Departments manage the request and setup for Projects within PeopleSoft. Workflow moves requests through department and Control Point approval, then through the final approval process by the Controller’s Office to complete the Project setup. This guide provides an overview of how Projects are set up, general guidelines for the types of activities that should be tracked using Projects, and step-by-step instructions on how departments request new Projects.
About PeopleSoft Projects
Project Uses
Project Uses have been established in order to categorize Projects for various types of activities. If you are establishing a new Project to track an activity, you should first choose the appropriate Project Use. Project Use can be used in reporting to track the total revenues and expenses for that type of activity across UCSF. Projects with the following Project Uses can be set up by departments:
- Affiliation Agreement / Contract
- Faculty/PI/Owner Activity
- General
- Gift (Subproject of a parent gift Project)
- Medical Center Activity
- Programmatic Investment
- Recruitment / Faculty Start-Up
- Retention
Requirements for New Projects
- To track a discrete activity, initiative, or Project that falls within a predefined list of Project Use categories.
- To allow a faculty member, PI or owner to segregate revenue and expenses to track balances and report revenue and expenses.
- To track activities for contracts, grants, gifts and endowment income.
- Projects should not be confused with Funds; the Fund chartfield identifies the source, whereas a Project allows tracking for a particular activity or purpose (how a department uses Funds).
- Projects should not be set up for purposes that are redundant with Accounts, Funds, Departments, or Functions.
General Guidelines
For unrestricted funds, a maximum of three Projects per PI – one under each of the following Project Uses – is appropriate to provide a mechanism for a PI or faculty member to track their activity. For example, if Dr. Yu has discretionary funds, a start-up package, and later has a retention package, they would have three projects in total, one for each Project Use. These projects have no minimum dollar threshold requirements.
- Faculty/PI/Owner Activity
- Recruitment / Faculty Start-Up
- Retention
In order to reduce the proliferation of Projects and minimize the administrative workload for creating and maintaining chartfields, the amount of dollars being managed within a project should be a consideration in whether an additional Project is needed. The need for additional Projects for an individual is justified if the initial activity meets a minimum materiality of $25K. The request should be discussed with the Control Point so that the Control Point and the department can work together to identify the most efficient and consistent way to meet the business need.
Project Attributes
All applicable Project attributes should be added when the Project is created. If attributes need to be changed after final approval, the change should be coordinated through the Control Point. The following matrix outlines the required Project Attributes for each Project Type.
|
Project Attribute |
Recharge Project |
Gift Project |
Endowment Project |
Loan Project |
Other* |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Project Use |
Required | Required | Required | Required | Required |
|
Parent Project |
Required | Required | Required | Required | Required |
|
Award/Parent ID |
Required | Required | Required | Required | Required |
|
PI/Manager/Owner |
Required | Required | Required | Required | Required |
|
Lab Type |
Optional | Optional | Optional | Optional | Optional |
|
Lab Building |
Optional | Optional | Optional | Optional | Optional |
|
Lab Room |
Optional | Optional | Optional | Optional | Optional |
|
Federal Fund Allowed |
Required | - | - | - | - |
|
Gift/Endowment Type |
Required | Required | Required | Required | Required |
|
Project Nickname |
Optional | Optional | Optional | Optional | Optional |
|
Lab Owner |
Optional | Optional | Optional | Optional | Optional |
|
UCSF Fund |
- | Required | Required | - | - |
|
Loan Program |
- | - | - | Required | - |
|
Planning Only |
Optional | - | Optional | Optional | Optional |
Projects Not Set Up by Departments
Some Projects can only be established by central units. These include:
- Sponsored Projects are created in the Research Administration System (RAS) and established in the PeopleSoft Project module first; upon saving, the Project information is synchronized with PeopleSoft’s General Ledger Project chartfield table.
- Capital Construction Projects are set up by UCSF Real Estate, Campus Design and Construction (opens in new window).
- Recharge Parent Projects are set up by the Budget and Resource Management Recharge Review unit (opens in new window).
- Gift and Endowment Parent Projects are set up initially by Gift Accounting. Departments can set up gift subprojects.
Departments can use the Project Chartfield page in PeopleSoft to view Project data, and to maintain a limited number of attributes (e.g., nicknames for Projects) not created by them. The Controller’s Office will delete any Sponsored Projects not in RAS, Capital, Recharge, Parent Gift/Endowment or Loan Projects inadvertently set-up by departments.
Separate Project vs Shared Project
The Project chartfield can be set up as a Separate Project or as a Shared Project.
Separate Projects are assigned to an owner, which is typically the faculty member or Principal Investigator. The Employee ID of the owner is populated for tracking purposes, which can be later used for reporting.
