FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS - Click on a question to jump down to the Answer section below.

Compensation Budgeting:

  1. How nodes should be opened to Enter vs. Review Data.
  2. How to set up an account during the budget process for School of Medicine.
  3. How to set up an account during the budget process for Danforth schools, CFU, and Auxes.
  4. How to exclude an existing employee from the budget.
  5. How to budget and source employees who receive fringes but no salary.
  6. How to enter Non WU Salary/VA Pay (School of Medicine only).
  7. How to use new Subclass 10 for Undergraduate Students in RAPS for FY11.
  8. How often is new budget data published for reports from the Compensation Budgeting model
  9. When and what data is transferred from Compensation Budgeting to Revenue and Expense?
  10. Whom do I contact with questions?
  11. I am not able to log in to RAPS. My WUSTL-KEY doesn't seem to work.

General Operating Revenue and Expense Budgeting:

  1. How nodes should be open to Enter vs. Review Data
  2. How to set up an account during the budget process for School of Medicine.
  3. How to set up an account during the budget process for Danforth schools, CFU, and Auxes.
  4. What tabs are required vs. optional in the R&E model?
  5. What data will be transferred from the Budget Tab to AIS?
  6. How often is new budget data published for reports from the Revenue and Expense model?
  7. When and what data is transferred from Compensation Budgeting to Revenue and Expense?

HR and University Financial Reporting:

  1. Can you select a delivery method (HTML, PDF, or Excel) before you run the report?
  2. How often is data updated in RAPS?
  3. How far back does the data go in RAPS?
  4. What software tool will be used for HR and University Financial Reporting?
  5. How can I make suggestions for changes to existing reports, or for new reports?
  6. What will happen to the queries I use in the HRMS transaction system?
  7. What is ‘guided analysis’?
  8. What will happen to the WebFOCUS PersPay reports?
  9. Why is my report only printing one page at a time?
  10. How do I get back to the Main Menu from a prompt page?
  11. When viewing my report in HTML format, the Page Up and Page Down buttons don't seem to be working correctly.
  12. I ran a report to HTML output and noticed that the page numbers at the bottom showed 1 of ? instead of 1 of 5. Why?

ANSWER SECTION

Compensation Budgeting:

  1. How nodes should be opened to Enter vs. Review Data.    
    2. (Return to top)

    When opening a node to input/edit data into a budgeting model, make sure to open the node at the lowest level, i.e., 1000-A, 1000-S, or 1000-X, 1000 (All). If the node is opened at the 1000 level in the “You are a reviewer for:” section, then this is the Reviewer mode and you will not be able to edit data.

  2. How to set up an account during the budget process for School of Medicine.    
    3. (Return to top)

    Departments must fill out a New Account Request form and forward to their Department's Senior Budget Analyst. Senior Budget Analyst will set up the new account in AIS and then forward the new account request form to RAPS Support. RAPS Support will add the new account to your Department's RAPS model. There will be a 24 hour turn-around time for accounts set up during the process.  

    Please go to the School of Medicine Finance page for more information: http://aladdin.wustl.edu/medadmin/fis/finance.nsf/

  3. How to set up an account during the budget process for Danforth schools, CFU, and Auxes.    
    4. (Return to top)

    Departments must contact Accounting Services for new general operating accounts to be set up in AIS, the Compensation Budgeting System, and the General Operating Revenue and Expense System.

    Please contact Kathy Anderson at   K.Anderson@wustl.edu for a copy of the form. You must indicate on the form that the account is needed for budgeting purposes.

  4. How to exclude an existing employee from the budget.    
    5. (Return to top)

    Enter “Y” in the Exclude from budget row in primary or secondary tabs. In addition, zero out the following rows for the employee:

    1. Merit %

    2. Proposed Total FTE in the Primary tab

    3. Proposed Job FTE in both Primary and Secondary tabs

    Tool tips also indicate which rows need to be zeroed out.

