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OBI Dashboard: Consolidated Expenditure Reporting Dashboard and Reports (CER)

The CER dashboard provides a comprehensive view of organizational expenditures by consolidating data from multiple financial systems, including Oracle Grants Accounting (GA), iJournals, Cardinal Planning & Budgeting (CPB), iBudgets, GA Budgets for sponsored and capital projects, and hard commitments. This integrated platform enables users to track expenses over time, facilitating financial analysis, budget reconciliation, and performance comparison against planned targets. 

Launch OBI Consolidated Expenditure Reporting Dashboard

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Expenditure BalanceSummary and detailed views of budgeted against actual expenditures, together with the current remaining balance. Hard commitments may be included to derive a projected remaining balance. Also compares monthly incremental spending to FTD/PTD incremental budget. 
Monthly Expenditure Details StatementNon-customizable, BI Publisher summary of fiscal-to-date/project-to-date (FTD/PTD) expenditures featuring current month details alongside budget allocations, outstanding commitments, and remaining balances.  Equivalent to the RM3 FIN_EXP_285 report.
Expenditure Award to Date and Award DetailSummarized report of budget, actual expenditures, prepaid expenses and commitments. Equivalent to the RM3 FIN_EXP_179.
Expenditure TrendSummary and detail of expenditures pivoted by time periods such as GL period, fiscal quarter and fiscal year.
Expenditure VarianceSummary and detailed comparison of expenditures between two date ranges.
Expenditure DetailsSummary and detail of expenditures for fiscal year-to-date, project-to-date or within a GL period range. Used for expenditure review and reconciliation.
Expenditure Details Data DownloadA report designed as a table to download expenditure data using the same fields and sequence as the RM3 279 download report. 
Sponsored Awards Actual Expenditures - by MTDC, Exclusions, Indirect ExpenseDisplays the Modified Total Direct Costs (MTDC), along with the exclusions and indirect expenses associated with a sponsored PTA. Equivalent to the RM3 FIN_EXP_109.
iJournalsSummary and detail of all types of iJournal transactions, including approval history.
Commitment DetailsHard commitments of expenditures for outstanding requisitions, purchase orders (POs), invoices and salary transaction details.

 

Used to compare spending to budget. Displays budget, expenditures and remaining balance as of the specified GL Period for fiscal-to date (FTD) or project- to-date (PTD) ranges. Hard commitments can be included to calculate a projected remaining balance.  Also compares monthly incremental spending to FTD/PTD incremental budget. 

Demo of Expenditure Balance reports within the CER Dashboard in OBI

Launch OBI Expenditure Balance

  • Are year-to-date actual expenses aligned with the annual budget?
  • What is the projected remaining balance, with or without commitments?
  • Which expenditures are driving large variances from budget?
  • What are the fiscal-to-date (FTD) and project-to-date (PTD) spending trends and what are the corresponding variances to budget for these periods?

To retrieve results, follow the Selection Criteria instructions near the top of the screen. For additional guidance refer to Using Selection Criteria for OBI Reports. 

  • For Include Budget Sources,  Budget Management Tool is the annual consolidated budget created in Cardinal Planning & Budgeting (CPB), Grants Accounting refers to sponsored project budgets and capital project budgets, and iBudgets is the mid-year adjustments created in the iBudgets system.
  • Commitments data is only returned if the ending GL Period is the last closed or current open period.
  • Non-sponsored awards will return FTD budget and actual expenditures, regardless of the period selection chosen.
  • For sponsored awards, use project-to-date for the period selection to prevent potentially misleading budget amounts.

Expenditure Balance Summary

This section includes two reports; use the Select a Report toggle to navigate between them. There are two reports for the Expenditure Balance Summary section.  Both reports summarize expenditures through the selected end date (FTD or PTD), displays the current balance, and if including commitments, the projected remaining balance.  The summary reports provide totals of salary expenditures, independent of salary access authority.

Expenditure Balance Summary

The Expenditure Balance Summary provides a pivot-style view of summarized expenses for the selected timeframe; shows summarized expenses to budget;  compares  FTD/PTD expenses to budget and calculates the remaining balance and percentage of budget consumed. The summary will provide total salary expenditures, even if you do not have salary access.

