EFIS (Education Finance Information System) Training Guide and User s Guide January 2011
About this Guide This guide explains the basics of using the Education Finance Information System (EFIS). The intended audience are staff at the district school boards and child care transfer recipients that are involved in developing and approving financial packages. This guide has been developed to be used in training sessions and can also be used individually for self-guided training. The guide also provides a reference of EFIS functions for those who have completed the training.. System Requirements This guide assumes that users of EFIS: are using a PC running Windows version 95, 98 or later. have access to the internet are running the web browser Microsoft Internet Explorer version 5.0 or later. Note that users running EFIS under other web browsers may have problems. are running a later version of Adobe Acrobat. The latest version of Adobe Acrobat reader can be downloaded from the web at www.adobe.com. 2 EFIS: Training Guide
Table of Contents About this Guide...2 System Requirements...2 Table of Contents...3 What is EFIS?...4 Logging In...4 Quick Reference...6 Creating a Submission and Submitting it to the Ministry...6 The Financial Submissions Home Page...6 Listing Submissions...9 Sorting the Submissions in the List...10 Viewing, Editing and Deleting Submissions...10 Moving Around the Screens...10 Creating a New Submission...11 Submission Summary Page...13 Entering Data...14 Saving Data...16 Moving to other Screens...16 Getting Help...17 Resolving Warnings and Errors...17 Changing the Status of Submissions...18 Status of Submissions...20 Other Functions...21 Importing Cell Values...21 Copying Your Data into a New Version of the Financial Package...24 Recalculating Reference Data...25 Copying a Submission...26 Deleting a Submission...26 Printing a Submission...26 Reports...27 Printing a Report...27 3 EFIS: Training Guide
What is EFIS? The Education Finance Information System (EFIS) is a database application that allows the creation and submission of financial data to the ministry using the World Wide Web. Logging In Each EFIS user will need a user ID and a password. The User ID and password identifies your specific Board or Child Care Transfer Recipient to EFIS and information specific to you is loaded. 1 On the address line of your web browser, type https://efis.edu.gov.on.ca. This screen is the Login screen. On the Login screen: 2 Enter your user name. 3 Enter your password. 4 Click Login. This takes you to the Home Page. 4 EFIS: Training Guide
This screen is the Home Page. 5 Click Grant Calculation System, this takes you to the Financial Submissions Home Page. This screen is the Financial Submissions Home Page. 5 EFIS: Training Guide
Working in French To use the French version of EFIS, go to the Financial Submissions Home Page, click on List All under Submissions, and then click on Français above the magnifying glass in the top right hand corner. Quick Reference Creating a Submission and Submitting it to the Ministry 1. On the Financial Submission Home Page, click on Create New. 2. On the Add New Submission screen: select the school year select the document set for the submission you are creating. enter the name of your submission click NEXT. 3. On the Submission Summary Page: if necessary, change the version number and add any comments. click SAVE. 4. Choose one of the schedules or sections from the pull-down menu 5. To add data to the schedule or section: click EDIT enter the data. click SAVE. 6. Resolve any warnings or errors. 7. When you have finished creating the working copy of your submission, change the status to Ready for Submission. 8. After the submission has been approved, change the status to Active. This submits the document to the ministry. The Financial Submissions Home Page Submissions You have three options to choose from. If you are creating a new submission for example, starting a new Estimates package you will choose Create New. After you have started working on the submission and have saved it, it is added to the list of all submissions under the option List All. If you want to print reports from a submission that has been previously created click Reports. 6 EFIS: Training Guide
What is a document set? A document set is a blank set of forms Estimates, Revised Estimates and Financial Statements that the ministry has created for the users to enter their financial data. The document set contains formulae, constants and derived (calculated) values, validation routines and cells in which data is entered. What is a submission? A submission is a completed document set or a document set the user is working on. It contains the values that the user has entered and the values that have been calculated by the formulae in the document set. Global Function Under the heading Global Function you may select Bulletin Board or My Profile. Information found in Bulletin Board contains messages to the user in regards to errors and updates on the financial packages. You may sort through the bulletin s using the Bulletin Board Type Name drop down box and the Bulletin Board Description text box and clicking the magnifying glass. Under My Profile the user has an opportunity to update personal information including changing your EFIS password. 7 EFIS: Training Guide
This screen is the Bulletin Board Page. This screen is the My Profile Page. Doc Set Under the heading Doc Set you may select List All. This page allows you to view the document used for financial packages. You may sort through the financial packages using the School Year, Cycle and Status drop down boxes then clicking the magnifying glass to search. 8 EFIS: Training Guide
This screen is the Document Set Page. Listing Submissions The option List All under Submission lists all the submissions (Estimates, Revised Estimates and Financial Statements) that belong to the user. To list all the submissions: Under Submissions on the Financial Submission home page, click on List All. 9 EFIS: Training Guide
