PeopleSoft (aka Project Enterprise) Survey ’05
Written Comments
u Not significantly impacted…YET!
u Not significantly impacted because I got a department purchasing card. If I had to do requisitions, etc., it would increase workload.
u Not significantly impacted—I do not order.
u Not significantly impacted, yet.
u Increased the average workload only because we still spend extra time doing some tasks we are not yet extremely familiar with.
u PeopleSoft has impacted my office, but not me directly.
u Don’t work with PeopleSoft.
u Impacted my office, yes; my job, no.
u Not sure.
Ques 3 ~ In my current office, PeopleSoft has increased, decreased, had no real impact on the number of staff people needed to complete the work.
u Increased the number of staff people needed to complete the work. We have only one [staff person] in office, and she is nearly crazy.
u Increased. It should have; however, I still do it all myself.
u Increased. But as a one-person support staff office, the workload is of 2 or more people.
u Had no real impact. Work associated with PeopleSoft takes much longer to complete.
u Just have to work harder. Some procedures take longer.
u Wouldn’t make any difference. No one new will be hired, even though a person has a difficult time completing all that is expected.
u There is an increased need for staff, but more staff will not be provided.
Ques 4 ~ I report my time on PeopleSoft.
u No. The Library Administrative Office secretary enters time for all Library Staff. They evidently thought it too complicated for the masses.
u No. Facilities Mngt has people do all of the hourly workers’ time input.
u Library admin. office reports my time.
u Office personnel—rationale??
u One person records for all library staff.
u I do not report my own time on PeopleSoft. I think it’s great I deal with a person.
u Staff in the Library Business Office [input my time] (because staff is large & schedules vary so much).
u Library business office staff.
u I input my time, but someone else approves it.
u Library Admin. Office…”they” seem to think it’s easier.
u Time sheets are filled out daily and recorded by Printing Services.
u My time is submitted in Gorham, then approved by the director in Portland. For some reason, I am still required to do a paper timecard which is initialed by my supervisor, then sent to the director for his signature.
u Maybe I haven’t been paying close enough attention.
u Being on a 10-month contract, personnel cannot take my health, union dues, advantage, etc., out prior to my leaving, so when I return to work, I don’t get a full paycheck for 8 weeks. I would like them to deduct it within the 10 months I work.
u My sick time accrued while I was out 5 weeks this summer (2005)—10 month position = 5 weeks off summer + 3 weeks off winter.
u My annual leave accrued time [in the past six months] while on mandatory leave.
u I had to be paid by a special check over six months ago when I changed positions.
u I am occasionally paid some time as an AAII—when this happens, the hourly rate and number of hours is incorrect, in order to pay me the correct total amount. I need to call [the HR Office] to have it explained. I believe a pay stub should be clear and accurate by law.
u Error was mine.
u Other than the Thanksgiving week mix up/check delay, this piece of PeopleSoft is currently working. The problem is communication w/managers/professional staff who approve the hours!
u I would like to add that these are all positive responses because we also have to turn in a paper copy of our time each week. The payroll person checks to make sure our data is correct; otherwise, I’m sure we would have problems.
u Determining holiday codes to use have been the confusion—main contributor to my PeopleSoft frustrations in my pay.
u Am offended when asked to write a "hardship" letter to receive my normal pay. I guess they don't know we need our money every pay period!
u My supervisor is my back-up [as student worker supervisor & PeopleSoft time approver for students].
u I still have credit for 5 hours, don’t know where came from & can’t use it!
u Haven’t checked sick and vacation accrual.
u I enter payroll for my entire dept. I have had to request checks, fix accruals, etc., for other staff.
u Initial transfer to PeopleSoft was challenging and frustrating, but may make job easier.
u Many PeopleSoft screens are counterintuitive. For instance, a typo recorded my time for one day at 80 hours. First, system logic should have trapped this error for me, the user; second, the only thing that showed up for the time approval was 4 days of overtime. There was no indicator to the reader that there was any entry into the “exception report” for HR to review. Many errors in time come from the “Save” button action not always being received by the server, and this is not dependent on browser, although between browsers, the results vary.
u In the past six months, I have been paid more than $1,200 extra. I work a 10-month year: Aug 15 – June 15. In July, UMS deposited over $300 in my account, even though I had not entered any time, and even though a temporary stop had been placed on my record. The classified personnel specialist on my campus said payment under these circumstances was theoretically impossible, and refused to believe me when I reported the mistake. At the end of September, I received double-payment for hours worked of over $900, even though I had been regularly paid, and even though I had not requested this extra payment.