  • Use the Budget with Expenditure and Commitment view to include commitments and the projected remaining balance amounts.
  • For reconciliation by PTA, use the Expenditure Reconciliation view.

 

Expenditure Balance Summary Trend by GL Period

The Expenditure Balance Summary Trend by GL Period  shows month-by-month expenditures alongside the annual budget, outstanding commitments and the remaining balance and projected remaining balance. 

  • The trend can be displayed by GL Period Name or by GL Fiscal Year. 

Budget Incremental Variance Graph and Summary by GL Period

By month, displays the incremental monthly budget, actual expenditures, incremental variance, and FTD/PTD running incremental variance. Data is displayed in both tabular and graphical formats

  • In the selection criteria, uncheck the Display Budget Variance Graph checkbox to prevent this section from displaying. 


If there are negative budget adjustments, the grand total for Budget Total Amount may not be accurate. 

Expenditure Balance Details

The Expenditure Balance Details section displays the detailed expense data that supports the summary reports listed above.  Salary detailed data will not be included if salary authority is not granted. Include the column Expenditure Transaction Long Description to see complete business purposes and PO descriptions. 

For reconciliation with the Expenditure Detail report, choose the same GL Period Name for your selection criteria and use the Expenditure Reconciliation view.

Period selection impact on results displayed on summary reports

The Balance Summary reports and Budget Incremental Variance Summary by GL Period apply different budget display rules based on award type, which may not always align with the selected Period Selection (PTD/FTD).

Non-sponsored awards:

Budget and actual values consistently display as fiscal-to-date (FTD) across all summary reports, regardless if PTD is selected.

Sponsored awards:
  • Balance Summary reports: Budget displays as project-to-date (PTD), even when FTD is selected
  • Budget Incremental Variance Summary: Budget displays as fiscal-to-date (FTD), consistent with the period selection, which may display as no budget.

The tables below summarize the results based on sponsored vs. non-sponsored and the time period selected. 

Tables that describe how the values for budget and actual are displayed based on the type of award and FTD or PTD entries.

Exporting to a CSV file

When exporting the Expenditure Balance Details by PTAE data into a csv file, the data in the fields Expenditure Item Account Reference Text and Expenditure Item Department Reference Text will be hyperlinks, as these are drillable fields in the report. To retrieve the actual reference text, use the fields Expenditure Item Account Reference Plain Text and Expenditure Item Department Reference Plain Text when analyzing your data.

  • To understand how expenditure types roll up into higher level groupings and how they compare to object codes and consolidated budget rollups, refer to CER Expenditure Type Roll-ups.
  • For information about how the different commitments are created, refer to Commitment Management. 

Non-customizable, BI Publisher summary of fiscal-to-date(FTD) and/or project-to-date (PTD) expenditures containing details of the latest month, with budget, commitment and remaining balance. This report is equivalent to the RM3 FIN_EXP_285 report.

Launch OBI Monthly Expenditure Details Statement

  • Are year-to-date expenses aligned with the annual budget?
  • If hard commitments are included, what is the projected remaining balance?
  • What are the actual expenditures affecting large variances from the budget?
  • The selection criteria section is located on the left hand side of the screen. Fill all fields with either the % wildcard character or specific values.  Enter a date parameter  near the bottom, either Fiscal-To-Date, Project-To-Date or Period Begin and End Date.
  • For additional information for selection criteria, see BI Publisher Reports. 

Select the desired tab on the top of the screen:  All Detail (salary and non-salary), Non-Salary Detail or Compensation by Person.

Summarized report of budget, actual expenditures, prepaid expenses and commitments., along with award attributes. This report is equivalent to the RM3 FIN_EXP_179 and is owned and supported by the Office of Research Administration. 

Launch OBI Expenditure Award to Date and Award Detail

  • What are the summarized actual-to-date expenses for a principal investigator’s (PI’s) portfolio of awards and what are the remaining balances with respect to their budgets?
  • When factoring hard commitments, what are the projected remaining balances?
  • To retrieve results, follow the selection criteria instructions near the top of the screen. 

 

This report displays summarized budget compared to summarized actual expenditure by award.

