Purpose
The Flexfield chartfield is an optional value for departmental use designed to track information not captured by other chartfields. Before creating a Flexfield, a department should determine whether or not it is possible to track the activity using the other chartfields, or combinations of chartfields, in the new COA such as Account, Fund, Department, Project, Activity Period, or Function.
Use
Flexfields may be entered into a journal line just like any other chartfield – either by the preparer, from a subsystem, or by journal upload. Flexfield values, like all other chartfield values, must exist in PeopleSoft prior to being used in a transaction. Flexfield values are validated during the journal edit process. Flexfields are not a required chartfield; therefore, combination edits will not be used with Flexfields.
Administration
Flexfields can be requested by a department and must be approved by their Control Point. Requests should specify desired value which will be assigned on a first-come, first-served basis. The Controller’s Office will review the request to ensure it does not conflict with the purpose of another chartfield and will have final approval of all values. Flexfields are recommended to be set up only when the total yearly transactions to be tracked are expected to be greater than $25,000. Flexfields that have no activity for one complete fiscal year may be inactivated. The Flexfield value may then be recycled.
The maximum length of a Flexfield is 6 characters and values can be alphanumeric. Flexfields that will be used with the Medical Center business unit must start with a zero. Flexfields that will be used with business units other than the Medical Center cannot start with a zero.
Attributes
| Field Name | Type | Length | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Set ID |
AN |
5 |
See Set ID description in Account chartfield attribute. Business unit SFMED will use Flexfields in the Set ID SFMED. Business units SFCMP and SFFDN will use Flexfields in the Set ID UCSF. |
|
Effective Date |
Date |
The date that the attributes and definitions associated to a flexfield go into effect. |
|
|
Effective Status |
AN |
1 |
Flexfield status as of Effective Date:
|
|
Description |
AN |
30 |
30 character freeform description |
|
Short Description |
AN |
10 |
10 character freeform description |
|
Requestor ID |
AN |
9 |
Employee ID of the person requesting the flexfield |
|
Request Description |
AN |
50 |
Reason for requesting flexfield |
|
Approved/Denied |
AN |
1 |
Approval status: 1 = request for flexfield has been approved 2 = request for flexfield has been denied |
|
Approver ID |
AN |
9 |
Employee ID of the control point responsible for approving or denying the request to set up the flexfield |
Values
Refer to the Inquiry Reports for a list of valid values.