| Chapter 7 - What Are Attributes? How do I Establish Them? How Can They Assist Me in Obtaining Information? |
| DEFINITION |
| Attributes are descriptive data elements assigned to a six digit account. These data elements may be descriptive elements such as department number, responsible person, revenue source or a departmental program code. They allow the sorting of financial information in almost unlimited ways. |
| USE |
| Attributes provide enormous flexibility. At Colorado State University, financial data is accumulated organizationally, such as, by department, college and vice president. Financial data, however, must also be reported in financial statements and to the State by functional classification. Through the use of attributes, we are able to take data accumulated by organizational unit and reorganize it into functional categories. This same flexibility is available to departments. The following is an example of how departments might be able to use the FRS attribute capability. Let us say your department would like to know expenditures by individual account holders. Using the responsible person attribute, a report could be obtained from FRS listing expenditures by individual. This is only a simple example of what can be done with the use of attributes. |
| HOW TO ESTABLISH |
| Your information needs may require the establishment of unique attributes for your department. If you have identified a specific attribute or need assistance in exploring the use of attributes to solve a particular problem, please call the FRS Management Office for assistance. Because of the need for coordination, attributes must be established centrally by the FRS Management Office. |
| CODING ATTRIBUTES TO ACCOUNTS |
| Once an attribute has been established, it must be coded to the accounts assigned to your department. Because attributes are being added or deleted continuously, it is not possible to develop an on-line screen that would include all departmental attributes. Attributes must, therefore, be input by completing an Attribute Modification Form and submitting it to Business & Financial Services. A copy of this form follows. |
| COMMON ATTRIBUTES |
| Several common attributes in the FRS are established and maintained by departments. These are: Responsible Person & Mailing Address. Screen Number 09B should be used for input of these attributes. |
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| Screen 9B DEPARTMENTAL ATTRIBUTES |
| This screen is used to change responsible person or address on an account. Both General Ledger and Sub-ledger accounts can be accessed on this screen. A batch DOES NOT need to be opened (screen 30) to use this screen. |
| RESTRICTIONS:Attributes for accounts in funds 53, 64 and 88 must be changed by the Office of Sponsored Programs. This is to ensure that the Grant Proposal System is in agreement with FRS. Sponsored Programs periodically updates FRS with these codes. Departmental input will be overwritten by Sponsored Programs input at that time. | |
| 1. Position the cursor after SCREEN and type 09B. Position the cursor after ACCT and type the 6-digit account number. Press the ENTER key. |
| 2. TAB to the field(s) that should be modified and type the new information. Press the ENTER key. RESPONSIBLE PERSON and ADDRESS are 20 character fields. The system does not provide a printed diagnostic or audit trail of your input. |