  5. How to budget and source employees who receive fringes but no salary?    
    6. (Return to top)

    1. There are two options for existing employees:
      1. Enter $ 1 in the Job Salary override row in primary or secondary tabs. This allows sourcing and proper calculation of health allowance and dependent tuition in the model. Please note that fringes are based on the relationship between Proposed Total FTE and Job FTE. If both FTE’s are equal to 1, the model will calculate a full health allowance and dependent tuition rate.
      2. Go through the process of excluding the employee from the budget then enter fringes and sources in the Aggregates tab. An aggregate amount is not needed but a compensation Sub-Class must be chosen for fringes to be sourced properly. An additional benefit of using aggregates is that FTE’s can be equal to zero.
    2. There are two options for new employees:
      1. In the New Job tab, enter $ 1 in the Proposed Total Salary and Proposed Job Salary rows. Then enter 1 in the Proposed Total FTE and Proposed Job FTE rows. This allows sourcing and proper calculation of full health allowance and dependent tuition rates in the model. Please note that fringes are based on the relationship between Proposed Total FTE and Job FTE. If both FTE’s are equal to 1, the model will calculate a full health allowance and dependent tuition rate.
      2. Enter fringes and sources in the Aggregates tab. An aggregate amount is not needed but a compensation Sub-Class must be chosen for fringes to be sourced properly. An additional benefit of using aggregates is that FTE’s can be equal to zero.


    Please contact RAPS support at   RAPS@wustl.edu or call 935-3890 for more information.

  6. How to enter Non WU Salary/VA Pay (School of Medicine only).    
    7. (Return to top)

    If you have an employee with a Non Wash U/VA Salary amount as a part of their total salary, the procedure to enter it in the Compensation Budgeting model is as follows:

    1. In the employee’s Prime Department, create a secondary job on the Prime Appts tab.

    2. Enter the Sec Job Department 46XX to balance the full FTE.

  7. How to use new Subclass 10 for Undergraduate Students in RAPS for FY11.    
    8. (Return to top)

    A new subclass 10 will be available soon in AIS and HRMS to identify salaries for undergraduate students. In the Compensation Budgeting model, undergraduate students are budgeted on the aggregate tab. Aggregate type = “Student (New SC 10) UGrad” should be selected. Source to SC 12, (as SC 10 is not available). Subclass 10 will be available for sourcing in the FY12 Compensation Budgeting model.

  8. How often is new budget data published for reports from the Compensation Budgeting model?    
    9. (Return to top)

    Once every hour on the hour between the hours of 7 am and 9 pm.

  9. When and what data is transferred from Compensation Budgeting to Revenue and Expense?    
    10. (Return to top)

  10. Whom do I contact with questions?    
    11. (Return to top)

    For RAPS support, send an e-mail message to  RAPS@wustl.edu, or call 935-3890 for more information.

  11. I am not able to log in to RAPS. My WUSTL-KEY doesn't seem to work.    
    12. (Return to top)

    Your WUSTL-KEY password has probably expired. Your WUSTL-KEY password must be reset every 90 days. Unlike other applications, RAPS will not tell you that your WUSTL-KEY password has expired. To reset your WUSTL-KEY password, login to another application that uses the WUSTL-KEY, like AIS or HRMS, where you will be notified that your WUSTL-KEY password has expired. You will be prompted to enter a new password. After you create a new WUSTL-KEY password, you can again access RAPS.


General Operating Revenue and Expense Budgeting:

  1. How nodes should be open to Enter vs. Review Data    
    2. (Return to top)

    When opening a node to input/edit data into a budgeting model, make sure to open the node at the lowest level, i.e., 1000-blank, 1000-91001, or 1000 (All) under the Which is made up of section. Note that if you wish to open the model at the department All level, make certain that there are fewer than 25 nodes (i.e. department-funds) making up that department. This will allow you to navigate between nodes most efficiently. If the node is opened at the 1000 level in the You are a reviewer for section, then this is the Reviewer mode and you will not be able to edit data.

  2. How to set up an account during the budget process for School of Medicine:     
    3. (Return to top)

    Departments must fill out a New Account Request form and forward to their Department's Senior Budget Analyst. Senior Budget Analyst will set up the new account in AIS and then forward the new account request form to RAPS Support. RAPS Support will add the new account to your Department's RAPS model. There will be a 24 hour turn-around time for accounts set up during the process.

