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    SWIFT Update August 10, 2023


    Year End Hard Close - FMS Availability

    The SWIFT Financial Management System (FMS) will be unavailable on Friday, August 18, 2023, beginning at 6 pm for hard close. The system will become available on Monday, August 21, 2023 at 6 am.

    What happens at hard close?

    First, the fiscal year (accounting year) is closed and agencies can no longer enter an accounting date prior to July 1, 2023, meaning nothing further can be processed against that year.

    • This facilitates reporting by allowing Minnesota Management and Budget to develop the Annual Comprehensive Financial Report (ACFR) against data that can no longer be changed.
    • It also performs the important function of closing income statement activity into fund balance to create an accurate starting point for the new fiscal year.
    • Remember, the fiscal year is different from the budget fiscal year (BFY). Budget fiscal year (budget period or budget date) is used to control spending authority as required by law and is not closed as part of this process.

    Second, any unencumbered balances in BFY 2023 appropriations, depending on the appropriation type, are either closed or rolled forward. Exceptions include continuing or education aids appropriation types where the closing process does not affect unencumbered balances. After the close, agencies can make payments against encumbrances and can cancel encumbrances if no longer needed. Agencies can still deposit receipts to the closed budget fiscal year.

    Reminder to Buyers:Please be aware the system downtime includes the Supplier Portal. Avoid scheduling solicitation events to close early next week as responders may need extra time to submit bid responses.

    Payments

    BFY 2023 payments made after June 30, 2023 must be for goods ordered and services performed by June 30, 2023 Generally, these payments must reference a purchase order.

    While it is important for agencies to accurately code the date of receipt field throughout the fiscal year, it becomes critical at year-end. The date of goods/services received field is used to determine liabilities for the State’s Annual Comprehensive Financial Report (ACFR). To ensure this information is accurate, agencies must:

    • Enter the date they received goods or services accurately in SWIFT, rather than allowing the date to default to the current date. If the service dates on an invoice cross fiscal years, multiple PO receipts are required.
    • Complete MMB ACFR confirmation requests received in mid-August to identify any goods and/or services received by June 30, but not coded to fiscal year 2023. Based on materiality thresholds, MMB will send agencies transactions and ask them to identify what portion, if any, is for goods and/or services received by June 30.
    • Expenditure Corrections and expenditure refunds should be entered by June 30. The last day to enter these corrections is August 18, 2023. This includes any corrections between fiscal years, which require an AP journal voucher. Whenever possible use the same accounting fiscal year as the original transaction.

    Calling on the Savvy!

    Are you a savvy user of the standard SWIFT reports found in the EPM Data Warehouse? Want to further customize your reports to meet your unique business needs but are unsure how to approach it? Join the SWIFT training team for open labs intended to foster collaboration and problem solving. Beef up your reporting skills while helping others enhance theirs. The shared goal is to access the SWIFT information you require to solve real state data needs. 

    Labs will run approximately 90 minutes and will cover 1 or 2 topics nominated by you. The more topics, the more labs! Email us at swift.project@state.mn.us. Send us your topic, including the parent report/subject area (sorry, SWIFT-related only), the desired outcome, and any issues you’ve encountered. 

    Respond to Problem Reports

    Encumbrance Certification

    • Agencies must cancel all encumbrances for the fiscal year unless the agency head certifies that goods were purchased or services were rendered by June 30, 2023 (MS 16A.28).
    • Agencies must certify encumbrances by completing and returning the certification report to Minnesota Management and Budget (MMB).

    Appropriation Problem Reports

    • MMB will continue to send these out every Monday.
    • These reports identify appropriations that are over-obligated, over-extended, or have open requisitions (pre-encumbrances) or anticipated transfers.
    • Agencies must resolve these conditions by August 11, 2023, in preparation for hard close on August 18, 2023.

    Review Vouchers to Prepare for Hard Close

    In preparation for the upcoming hard close, agencies should ensure fiscal year 2023 transactions are fully processed in SWIFT. For Accounts Payable, agencies can run the M_AP_GBL_ EXCEPTION _NO_ACCT_DT query to see a complete list of vouchers with exceptions. After hard close, agencies will not be able to process transactions with Accounting Dates prior to July 1, 2023.