Submissions are listed descending by year and grouped by the cycle estimates, revised estimates and financial statements. Depending on the school year and the financial cycle, these submissions can be at various stages of completion; Working Copy, Ready for Submission or Active (when you have submitted the package to the ministry). For an explanation of the status of submissions, see Changing the Status of Submissions. Sorting the Submissions in the List When you go to the List All screen, all submissions for you will be listed. You can narrow the search by selecting one or all of the search criteria the school year, the financial cycle (Estimates, Revised Estimates or Financial Statements) or only submissions that have a status of Working Copy, Ready for Submission or Active (submitted to the ministry.) Use the pull-down menus to select the sort criteria. Click on. Viewing, Editing and Deleting Submissions On the List All screen you can choose to view, edit or delete a submission. To view a submission: Click on the name of the submission. This takes you to the Submission Summary Page where you can go to the schedules and sections of the submission. To edit a submission: Click on the to the right of the submission. This takes you to the Submission Summary Page where you can edit the identifying information about the submission and go to the schedules and sections of the submission. To delete a submission: Click on the to the right of the submission. You are asked to confirm if you want to delete the submission by clicking Yes or No. Moving Around the Screens The buttons in the top right corner of the screens allow you to move around the main screens in EFIS. These are described below. Buttons at the top and bottom of a screen allow you to perform functions specific to that screen and will change from screen to screen. 10 EFIS: Training Guide
Buttons in the top right corner of the Screens Click To Create a new submission. Select and print sections of the submission. Go to the previous screen. Do not use the Back button on your web browser. Exit EFIS. Go to the Home Page, Creating a New Submission Using the Estimates package as an example, the following steps explain how to create a new submission. 1 On the Financial Submissions Home Page, click on Create New. or Click on the New button on the Submissions screen. 11 EFIS: Training Guide
On the Add New Submission screen: 2 Select the School Year. 3 Select the document set for the submission you are creating; for example, 2008-2009 Estimates v4. 4 Enter the name of your submission. This can be, for example, 99_EST_0809. 5 Click. This takes you to the Submission Summary Page. Buttons on this screen Takes you to the next screen. Clears your entries. 6 Choose your version # and input any comments then click Save. 12 EFIS: Training Guide
Submission Summary Page General information about your submission appears on the Submission Summary Page. Some of this information is entered by the application; other information you will enter to identify the submission. Note that you can add and change only the information in the white fields. 1 Click the Edit button to change the Submission Name, Version Number, or Comments Section. At the beginning of each financial cycle, the ministry will issue a naming convention that Users will use for the financial packages. 2 In the Version Number field, EFIS assigns the default version number of 1.0.0. The User can be working on a number of versions of the same submission. If you are creating a number of versions you may want to assign numbers to the different versions. 3 Keep the Submission Status as Working Copy. 13 EFIS: Training Guide
What is the Status of a Submission? When you start a new submission, the status of the submission will automatically be set to Working Copy. When you have completed the submission you will change the status from Working Copy to Ready for Submission. When the submission is approved and it is ready to be submitted to the ministry, you will change the status to Active. For more information on statuses, see Changing the Status of Submissions. 4 In the comments field, enter any comments about the submission. 5 Click. You will remain on the Submission Summary Page. Other Information on the Summary Page Transfer Payment Business Entity Owner Business Entity Submission Owner User Submitted By Inactivated By Inactivation Date Doc Set Name The Yes or No indicates if this submission determines the grants that will flow to the board or Child Care Transfer Recipient. The default is No. Once a submission has been reviewed by the Finance Officer at the ministry and subsequently approved for grant purposes, the status of the submission will change to Yes. This is the name of the group that created the submission. When the ministry has reviewed the submission, the owner of the business entity will change from the User s Business Entity to Ministry. This is the person who created the submission. This is the person who submitted the financial package to the ministry (made the submission active). This will be the senior business official. If the submission was made inactive, this is the Finance Officer at the ministry who changed the status to Inactive. (For more information, see Changing the Status of Submissions.) This is the date the submission was made inactive by the Finance Officer. (For more information, see Changing the Status of Submissions.) This is the version of the document set that was used to create this submission; for example, 2008/2009 Estimates v 4. Entering Data The following steps show you how to enter data in one schedule of the Estimates package, Schedule 13. 14 EFIS: Training Guide
To enter data: 1 Choose one of the schedules or sections from the pull-down menu. 2 To add data, click EDIT. Cells in which you can enter data are shown in white. 15 EFIS: Training Guide
3 Enter the data. 4 Click. Totals are calculated automatically Saving Data It is a good idea to save data periodically as you enter data. Always click to save the data you have entered and before going to the next page of the schedule or section. To save the data on the current screen and go to the next screen, click. To save the data on the current screen and go to the previous screen, click If you click Save and some cells on the screen are identified by a question mark "?" in front of it, the application has found one or more cells with errors; for example, a cell required a numeric entry and you entered an alpha value. You will need to correct the errors before you are able to save. To see an explanation of the error, move the cursor over the cell or look at the message shown on top of the screen. Moving to other Screens To go to the next screen in the schedule or section, click. or 16 EFIS: Training Guide