u The self-help part of PS doesn’t work either. I couldn’t get my address changed via PS. Couldn’t get it changed via the System Office. Finally someone at my campus HR department successfully changed my address—almost 2 years after moving.
u More not paid for hours I worked because I forgot to enter & supervisor OKed incomplete sheet.
u Truthfully, I did not check sick-time accrual.
u I am very happy with PeopleSoft. I have not had any real problems except what is to be expected when a new program is implemented.
u I do find I have to monitor my time approval. Our approver never gets it done on time, & I find myself stressing over whether I will get a check or not.
u I really don’t pay attention to my time or deductions, although I should. I assume that the people that do the input are doing it correctly.
u Not sure [about sick-time, annual leave, and comp-time accrual accuracy]. I don’t remember having any problem w/PS. Haven’t really kept track on a paycheck basis re: accruals, but when I check off & on, all seems correct.
u If I am out sick or in the field, no one inputs my time for me. I don’t have a computer at home.
u [Sick-time and annual-leave accruals are correct] that I know of.
u I had one glitch in my time accrual way back at the beginning, so I don’t even remember which category it was.
u The most prominent effect of PeopleSoft for me is the result of the PeopleSoft Financials change this summer. Purchase orders take at least 3 times as long to be processed (I could have one in a day or two under the old system, now I allow 1 week), and there are always issues with the university processing standing orders at local merchants. Thus, I am apprehensive about any purchase. This is bad in my position as we constantly purchase field & lab supplies.
u [My union dues deductions have always been accurate] as far as I know! I'll check!
u I did not receive a paycheck on last Christmas Eve—they said it was b/c it was not approved—supervisor said b/c it was not entered (which is wrong). It was entered—but off cycle check did not come for another week…You'd think people would be sure you'd get paid, especially on Christmas Eve.
u [My sick-time accrual is accurate, but] not my coworkers’.
u Not being paid fully and having to wait an additional two weeks for pay to be corrected is inexcusable. This never occurred with the former (non-PeopleSoft) process. Too many unknowns with this system—not enough oversight.
u Luckily, I am one of the ones whose payroll has not had problems.
u For the most part, I have not had problems with my pay with PeopleSoft.
u While I have not had problems with my own paycheck, many people I know have had horrible problems, including not receiving a paycheck because their supervisor forgot to authorize payment or being paid the wrong amount. Forget accuracy if you change job titles; it took months for my coworker’s pay to be correct after a promotion. PeopleSoft will let you change time you have already saved, rather than telling you that you must delete it and enter time again. I only found out when my supervisor could not see my updated time entered. Any software that lets you perform actions that it cannot compute, yet never lets the user know there is a problem, is a piece of junk.
u Don’t really monitor sick-time accrual; don’t check annual leave accrual; don’t have any comp-time accrual. I work in a 2-person office, and the other person does all the PeopleSoft Budget & employment. I do the “grunt” work.
u My dental insurance was dropped with no authorization.
u My pay was messed up once when 8 hr. holiday pay wasn't included. A few times, I have been unable to open up PeopleSoft to record my time @ the end of the week (late Friday or on Saturday late afternoon)—as a result, I had to keep checking PeopleSoft at home over the weekend in order to enter my time. This is annoying that I can't just email my boss my time and let her enter it. I should be able to go home and forget about work since I'm an hourly person.
u Pay reflects the hours I entered in PeopleSoft with one exception. My sick-time accrual has always been accurate, I think!
u I have not checked the pay stub; I have assumed everything to be correct.
u In the beginning, there were some problems in our office with PeopleSoft—but I believe most of those have been ironed out.
u I have been told by my director that he "would do me a favor" and approve my time. I told him paying me for the hours I work is not doing me a favor, it’s the law. He insisted my time was "entered late" even though my supervisor stated he and I had entered our hours at the same time. The director is currently charging me with "violent behavior" due to frustration with PeopleSoft. One of the many lies he is using to deny me career advancement within the university. I have a current grievance filed against him.
u Don’t even get me started!
u PeopleSoft did not pick up my time of service (5 yrs) for my percent increase for my 403(B): 4 percent to 10 percent from university. HR had to go back almost a year and calculate weekly what was due for deposit in my 403(B). In the meantime, I lost dividends and market increases because the money was not in my account.
u I haven't checked [my sick-time accrual].