  • For sponsored and plant accounting awards, budget (column A) and actual expenditure (column B) will be project-to-date.
  • For non-sponsored awards, budget and actual expenditure will be fiscal-to-date. A graph of budget and actual expenses over time is displayed by individual award. 

View and compare expenditures at the summary and detail level across GL periods, quarters, and years to monitor changes over time

Demo of Expenditure Trend reports within the CER Dashboard in OBI

Launch OBI Expenditure Trend

  • How have spending patterns evolved across the specified periods for my organization, award, or PTA?
  • What are the expenditure trends over time (e.g., increasing, decreasing, volatile), by Expenditure High-Level Group and by tasks within this award?
  • Are there unusual expenditures in this period (e.g., fiscal quarter, fiscal year) compared to the same period last year and what are the sources?
  • What is the spending rate for the specified period (burn rate)?
  • What are a PIs expenditures by year for the last 3 years?

To retrieve results, follow the Selection Criteria instructions near the top of the screen. For additional guidance refer to Using Selection Criteria for OBI Reports.

This report presents summary and detail expenditure amounts over selected time periods for analysis of spending trends.

Expenditure Trend Summary

This report is a pivot table that displays summarized expenses for the selected time range,to track spending changes over time. 

 

Expenditure Trend Detail

This report displays more detailed expense data that supports the Expenditure Trend Summary. 

  • These reports can be run for any range of period, even across fiscal years.
  • You can view by fiscal period, fiscal quarter and year, calendar quarter and year and project or fiscal year to date.
  • The two reports can be viewed using the same or different period buckets.

 

Compare and analyze actual expenditures for any two GL  period ranges by amount and percentage variances.

Demo of Expenditure Variance reports within the CER Dashboard in OBI

Launch OBI Expenditure Variance

  • How do actual expenditures this quarter compare with the same quarter last year?
  • How do actual expenditures for the selected period (e.g., fiscal month, quarter, or year) compare with another period?
  • How do the year-to-date expenditure totals compare with last year’s year-to-date?
  • Which categories or sources drive the largest variances and warrant further investigation, especially in high‑risk expenditure areas?

To retrieve results, follow the Selection Criteria instructions near the top of the screen. For additional guidance refer to Using Selection Criteria for OBI Reports.

Values must be entered for all four date period prompts. The first date range must be earlier than the second date range for the report to run properly.

 

Expenditure Variance reports compare summary and detailed expenditures across two selected date ranges and display both variance amount and percentage.

Expenditure Variance Summary

This report is a pivot table view of aggregated expenses across selected periods, with variance calculations for easy comparison. 

 

Expenditure Variance Detail

This report presents a more granular view of the same periods for deeper comparison and investigation of variances.

 For both reports, comparison can only be done between two date ranges, and not between different organizations, PTAs or SPOs. 

To understand how expenditure types roll up into higher level groupings and how they compare object codes and consolidated budget rollups, refer to CER Expenditure Type Roll-ups.

Use this report for expenditure review and reconciliation. The Expenditure Details report contains the highest level of detail on expenditures within a range of GL periods. 

Demo of Expenditure Detail reports within the CER Dashboard in OBI

Launch OBI Expenditure Details

  • What has been charged to my PTAs?
  • What are the total expenditures across organizations for a parent organization?
  • How do actual expenditures break down by expenditure type/category, award type, and award or SPO number?
  • What are the actual expenditures by task manager or task/award owner (PI)?
  • Which task managers has the highest spend in  high-risk categories (e.g., travel/entertainment/food)?
  • What transactions require reconciliation, organized by source system?

To retrieve results, follow the Selection Criteria instructions near the top of the screen. For additional guidance refer to Using Selection Criteria for OBI Reports.

  • Transactions can be displayed for Fiscal Year-to-Date, Project-to-Date or between a Beginning and Ending Period. Last Closed designates the most recent closed fiscal period.
  • Use Expenditure Transaction Source Long Name  to select transaction expenditures by source or system. Results can be further refined  by entering specific text in Expenditure Item Account Reference Text or Expenditure Item Department Reference Text.
    • For more information, refer to the Source Code Reference Table.
    • Using these selection criteria fields affects only the data displayed in the Expenditure Detail by PTAE section and will not affect what is displayed in the Expenditure Summary report section.