To go to a specific screen in the schedule or section, click to save the data on the current screen, and then select a page from the right hand side drop down list. Getting Help The button at the top and bottom of each screen provides help on each section of a financial package in the form of notes and explanations. When you click on the button, the help appears in a pop-up window over the form you are working on. Resolving Warnings and Errors If there are discrepancies in the data you have entered in the submission, a warning or error indicator, or both, appears on the Submission Summary Page. While submissions with warnings can be promoted from Working Copy to Ready for Submission, you will need to fix all errors before you can promote a submission to Ready for Submission. Check the upper left side of the Submission Summary Page for the warning or the error indicator. 17 EFIS: Training Guide
If there is a warning 1 Click on the warning indicator for an explanation. This will bring you to the warning message page which shows warning message with an explanation. For example, The number of Elementary Teachers reported on Section 7 should be the same number as on Appendix H. 2 Go to the section or schedule and make the necessary change. If there is an error 1 Click on the error indicator for an explanation. This will bring you to the error message page which shows error message with an explanation. For example, The total revenue reported on Schedule 9 should equal the total expenditure from Schedule 10. 2 Go to the section or schedule and make the necessary change. Changing the Status of Submissions When a submission is created, the submission is automatically given the status of Working Copy. This status allows the Users to edit the submission. You can 18 EFIS: Training Guide
create a number of versions of the same submission (see Copy Submission). Each will have the status Working Copy. When you have finished editing the submission and you want to submit it to the ministry, you review the warnings, resolve any errors, and then change the status of the submission to Ready for Submission. Different User Accounts There are two types of User s; a Modify User and an Authorize User. The Modify user can do all functions listed in this guide except change the status of a submission from Ready for Submission to Active OR from Ready for Submission to Working Copy. The Modify User can have multiple users logged into the Forms simultaneously. The Authorize User (typically the senior business official) can only view submissions and change the status of a submission from Ready for Submission to Active AND change the status of submission from Ready for Submission to Working Copy. The Authorize User can only have one user logged in at a time. After the senior business official has reviewed and approved the submission, the status can be changed to Active. An active submission is the official submission to the ministry and cannot be changed or deleted without contacting the assigned Finance Officer. When you have finished creating the Working Copy of your submission, change the status to Ready for Submission. After the submission has been approved for sending to the ministry, change the status of the submission to Active (submitted to the ministry). To change the status of a submission: 1 Go to the Submission Summary Page. 2 Click on. 3 Choose the new status. 4 Click on Change. 19 EFIS: Training Guide
Status of Submissions Working Copy This is the submission you are working on. You (Modify user) can create a number of versions of the same submission, each with a status of Working Copy. You can: Delete the submission. Copy the submission. Print the submission. Promote the status to Ready for Submission. Allow a ministry Finance Officer to view the submission by changing the status to Viewable by Finance Officer. You cannot: Change the status of the submission to Active. Ready for Submission When the submission is complete and ready to be reviewed by the senior business officials: Check that there are no errors and that you have reviewed the warnings. Print the submission and review the data. (See Printing a Submission) Change the status to Ready for Submission. You can: Copy the submission. Print the submission. Change the status of the submission back to Working Copy. Promote the status of the submission to Active. Note: Only a User who is a business official can have access to EFIS to change the status to Active. You cannot: Have more than one submission in a financial cycle with the status, Ready for Submission. Delete the submission, although you can change the status of the submission from Ready for Submission to Working Copy, and then delete the submission. 20 EFIS: Training Guide
Active (Submitted to the Ministry) When the financial package has been reviewed by the senior business officials, the Authorize User is responsible for submitting the package to the ministry. This is done by changing the status of the submission to Active You can: Print the submission. Copy the submission. The status of the copy becomes Working Copy You cannot: Have more than one submission in a financial cycle with the status Active. Viewable by Finance Officer Edit the submission. Delete the submission. Change the status of the submission. If your board needs to resubmit the financial package to the ministry, contact your Finance Officer. You can allow the Finance Officer to view your submission by changing the status to Viewable by Finance Officer, but only when the submission is in status Working Copy. Inactive The ministry can make an active submission inactive. You can: Copy the submission. Print the submission. You cannot: Delete the submission. Edit the submission. Change the status of the Inactive submission. Other Functions Importing Cell Values As an alternative to entering data into each section of the financial package, User s can create a file with the numeric values that they want to load into the submission. To help you to create the load file, two files are provided on the TPFR website: Cell Names Which Can Be Loaded. This Excel file contains a list of all the cell names, their corresponding cell name descriptions and the number of decimal places required for each cell value. 21 EFIS: Training Guide