u Six months ago, I had to wait until the next week in order to receive my pay.
u PeopleSoft has increased the work since I am still required to fill out a time card. So I have to do both; also, I have made mistakes on the last column because I can't really see it and it scrolls down so fast. For example meant to put VAC—+ it reported something else. Karen Hart has been wonderful helping solve the problem. I find my check extremely difficult to read + figure out since I am classified, teach as a professor, and do other teachings. So I don't know what I'm being paid for. It doesn't specify.
u I think it’s confusing how to put down for holidays. Family vs. regular, comp, etc.
u Here at Fogler Library, staff have never had to input hours worked or other info—the business office has always done so.
u PeopleSoft has had little impact to date.
u I’m not sure how to answer this, because it hasn’t changed the hiring procedures; but it has affected when students can put in their time, and when I can approve it if they are not put into the system in a timely fashion.
u We are responsible for training all student workers on how to use PeopleSoft.
u I do my own autho[rizations], which is better.
u More attention to detail, more payroll screens, more paperwork to keep track of, but it was a positive change.
u Has created more work to set up employees in system (takes 20 min/student); international students (takes over 25 screens to set up) takes an hour for each one.
u Check authorizations for new student workers.
u Used to be a very simple procedure—now it is very complex and time-consuming.
u Training new students on how PeopleSoft works.
u I now handle the W4s, I9s, payroll deduction, and all other forms the students have to submit.
u I now have to fill out the students’ I-9s and other tax forms, something I’ve never had to do in the last 12 years.
u I often read their paper time cards to Cheryl Leighton over the telephone on Monday mornings. This takes anywhere from 10-15 minutes out of my mail sorting time. If the hours are not correct, Cheryl expects me to speak to the students about it.
u Although the change, Student Employment has made it very simple—or as simple as possible.
u Hiring now requires filling out I-9 & W-4 with students—explaining the PeopleSoft time input procedure, troubleshooting when students have access problems, and the list goes on. September is a nightmare.
u New procedures have made my hiring of students quicker and easier.
u Getting students a PeopleSoft #, training how to input hours, doing all paperwork I9, W4, etc. Sending reminders when to enter time.
u BIG TIME!! Currently I have 13 students, some which hold both workstudy positions and department + grant positions. I have to do initial hires (I9, W4's, train student PeopleSoft entry). Supervise, approve payroll, track accounts for grants, reconcile monthly on grants accounts.
u I am responsible for all the paperwork students fill out & tax forms.
u However, student paperwork to begin receiving her/his checks moves through the channels slower than ever! It has taken 3/4 weeks after the paperwork had been submitted for a student to be paid!
u I now need to have students fill out I-9, and W-4 forms, plus other little add-ons here and there.
u More instructions during the interview; students sometimes unable to punch in time; students unable to get timely, if any, answers from IT.
u Students can walk their paperwork over to payroll, but it may take weeks for them to be able to start work due to not being entered in Peoplesoft. I was told not to let students start until I got official paperwork w/Peoplesoft Student Employee ID, yet never received any paperwork. This survey doesn't really address the issues students have had getting paid or the problems authorizing their time, or a way to say how much I hate Peoplesoft. It doesn't work the way it is supposed to, and no one seems to have answers when asked about it.
u Its harder to complete forms needed online.
u "Fortunately," we prepared job descriptions for our students at least 5 yrs ago. Interestingly, they sound much like our descriptions.
u Responsible for showing students how to enter time. Tell them to get UNET access if necessary.
u System is harder to understand.
u I need to give the students more training on putting in their time.
u Being responsible for completing (chasing kids around for correct ids), the I-9 & W4 forms.
Ques 18 ~ I was provided with a list of student worker job titles to use.
u Student employment office provides an Employer Guide to every supervisor & on Internet.
u Same as usual.
Ques 19 ~ I was provided with a list of student worker job descriptions to use.
u Supervisors are responsible every year to renew this with our office.
u Same as usual.
u Don't recall one.
Ques 20 ~ Students have asked for assistance with tax filing status (ie: whether or not they have to file, how many deductions to take, etc.)
u When they fill out their I-9 & W-4 forms.
u All the time.
Ques 21 ~ I am responsible for keeping the following records in order for student employees to work legally (citizenship status, driver’s license, W-4 forms).
u This is all on file in the student employment office up to 7 years.
u I send them (the students) all to Payroll Office to complete their forms there.
u I have to be sure they fill them out but don't need to keep copies (do I?).
u We don’t keep these—they go to Student Employment, then Payroll.
u Not sure I need to keep actually…but I need to ensure they are filled out properly.
u Responsible to obtain info & send to Payroll. Do not keep in office.
u I had to verify these records, but I was then instructed to forward them to Cheryl Leighton at the Portland mail services office.
