OnePurdue starts �mock month�
to test new systems

Bev Logsdon (left), an account assistant in the College of Technology, consults with Nancy Allrich, a purchasing expert on OnePurdue�s Finance Team during the first day of mock month. Logsdon was helping OnePurdue test the new finance systems.

On November 15, the OnePurdue Finance Team began a month-long exercise called �mock month.� Scheduled to run until mid-December, this process will test the OnePurdue systems and key processes necessary to conduct a typical month of financial business at Purdue.

The results of mock month will determine when OnePurdue�s initial components will be implemented, Executive Vice President and Treasurer Morgan R. Olsen announced in an October 27 memo.

�The project managers and I agree that this rigorous quality-assurance evaluation is necessary before implementing the first systems,� Olsen said.

University Comptroller John Shipley, who assumed oversight and leadership of OnePurdue�s Finance Team in October, said mock month is the first time that all the finance modules will be tested simultaneously. This includes processing purchasing requests, maintenance requests, paying vendors, billing customers, posting payments and posting payroll charges from Purdue�s �legacy� (current) payroll system.

�By conducting mock month this way, we can be sure that the integration points between the various modules are working as expected,� Shipley said.

�This will be a true test of our readiness to implement finance and assure quality results.�

During mock month, the Finance Team will simulate its normal accounting month-end closing process and review reports. A formal assessment of this testing will take place at its conclusion, just before Purdue�s December holiday break.

Release of the human resource systems for payroll will occur after the successful implementation of the finance applications.

- Steve Jones, OnePurdue communications coordinator