[IUG] Fiscal Close Method 2 questions...

[Amy Hart <ahart at minlib dot net>]

It's that time of year again...
We (our 41 member libraries, public and academic) have been using Method 
One for the past 4 years. However, this year we have one public library 
whose town seems to have switched to Method 2 -- the town wants the 
library to "pay encumbered FY08 orders with FY08 funds after the FY08 
fiscal close".  So, the preliminary question is: Does method 2 
accomplish what the town wants the library to do?

If so, my additional questions are more sticky:

1. What exactly is the difference in outcome between Method 
2|Automatic|COPY and Method 2|Automatic|TRANSFER? Or - under what 
circumstance would  you choose one over the other? (We think we lean 
toward |Transfer, but can't really articulate why.)

If you COPY appropriations and expenditures, does that mean you have the 
same values in the Current Year funds and also in the Past Year funds? 

If you TRANSFER appropriations and expenditures, do these values in the 
Current Year funds become zero, and the Past Year funds values become 
the transferred value?

If neither, what really happens in each scenario?

2. Using Method 2|Automatic, either Copy or Transfer, can you exclude a 
particular category of order record (e.g., Standing Order and/or Serial 
order records) from the process? In the documentation it doesn't look 
like you get any "select order records for which you want to change fund 
codes" like you do under Method 2|Manual.

[The library doesn't use separate funds for Standing Orders; e.g., they 
create Firm Orders for mystery novels using fund MYS, and also would 
create a Standing Order for a mystery series using fund MYS. So they 
would need to have a Previous Year MYS fund as well as a Current Year 
MYS fund -- but while they would want their Firm Orders with fund MYS 
changed to Previous Year MYS, they would NOT want the Standing Order 
orders to have their fund codes changed. Can you do that using Method 
2|Automatic?]

3. Once you do Fiscal Close using Method 2 --
3A. Where exactly do the Previous Year fund codes display? Are they in 
the Current Year folder? Is there a new folder/level created for 
Previous Year Funds?
3B. Do libraries who use Method 2 generally opt to 'archive' into the 
Old Funds/Old Heirarchies folders as well? What are the pros and cons?
3C. When you receive an item ordered in previous year, what do you see 
on screen/how does it work that "the system posts these expenditures and 
disencumbrances in the previous year fund balances"? What does the FAR 
look like?

Any help will be much appreciated!

Thanks.

--
Amy Hart
Head,Bibliographic Services
Minuteman Library Network

Email: ahart at minlib dot net
Phone: (508)655-8008 x222