Ques 22 ~ The training I have received with the PeopleSoft Financials implementation phase is…
u Since October. No training on generating reports.
u I had training during the summer. I haven’t used it since because I don’t have a dept. budget, just a program budget & have sent everything to the Business Office.
u Adequate. Can’t blame the straining staff, but I sure would like to crown the individual that designed it!
u Great—unless they make more changes.
u Missed p.o. training
u Training helped, but there are a lot more steps than in the old system.
u Not enough classes + too short a time period to train.
u Training was not at all appropriate for my duties!
Ques 23 ~ When I run into trouble or questions with the PeopleSoft Financials program, the average amount of time it takes for me to receive help is…
u I haven’t had any yet.
u My ID is still not working properly—no one knows the answer.
u Have not asked for help yet.
u Usually the AA attends to these issues.
u It is sometimes unclear who to contact also, & one of my problems is still unanswered.
u It varies from hours to weeks.
u 10-30 minutes usually; one week+ for two problems I've had
u Takes 1-2 hours or one week or more, depending on the problem.
u Sometimes all of these choices!
u Sometimes on both [2-4 hours, one day, +/or 2 days].
u One week or more at times as no one from Purchasing returns phone calls.
u The range is huge.
u No one there to answer questions.
u I’ve had to email—me & program director—to get assistance.
u I haven’t had to yet.
u Lots of times—do not return my call.
u I get help immediately.
u I keep calling until I get an answer.
u Have not asked for help yet.
u 3-4 times when checking on things being processed, not from me putting things into PeopleSoft. [Business Office AAI] is always pleasant though.
u Four times per month.
u Have not asked for help yet.
u Not sure who contact really is.
Ques 26 ~ When I have questions or problems with PeopleSoft Financials, the assistance I receive is great, adequate, not good, terrible.
u Have not asked for help yet.
u Depends on the $ amount also.
u I do not do purchase orders—use credit card or check request.
u Depending on whether or not I walked it around or not.
u 1 hour or less—most times.
u 1 hour or less, or 1-4 hours; all depends on the “purchase.”
u N/A—Submitted on paper.
u Did them by hand before.
u I only tried this once, and it was a disaster!
u Depends on if appropriate staff is available to do this part of the process.
u I don’t use P/O (purchase orders). I use the purchasing card to avoid problems.
u Depends on the dollar amount and if the vendor is set up. It took 3 weeks to get a vendor set-up done.
u Don't do purchase orders.
u I have not done these enough to give an accurate answer.
u Because I missed training, I have to have someone else in our division do POs if needed.
u Usually 7 days minimum.
u 1-2 days—sometimes more.
u N/A—Submitted on paper.
u Don't do purchase orders.
u "Receiving notification"—not sure what this means.
u I really don’t know…MANY!
u Depends on how…
u No idea [on the number of clicks before and after PeopleSoft Financials]. I don’t waste my time counting such things.
u Way too many!
u Don't do purchase orders.
u N/A—Submitted on paper.
u I don't enter requisitions online yet. CAS Dean's office does it so far.
u Didn't know you could do it online; I thought you had to fill in and print.
u Don’t know; haven’t received assistance yet on how to extract my particular info.
u Don't do purchase orders.
u Financials are time consuming because we are not yet familiar all the menus + it takes time to learn. I feel it’s very complicated.
Ques 33 ~ When the system is down for me, it usually comes back online in…
u We only receive notice 1 in 4 times when the system is down!
u My problem has been with officials getting paid in a timely manner—it’s not the Business Office here—it’s outside departments.
u I finally got access after months of requests.
u I don’t know what the General Ledger is. Very frustrating.
u Did not receive specific help for my needs.
u Difficult—more time consuming & too many screens.
u I have over 500 transactions per month and many accts.
