Agresso Fixed Asset Module Implementation

City of St. Albert

2010-2011

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Introduction

• Ed Kaemingh - Manager of Accounting• Carole Rowe - Manager of Application Services• Caleb Anderson - Business Analyst• Agresso fixed asset module implementation• focus areas: about the City of St. Albert

prior to implementation

module implementation

using the fixed assets module

challenges and lessons learned

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About the City of St. Albert

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About the City of St. Albert

• located in Alberta, Canada• north west of Edmonton

Calgary

Vancouver

Seattle Spokane

St. Albert

Edmonton

Edmonton

St. Albert

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About the City of St. Albert

• over 60,000 residents and 22,000 land parcels• Alberta’s 5th largest city• covers an area of 36 km2 or 14 mile2

• median family income of 87,300 per year (2003)• employs up to 600 staff members• 32 staff members in Financial Services

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About the City of St. Albert

• high quality of life for residents• safest community in Western Canada• award winning cultural and recreational programs• attractive and extensive park system

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About the City of St. Albert

• over 50,000 assets: water meters to buildings• over $ 1,025,000,000 (CAD) worth of assets• 13 groups of assets

depreciable asset groupsBuilding Improvements Book Collections

Buildings Land ImprovementsVehicles Machinery & Equipment

Engineering Structures General Engineering Structures UtilitiesLeasehold Improvements  

non-depreciable asset groupsCIP Buildings CIP Building Improvements

CIP Land Improvements CIP Machinery & EquipmentCIP Engineering Structures Land

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About the City of St. Albert

Asset Group Base Value  CIPMACHEQUIP   $              203,644.74  LSHDIMPR   $              237,972.59  CIPBLDG   $              462,249.05  BLDGIMPR   $           1,325,116.47  CIPLANDIMPR   $           1,864,456.30  CIPBLDGIMPR   $           2,029,062.43  BOOKCOLL   $           2,224,404.28  CIPENGSTR   $           3,602,766.01  MACHEQUIP   $          22,435,174.10  LANDIMPR   $          41,885,064.06  VEHICLES   $          37,516,787.14  BUILDINGS   $        127,228,814.36  ENGUTILITIES   $        209,710,224.24  ENGGENERAL   $        250,901,590.56  LAND   $        323,817,450.41 

$ 1,025,444,776.74

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About the City of St. Albert

• Using Agresso since October 2000 (11 years)• Current Version: 5.5.3 sp0• Database: Oracle 10.2.0.4• Full Financial Suite including the modules G/L, A/P,

A/R, Logistics, Purchasing, web reporting.• Agresso users across 8 main buildings (City Hall,

Public Works, Transit, RCMP, two recreation facilities, Library, Human Resources).

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Prior to the Implementation

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Prior to the Implementation

• assets were tracked using Excel• 63 different Excel spreadsheets were used• 189 hours spent updating the spreadsheets• one person responsible for tracking and updating

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Prior to the Implementation

• fixed asset spreadsheet

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Prior to the Implementation

• example of fixed asset report

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ModuleImplementation

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Module Implementation

• fixed assets project teamMike Dowler, Manager Financial Services Project SponsorCarole Rowe, Manager Application Services ITS Project ManagerJoel DeBlock, Senior Business Analyst Technical: data conversion and reporting.Caleb Anderson, Business Analyst Technical: Agresso configurationMary Grace Lumbab, Capital Asset Accountant Financial Services LeadJosh Lieneman, Agresso Consultant Agresso Consultant

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Module Implementation

• fixed assets project scheduleWeeks

Tasks  

2010 – 14  

2010 – 18  

2010 – 22  

2010 – 26  

2010 – 30  

2010 –

34  

2010 – 38  

2010 – 42  

2010 – 46  

2010 – 50    

2011 – 02  

2011 – 06  

2011 – 10  

2011 – 14  

2011 – 18

Business Requirements Review                                                                                                                        

Data Preparation in Excel                                                                                                                        

Business Requirements Documentation and Feedback                                                                                                                        

Solution Design Workshops                                                                                                                        

Solution Design, Documentation and Feedback                                                                                                                        

Test configuration and Building Test Scripts                                                                                                                        

Training on Module                                                                                                                        

Business Requirements/Solution Signoff                                                                                                                        

Test Data Loading                                                                                                                        

Testing Solution                                                                                                                        

Production Configuration                                                                                                                        

Production Data Loading                                                                                                                        

Production Go Live                                                                                                                        

Production Flexi Field Data Loading                                                                                                                        

Report Development                                                                                                                        

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Module Implementation

• data came from multiple information systems & departments

• Capital Asset Accountant reviewed and organized financial information from an accounting perspective

