iJournals is an Oracle Financials application that allows users to transfer money or expenses from one account to another or across Expenditure Types or Object Codes.
About
iJournals is a web-based interface to the Oracle Financials system that allows users to initiate transfers among PTAs or across Expenditure Types or Object Codes. Journal transfers are used to record transfers of money from one account (PTAEO or PFOO) to another, including intercompany transfers to the hospitals, for example:
- "Sale" of office supplies to another department (New Journal)
- Correction of errors on Expenditure Detail Report (New Journal)
- Charge for services provided to other departments (Allocation Journal)
- Funding of a Cost Sharing Award from a gift fund (Fund Transfer)
- Charge or pay Stanford's hospitals (Intercompany Journal)
Journal Types
iJournals is used to originate various types of transactions.
| Types | Transaction Types |
|---|---|
| New Journals | Used for most standard transfers of expenditure/expense or transactions related to assets, liability or revenue objects. Also used for intercompany transfers to charge or pay a hospital department for services. Refer to: Policy: Recording Transactions between Stanford University and Hospitals. |
| Allocation Journals | Used to allocate service center charges and other expenditure allocations |
| Fund Transfer Journals | Used by Central and designated iJournals Specialist users to transfer funds from one fund or award to another |
| Accrual Journals | Used by Central and designated iJournals Specialist users to recognize revenues and expenses that have been earned or consumed, respectively, and for which the related cash amounts have not yet been received or paid out |
| Upload Journals | Users may upload journals from an Excel spreadsheet to the iJournals database using a preformatted template. Upload journals may be used for any of the journal types. |
| Feeder Journals | Used to do allocation journals to distribute charges from independent systems into Oracle Financials. Feeder journals typically charge other departments based on usage or services provided at specific rates. Feeder Originators can use the iJournals Upload Template to create files in Excel containing the header and detail lines, which upload and validate in the iJournal system. A feeder should only be uploaded when a file contains:
|
To request a new Feeder ID, use iJournals New Feeder Request Form.
Policy
- All use of funds is guided by a common set of principles found at Proper Use of Funds.
- For information on university policy for iJournal expense transfers, refer to Administrative Guide Policy 3.2.2: Cost Transfers.
- For information on Feeder and Allocation journals, refer to Administrative Guide Policy 3.2.3: Allocations and Offsets.
Visit the Newsroom for recent announcements, and subscribe to receive future iJournals updates and enhancements.
Access
There are three levels of access to the iJournals module, referred to as “login roles.” Login roles determine the activities that a user is able to perform within iJournals. The three roles are:
iJournals Public
This level of access enables users to perform standard iJournals activities. Some Expenditure Types and Object Codes are not eligible for use in iJournals Public journals.
Public access is automatically granted to staff with a valid Employee ID and SUNet ID.
iJournals Specialist
iJournals Specialists are primarily financial staff in service centers and auxiliaries or senior financial staff in operating units who need to perform specific tasks related to their areas. Specialists can:
- Use restricted expenditure types and object codes
- Upload batch files
- Initiate fund transfers (for a subset of specialists)
- Enter accrual journals (for a subset of specialists)
- Be designated as a feeder owner with feeder management privileges (based on job functions and department requirements)
iJournals Central
iJournals Central access is reserved for central office users in Fund Accounting, Capital Accounting and the Office of Sponsored Research. It allows access to additional Expenditure Types and Object Codes. Based on job functions and department requirements, iJournals Central users may also be designated as Feeder Owners with feeder management privileges.
Requesting Access
To request iJournals Specialist or Central responsibility, download and complete the iJournals Responsibility Request form, including an appropriate authorization signature. You can manually sign or use e-signature for the request form. If you are not set up for e-signature, refer to Adobe Digital ID. Send the completed and signed form to Systems and Reporting Operations (S&RO) distribution list to process the authorized request.
For any attribute changes for a feeder journal, such as Feeder Owner, Business Owner, Feeder Contact or Force PTA change, use the iJournals Feeder Update Request Form.
For help determining the appropriate iJournals responsibility, refer to Resource: iJournals Responsibility Matrix.
Learning
Training for New Users
- FIN-PROG-0020: Financial Stewardship Expectations
- FIN-0210: Introduction to iJournals
This webinar class is designed for staff who will be creating expense or revenue journals. The course demonstrates the iJournals screens and processes for creating, reviewing and uploading iJournals transactions. - FIN-0102: Using Stanford's Chart of Accounts is a recommended pre-requisite.
How tos
| Category | How-to Instructions |
|---|---|
| Oracle Basics | |
| For iJournals Users |
|
| For iJournal Approvers | |
| For Feeder Owners and Business Process Owners |
Use iJournals New Feeder Request Form to request a new Feeder ID. |
| Tasks Requiring Special “Accrual Responsibility” |
Use iJournals Responsibility Request Form to request authority for accruals.
|
Reporting
iJournals Reports
For information about iJournals, use:
- OBI Consolidated Expenditure Reporting Dashboard.
- To view iJournal details including approvals, refer to the OBI Consolidated Expenditure Reporting Dashboard: iJournals Report.
For information about OBI, see OBI Financial Reporting.
iJournals Inquiries
iJournals Users may use Public Inquiry within iJournals to access and print individual journals.
Protected journal entries (e.g., human subjects) may only be viewed by the originator and Central Office users.
Feeder Owners (a subset of iJournals Specialists) may use Feeder Inquiry within iJournals to:
- Select specific feeder files based on criteria entered
- Access and open a feeder file via an Excel icon
- View last Status Date column for timestamp of last action performed on a feeder