Ques 36 ~ I find it easy, manageable, difficult to read the monthly reports information generated through the General Ledger (GL) inquiry.
u Manageable—but when a month is over, it gets confusing to go back in a month or two and the figures do not read the same as they did at the end of the month because things kept being put in and back dated.
u Impossible—not enough training yet.
u Did not receive specific help for my needs.
u Yes—from someone (not University). But that’s part of the job. J
u They always let me know if training is going on.
u Regularly scheduled since July. Often several apps. per month.
u I found out last week that over $23,000 worth of bills I had received through PS have not been paid. I sent the originals to B.O. (Business Office) 11/3/05 and as of 12/8/05 they still have not been paid. Also, payments that were made in November have been posted in my Oct. statement—If something is paid in one month, how can it be posted to a prior month? It really screws up your budget! PeopleSoft is no way as people friendly as I was led to believe at the beginning. And those purchasing cards are a whole different problem.
u One staff member is out to Bangor 3.5 days/week—unfortunately, no one was hired to pick up the slack.
u The first month or so was rocky, but like everything else, the dust settled and I got used to the new method. But I am young and technically savvy, so I am open to change and learn these things fast and often on my own.
u I’m just starting to use the PeopleSoft Financials. I need assistance to review invoices, but have not received training for it from the Business Office. This is a LOW priority for me, so I have not pursued the Business Office for help.
u My supervisor has not always approved my time in a timely manner, so people in the Personnel Office have had to approve it so I could get paid.
u The system is not set up for people who work less than 12 months. After being out for 5 weeks, my future paychecks were pretty much taken because of catching up insurances, dues, etc. After 5 weeks without pay, you need those paychecks. There should be a better way of paying for everything while you are working.
u Need more training!
u I use PeopleSoft mostly to do journal entries daily—not for Purchase Orders—and for GL Inquiry. The process for Journal Entry (the info needing entry) has increased 10 fold. The ability to copy a JE and only change the amounts obviously ONLY works if its same chart field combo/description etc. (this is a DAILY process). Using the GL Inquiry—will only display up to 500 transactions in a month without doing a special date selection. Creating the "Report" is NO help for me because it is all by class code + account and you cannot change or manipulate this. It’s basically useless because our deposits are done daily and filed this way too! Not filed, nor can they be—by ACCTA. This is our finances HOLDING account where we deposit money daily. (Over 500 tran. month.) So the report is only good for our regular expense account which is filed by ACCTS. The other difficulty is that I need to use both chart fields and fast accounts together for out daily deposits. This is a lot to remember. A large problem also is that when our other office or our office places deposits in wrong class code or ACCT, I need to do a JE to adjust/fix this. One problem is that we've gone from using 2 or 3 divisions in an object code to 15 or 16. That’s a lot to keep straight, and a lot to fix. When doing online cashiering, I need to enter both fast account and char-field combo. So yah—it’s added a lot of work to my pile—and then, to top it off, I'm constantly asked what takes SO LONG!
u Currently, my job duties have decreased. This is because PeopleSoft was requiring more time than I could give. As a result, a new employee was hired.
u Staff in the Business Office do not usually know the answers. The Director, who is only in the office 1-2 days per week, is the only one who can assist us with problems.
u I was denied access to Financials PeopleSoft training. I was proposing to be available as a back-up person (ie: cross-trained) to cover our office tasks.
u While I don't work in PeopleSoft Financials directly, I do post invoices for payment in URSUS. There have been constant + apparently some unsolvable problems with PeopleSoft. Ex—If you enter shipping + handling or Service Charges into the Template as instructed, they not only don't get paid by PeopleSoft—the amount gets subtracted from the Total due. We have to divide the shipping/services charges among all the (sometimes numerous) entries on the invoices. This is do-able, but time consuming + inefficient. It is also very easy to make small mistakes while entering invoices that cannot be corrected without an act of Congress practically. Very user-unfriendly system!
u I cannot answer some of these questions (#28 - #34) because I cannot do the requisition function on PeopleSoft because of a number of reasons. 1. It is too confusing; 2. I cannot concentrate and complete this function without being interrupted, and then unable to remember where or what to do next. I only use the dept. credit card, but difficulty with that are the limits, or do a simple paper form for reimbursement for employee. The PeopleSoft requisition function is a “nightmare” for me.
u Due to an error, an $18,000 invoice was not paid and was sent to collections. This was not my fault. Other errors: funds taken from wrong accounts in salary, goods, benefits, etc., have not been resolved in months.
u Journal entries have increased my workload tremendously.
u My workload has increased due to PeopleSoft Financials, but nothing else has been taken away to allow for this. I am continually missing deadlines now (for BPEs and project work) as are my fellow AAs. HELP!