Expenditure Summary

This report is a pivot table view of high-level totals for the selected date range. By default, it subtotals by Expenditure High Level Group Description, but can choose other aggregation levels. Salary totals are included regardless of salary authority.

Selecting a  Consolidated Budget Reporting CoA level summarizes the expenditures to the same level needed for the university budget tool.

Expenditure Detail by PTAE

This report provides line‑item expenses by Project–Task–Award–Expenditure, providing transaction details that support the Expenditure Summary. Most lines include drillable fields for additional transaction details. Salary detail is omitted if there is no salary authority granted.

Include the column Expenditure Transaction Long Description to see the full business purpose and purchase requisition description.

Use Table view to export the report section to Excel with the displayed columns in the same order as seen on screen.

The legacy view contains columns in the same sequence as the RM3 FIN_EXP_279 report.

This view summarizes salary expenses by Job Classification Subtype Code and Job Classification Codes.

This view is designed to use when doing monthly reconciliation.   It splits the report into sections based on PTA, uses Expenditure Transaction Long Description and for transaction date uses Reporting Invoice or Expenditure Date.  If the Expenditure Transaction Source is AP Invoice, then the date is the Invoice Date, for all other transactions it is the Expenditure Item Date.  

Expenditure dates 

Expenditure Item Date represents when goods were originally received or services were performed. These dates are generated either automatically by Oracle Financials systems or through manual user input. However, for iProcurement transactions, this date reflects when the purchase requisition was created and approved, which may significantly differ from actual receipt and invoicing dates. 

Reporting Invoice or Expenditure Date provides enhanced clarity into purchase order billing patterns by displaying:

  • Invoice date for posted transactions with an Expenditure Transaction Source Long Name of "APINV-AP Invoice"
  • Expenditure Item Date for all other transaction types

This field is available within the Expenditure Details section to support more accurate financial analysis and reporting.

Expenditure item reference text fields

When exporting Expenditure Details by PTAE data to CSV format, the Expenditure Item Account Reference Text and Expenditure Item Department Reference Text fields will export as hyperlinks rather than readable text, since these are interactive drill-down fields within the dashboard.

For data analysis purposes, use these alternative fields to access the actual reference text:

  • Expenditure Item Account Reference Plain Text
  • Expenditure Item Department Reference Plain Text

These plain text fields contain the same information without hyperlink formatting, making them suitable for CSV exports and external analysis.

Differentiating between the expenditure transaction description options

In the OBI Consolidated Expenditure Reporting (CER) Dashboard, you have the option to include any of the following expenditure transaction descriptions when using Expenditure Balance and Expenditure Details reports. 

Expenditure Transaction Description:

  • Expense Request: Business purpose
  • Purchase Order: Supplier name
  • PCard: Business purpose (first 20 characters) appended by: supplier name
  • iJournal: First 60 characters of journal line description
  • Salary: Last name, first middle - organization code

Abbreviated Expenditure Transaction Description

  • First 30 characters of the Expenditure Transaction Description. This version is consistent with the RM3 279 report.

Expenditure Transaction Long Description

  • Expense Request: Business purpose
  • Purchase Order: Purchase requisition description
  • PCard: Business purpose
  • iJournal: First 60 characters of journal line description
  • Salary: Last name, first middle - organization code
 Expenditure Transaction  DescriptionAbbreviated Expenditure TransactionExpenditure Transaction Long Description
Expense RequestThermo Fisher Scientific visit to assess new transmission electron microscope
Who: Jane Doe. What: Trip to verify microscope capabilities for possible purchase. When: 12/10 - 12/12/2018. Where: Thermo Fisher Scientific, Hillsboro, or Why: Verify capabilities of M100-T.		Thermo Fisher Scientific visit

Thermo Fisher Scientific visit to assess new transmission electron microscope
Who: Jane Doe. What: Trip to verify microscope capabilities for possible purchase. When: 12/10 - 12/12/2018. Where: Thermo Fisher Scientific, Hillsboro, or Why: Verify capabilities of M100-T.

