Monthly NPS Reconciliation & Finance Dashboard Certification – Detailed Training Notes

Participants: Trainer (unnamed), Amber, Alexandria; frequent references to Adam (supervisor) and Massey (higher-level administrator).
Purpose: Introduce the monthly NPS (Non-Personal Services) Reconciliation workflow, demonstrate SmartSheet access, show how it links to the VCU Finance Dashboard for Monthly Certifications, and clarify differing workloads.
Contextual numbers: trainer handles ≈ $670$ charges per month, Amber ≈ $180$ (mostly travel‐related), Alexandria will begin July $1$ .

Email arrives the $1^{st}$ of each month (deferred to next business day if weekend).
Contents: links to SmartSheet Dynamic Views (one per analyst) and “All-Charges” master sheet; template text remains largely unchanged month-to-month.
Immediate actions for analyst:
- Open personal Dynamic View; verify SmartSheet login works.
- Review each transaction row; populate the Notes column with audit details.
- Keep in mind: these notes are later relied on when you certify indexes in the Dashboard, so you shouldn’t need to re-audit.

Access via VCU single sign-on → “Finance Dashboard” → “Certified Monthly Expense Reports.”
Certification window priorities:
- $1^{st}$ – $16^{th}$ : analysts focus heavily on both NPS entries and Dashboard certifications.
- Massey internal deadline: $15^{th}$ (late flags from Adam).
- VCU institutional deadline: end of month (≈ $30/31$ ). Late here triggers university-level compliance issues.
Certification requirements:
- Every index must be certified monthly—either “clean” or “with flags.”
- Typical success rate: $75\text{–}80\%$ of indexes are clean.
- When recon notes are complete, certification should only take a few clicks.

SmartSheet
- Dynamic View (training wheels): single-row editing, must open each line and click Save; slower but safe for new analysts.
- All-Charges Sheet (advanced): allows multi-select, bulk copy/paste, custom filters; eventual upgrade path.
Finance Dashboard (F-Dash)
- Institution-wide interface for Monthly Certifications, labor detail, NPS summaries.
Source systems & document prefixes
- CT######## – Chrome River Travel (agency fee, airfare, lodging, per diem, etc.).
- PC######## – Bank of America P-Card (Works portal for receipts).
- REQ/PO/EP#### – RealSource (a.k.a. RamSource) purchase orders.
- JV##### – Journal Vouchers (budget or expense adjustments).
- Labor lines handled elsewhere in the Dashboard.
Other lookup tools: Banner, WISP, Chrome River, BOA Works, RealSource.

Travel (majority for Amber)
- Agency travel fee, domestic airfare, lodging, business meals, taxi/shuttle, meal per diem.
Supplies / Services
- Office supplies, skilled services, lab/research materials.
Basic note requirements (minimum viable):
- Restate account description (e.g., “Agency travel fee”).
- Identify traveler/payee (e.g., “Jones, Joy Lee”).
- Optionally cite trip purpose (conference name/dates). Adam will decide depth.
Red-flag awareness: look for expenses that appear personal or unrelated ("14 kt gold necklace" example).
Goal = document that “analyst eyes” reviewed every line.

Launch Dynamic View; sort/filter by preference (document prefix, index, amount, etc.).
Batch work by source system:
- Handle all CT (Chrome River) charges first while you’re already in that system.
- Then process PC (P-Card) charges, etc.
For each document number:
- Retrieve details in the source system; confirm legitimacy.
- Enter concise, professional note; click Save.
Repeat until $100\%$ of rows have notes.
After notes complete, proceed to Finance Dashboard and certify indexes.

Efficiency tips:

Multi-row copy/paste possible in All-Charges sheet (once permitted).
Maintain a personal tracker (spreadsheet) noting labor % changes, flagged items, follow-ups.
Detail level may shrink over time as you learn what you actually reference later.

Depth of detail for travel notes: description + traveler vs full conference/event info.
Whether Amber should be given delegate rights in Chrome River for full access to travel reports.
Expected time allocation between NPS Recon vs Dashboard certifications.
Outstanding access (BOA Works, full Dashboard rights) for new analysts.

Normal cadence: Wednesdays & Fridays (30 min each).
Trainer offers extra Zooms this week (Tue/Thu) to avoid bottlenecks before $15^{th}$ deadline.
Alexandria’s real workload starts July $1$ ; may sit in on trainer’s index walk-through for practice.
Guarantee: team will ensure all certifications completed on time—analysts shouldn’t stress.

Email attachments/links:
- “NPS Guides & Tips” folder.
- “Item-Specific Instructions” sheet with screenshots & arrows.
Analysts encouraged to keep both the guide and Dynamic View open side by side while exploring; jot questions.

Notes visible to index owners; keep language professional (no personal insults).
Recon sometimes feels redundant; currently required for compliance and audit trail.
Analysts free to propose efficiency improvements once familiar with systems.

Charges per analyst example: $670$ vs $180$ .
Timeline each month:
- $1^{st}$ – Recon email & SmartSheet released.
- $1^{st}\text{–}16^{th}$ – Recon + Certifications focus window.
- $15^{th}$ – Internal Massey deadline.
- $31^{st}$ (or month end) – Final VCU deadline.

Familiarize with systems despite no active charges until July.
Attend upcoming sessions; practice using trainer’s indexes for hands-on exposure.

Finance Dashboard certification is “the IMPORTANT thing”; NPS Recon feeds that process.
Complete, concise notes enable fast, confident monthly certifications.
Use document prefixes to streamline research; batch similar tasks.
Respect deadlines, keep notes professional, and continuously refine your workflow.