u PeopleSoft is a pain! It creates more work, it is not user friendly, and technical support is almost NON-EXISTENT! There should be at least one fulltime administrator to help us! As it is now, I call a colleague who uses the system more, and therefore understands it better, to give me assistance. Maybe she should get more pay and our so-called administrators should get less! Not happy with this process at ALL!
u With [Business Office administrator] being involved in Bangor, it made it very difficult to get answers. Finally, after saying my opinion, the [HR administrator] sent an email to the staff stating [an ACSUM employee] is the point of contact for PeopleSoft questions. Nearly 4 months after PeopleSoft started, it was made known who the contact person was to help resolve problems.
u I should and I will [work with PeopleSoft Financials]—but not at the present time.
u Have received no training other than general training on GL Training. I was informed I would get more training in September 2005. None received.
u We have trouble making deliveries on campus because items come just addressed to campus, and we don’t know who ordered it—it takes time to figure it out.
u I find this like most changes. It takes time to learn the ins and outs of it.
u In the mailroom, we must scan a barcode from any department sending outgoing mail to the post office. Prior to PeopleSoft, a 7 digit number was used, and most of them I had memorized. It took approximately 1.5 seconds to input an account number. Yes, we timed how long it took before implementing PeopleSoft because we knew it was going to take longer! With PeopleSoft, it is a seven step procedure, including a barcode which often is too poorly photocopied to be scanned, resulting in mail not going out until the department gives us a legible barcode. If the AA has gone on vacation, mail can (and has) sat here for three or four days. When the barcode does work as designed, input of account numbers takes about ten seconds if you're good at it. Doesn't seem like much, but do the math. If you have 100 accounts to run mail for, and each one takes 15 seconds, that’s 25 minutes spent standing in front of the mail processor just to enter barcodes, not counting the time spent actually putting postage on the machine. This added time results in mail either taking time away from other tasks, or the mail missing the afternoon pickup by the post office, which means someone has to load it in the truck and drive it to the post office, which means no one in the mailroom to answer the phone, deliver afternoon packages, wait on students who come to pick up packages, etc.... Without student workers to run the postage meter, the mail would be nearly impossible to get done. Many is the day I have worked late and taken the mail to the post office after 4:30. Then the director questions whether I can "get the job done" because it takes me into overtime. My former supervisor worked from 7-4:30 on a regular basis, but he never reported the extra five hours a week. (FOOL!!) Now that comes back to haunt me because I will not "donate" five hours a week to USM, (why should I?) but my ability to handle the job has been questioned because of it. When PeopleSoft barcodes won't scan, the mail is slow; when they don't exist, we have no ability to create them, that's done by Cheryl Leighton in Portland. When departments forget to submit a barcode with their mail, it’s held up until they do. On top of that, we build up about 4 or 5 reams-worth of paper each month! What a waste of paper and ink! For an institution that sez "reduce, reuse, and recycle" the PeopleSoft mailing system certainly does not adhere to that policy.
u The more I use PS, the easier it seems to be, sometimes. My problem is that I use PS after “normal” work hours when I am alone and more likely to be uninterrupted by students. Unfortunately, help is not available during these hours, and it can be days before I can find time for help, or days to get a purchase order completed.
u The old system was much more user-friendly. The prof[essionals’] reporting of annual leave & sick time is not accurate because they are not doing it, nor do they want to be bothered. Our office had a great system for reporting, and I was in charge prior to PeopleSoft—now it simply isn’t getting done.
u I think PS has come a long way since first implemented. It is a very complex program, but I am sure as time goes on it will become easier to use.
u PeopleSoft is different for me to work with. Much like FAST was difficult at 1st. I don’t use it often enough to get confident at this point, but I’m sure this too will become easier for me as time goes on.
u PeopleSoft is so frustrating. Things go ok, & all of a sudden stuff happens. My standing order amount doubled (?), & I was confronted by my supervisor about the wrong amount. I have doubted myself many times, only to find I was doing the right thing—the program was screwing up. I hate GL inquiry; things are not entered, entered twice, entered in wrong accounts. Every transaction takes 10 more steps to complete than before, & yet don’t seem to provide the same easy access & info. You usually have to back out of one thing & go through many more screens to see what could be seen over in one screen before. I have been in the middle of a transaction & dumped out because the system went down & would have to start all over.
I also hate that because of the complexity some AAIIs have had bookkeeping taken away from them, yet they retain their title while it has more than doubled my work & my title remains the same.