    Agencies should also be completing regular voucher maintenance including fixing, closing, or deleting vouchers in recycle status, voucher build errors, budget exceptions, match exceptions, or vouchers that have been denied including journal vouchers. Voucher maintenance is usually more difficult after hard close.

    To assist with voucher maintenance, there are several queries agencies can run:

    • M_AP_GBL_DENIED_VOUCHERS - vouchers that have been denied
    • M_AP_UNAPPROVED_VOUCHERS - vouchers that have been denied or pending approval
    • M_AP_GBL_RECYCLED_VCHRS - vouchers in recycle status
    • M_AP_GBL_VOUCHER_BUILD_ERROR - interface vouchers that failed voucher build
    • M_AP_UNPAID_VOUCHERS - vouchers that are unpaid
    • M_AP_GBL_UNPOSTED_JOURNAL_VCHR - unposted journal vouchers
    • M_AP_GBL_BUD_EXCEPTION - vouchers with budget exceptions
    • M_AP_GBL_MATCH_EXCEPTIONS - vouchers with match exceptions
    • M_AP_GBL_NEGATIVE_VOUCHERS – Negative vouchers

    Please see the Accounts Payable Quick Reference Guides for helpful information on deleting and closing vouchers.

    SWIFT and EPM Data Warehouse Training

    The SWIFT Training team offers training through a variety of methods. There are SWIFT training guides and training videos, EPM training guides, webinars, labs, eLearning, and individual sessions (by request through the SWIFT Help Desk).

    Find current SWIFT training in Learning Management. Enter "SWIFT" in the Find Learning text entry box.

    MODULE

    WEBINARS/eLEARNING
    Sessions run 9 a.m. - 10:30 a.m., unless otherwise noted.

    DATES

    INTRO

    Introduction to EPM Data Warehouse/SWIFT

    10/12/23

    INTRO

    Introduction to SWIFT Navigation webinar

    8/15/23; 9/12/23; 10/17/23

    INTRO

    Overview of SWIFT Reporting webinar

    9/7/23; 10/4/23

    INTRO

    Introduction to SWIFT eLearning

    Anytime

    AP

    SWIFT Create Vouchers Overview in Accounts Payable webinar

    9/20/23

    EPM

    Build a My Dashboard for SWIFT Reports in EPM lab

    9/7/23

    EPM

    Create a SWIFT All Expenditures Report in EPM lab

    10/4/23

    EPM

    SWIFT EPM Formatting Your Report

    9/14/23

    EPM

    SWIFT EPM Create and Save a New Analysis lab

    9/28/23

    EPM

    SWIFT EPM Create and Save the Manager's Financial Report lab

    9/20/2023

    EPM

    Understand the SWIFT Data in the EPM Data Warehouse webinar

    10/4/23

    EPM

    Use SWIFT Standard Reports in EPM lab

    9/13/23

    PO

    SWIFT Create Purchase Orders webinar

    9/19/23

    SC

    SWIFT Create a Supplier Contract Shell webinar
    Time, 9 a.m. - 10:am

    8/17/23

    SC

    SWIFT Import and Process Contract Document Electronically webinar
    Time, 1:00 p.m. - 2:00 p.m.

    8/17/23

    SS

    Strategic Sourcing Part 1: Create, Post, and Approve Events

    8/29/23

    SS

    Strategic Sourcing Part 2: Analyze and Award Events
     Time, 1:00 p.m. - 2:30 p.m.

    8/29/23

    SS

    SWIFT Strategic Sourcing eLearning

    Anytime

    SWIFT Help Desk

    Contact the SWIFT Help Desk for any SWIFT-related questions or issues.

    Email: SWIFTHelpDesk.MMB@state.mn.us

    Phone: 651-201-8100, option 2

    Hours: 7:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m., Monday through Friday (closed holidays)

    When contacting the SWIFT Help Desk, make sure to include details about your question or issue, including:

    • Your Business Unit
    • Description of the issue/question
    • SWIFT Module (Accounts Payable, Purchase Orders, etc.)
    • Transaction ID (Voucher ID, PO ID, etc.)
    • Error message print screen

    Additional assistance can be found on the SWIFT Training Guides and Resources page.

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