FIRS User Guide - Alberta Innovation and Advanced Education
Contents
1. 1 Double click on the FTP Explorer icon An FTP Explorer Window appears as shown below a FTP Explorer 23 AL Alberta College of Art and Profile Mame aL Generic Connect AL Alliance AL Athabasca University l i 99213729 AL Augustana University Coll KEE Eee Port z Use PASY Mode Use Firewall AL Canadian Alliance AL Canadian University Login regen Anonymous AL Concordia University Colle AL Devry el ae AL Fairview Password AL Grande Praine Regional Initial Path AL Grant McEwan AL Keyana Attempts i Heim Delay R AL Kings University College AL Lakeland AL Lethbridge Community Download Path Pe Browse AL Medicine Hat Description o Cache data between sessions Add Save Shortcut Remove For Help press E Figure B 1 The FTP Explorer Screen 2 Before you can transfer files to and from the FTP site you need to fill in the Profile Name the Host Address the Login and the Password assigned to your institution The password is available by contacting Gordon de Rouyan at Gordon deRouyan gov ab ca Also create a profile for AL Generic 3 Click on the AL Generic and click on the Connect button The AL Generic FTP Explorer window appears At this point the AL Generic Setup is complete Note In the display screens above the AL Generic site refers to the one location used by all institutions to access the Alberta Enterprise and Advanced Education executable programs2. 4 If you prefer rename the new shortcut icon that you just created and delete any old Alberta Enterprise and Advanced Education icons You should now have an updated red four triangular icon on your desktop entitled Alberta Learning New Computers There are times when users get new computers but the Alberta Enterprise and Advanced Education software has already been installed correctly on the server This section will handle this issue In prior years Alberta Enterprise and Advanced Education has supplied a file called __VFP9_DLL_Install exe on the FTP server Supplying this file to the institutions is done differently now The __VFP9_DLL_Install exe file is included with all of the Prog_ install files The __ VFP9_DLL_Install exe file will automatically be saved to the X AECD DEPT where X refers to the drive you selected during the original install Maybe this is a new user to the Alberta Enterprise and Advanced Education software In this case it would be necessary to ensure the user has full server access rights to the X AECD directory Once the user has access to the folder the user or IT staff can execute the X AECD DEPT __ VFP9_DLL_Install exe Follow the instructions in the Executing the Installation Files section Version 2012 2013 Page 15 July 2012 FIRS User Guide Appendix B Setting up FTP Explorer Once you have completed installing FTP Explorer on your computer an icon should appear on your computer desktop
3. Version 2012 2013 Page 16 July 2012 FIRS User Guide List of Figures Figure 2 1 Figure 2 2 Figure 3 1 Figure 3 2 Figure 4 1 Figure 5 1 Figure 6 1 Figure 7 1 The Alberta Advanced Education Launch Bar 3 FIRS Be rei Belt BEE 3 Revenue Entry POM eer EE 4 Tuition Fee Revenue amp Expense Summary Screen csccsseccesecceseccenceeeecceseceeneeseusensucenseeeees 5 Business Plan Report Selection Screen ccscsccccsssscsessssesconssecuenssscneoussessoussscuensscneosvessonssss 6 Setup Current SUBMISSION Year SChECN EE 7 FIP BrOWSEF SCOE EE 7 PFOVIGEIMEXDOGE SCOE EE 8 Figure C T Provider Upload Screen EE 9 Figure el Alberta Learning ICON Properties geed ee a amea tel eks 13 Heure AS 2 instalation DITECLORY EE 14 Figure B 1 Tne FIP ExpIOrer Sree EEN 16 Version 2012 2013 Page 17 July 2012
4. Terminology Definitions and Classifications manual The reporting manuals are available for download at the Alberta Enterprise and Advanced Education website http www advancededucation gov ab ca software If you have any questions regarding the use of the FIRS software please contact the following Contact Person Gordon de Rouyan Email Gordon deRouyan gov ab ca Phone No 780 945 0712 FIRS User Guide Prepared for Comprehensive Academic amp Research Institutions Specialized Arts amp Culture Institutions Baccalaureate and Applied Studies Institutions Polytechnical Institutions Comprehensive Community Institutions Independent Academic Institutions and Alberta Enterprise and Advanced Education Post secondary and Community Education Division FIRS User Guide Contents 1 Overview of the Organization Of FIRS SOFTWATLEC c ccccececcccscercccccccsceccecccsceccccccscecescecececescese 1 Zs RQUICIIING FIRS EE 3 3 Financial Information Entry geed EEN ENEE EEN SEENEN EEN AEN d d Financial Information Reports 2ceccccecercccccsceccccecsceccccecscsceccececscescececsceccececececescecscecescececes 6 Ze Setup Current SUDMISSION YOT vissiciciescecscvawicdeedeveeeeteuvendesde vbessavews ETETE E EEE EEE 7 6 File Transfer Protocol FTP Browser cccceccsscccsccccscescecescececcecsccecscescecescecessecsccecsceccecesceceses 7 Z Provider EXPOTU EE 8 8 Provider ET DEE 9 DE E EEN 9 Appendix A Installation of the FIRS Pro