Cell Name Reference. This PDF document shows the placement of all cell names by section or schedule. To create the upload file: 1 Create a comma-delimited file with two columns that contain the cell name in the first column and the corresponding cell value in the second column. To do this: Open Excel. Name column one, CELL_NAME and column two, CELL_VALUE. Using the files Cell Names Which Can Be Loaded and the Cell Name Reference as a guide, enter the cell names in column one and the corresponding cell values in column two. Note the rules for number of decimal places. Select File, then click Save As. In the Save As window, change the Save As Type from Excel to CSV comma delimited. 22 EFIS: Training Guide
Enter a name for the file and click Save. If prompted, click OK to only save the active worksheet and YES to keep the new format. CAUTION Enter only the cell names and values for the data that you want loaded to the submission. To ensure that previous import data or data that was entered on the screen is not overwritten; DO NOT include a cell name in the import file that should not be loaded. 2 Go to the Submission Summary Page. 3 Click. If a previous import was performed on this submission, a message box will appear to confirm that the current cell names should be replaced. 4 Click Browse to locate the comma-delimited file to be imported When you locate the file in the window, click Open. 23 EFIS: Training Guide
5 Click on Upload. 6 Once the message Submission upload is complete appears, click on sections. to view the results on the individual schedules and Errors during the Upload If there is an error in the upload file, none of the data will be imported. An error report will be generated listing all of the problem cell names to be fixed. This report can be saved and printed for reference. Possible errors are: - Incorrect cell formatting. For example, a value with two decimal places where the cell allows only one decimal place. - Entering a string when all values should be numeric - The cell name does not exist. - There is no value for one of the cell names in the file. Copying Your Data into a New Version of the Financial Package Periodically, the ministry will issue new versions of the blank financial packages (document sets). You will need to copy your data in the current version of the document set into the new version of the document set if: You have already started creating a financial package for submission, or 24 EFIS: Training Guide
You have finished creating a financial package, but not yet submitted the submission to the ministry. 1 Go to the Submission Summary Page of the submission you want to update. 2 Click on Update to latest version. 3 Click on OK. 4 You will be on the Submission Summary Page. Change the name of the submission to indicate that you are using the new document set. If necessary, change the version number. 5 Click. 6 If the submission is already updated to the latest document set, the following message will appear Your submission is already updated to the latest version. Note: You will not be able to change the status of a submission to Ready for Submission unless you have completed the above steps. Recalculating Reference Data In EFIS, some reference data is loaded automatically. If the ministry needs to update this reference data, including the regulation tables, it will update EFIS and notify the User s. If you have already started preparing a financial submission, you will need to recalculate the reference data based on the update. You will also need to recalculate reference for any submissions that you plan to submit to the ministry (make Active). Before recalculating the reference data, print the differences between the reference data in your submission and the new reference data: 1 Go to the Submission Summary Page. 2 Click. To recalculate reference data: 25 EFIS: Training Guide
1 Go to the Submission Summary Page. 2 Click. Copying a Submission 1 Go to the Submission Summary Page. 2 Click. This button is only available if the submission that is being copied is referencing the most up-to-date version of the financial package (document set).verify that you want to copy the submission. 3 Change the name and the version of the submission to distinguish the copy from the original. If you return to the List All screen, you will notice that a copy of the submission has been added to the list below the original copy. The copy will be date stamped with the time and date you made the copy. It is a good idea to rename the copy of the original submission. 4 Click. Deleting a Submission 1 Go to the Submission Summary Page or the List All screen. 2 On the Submission Summary Page, click on. or On the List All screen, click on. You will be asked if you are sure that you want to delete the submission. Printing a Submission You can print an entire submission or you can print certain schedules and sections of a submission. 1 Within the submission, click. 26 EFIS: Training Guide
A list of the schedules and the sections in the current document set are listed. 2 Choose the schedules and sections by ticking the boxes. To un-tick all the boxes, click Clear All. or Click on Select All to print the entire submission. 3 Click. EFIS creates an Adobe Acrobat version of the schedules and sections you have chosen. 4 To print the Adobe Acrobat selections, follow the instructions in Adobe for printing. Reports Printing a Report 1 On the Financial Submission home page, click on Reports. 27 EFIS: Training Guide
The Reports home page shows the list of the reports that you can choose to print. New reports will be added to this list in the future. 2 Click on one of the reports. 3 Choose the cycle and click. 28 EFIS: Training Guide
4 Select the submission you want the report to be based on. 5 Click to generate the report. The report is displayed in Excel in a separate window and can be printed or saved. 6 To return to the Reports Home page, click on Reports Home. 29 EFIS: Training Guide