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Oracle's Planning and Budgeting System (UCSDPLAN) is focused on long-term campus-wide comprehensive consolidated planning and budgeting for all core and other unrestricted funds. Oracle's Planning and Budgeting System will bring core functionality for budgeting and workforce planning and will lay the foundation for more process improvements and additional functionality to come.

UCSDPLAN will soft launch in February 2020 for a subset of campus users identified for the pilot group. The full system launch for all campus users is expected in January 2021 for the FY2021-22 budget development cycle. Review more information below about Oracle's Planning and Budgeting System and training resources to help you prepare for the soft launch in 2020 with a full launch in 2021.

More Information

FAQs

UC San Diego is modernizing its planning and budgeting processes. The current budget tools, including the Permanent Budget System and BudgetLink queries, cannot meet UC San Diego's increasingly complex planning, budgeting, forecasting, and reporting needs.

Last summer the campus began the Enterprise System Renewal – Financial Information System (FIS) project in earnest and a few months later announced its selection of Oracle's Planning and Budgeting System as UC San Diego's new comprehensive Budget and Financial Management solution. Planned to launch in 2020, Oracle will provide a modern, intuitive solution to effectively plan, budget, manage and steward the university's financial resources.

What is Oracle's Planning and Budgeting System (UCSDPLAN)?
  • Oracle’s cloud-based Enterprise Planning and Budgeting Service (EPBCS) system is known locally as Oracle's Planning and Budgeting System (UCSDPLAN).
  • Oracle's Planning and Budgeting System will be rolled out to the campus in phases.
  • Initial functionality will include bottoms-up department budgeting, workforce planning for staff, prior year’s budget and expense data, and centralized submission of budget requests for campus resources.
  • Phase 2 will add functionality including, but not limited to faculty workforce planning, enhanced reporting and commitment tracking.
What is Changing?
  • The Permanent Budget System / BudgetLink will be retired and replaced by a new system, Oracle’s Enterprise Planning and Budgeting Cloud Service (EPBCS) known locally as Oracle's Planning and Budgeting System (UCSDPLAN). With the new system, you will see changes such as:
    • Modern, web-based look and feel
    • Convenient navigation
    • Planning on the new chart of accounts
    • Standardized department budgeting at Financial Unit - Fund - Function level
What are the benefits of Oracle's Planning and Budgeting System (UCSDPLAN)?
  • A web-based tool built on Oracle Hyperion Planning
  • Provides visibility and better stewardship of all Core and Unrestricted fund budgets
  • Increases transparency and accountability
  • Enables data-informed decision making
  • Provides accurate, timely, and real-time data
  • Improves data stability and integrity
  • Establishes standardized budget preparation process
  • Offers visibility into budget variances
  • Reduces need for offline, spreadsheet-based budget template collection
When are these changes taking place?
  • In February 2020, there will be a soft launch of UCSDPLAN to a select pilot group of users who will use the system to develop their FY20/21 annual budget.
  • All other units who are not part of the pilot group will be provided excel templates (for only this transition year) for the Campus Budget Office to collect budget data for loading into UCSDPLAN on their behalf. Those non-pilot users will be granted access to begin using the system to develop their FY21/22 budgets in early 2021.
Am I part of the Phase 1 pilot group?
  • Roughly 50 staff members from the following Vice-Chancellor units and individual departments are part of the Pilot Group participating in the soft launch beginning in February 2020 for preparation of their FY20/21 budget:
    • All of VC-CFO
    • All of Advancement
    • All of Chancellor’s Units
    • VCAA – Jacobs School of Engineering Dean’s Office
    • VCAA – Electrical & Computer Engineering (ECE)
    • SIO – Institute of Geophysics & Planetary Physics (IGPP)
    • VCHS – Dean’s Office and Orthopedic Surgery
    • RMP – Parking & Transportation
How was the pilot group selected?
  • The pilot group is mainly comprised of the major administrative areas on campus as these areas typically do not experience some of the complexities of academic budgeting. Others selected for the pilot include a few units from academic, health sciences, and self-supporting areas that represent a wide range of business activity to help identify gaps prior to full launch. The pilot approach will assist in building a base of Subject Matter Experts (SMEs) that can help roll Oracle's Planning and Budgeting System out broadly via a Train-the-Trainer approach for year 2 (FY21/22) to support the hundreds of users that will need system access.
As a current Permanent Budget System/Budget Link User, how do I fit in?
  • As with any new system/process, there will be a learning curve when you first start using the UCSDPLAN tool.
  • Training will be provided throughout 2020 to help you prepare.
  • Be on the lookout for training invites and communications on timing, resources, and additional details
Will my day-to-day job change?
  • Yes – the Permanent Budget System / BudgetLink / Online Transfer of Funds (TOFs) will be retired and replaced with the new UCSDPLAN tool as well as financial journal functionality in Oracle. This will lead to greater consistency and efficiency in your day-to-day tasks. This will require learning new skills, but you will be trained on the new system.
Are 'BD' Indexes going away? How will I receive my annual budget allocations?
  • BD indexes will not be used in Oracle. When resources are allocated, UCSDPLAN will utilize a set of transfer account codes to provide funding to the Financial Unit – Fund – Function chart string, similar to the BD index Fund-Org-Program (FOP) string today.
Will I be trained on the new system?
  • Yes, there will be a variety of training opportunities for both pilot group users and non-pilot group users including in-person classroom sessions, in-person supported office hours, Zoom office hours and video tutorials. You will receive meeting invites and communications regarding training in the coming weeks.
Will I be given access to the new Oracle's Planning and Budgeting system?
  • Pilot group users will receive go-live communications about system access and be taught how to access Oracle's Planning and Budgeting System during training courses in February/March 2020. Be on the lookout for these communications. Users not participating in the soft launch pilot group will be trained and given access to UCSDPLAN later in 2020 in preparation for the FY21/22 budget cycle.
Will I be using the new chart of accounts in Oracle's Planning and Budgeting System (UCSDPLAN)?
  • Yes, the new Common Chart of Account (CCoA) will be used in Oracle's Planning and Budgeting System (UCSDPLAN). During Phase 1, budgets are prepared at the Financial Unit – Fund – Function level (formerly Organization – Fund – Program). To help prepare for this change, users should review the Redesigned Common Chart of Accounts.
Who can I contact with questions or issues?