• Senior Business Analyst reviewed and organized information from a data management perspective

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Module Implementation

• 57,327 assets loaded into Agresso• objective: to organize data so that information

can be used efficiently

- balance data file to accountant’s total

- upload into Agresso

- balance data file to Agresso totals

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Module Implementation

• an efficient data structure was key to minimizing potential problems

• in particular, the GL being out-of-balance in some way

• the accounting values for the 57,327 assets were constantly changing

- values were being revised or corrected

- assets were being added or deleted

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Module Implementation

17 files (30 worksheets) One Access Table 104 Upload Files

With 55 Tables

Not a Normalized Table

44 AT08Basic Asset Info

49 AT09GL Information

11 BIFFlexi-Field Information

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Module Implementation

• AT08

- Basic Asset Information

- GL Information• AT09

- Original capitalization amount

- Current accumulated depreciation

• BIF Files for Flexi-Fields

- Sundry information we identified

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Module Implementation

Basic Asset Information (AT08)

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Module Implementation

GL Information (AT08)

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Module Implementation

Capitalization and Depreciation (AT09)

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Module Implementation

Sundry Information for each Asset.

BIF #1

BIF #2

BIF #3

BIF #4

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Module Implementation

• batch inputting was done using BIF• BIF is able to convert excel files into flat files• imported into Agresso via importing routines

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Module Implementation

• test script templates provided by Agresso• testing done by many users during the project• multiple issues found during the testing

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Using the Fixed Assets Module

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Using the Fixed Assets Module

• fixed assets menu• used to access the fixed asset functions

demo

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Using the Fixed Assets Module

• creating a new asset• asset the asset master file to create assets

demo

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Using the Fixed Assets Module

• capitalizing an asset• create a proposal and confirmation

demo

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Using the Fixed Assets Module

• depreciating an asset• create a proposal and confirmation

demo

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Using the Fixed Assets Module

• searching for asset transactions • use master file, browser enquiry, or reports

demo

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Using the Fixed Assets Module

• using other fixed asset functions• create from invoice, sales/disposal, reversals

demo

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Using the Fixed Assets Module

• Excelerator is used for most reports• summary of assets by:

- activity & asset group

- GL account & asset group • list of assets by:

- asset group and sub-category

- account type and asset group

- net book value by asset ID for auditors

- additions, sales , depreciation, reversals, regroupings

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Using the Fixed Assets Module

• Excelerator report example:

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Using the Fixed Assets Module

• browser reports created

- general searches

- simple lists of assets

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Using the Fixed Assets Module

• browser reports created

browser report added as a flexi-field

demo

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Challenges and Lessons Learned

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Challenges

• too many records

- reports take a long time to run

- reporting on 57,000 assets can cause errors

• small asset values- rounding errors during depreciation- some assets are valued at $0.15

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Solutions

• reduce the number of records

- Agresso had difficulty with 57,327 records and assets with very small values

- reduce the number of assets significantly by either grouping the smaller assets, or not

recording them

- assets with a replacement value of less than $10,000 account for 63% of the records, but only 3.5% of the total replacement value

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Solutions

63% 3.5%

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Solutions

• only 279 records are required to maintain the integrity of the calculation of depreciation

• 406 records are required if we want to categorize by Major Asset Category

• 1,078 records are required if we want to categorize by Minor Asset Category

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Solutions

• 1,078 records are required if we want to categorize by Minor Asset Category

• we are currently maintaining information on 57,327 separate assets

• location information would see the number of required assets increase to ~20,000

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Lessons Learned

• use Agresso version 5.5.3 or above• understand that software will not solve all issues• engage Agresso experts early• plan for things to not go according to plan• perform training on actual historical data• do not turn a financial system into an asset

inventory system• effective use of asset grouping is important

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Lessons Learned

• spend time organizing asset information• spend time thinking about business requirements• spend time thinking about system design• ensure proper resources are allocated to project

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Agresso Fixed Asset Module Implementation

Questions?

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