 

Purchase OrderLawson Lab Management Systems LLCLawson Lab Management SystemsTo provide ongoing support for the Lawson Lab Management Software application in use by the Stanford Metrology Lab Facilities. Support period: 10/1/18 to 3/31/19.
PCardWorking lunch Who: J:COUPA CAFE Y2E2Working lunch Who: J:COUPA CAFWorking lunch Who: Joe Sanchez What: lunch When: 12/6/2018 Where: Coupa Cafe Why: A meeting with Dr. Joe Sanchez and Dr. Tom Latimer to discuss upcoming projects.
iJournalBechtel I-Center Visa transaction fee 2018-19Bechtel I-Center Visa transactBechtel I-Center Visa transaction fee 2018-19

 Additional resources

  • To understand how expenditure types roll up into higher level groupings and how they compare to object codes and consolidated budget rollups, refer to CER Expenditure Type Roll-ups.

This report  is intended for external analysis and has the exact same fields and sequence as in the RM3 FIN_EXP-279 download report.

Launch OBI Expenditure Details Data Download

  • What is my expenditure data in a format suitable for external analysis that I can also merge with external data?

To retrieve results, follow the Selection Criteria instructions near the top of the screen. For additional guidance refer to Using Selection Criteria for OBI Reports.

 

This report is designed to download for analysis in Excel and delivers the same 57 data columns in identical order as the legacy RM3 FIN_EXP_279 Transaction Details Report, ensuring compatibility with existing analytical workflows.

  • Some column names are slightly different from the RM3 FIN_EXP_279 report.
  • It uses the Abbreviated Expenditure Transaction Description field, which is limited to 30 characters like the legacy report.
  • Salary data will not be returned to users who do not have salary view authority for a PTA.

Displays the Modified Total Direct Costs (MTDC), along with the exclusions and indirect expenses associated with a sponsored PTA.

Launch OBI Sponsored Awards Actual Expenditures - by MTDC, Exclusions, Indirect Expense

  • What was the modified total direct costs, exclusions and indirect expenses associated with sponsored research last year?

To retrieve results, follow the Selection Criteria instructions near the top of the screen. For additional guidance refer to Using Selection Criteria for OBI Reports.

 

For a list of the CER common selection criteria, their associated list of values and when to use them, refer to CER Selection Criteria List of Values.

For more information on MTDC, exclusions and indirect expenses, refer to DoResearch 15.1 Facilities and Administrative (Indirect Cost) and Fringe Benefits Rates.

View detailed information about iJournals, regardless of status and type.

Demo of iJournals report within the CER Dashboard in OBI

Launch OBI iJournals

  • Which journals posted during a specified period?
  • Which iJournals—manual entries and feeder journals—occurred within the selected time frame?
  • Where is this particular iJournal in the approval process?
  • What is the justification for a particular Bulk Fund Transfer?
  • What kind of supporting documentation is attached to the selected journal?

To retrieve results, follow the Selection Criteria instructions near the top of the screen. For additional guidance refer to Using Selection Criteria for OBI Reports.

To view fund transfer journals by organization, select Award Org as the organization perspective.

 

The iJournals reports provide summary, detail, and approval history for entries across any GL period range, including fund transfers and unposted iJournals. 

In the Journal Header Information section, right‑click the Journal Number and select Oracle iJournals Query to view the entry in Oracle. Select Oracle iJournals Attachment Query to open the attachment window in a new browser tab. An active iJournals login is required.

In the Journal Header Information report, include the field Journal Attachment Indicator to display whether there is an attachment for the journal by either a Y or N value.

 

This report provides details on hard commitments for salary, requisitions, purchase orders and AP invoices.

Demo of Commitment Detail reports within the CER Dashboard in OBI

Launch OBI Commitment Details

  • What future expenses have already been committed?
  • What are the commitment details by type (salary, requisition, PO, Accounts Payable (AP) invoice)?

To retrieve results, follow the Selection Criteria instructions near the top of the screen. For additional guidance refer to Using Selection Criteria for OBI Reports.

Commitment data is only returned if the ending GL Period requested is the last closed or current open period.

 

The Commitment Details report shows commitments in separate sections based on type:  Salary, Requisitions, Purchase Orders and AP Invoices.  

 The Salary Commitments report will display student aid and tuition allowance, in addition to salary for graduate student assistantships and postdoctoral scholars.

Last Updated: Feb 2, 2026
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