    Please go to the School of Medicine Finance page for more information: http://aladdin.wustl.edu/medadmin/fis/finance.nsf/

  3. How to set up an account during the budget process for Danforth schools, CFU, and Auxes:     
    4. (Return to top)

    Departments must contact Accounting Services for new general operating accounts to be set up in AIS, the Compensation Budgeting System, and the General Operating Revenue and Expense System.

    Kathy Anderson will add a question to a form that is sent to Danforth Schools, CFU, and Auxes for new accounts. The question is - Will this account be used in RAPS Budgeting?
    Please contact Kathy Anderson at       K.Anderson@wustl.edu for a copy of the form.

  4. What tabs are required vs. optional in the R&E model?    
    5. (Return to top)


  5. What data will be transferred from the Budget Tab to AIS?    
    6. (Return to top)

    All nodes include the FY11 Bud column and the FY11 94Bud column as illustrated below. The FY11 94 Bud column should only be used with a 94xxx fund and should otherwise contain no data.




  6. How often is new budget data published for reports from the Revenue and Expense model?    
    7. (Return to top)

  7. When and what data is transferred from Compensation Budgeting to Revenue and Expense?    
    8. (Return to top)


HR and University Financial Reporting:

  1. Can you select a delivery method (HTML, PDF, or Excel) before you run the report?    
    2. (Return to top)

    Yes. Instead of clicking on the report name to run the report, click the blue 'run with options' arrow. You will be prompted to change the delivery method before the prompt page appears.

  2. How often is data updated in RAPS?    
    3. (Return to top)

    Data in RAPS is one day behind HRMS and AIS source systems, and is updated nightly Monday-Friday at approximately 3 AM.

  3. How far back does the data go in RAPS?    
    4. (Return to top)

    For HR Reporting: the data is consistent with HRMS and goes back to 2003. For University Financial Reporting: the data goes back to FY 2001.

  4. What software tool will be used for HR and University Financial Reporting?    
    5. (Return to top)

    Cognos is the software selected by the University for the RAPS project.

  5. How can I make suggestions for changes to existing reports, or for new reports?    
    6. (Return to top)

    Send the details in an e-mail message to: raps@wustl.edu . We would be happy to review the request. Our ability to respond to your request will, however, depend on how it fits in with existing priorities and usefulness to a broad base of users.

  6. What will happen to the queries I use in the HRMS transaction system?    
    7. (Return to top)

    Most of the queries will be consolidated, moved to the data warehouse and replaced with guided analysis reports and ad hoc querying tools. Queries related to real-time transaction analysis (workflow, payroll processing) will remain in the HRMS system.

  7. What is ‘guided analysis’?    
    8. (Return to top)

    Guided analysis refers to reports that contain extensive criteria prompts and formatting options. It provides the user with reporting flexibility without requiring programming or SQL skills.

  8. What will happen to the WebFOCUS PersPay reports?    
    9. (Return to top)

    These reports will be rebuilt in the data warehouse as part of the first phase of HR Reporting.

  9. Why is my report only printing one page at a time?    
    10. (Return to top)

    To print a PDF report, use the "Printer" icon on the PDF toolbar. The Explorer browser menu (File-Print) option does not produce expected results.

  10. How do I get back to the Main Menu from a prompt page?    
    11. (Return to top)

    The Cancel button at the bottom-left of a prompt page takes you back to the main folder list.

  11. When viewing my report in HTML format, the Page Up and Page Down buttons don't seem to be working correctly.    
    12. (Return to top)

    The default report output is HTML format. If you run a report for one or more Departments, the HTML view will display a 'Department per page', which allows the user to scroll through the detail for each Department. Sending the report to PDF (link in the upper-right corner of the viewer window) will show exact pagination.

  12. I ran a report to HTML output and noticed that the page numbers at the bottom showed 1 of ? instead of 1 of 5. Why?    
    13. (Return to top)

    HTML output will not display the total number of pages. Sending the report to PDF will display the total number of pages.

    Yes. Instead of clicking on the report name to run the report, click the blue 'run with options' arrow. You will be prompted to change the delivery method before the prompt page appears.


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