Not just a tech implementation: FST transformations in progress (Volume One)

When you think about what Finance Strategic Transformation involves, you probably think about the Workday Financials implementation, and that makes sense!  After all, it's the thing you probably hear about most often.  

But it's not just our financial system that's transforming; in addition to the implementation of Workday Financials, the four parts of FST include adopting Adaptive Planning (Workday's budgeting and planning tool), enhanced reporting and analytics, and continuous improvement. 

At a recent Steering Committee meeting, the project team highlighted some of the big transformations being driven by FST that highlight the innovation and continuous improvement sparked by the project.  You can see those slides in the Community, but we'll also highlight those Transformations in Progress here in the blog, in a three-part series.

Here's our first round-up of examples of how changes are taking place surrounding FST: 

• FDM/Data Architecture:  Streamlining UVA's current dual ledger system into a one-ledger system and gaining more higher-quality descriptive attributes is a huge change!  This shift will radically improve reporting and provide greater insights into financial performance. 
• Workflow Controls and Approvals:  We're working with partners across Grounds to redesign UVA's internal controls framework and shift from an "after the fact" compensatory control environment to a proactive one, by introducing upfront approvals where it makes sense.  This reduces risk and should eliminate a large number of cost transfers.
• Cross-Platform Support Model:  We're working with UVAHR to establish a coordinated approach to living in the Workday platform together (HR and Finance) so that we can provide the best experience to our users.
• Improving Payment Processing:  Streamlining the foreign wire process by integrating it into Workday, and reducing the risk of fraud through the adoption of PaymentWorks.
• Shifting Toward Payroll Certification from Effort Reporting: Adopting payroll certification as a policy in lieu of effort reporting for sponsored programs, thus reducing the administrative burden for researchers.
• OCR Automation for Invoice Capture:  We'll significantly reduce manual data entry by leveraging optical character recognition technology for invoices.
• Procurement Marketplace Access:  We're working on how to open access to UVA's marketplaces to all users while still minimizing the risk and burden on authorized purchasers.

Again, you can see all of the "Transformation in Progress" examples in the Steering Slides, and we'll see you in the next two blog digests with rounds 2 and 3!