Cost Types

Cost Type is the component that is used to describe each transaction. It is a combination of the source of funds and more specifically the classification of expense or revenue transaction.

Current Chart Output Numbers

Output is used for Treasury Reporting. Generally an output has a “one to one” match with a Budget Centre; however, some Budget Centres apply to more than one output and use 999 as the Output. For example, Corporate Services budget centre are costed to the 999 output which is then distributed across all outputs of the Department.

The first digit represents the Output Group and the other two represent the Output number itself.

Current Chart Project Numbers

Project is an optional component in the General Ledger code that can be utilised for more specific cost reporting within a cost area.  It can be used for any purpose that essentially provides a further breakdown of the Budget Centre costing. 

It can be used for Commonwealth Projects, specific projects or other costing requirements.

As outlined the General Ledger is made up of four components. However, for reporting and ease of use there are 12 Account Components that represent these and some of their categories. These components are:

The account components in the above list are represented by an X. For example, Division is a one character value.

As well as 12 possible Account Components, Finance One also has 20 Selection Codes available.  These codes are attached to account components of the Chart and are used for the identification of additional reporting and data requirements.

The Selection Codes that are used by the Department of Education are:

The majority of these codes are used for Treasury reporting (see below); however others are used for various forms of internal reporting.  The key selection codes used for Internal Reporting are:

ASSET – Attached to projects created for Facility Services.

AVETMIS – Flags OPCET Trust Accounts as YES or NO for the: National Council for Vocational Education and Research (NCVER) Australian Vocational Education and Training Management Information Statistical Standard (AVETMISS) Reporting.

MAP1 and MAP2 – Used for Financial Reporting (see section on Linking the Chart to DoE Statements).

All Government Departments are required to report to the Department of Treasury and Finance on both a Cash and Accrual basis every month.  The Treasury Financial Reporting System (TFRS) Mandatory Reporting Requirements outline what must be reported and the frequency of these reports. 

The TFRS reporting structures are very different to the DoE chart structure and as such Selection Codes are used to enable the DoE components to be linked to the various TFRS components. 

The DoE chart components are mapped to the TFRS components as follows: 

In addition, Selection Code 3, INTEREST is used to flag several Trust Accounts as Interest-bearing accounts and is used in the preparation of the Trust File. This is sent to Treasury on a monthly basis.  This file lists each Trust Account held at Treasury, and each Interest-Bearing account and its daily balance.

Any changes or additions required to the Chart of Accounts need to be made in writing and approved by the appropriate staff members:

• For Consolidated Fund Budget Centres, the request is made by Budget and Resources once funding is determined.

• For Trust Budget Centres, a form entitled ‘Staffing and Projects Initiative Form’  must be completed. This form is available on request from the Coordinator, Accounting Operations, Finance and Procurement Services. This form must be authorised by the Budget Centre Manager and endorsed by the relevant Deputy Secretary.

• For Cost Types, the request must be initiated either by Budget and Resource Services or by senior staff within Finance and Procurement Services.

• Any additions or changes to Output numbers can only be made by Budget and Resources staff members.

• New projects are requested through the ‘Changes/Additions to Project’ form. This form is available on request from the Coordinator, Accounting Operations, Finance and Procurement Services. This form must be authorised by the Budget Centre Manager and endorsed by the relevant Deputy Secretary.

The Department’s Financial Statements are developed using the MAP1 and MAP2 selection codes.

These mappings determine the category and accompanying notes that each Cost Type belongs to.

MAP1 is used to determine whether a Cost Type forms part of the Statement of Financial Performance or the Statement of Financial Position.  This mapping will also determine whether an item is Administered or Controlled.  Items beginning with an O are part of the Statement of Financial Performance, and those beginning with a B are part of the Statement of Financial Position.

MAP2 is a subset of MAP1 and is used to specify which item in the ‘Notes to the Financial Statements’ each Cost Type is mapped.

The Statement of Cash Flows is then derived using a cash extract from Finance One. A Statement of Cash Flows is also manually prepared and compared to the Finance One extract to ensure accuracy and completeness in the report.

Further information on the Finance One Chart of Accounts can be accessed here.

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Information concerning school administration and finance can be found on the Finance, Facilities and Business Strategy Branch (FFBS) website.  The Finance & Procurement column provides links to finance related pages and documents.  Items of particular relevance to SACS are indicated by a SACS logo adjacent to the link.

The chart of accounts in SACS links to cost types in Finance One through its level 1 codes, providing consistency in Financial Reporting.  Documents on the FFBS website provide instruction on the working and maintenance of the SACS chart of accounts.

Other information available from the FFBS website includes:

• Resources and links to Training and Support in SACS

• Examples of SACS administration and financial reports

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References 

• Treasury Financial Reporting System (TFRS) Mandatory Data Requirements.

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Internal Controls / Responsibilities

The use and performance of the Department’s financial systems will be subject to internal audit, external audit and performance audits.

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• Financial Reporting

• Desk Bank Guidelines

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