Cracking the Case of the Mystery Deposit: A New Process Sneak Peek

Follow the Money. Literally.

An electronic funds transfer (EFT) deposit sounds simple: money comes into the university bank account electronically, and it is posted to an account. There's much more to a deposit though than it seems as there are a surprising number of complex touchpoints, with Treasury, Accounting, and individual departments each holding a different piece of the same transaction.

 

The Treasury team manages the bank side, making sure funds land in the bank account and are reflected in Workday. The Accounting team manages the bank reconciliation and also ensures that the funds are applied to accounting worktags in the system, but it is our finance community members within the departments who hold the context to know what the funds are for and the appropriate worktags that should be used.

Three groups, three roles, one deposit; what looks like a single step is really several moving parts that have to line up perfectly.

That's exactly the opportunity Treasury and Accounting saw: a chance to bring these pieces closer together and make the whole process easier, faster, and clearer for everyone involved. The challenge was first shared and brainstormed with help from our Finance Advisory Network. After this critical work considering the available options, the Treasury and Accounting teams worked with the UVAFinance Business Systems team on the development of a new process that would clear up a lot of this complexity through a new EFT Deposit Form. Once the form was initially built, the teams worked with pilot users and our Department Finance Partners to test it, gather feedback, and shape the resources and training that will support this going forward.

One key takeaway has already developed from this effort:

Over 65%

of forms submitted in June were automatically matched and processed without any manual follow-up.

One key takeaway has already developed from this effort: the EFT deposit form is already cutting down on "mystery money," those deposits that show up with no clear explanation of where they came from or where they belong. In our pilot, over 65% of forms submitted in June were automatically matched and processed without any manual follow-up.

Fiscal Administrator Meeting | August 20th

We're excited to share more of this process at the Fiscal Administrator meeting on August 20th, including a demo and next steps. We hope to see you all there!

Questions or a deposit you can't figure out in the meantime? Reach us at AskFinance@virginia.edu.