Resolving Differences Between the GMS and the RFASI

Purpose

This document provides guidance on how to identify and resolve balance differences that may occur between GMS balance table and the RFASI balance. In addition, it provides a brief overview of why both tables exist and how they relate to transactions processing to a project/task/award.

Background

In the RF Award Summary Inquiry (RFASI) form of the Grants Management module of the Oracle business application, there are two balance lines that display:

GMS Balance - Oracle table used during the Funds Checking checking process to determine if there are enough funds available to process transactions.
This table is updated with current balances every two hours through a system process.
RFASI Balance - RF custom table created for the RFASI form to display a detailed view of the budget, expended, encumbered and cash received on a
project/task/award. This table is updated nightly during processing, and on-demand by the user.

Transactions are processed to a project/task/award based on the transaction being allowable and enough funds available in the remaining GMS balance to cover the transaction. Note: For more information on the criteria required for a transaction to process to a project/task/award refer to: Transactions Processing to an Award.

In some cases, there may be discrepancies between the GMS balance and the RFASI balance that must be resolved in order for transactions to process appropriately.

Reasons for Balance Issues

The following reasons may create a balance discrepancy between the two tables and require corrective action:

Purchase orders (PO) in a 'Closed' status that has a remaining balance. In these cases, the status must be changed to 'Final Closed,' or the remaining
balance must be released in order to release the funds from the GMS balance table.
Rounding differences in the fringe benefit category (usually pennies.) These case may occur because the RFASI is an RF custom table and the GMS
balance is an Oracle table. There is no corrective action to take.

Identifying and Resolving Balance Issues

Balance discrepancies can be identified by using the RF RFASI GMS Balance Comparison Report or may be detected when reviewing a project/task/award balance using the RFASI inquiry form in the Oracle application.

When balance discrepancies occur, the following steps should be taken to resolve the issue:

Baseline the project/award. Note: This will immediately update the balance in the GMS balance table.
After the baseline has completed successfully, resubmit the RFASI and review the balances.
If the balance discrepancy remains after rebaselining and is greater than 1.00, there are purchase orders in a 'Closed' status that have a remaining
balance and must be changed to 'Final Closed' or the remaining funds released.
Review purchase orders in the PI Award Interface (PIAI) application using PO Inquiry. For instructions, review the work instruction: Inquiry on POs
Creating a Balance Difference Using PIAI. If the results do not identify the POs required to correct, continue to step 4a. If the results do identify the POs,
continue to step 5.
1. Review purchase orders using the Purchasing module of the Oracle business application. For information on how to inquiry in the Purchasing
  Application, review the work instruction: Inquiry on POs Creating a Balance Difference Using Oracle Purchasing. Continue to step 5.
Take corrective action; final close PO or release remaining funds.
Baseline the project/task/award.
Resubmit the RFASI and review the balances.

Monitoring and Prevention

To identify balance issues, the report RF RFASI GMS Balance Comparison Report should be used to monitor and correct balance discrepancies. This report should be run at the start of the business day before Accounts Payable (AP) and Purchasing (PO) transactions are processed which will effect the balance that is available in the GMS balance skewing the data displayed in the report.

To prevent these situations, the Discoverer report 650REPORTING.PO_Closed PO at the Header Level with Remaining Balance should be used to monitor purchase orders in a 'Closed' status that have a remaining balance and appropriate action taken.

Change History

March 7, 2005 - New Document.

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