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March 19, 1998
TO: THE CAMPUS COMMUNITY
As chair of the Business Process and Practice Work Group (BPPWG), I am announcing a significant change and improvement in the campus' current business practices with the implementation of the Distributed Office of Record (DOOR) project on May 4, 1998.
The objective of the DOOR project is to improve the direct payment process. Direct payments are those payments that do not involve a purchase order, such as travel, reimbursements and honoraria payments. With the initiation of this project, service centers will be given full ownership of the direct payment process, including all financial and internal control responsibilities. Accounts Payable will maintain responsibility for issuing checks, but no longer approve documents prior to payment. The expected benefits of this change are: -a streamlined process that results in faster payments, -expenditures reflected on the FIS ledger when approved (on line) by service centers, -a simplified fiscal closing process for direct pay transactions, and -reduced time spent on activities of little value (e.g. copying and filing documents).
The DOOR project was conceived by representatives from service centers, central offices and departments. It has taken a year to fully develop the new procedures and training program, and many service centers have participated in the creation of this new process that will eliminate unnecessary work.
As with any change, routine processes may be initially slower due to the learning curve and logistical and technical changes. Any slowdown is expected to be temporary, and I trust that service centers will enjoy the benefits of this process change in the near future.
Sincerely,
Thomas Vani
Vice Chancellor
Business and Administrative Services
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