Examples of Separate Projects
|
Project Use |
Project ID |
Project Description |
PI/Owner |
Employee ID |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Faculty/PI/Owner Activity |
2000354 |
Golden, G_Disc |
Golden, Gate S.F. |
999999999 |
|
Faculty/PI/Owner Activity |
2000367 |
Coit, T_Disc |
Coit, Tower S.F. |
888888888 |
|
Recruitment / Faculty Start-Up |
2001007 |
Baths, S_Recruit |
Baths, Sutro S.F. |
000001111 |
Shared Projects are not assigned to an owner, and can be used across multiple departments for common activities or transactions. Shared Projects should be coordinated with your Control Point. Reasons to set-up a Single Shared Project include:
- Similar common activity is shared across multiple departments
- Dept ID Chartfield can identify who is performing the activity
- Projects that do not have owners and are not assigned to a person
- Projects that have no end date
Shared Projects should not be modified as they are used by multiple departments, including “Project 1111111 – General” as well as other clinical care, affiliation agreement or resident projects.
Examples of Shared Projects
|
Project Use |
Project ID |
Project Description |
PI/Owner |
Employee ID |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
General |
1000004 |
Fundraising development |
Dept/Division |
000000000 |
|
Medical Center Activity |
1000000 |
MC clinical care |
Dept/Division |
000000000 |
|
Affiliation Agreement/Contract |
1000102 |
Hemophilia Program |
Dept/Division |
000000000 |
|
Programmatic Investment |
2011295 |
PROG WEIGHT MGMT |
Dept/Division |
000000000 |
|
Programmatic Investment |
2011294 |
PROG MED ETHICS |
Dept/Division |
000000000 |
Roles for Requesting New Projects
|
PeopleSoft Roles |
Capability |
Procedure |
|---|---|---|
|
Chartfield Setup Permissions |
Used to set up new Projects or Flexfields; automatically assigned to any user who has a Journal Preparer or Journal Approver role. Note: This role cannot submit a new Project or Flexfield for approval. |
|
|
Chartfield Requestor |
Role for Department Managers or their delegates to be used to set up new Projects or Flexfields as well as review Project setup by other users. |
|
|
Chartfield |
Role for Control Point delegates to have final departmental review |
|
|
Chartfield Setup and Validation |
Role for Controller’s Office for final review |
|
The following diagram provides a visual to demonstrate the Project set-up and approval process using PeopleSoft workflow roles:
Project Monitoring
Projects that have been set up that do not meet the aforementioned guidelines are subject to review and closure annually. For example, if a PI has multiple discretionary projects that do not meet the minimum threshold, the small projects may have the balances consolidated into one Project for that PI.
How to Begin a New Request for Set Up of a New Project
Departments can set up a new Project within PeopleSoft. The saved Project request is then reviewed by a Department Approver and submitted for approval.
- Log into MyAccess (opens in new window) (not shown). Scroll down to locate and select PeopleSoft Financials from the application menu. If you have set MyAccess to display "Favorites", you may need to change to "All Apps" or search for PeopleSoft.
- Click on the Tools and Configuration tile , followed by the Tools and Config Menu tile .
- On the ChartField Values page, click the Project link .
- Select the Add a New Value tab to begin the new Project setup:
- Enter or search for SetID. Normally you will enter UCSF (default) as the SetID .
- The Project field is grayed out and should be left as the default value of Next. A temporary Project ID will be auto-generated with a “Z” in the first position to indicate it is “temporary” until approved.
- Click Add .
How to Enter the Details and Attributes of the Requested Project
- Enter the Project Description . Names for new Projects should be meaningful and descriptive. Check with your Control Point to confirm any specific naming conventions.
- Select the Start and End Dates for the Project .
- Click the UCSF Project Attributes tab .
- Enter the following Project information on the UCSF Project Attributes tab:
- Project Use .
- Gift/Endowment Type .
- Requested Project ID (optional) . PeopleSoft will generate a Project ID.
- Project Nickname and whether this is On Campus or Off Campus .
- Indicate if a Project is Shared or Not Shared and select the PI/Manager/Owner .
- Complete lab information for research projects only .
- Based on Gift/Endowment type selected, update the Gift section as needed .
- Once all details are entered, select Save .
- Once the Project is saved, a temporary Project ID is auto-generated with a “Z” in the first position to indicate it is “temporary” until approved .
- If your department is using optional Chartfield Setup Permissions, the requester will not be able to submit the project for approval. Notify your Department Approver that the Project has been set up in PeopleSoft . They must then log in to review and submit the Project for approval as outlined in the next section of this guide.
How to Submit a New Project Request for Approval
The submission of a Project is completed by a Department Manager or their delegates. Managers must have a sufficient understanding of purpose and materiality in order to finalize and submit Projects for approval. Such information must be included in the Requester Justification Comments. Preferably, the dollar amount of estimated Revenues and Expenses for the Project should be included in the comments.
- Navigate to the Chartfield Values in PeopleSoft and search for the temporary Project, or click on the link in the email notification sent from the requester (not shown).
- After reviewing the UCSF Project Attributes, click on the Request/Approval tab and enter the Requester Justification Comments .
- Select Submit For Approval to route the request for review and approval .
- A pop-up window will display. Use the magnifying glass icon to search and select from the list of available Chartfield Approvers .
- Update email text with any additional justification or comments .
- Select OK to route an email to the selected Approver .
