Allocation Manager???

So, what is the status and where is any information on the Allocation Management module?

Only posts I see are five (5) plus years old!!!!

Comments

  • Sarah Curry
    Sarah Curry Blackbaud Employee
    Seventh Anniversary Kudos 1 Name Dropper Participant

    @Duane Bozarth Hi Duane - are you asking about when this will be available in web view? Currently that wave is slated to begin at the end of this year (December).

    Allocation Management

    • Allocations
    • Pools
    • Rates
    • Fee schedules
    • Business rules
    • Simple allocations

    Here's the link to the full page with current and planned rollout waves:

  • @Sarah Curry - so from this I presume it IS active in NXT now, just not outside the database view interaction?

    We have not yet gone live and are in design phase; I'm trying to learn enough about how the allocation manager module works to feel certain we have everything in the design to be able to do the allocations as we need. But, there's no training module in our learning path nor can I find anything at all current about it anywhere….everything is 5-6 years old.

  • Sarah Curry
    Sarah Curry Blackbaud Employee
    Seventh Anniversary Kudos 1 Name Dropper Participant

    @Duane Bozarth Checked with our team - allocations are unique enough from org to org that we do not offer a general training for them. I'd recommend working with your implementation team or point person to ensure it's set up correctly. If you have consulting hours, that's an option too. As you said, definitely worth making sure it's set up exactly as you need it prior to going live!

  • @Sarah Curry I would say that's a very unsound decision – in lieu of that, where's the module documentation/help files so one can learn anything at all? The current situation is, imo, totally unacceptable.

    I can't fathom there are no current topics on the subject as key a component as is for any NPR with endowed funds; the core business arena.

    The best thing I have found (and it took Google to find it, not a search on the Blackbaud site with its search feature) which is dated 2017. If the features indicated there are indeed implemented, then it sounds like at least theoretically things could work, but still doesn't address the “the devil is in the details” problem on initial design decisions.


  • Sarah Curry
    Sarah Curry Blackbaud Employee
    Seventh Anniversary Kudos 1 Name Dropper Participant

    @Duane Bozarth We do have some documentation in Knowledgebase that could be a good starting point if you're hoping to get a general understanding of the module prior to discussing with your implementation team. I would recommend finalizing all details with them, though.


  • @Sarah Curry I had already seen that; besides being woefully short of detail, it is documented to be for FE7, not FE NXT so I don't know that it can be trusted?

    This is simply incredible state of affairs for a key component of NPR accounting imo.

    It appears the scope of work of the implementation consultant is carefully constructed to only cover the account design pre-canned workbook; we went all the way through and never got to the end result of ensuring can allocate funds correctly; the questions are never asked/not addressed in the design workbook.

    I have an open Q? in to them but so far, no response…we'll see what happens, I guess, but it's another instance of extreme frustration with BB in trying to get a new user set up.

    ADDENDUM/UPDATE

    I did receive a response from the BB partner this AM; he provided links to an Allocation Management Guide and a Powerpoint Slide training session. Both of these are apparently from FE7 as well; the first is dated 2015(!!!) while the second is undated. I've asked him if in his implementation experience all features from FE7 have been incorporated intact in FE NXT, it would be agoodthing™ if Blackbaud themselves would assure customers that is so and/or itemize any differences AND UPDATE THE CURRENT DOCUMENTATION AND LINKS so this information is readily findable.

  • @Sarah Curry I'm reading the guide; it looks to be quite detailed which is good. However, I'm not yet familiar enough to know the nuances of FE terminology – in the description of “Pools” I find the following --

    “Pools. Allocation pools are groups of entities used to determine the relative balances used when allocating amounts. The entities can be designated by account, project, class, transaction code, transaction attribute, account attribute, and project attribute.”

    What is a transaction, account, and/or project “attribute”, precisely?

  • @Sarah Curry Hi Sarah, so if allocation management is scheduled to be live in NXT in December, but Database View is phasing out in October, what will happen between October and December? We use allocation pools each month for fees, investment gains/losses, interest income, etc.

  • Nikki Baldwin
    Nikki Baldwin Blackbaud Employee
    Tenth Anniversary Kudos 4 Name Dropper Participant

    @Gary Rothstein, database view isn't planned to be phased out by end of October – we are sending emails with a 3-month view of what's expected by the end of the next 90 days, so that may be from where you're getting that date. We plan to have the large majority of database view phased out by end of year but some areas will remain available in database view into early 2025 to give everyone time to adopt the latest added webview features.

  • @Sarah Curryso if I am reading this right, Simple allocations will be available in NXT at the end of 2024, correct? We stopped using them in the database in 2023 because the allocations were coming over in hundreds of lines and in small increments, pennies, making the GL reports atrocious.

  • Sarah Curry
    Sarah Curry Blackbaud Employee
    Seventh Anniversary Kudos 1 Name Dropper Participant

    @Kim Salerno Yes, this is still slated to begin (in waves) in December 2024!

    Here's what they're planning to include:

    Allocation Management

    • Allocations
    • Pools
    • Rates
    • Fee schedules
    • Business rules
    • Simple allocations

    You can keep an eye on the schedule at the link below. Info on Allocation Mgt is under the General Ledger drop-down.

  • Is anyone else having problems creating Pools in NXT that they can then use in the Allocations ?

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