5. 2012 2013 Page 7 July 2012 FIRS User Guide submission to the FTP Server File sizes that have O KB beside them usually mean that the file was created but is not valid Select a Download Directory by pressing the Browse button Double click the file to be downloaded it will turn red Press the Download button To install the files exit the application completely Go to the Download Directory and proceed with the installation routine Installation instructions can be found in Appendix A This form is the easiest way to download and install newer versions of the software data or updates 7 Provider Export To open the provider export form go to the menu bar and choose Utility and then click on Provider Export The Provider Export screen will appear as shown below FIRS Provider Export Nortbem Alberta Institute of Technology 2011 2012 Submission Year UK Cancel Figure 7 1 Provider Export Screen By pressing the OK button information entered in FIRS system for the current submission year will be export to your local C drive and to the Department s FTP site if the FTP Files check box is checked Version 2012 2013 Page 8 July 2012 FIRS User Guide 8 Provider Upload To open the provider upload form go to the menu bar and choose Utility and then click on Provider Upload The Provider Import screen will appear as shown below FIRS Provider Upload Horthern Alberta Institute of Technology Upload File
6. July 2012 Financial Information Reporting System FIRS User Guide A ay Enterprise and beren Advanced Education Post Secondary Planning amp Investment Branch This document is to be used in conjunction with the Financial Information Reporting System reporting manual and the Common Terminology Definitions and Classifications manual The Financial Information Reporting System collects data about institutional financial information such as revenue and expenditure This user guide is intended to give you an understanding of how you can use the FIRS system to prepare and submit information electronically and view and print reports The FIRS system can be installed on a stand alone PC or it can be installed on your Local Area Network LAN You may have already installed the Launch facility Refer to the Appendix for instructions on downloading the KPIRS software version 2012 13a from the File Transfer Protocol FTP site and how to install the software In each of the following sections we describe the general procedures you will use in the normal processing of financial information as you prepare to send your regular submission to the Department Screen shots from the FIRS software are included to illustrate the procedures For a description of the data elements that make up the various components of FIRS refer to the Financial Information Reporting System reporting manual For descriptive information of all systems refer to the Common
7. d fie d The password is available by contacting Gordon de Rouyan at Gordon deRouyan gov ab ca 4 Click on the OK button If your password is valid you will be logged in to the FIRS system and the menu bar appears Version 2012 2013 Page 3 July 2012 FIRS User Guide 3 Financial Information Entry Institutions will enter information through entry forms Select Revenue under Entry on the menu bar The template will then appear and will be blank for the current submission year unless the institution has already entered data into the system Information for previous years is read only and those cells are shaded Cells that need to be entered by the user appear white as shown in Figure 3 1 Revenue Entry 2011 12 Northern Alberta Institute of Technology oo amp z 2010 2011 Actual Provider Notes Save Cancel al Dees BOUT Ge Alberta AET Alberta AET Alberta AET Other Ata Dout Other Dot Total Type Operations Capitals Research General Operations Grant Base amp Ongoing Cond Grants Performance Award Envelope Funding Enrolment Planning En elope Leaming Enhancement Access to the Future Fund Infrastructure Marg Prog Intellectual Infrastructure Research Excellence Other So gt So ff fe amp fe oe Tenm certain Conditional Grant Brokenng Collaborative Agree Credit Tuition amp Universal Fee Total Figure 3 1 Revenue Entry Form Screen Each template for Actual1 Act
8. e data file was created Downloading from the Alta Enterprise amp Advanced Education FTP Server There are three ways to download the software 1 Internet Explorer Safari Google Chrome 2 FTP Browser within FIRS 3 FTP Explorer Note It will be important to know the drive and directory where the downloaded files have been saved to FTP Browser within FIRS shows the directory at the bottom of the form If this is a first ttime download of the Alberta Enterprise and Advanced Education software i e if you do not have the Launch Program the FIRS or KPIRS or LERS Program and FIRS Data installed on your computer or servers use either an Internet Browser or FTP Explorer to download the files Contact for user ids and passwords to access the Generic and Institution specific location on the Alberta Enterprise and Advanced Education FTP server Version 2012 2013 Page 10 July 2012 FIRS User Guide Internet Explorer Safari Google Chrome These internet browsers allow a user to access an FTP Server by using a specific URL command All browsers use the same command though might be slightly different from browser to browser The following is a template for what one would look like Safari and Google Chrome ftp userid password 199 213 72 3 Internet Explorer ftp userid password 199 213 72 3 userid Both of these commands will direct the browser to the same location on the FTP server Clicking on a link within the bro