I could go on & on—but I think you will probably get lots of ammo—————
u I am all for change, but this is an awful program.
u The PS Financials system is quite cumbersome, and I, at times, question the accuracy of the figures shown. The amount of screens one has to pass through to obtain information is truly excessive. The paperwork for transfer of funds and other functions is also cumbersome, and some transfer forms (salaries) is not available yet! I am aware that on a monthly basis UMS pays a PS consultant(s) a great deal of money, which is unbelievable since the 10 million dollar package was high enough! But, without the extra consultants, UMS would be in major trouble working out all the bugs in the system!
u G&L inquiry is always behind. As of today, I have not done my reconciliation on 25+- accounts for Oct—this is December!! I refuse to go back and do my work over until I know a month has been “closed” and IDC & fringe applied to accounts. Interest has not been applied from July – Sept; as I said before, have not looked at books since Sept. Breakdown of salary distribution NOT user-friendly. Refuse to use “PDF” print option because it is (untimely?) to keep “refreshing.”
Tired of all adm[inistrative] costs being sent down to dept level—look at all the money they save in making depts print out reports, and then they have the nerve to cut budgets and still $ to increase faculty salaries, ie post-tenure reviews!!
u I have not really worked with the Financials a lot yet. At first I was just letting them get their budgets into the system, and then I just got busy with other department issues. So just the past couple of weeks, I have started to do my budgets. Ordering has been different, and I do find it takes more steps.
u In my job, the chances of the number and severity of errors are higher than before. Before PeopleSoft, I was able to find and fix these errors quickly. Also, PeopleSoft itself isn’t finding big errors that were caught in our last system.
u Things have certainly changed for AAs since PeopleSoft. A lot has been dropped in their laps, yet we are not getting paid for the additional responsibilities handed to us. These job responsibilities are not on our job descriptions, which are terribly outdated. For example: Supervising one classified employee is by far easier than juggling 13 workstudy students with the added paperwork, supervising, problem solving with glitches in PeopleSoft, training, approving and tracking hours, reconciling monthly budgets. Some students are working on several accounts. PeopleSoft is a very "unfriendly" user program that has created more work for us (me), not to mention the emotional stress and frustration it has caused. Time consuming and frustrating are the key issues, along with the cause, which is insufficient training and resources for help and guidance. There are so many variables to PeopleSoft, a regular "course" of training should be offered. The variable range from certain terminology, not all USM departments are using PeopleSoft so we have to revert to Web Fast #s, or if a new budget or grant was created after July 1, 2005, we have to ask for a special "ten digit" number to interact with Student Payroll, Facilities Management, Telecommunications, etc. The chartfields have created the use of a series of numbers compared to Web Fast, creating more work and chance of error is more probable. I have to re-visit budget and payroll issues daily. It makes it impossible for me to get my other job responsibilities done in a timely fashion. I'm falling behind daily, and find myself working late on most days—again with no compensation. I am a very calm, flexible, open-to-change kind of person, and this program of change has really tested my sanity. I would have welcomed the change to PeopleSoft if it meant it would help my job by saving time, making it easier and more user friendly, more accurate, and less frustrating. Change is life...so what has PeopleSoft done!
u The PeopleSoft Financials section questions do not match my big problem. It is now much more time-consuming for me to order items that have to be prepaid. In the case of a prepaid order, a purchase order and/or letter or order form has to be sent together with the University check. These checks now do not come back to me to be sent with the enclosures. I have to arrange for the enclosures to be sent out through a person in the Library Business Office—adds work and takes longer. Errors more likely to occur.
u The bottom line for me is that it takes more time just to coordinate purchase cards, and there are items that are getting "struck" in the system even though I use my P-card for everything except travel.
u PeopleSoft has doubled my work time to get invoices paid. I have been told by my supervisor that I will not get any help for the extra workload.
u There are still aspects of the program that I don’t understand, ie, printing from GL through my Mac.
u PeopleSoft and the amount of paperwork increase has definitely made my job harder than it was with the old system. I know there is no turning back, but I wish we could!
u Great questionnaire! I honestly am not surprised that UMS dumped, squandered so many $$$ into a system that even the software company that implemented it has gone under. And I love change. But with inadequate, mind-numbing training, it truly is all for naught. Big Brother is watching.
u The system is working better than when it was first implemented, but one has to wonder why this was the program of “choice.” They had to know this was going to take us MORE time, and most of us already have more than 8 hours of work on our desks to begin with. It also goes “down” too often. What’s going to happen when the “Student Information,” admissions & records, go up; it’s worrisome. When “PeopleSoft” was implemented, I already had the maximum amount of comp-time accrued. I worked late & Saturdays more than once without compensation, mostly because things were so messed up.
