A new system is needed. The legacy system is a cash-based system, recording only revenues and expenditures. Generally accepted accounting principles for colleges and universities require accrual based accounting. Thus, the current system does not meet our systemwide financial reporting responsibilities. A new approach and a new system are critical to preventing problems in the future.
Unity equals savings.
Individual UW Institutions have begun to make significant investments in financial systems to accommodate the year 2000 problem. The nine institutions who have invested in their own systems require maintenance, upgrading and replacement with institutional resources, an increasingly expensive strategy. It was decided to explore the premise that, given the flexibility offered by current software, efficiencies could be obtained with a consolidated, systemwide approach to financial systems. Shared System A committee of systemwide representatives surveyed other multi-campus systems and business corporations. They identified a shared software approach as the Best Business Practice for Financial Systems.