linear_scale How To

Manage a Soft Commitment for Goods and Services in CMS

Create soft commitments to project one-time and recurring purchases of goods or services. Soft commitments for goods or services can also be edited or deleted in CMS.

Create One-Time Soft Commitment in CMS

Create a one-time soft commitment to project a one-time purchase of goods or services. The one-time soft commitment amount will roll forward from month-to-month until manually deleted. Burdening ( indirect costs and infrastructure) associated with the commitment is automatically calculated by CMS.

  1. Go to Oracle Financials
  2. Select Login
  3. Enter SUNet ID and password, if prompted

  1. Select SU CMS USER

  1. Select the Goods and Services tab
  2. Enter account (PTA) search criteria from the Manage Goods and Services screen
  3. Select Go – Execute Your Search 

  1. Select Add Soft Commitment
  2. Select One-Time from the Add a Soft Commitment screen
  3. Add soft commitment details
    1. Enter a Description (maximum 50 characters) 
    2. Enter additional information in the Notes box, if desired
    3. Select a month and year from the Start Period drop-down lists to define when the soft commitments will occur
    4. Enter the forecasted amount in the One-Time Amt field 
      The one-time soft commitment amount will roll forward from month-to-month until manually deleted.

  1. Select Add Line to open a PTAE distribution line
  2. Add account and expenditure type details
    1. Enter a valid Project, Task, Award and Exp Type for the projected expense
    2. Enter the percentage of the expense that you want forecasted against the PTA in the Dist % field
    3. Enter Notes (optional)
    4. If charging less than 100% of the expense to one PTA, add additional lines to distribute the full amount
  3. Select Save
What Happens Next?
  • Review the soft commitment from the Account Overview screen and view uncommitted account balances with or without CMS soft commitments.
  • Faculty and staff will have the option of viewing soft commitment data in the Faculty Financial Inquiry Tool (FFIT) the day after the soft commitment is entered in CMS.

Create Recurring Soft Commitment in CMS

Defining a recurring soft commitment allows you to project repeating purchases of goods and services over a specified period of time. Recurring soft commitments are cleared as forecasted dates arrive. They do not recur beyond the specified end. Burdening (IDC/Infrastructure) associated with the commitment is automatically calculated by CMS.

  1. Go to Oracle Financials
  2. Select Login
  3. Enter SUNet ID and password, if prompted

  1. Select SU CMS USER

  1. Select the Goods and Services tab
  2. Enter account (PTA) search criteria from the Manage Goods and Services screen
  3. Select Go – Execute Your Search 

  1. Select Add Soft Commitment
  2. Select the Recurring radio button from the Add a Soft Commitment screen
  3. Add soft commitment details
    1. Enter a Description (maximum 50 characters) 
    2. Enter additional information in the Notes box, if desired
    3. Select a month and year from the Start Period and Stop Period drop-down lists to define first and last occurrence of the recurring expense
    4. Enter the forecasted recurring commitment amount in the Monthly Amt field

  1. Select Add Line to open a PTAE distribution line
  2. Add account and expenditure type details
    1. Enter a valid Project, Task, Award and Exp Type for the projected expense
    2. Enter the percentage of the expense that you want forecasted against the PTA in the Dist % field
    3. Enter Notes (optional)
    4. If charging less than 100% of the expense to one PTA, add additional lines to distribute the full amount
  3. Select Save
What Happens Next?
  • Review the soft commitment from the Account Overview screen and view uncommitted account balances with or without CMS soft commitments.
  • Faculty and staff will have the option of viewing soft commitment data in the Faculty Financial Inquiry Tool (FFIT) the day after the soft commitment is entered in CMS.

Edit or Delete Soft Commitment in CMS

Gather the account information and edits needed.

  1. Go to Oracle Financials
  2. Select Login
  3. Enter SUNet ID and password, if prompted

  1. Select SU CMS USER

  1. Select the Goods and Services tab
  2. Enter account (PTA) search criteria from the Manage Goods and Services screen
  3. Select Go – Execute Your Search 

  1. Find the soft commitment in the search results 
    The Source column differentiates hard "PO" commitments from forecasted soft commitments which are labeled "CMS Recur" or "CMS 1-Time."
  2. Click Reference Number link to access the Edit Soft Commitment screen

  1. Edit the soft commitment fields:

    • Description
    • Notes
    • Start Period
    • End Period (for recurring soft commitments)
    • Monthly Amount
    • PTAE Distribution lines


    Or, select Delete Commitment (located top right) to delete the entire soft commitment

  2. Select Save
Additional Information
Last Updated: Jul 16, 2026
Submit feedback about this page

Questions?

arrow_upward
Back to Top