u Transition is always difficult, but I have a feeling these on-going changes will be endless—leaving us frustrated and feeling inept. The UMS administrators may be shifting workloads and producing more accurate and detailed reports/data, giving an impressive picture of our operation. However, this change is occurring at the expense, with both stress and extra work, of staff and lower echelon. (Things never seem to change!!)
u I was told that the PeopleSoft people are so busy that they have no plans to train for at least a year.
u In general, I don't mind PeopleSoft. The more I have used Financials, I have become comfortable as most do. JV process is not difficult. PO is the most difficult.
u You are asking the wrong questions. I have over 100 accounts, & generating the reports takes approximately 4 times longer per account. Plus, the financial system problem with encumberances has not been addressed. Fringe benefits are not entered on a timely basis, causing one to revisit the monthly reports several times to obtain an accurate bottom line. Converted purchase orders have not been paid & have caused hours of extra work. Plus—you need questions on the physical aspects of all the clicking!
u I feel that once we are used to getting thru all the menus, and are familiar w/the way PeopleSoft Financials looks and runs, it will become easier and not so cumbersome.
u Several problems occur when I submit CI for payment—especially on split acct to be charged. When entered into AP, the chart-field combination was misread & entered wrong—creating a new GL inquiry for me. I’ve been told since it was Purchasing’s error, it will be fixed—that was in July 2005.
u But these sessions don't help! The general ledger reports are terrible! They are difficult to print and only contain 1/3 of the needed info to reconcile our accounts! The info necessary to accurately verify charges is missing! I am frustrated and often have to make an educated guess as to whether or not something is accurate! All G.L. reports lack invoice and P.O. info!! And some lack voucher numbers! We are searching 3-4 times longer for invoices and JVs without adequate info. Also,!! All credits from the old Fast system, that were to be transferred to PeopleSoft in July (!), were transferred but not accessible to vendor accounts. These credits were only released within the past month! Also, PeopleSoft Fin. began in July, creating $0.00 checks for vendors. The system would divide the amounts of current credit memos in such a way so that the partial credit amount would match an invoice or the invoice would not be paid! Example: $1,000 credit, $700 invoice; PeopleSoft would apply $700 from the credit to the $700 invoice. Issue a $0 check to "pay" the invoice, but not cut the check, or notify us or the vendor, what was happening! We would look up an invoice, and the system would indicate it was paid on a given check #. However, you would need to investigate 3-4 screens further to find out that the check was for $0. If these "checks" had been sent to the vendors, this may have made some sense! But not to print these checks or let Accounts Payable know about this practice is inexcusable! This practice went on from July-September before we realized what was happening! 6+ weeks ago, we were promised reports or directions on how to create reports that would list the $0.00 checks by vendor. Nothing! No updates, etc! PeopleSoft Fin. has created such a mess with our vendors, it will take months to fix! The vendors are mad, we are put on credit hold, and our research takes up valuable time that should be spent on other matters! The above mentioned problems, along with the fact that I have been having to learn the new system as I go, make PeopleSoft Fin. very frustrating! My workload has tripled! And I spend most of my time double checking to make sure payments are truly being made to vendors! And investigating why or what has held up our payments! Thank you for giving me a place to air my frustrations!!!!
u I suppose the more use of these programs will make it easier. But the program (PeopleSoft) is very time consuming—too many screens to go to.
u Before PeopleSoft, I was the back-up for entering purchase orders only (no receiving, etc.). After PeopleSoft, those duties have been taken away due to security access and the issues surrounding it.
u The training that was available was too focused on GL Translate tool and not the General Ledger.
u Training sessions are often wasted time. Diverse in staff levels—maybe if they had specific objectives and levels-1,2,3, etc. Also, vocabulary is a problem; we don't always know it!
u I'm having problems getting into my accounts. At present, I can't get into any of my accounts, so I'm not able reconcile my B + Es. Office of Finance is fully aware of my problems, and so is my supervisor. Since PeopleSoft, I have had nothing but problems with my accounts.
u Basically, I place some of the office orders (not all) on credit card, & another person in the office does most of the GL Financials.
I am still unable to run a report on students as to what they have earned. I called Payroll who walked me through it, but since I did not have time to write down step by step, I still can’t do it. The names that came up when they walked me through were not even my people. They were very nice & did try to help me.