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Import gift batches to Finance

Jen Dittrich

Hi! We have just finished our conversion to RENXT and are now finding pushback from our Finance Office about how they are receiving the GL imports (we are not on Financial Edge). They were included and aware that we would be sending a spreadsheet to import into what is now our Legacy CRM, still their current CRM. Has anyone else experienced this? What resolutions did you come to? What is best practice? Any insights are welcome!!!

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Comments

Christine Robertson

@Jen Dittrich You can use the Post to GL functionality even if you don't have FE. I've had a number of clients use that as a way to link RE to their GL. Using it without FE will allow you to generate a .csv that contains GL numbers that you have linked to the RE Funds.

Jen Dittrich

@Christine Robertson we are doing that, but they are not happy with receiving the spreadsheet that they then have to import into the finance system.

Alex Wong

@Jen Dittrich
how were they doing it before? was there a custom integration that was built prior to your migration to RENXT?

Christine Robertson

@Jen Dittrich There really aren't a lot of other options that include the GL numbers (I've seen some try Exports and Canned Reports, but they usually have other caveats that complicate the processs). Have you looked at PostOmatic from Omatic? Maybe that would help?

Jen Dittrich

@Alex Wong
We were in an integrated CRM, so it was part of the process when we booked that the information went to Finance.

Jen Dittrich

@Christine Robertson we are implementing Omatic, but opted not to get PostOmatic as they said they were OK when this was previously talked about. Of course that was before they actually had to do the work.

Alex Wong

@Jen Dittrich
I guess i didn't understand what you mean by legacy crm, current crm.

Are you saying you were RE and FE integrated before and RE post directly into FE and now that you migrated to RENXT, you are no longer using FE instead is using another financial system?

Jen Dittrich

@Alex Wong
No, Advancement's legacy database was a module in integrated CRM that Finance (and the rest of the institution) is still using. We moved out into RENXT and now have to find a way to import the information back to finance for the GL. We are using the native posting process that creates the csv/spreadsheet and sending to finance for import, but they aren't real excited by this change.

Christine Robertson

@Jen Dittrich Got it. Sorry - I wish there was more I could suggest. I know the GL Distribution file is pretty limited in what it shows. You might be able to use a Gift Export depending upon what their needs are, but that isn't always a good solution for a range of reasons.

Alex Wong

@Jen Dittrich
i see what you mean now.

every GL is different so will be hard to make any recommendation. However, there are plenty of option to programmatically create a posting file that is much more acceptable by your finance team (what needs to be determine before using any method is to make sure the resulting column expected by your finance team is clearly known and the data from RE can transform into it):

create an excel file that has prebuilt formula with reference lookup table
excel has the ability to use Power Query as well, which is a stronger version of method #1 above
use power automate and SKY API, a even more integrated option

Jen Dittrich

@Alex Wong
Thanks Alex, it isn't so much the problem of the file, but the fact that they need to do the extra steps of the import. Do other Advancement Offices do the import for Finance, or is this something that is handed off?

Lee Grisham

@Jen Dittrich We took forever to work through this and our team eventually ended up moving to FE, which still hasn't solved the “issue.” Like @Christine Robertson mentioned, there aren't a lot of good options to export GL info out, but you can do it. We used a query to build out an additional export file we would send over.

I think the real problem lies in understanding what the finance team does with the GL data and how they use the information that is sent to them. How much detail do they need for their entries? Do they make one entry per GL line or do they post every gift/split? You can get whatever they need out of database view, so you and RE are not the problem.

If they cannot communicate their needs, this won't be solved and you might spend hours recreating files until they are happy. My recommendation is to have them send over an example of how they would like it to look and then you can build a file to meet what they need as best you can. Walk through it with them and help them understand what effort you have to put into it. At the end of that, they need to sign off on an OK that you have completed your task, just like any implementation partner. Your time is valuable, and they can't keep adding in requirements to have something formatted a particular way after the fact if it was already agreed upon. We were pushed around a little too long and I don't want someone else to go through that.

Carol Ewart

Good morning, @Jen Dittrich ! I feel your pain. We converted from Banner Advancement to RENXT about 2 years ago. My institution runs Banner Finance. We purchased PostOmatic and use it to create the file to post to Finance.

I've supported Banner for many years and am familiar with its abilities (or lack of) to import data. I wrote a Banner job to morph the PostOmatic file data and place it in the Banner table that holds data to post (GURFEED). It's one more step for gift staff, but the data does flow thru. As others have said, each system has its own way. I hope you can find a good way to make yours work.

Stu Manewith

@Jen Dittrich – as Christine suggests, PostOmatic is a tool built by Omatic to do exactly what you need – gather gifts from RE (NXT) via API, transform them to meet the exact specific needs of your finance team, and then create an output file to suit. Literally, a push-button solution, following careful configuration and requirements. I will have your Omatic account manager reach out to you. Regards,

Stu Manewith, CFRE

Stu Manewith

@Lee Grisham – at Omatic, we work with several organizations that use both RE and FE, but for whom the standard RE-→ FE feed does not work effectively. Omatic has a ‘sister’ product to PostOmatic called Post-to-GL that has solved that challenge for a number of our clients. Please let us know if you'd like to learn more. You can contact me at stu.manewith@omaticsoftware.com.

Andrea Daub

@Jen Dittrich We are in the same boat at my institution. Moved from Banner Advancement to RE NXT. Finance office still is on Banner Finance. We thought we would need an export then the Finance office flip-flopped and said the Post to GL would be sufficient.

@Carol Ewart We've sent Post to GL csv files to central IT to do GURFEED but we keep running into issues. Would you be willing to chat?

Carol Ewart

@Andrea Daub Sure! Replying via pm