Year End Hard Close - FMS Availability

The SWIFT Financial Management System (FMS) will be unavailable on Friday, August 19, 2022, beginning at 6 pm for hard close. The system will become available on Monday, August 22, 2022 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, 2022, 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 2022 appropriations, depending on the appropriation type, are either closed or rolled forward. Exceptions include continuing or education aids appropriation types wh4ere 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.

EProcurement Module Upgrade Changes Starting August 29, 2022

The Eprocurement Module Upgrade Changes Starting August 29, 2022

When you sign into the Eprocurement module on August 29, 2022, you’ll notice some changes after the upgrade. The update will impact how you enter and process requisitions in SWIFT and includes some cosmetic changes as well.

IMPORTANT! Follow the steps from the updated EProcurement/Requisitions quick reference guides to process requisitions.The updated QRGs will be available on August 29, inside of the module and on SWIFT’s Training & Support webpages.

Tile navigation and page functionality

The EProcurement page now has separate tiles to create, manage, and expedite requisitions.

Create Requisitions Tile: This tile brings you to the Requisition Defaults page. Use it to create and process new requisitions.The Requisition Defaults page replaces the current Requisition Settings page. It contains the same fields.

Manage Requisitions Tile: This tile brings you to the Manage Requisitions page. You will see a list of requisitions. The Filter icon at the top of the page can be used to update how your list of requisitions appears. The Actions menu is now on the left side of a line. It is a green circle.

Requisitions Workcenter Tile: This tile brings you to the Requisitions Workcenter that allows you access to several pages within the module, including frequently used pages, queries, and reports. It is mostly used for expediting requisitions. 

Lookup menu in SWIFT fields

When you are in a requisition page and need to look up a field, you still select the Lookup icon. However, the Lookup page looks and operates differently from most other SWIFT modules. In the Search Results section, you can see a table with the field name and a description. You can see how many rows are listed on the far right of the table.

If you don’t see what you need, select Search Criteria section. If you know the exact term or description, enter it, and select Search. Or press the Show Operators link to change the operator to “contains” or another operator.

For more information, view the Overview of Changes in EProcurement document.

SWIFT Help Desk is Looking for Team Lead

Minnesota Management and Budget (MMB) is hiring a SWIFT Help Desk Lead for the SWIFT System Support team.

The Help Desk Unit is responsible for providing the initial level of support via phone or email to agencies on any questions they may have regarding the SWIFT, data warehouse, or budget system applications. The help desk also responds to inquiries on the Human Capital Management systems: Self Service, SEMA4 and Enterprise Learning Management (ELM). As a lead, you will provide a higher level of support to agencies, assist the supervisor of the team in scheduling, reporting, and training the help desk staff to ensure the highest level of team performance, and take lead on enterprise system communications and testing.

Please share with anyone who may be interested and qualified for this position.

Encumbrance Certifications Reports

• 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, 2022 (MS 16A.28).
• Agencies must certify encumbrances by completing and returning the certification report to Minnesota Management and Budget (MMB).

SWIFT and EPM Data Warehouse Training

The SWIFT Training team offers online training through webinars, training guides, video tutorials, eLearning, and one-on-one sessions.

• Webinars/Labs: Enroll in online training for SWIFT and the EPM Data Warehouse on Enterprise Learning Management (ELM). See Upcoming SWIFT Training below. Webinars and labs run for 60 to 120 minutes. They include live demos of SWIFT and EPM Data Warehouse processes. SWIFT training options are webinars. Some of the EPM training are labs so that you can follow along and create and save your own reports or My Dashboard.
• SWIFT Training Guides and Video Tutorials: Find quick reference guides and a user guide on our Training Guides page and video tutorials on our Training Videos page.
• EPM Data Warehouse Training: Locate quick reference guides on our EPM Warehouse Training page. Topics include the most common EPM Data Warehouse processes and SWIFT reports.
• eLearning: Complete self-paced training in ELM. After learning the material at your own pace and passing the quiz, you can request a Certificate of Completion.
• One-On-One Sessions: Still feeling stuck? Request a one-on-one training session by emailing us at SWIFTHelpDesk.MMB@state.mn.us.

Upcoming SWIFT Training

To enroll in a SWIFT training, sign in to Self Service or the Administrative Portal and select the Learning Management tile.

1. On the Find Learning tile, enter “SWIFT” in the search field, and press the Search button.
2. From the Search Results, select the webinar you would like to take.
3. Press the Enroll button, and check your email later for an invitation with instructions on how to attend the webinar.

Currently, there are seats still available for the following webinars and eLearning.

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 page.

SWIFT Update Newsletter

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