Training Courses

Training courses Oracle's Planning and Budgeting System are now available for pilot group participants. Additional live and on-demand training offerings will be added as they become available.  

Training Course Anticipated Timing Description
UCSD Budgeting 551: Software Training for Oracle UCSDPLAN – Pilot Group Projected session dates offerings: 2/10/20 – 2/21/20 (one session per attendee) UC Learning registration links will be sent directly to the Pilot users for registration

Budget Process Timeline- FY 2020/21 Pilot Group

This table represents the overall 2020/21 budget process timeline for Oracle's Planning and Budgeting System (UCSDPLAN) pilot group. There may be modifications to this timeline. As needed, this timeline will be updated and posted.

 

UCSDPLAN Pilot Group Key Dates/Deliverables​ Anticipated Timing Description
UCSDPLAN Pilot Group Go-Live​ 2/10/20​ The system opens for 2020/21 budget entry​
UCSD Budgeting 551: Software Training for Oracle UCSDPLAN – Pilot Group 2/10- 2/21/20 Pilot users will be trained on the UCSDPLAN system and learn to develop a budget in UCSDPLAN ​(Registration Link will be sent to Pilot users)
UCSDPLAN Pilot Group Budget Entry​ 2/10- 3/30/20 Budget entry period in the system​
UCSDPLAN Pilot Group Supported Office Hours​ 2/10- 3/30/20 In-person and virtual Zoom office hours to support all Pilot budget preparers and approvers
UCSDPLAN Final Budget Submission​ 3/31/20 Department budgets will be submitted for final review​
Budget Review Period​ 3/31- 4/6/20​ UCSDPLAN final submitted budget review and iteration with VC areas
Version 1: Department Submitted Summary Distribution to VC Office​ 4/7/20 VC consolidated budget/financial summary for core/other unrestricted funds distributed
Tactical Budget Review 4/13- 4/17/20​
UCSDPLAN Entry Tactical Budget Review Changes​ 4/20- 4/24/20​ Changes post Tactical Budget Review with CFO entered centrally to UCSDPLAN
Version 2: Chancellor Summary Distribution to VC Office 4/27/20 VC consolidated budget/financial summary for core/other unrestricted funds distributed
Strategic Budget Review 5/8/20 – 5/15/20
UCSDPLAN Entry Strategic Budget Review Changes 5/15- 5/17/20 Changes post Strategic Budget Review with Chancellor entered centrally to UCSDPLAN
Version 3: Final Cabinet Summary Distribution to VC Office​ 5/25/20​ VC consolidated budget/financial summary for core/other unrestricted funds distributed
Final Cabinet & Senate Approval 6/4/20 – 6/5/20

 

Reference Documents

Quick Links

System Login Portal

Coming soon! Access restricted to pilot user group for budget year FY2020-21.

UCSDPLAN Login

Training Environment

Training portal coming late summer 2020 for all campus users.

Training Login

FY 2020 Soft Launch

Information about pilot and non-pilot responsibilities for FY2020-21, including budget overview and deadlines.

Learn More

For questions about Oracle's Planning and Budgeting System, you can reach out directly to cbofeedback@ucsd.edu.