9. e FTP Explorer icon on your desktop or click on the Start button on the windows task bar move the mouse up to Programs From the Programs submenu click on FTP Explorer If you do not have FTP Explorer installed you need to install FTP Explorer and request user ids and passwords from Alberta Enterprise and Advanced Education 2 Select the AL Generic on the Connect screen Click on the Connect button At this time you are in the AL Generic site 3 Click on the firs9gen folder On the right hand side of the screen you will see a file named HRS Prog 20122013a exe and Launch Prog 2011f exe or similar Press the Ctrl key on the keyboard and click on the file names one by one Now the two files should be selected 4 Gotothe menu bar and click on File From the drop down list click on Download To Version 2012 2013 Page 11 July 2012 FIRS User Guide The Download to dialog box appears Locate the folder where you want to save the files and click on the Save button It will ask you to save again for the second file Click on Save If you do not have an existing folder where you can download the files create a new folder and click on the Save button twice for each file This process might take a few seconds Once the files are downloaded successfully you will see a transfer complete message for each file you downloaded at the bottom of the FTP Explorer window To download FIRS Data Install 1 To open FTP Explorer double click on the FTP E
10. es by Function amp Object Category Indirect Costs by Function amp Object Category Staffing Profile FTE Tuition Fee Revenue amp Expense Summary Tuition amp Related Fees per Student Deferred Contributions discontinued 2009 2010 Statement of Changes in Financial Position discontinued 2009 2010 Statement of Financial Position at Year End discontinued 2009 2010 Version 2012 2013 Page 1 July 2012 FIRS User Guide Navigation Enabled when the Entry screens are being used First Prior Next Last Find New Delete Reports Business Plan Setup Current Submission Year Utility Provider Export FTP Browser Provider Upload Window Shows all the windows currently opened Help Contents Search for Help on About FIRS Version 2012 2013 Page 2 July 2012 FIRS User Guide 2 Launching FIRS To launch FIRS 1 Click on the four red triangles Alberta Learning icon on your Windows desktop to execute the Launch program The Alberta Enterprise and Advanced Education systems launch bar appears as shown below EN Alberta Advanced Education File System 3 Ke LERS FIRS KPIFS Exit Figure 2 1 The Alberta Advanced Education Launch Bar 2 Click on the FIRS Financial Information Reporting System icon on the Launch bar The Logon dialog box appears as shown below a Logan SN Password d UK Cancel Figure 2 2 FIRS Logon Screen 3 Enter the Password in the Passwor
11. gram csccscscsscscscscecsccscsccccccscsceccccecscesescecs 9 KENE EE 9 Downloading from the Alta Enterprise amp Advanced Education FTP Server 10 Executing THe Installation EE 13 NEW COMPUTO Serr 15 Appendix B Setting up FTP Explorer ccscscsccscscessccscsceccccscscsccccccscsseecccscsceseecscscesees 16 ISU OF PIRUINOS EE 17 Version 2012 2013 Page ii July 2012 FIRS User Guide Version 2012 2013 Page iii July 2012 FIRS User Guide 1 Overview of the Organization of FIRS Software This is an overview of the procedures available as part of the Financial Information Reporting System FIRS software FIRS is accessible through the Launch bar which is the common entry point for LERS FIRS KPIRS and PRS systems Below are the FIRS menu items that are available in the FIRS Software and the functions available under each Certain main menu headings or drop down options are only available to institutions that require them Note Most of the menu items have one letter underlined Typing this letter is a quick way to open the screen for that item Financial Information Reporting System IR Nene ses File Edit Entry Navigation Reports Setup Utility Window Help File Close Print Setup Exit Edit accessible only after any screen is opened Undo Ctrl Z Redo Ctrl R Cut Ctrl X Copy Ctrl C Paste Ctrl V Select All Ctrl A Entry Revenues by Source and Type Revenues by Fund Expens
12. he forms Any calculated elements on the record are refreshed and the new values are displayed as related data changes It is advisable to include a note using the Notes function provided This feature allows you to provide additional information about your submission which will assist Department staff with their analysis The Notes button will turn to red if there is information contained in the Notes for the template Information will be saved when the Save button on the form is pressed The Tuition Fee Revenue amp Expense Summary template has a different formatting style as shown in figure 3 2 Apprenticeship Instruction Other ME P Exp Mot Subj ta TF Off Campus Cost Recowry Cre Third Party Credit Met Operating Expenses Ratio Tut Fees Polite HOE Total Full Load Equiv Students Less FLE Off Campus Cost Rec Credit F Third Party Credit FLE Foprenticeship FLE Other WFP Not Subj to TFP FLE Adjusted Non Exempt FLEs 7009 27010 7010 2011 Actual Actual Tuition Fee Revenue amp Expense summary Entry 2011 12 Northern Alberta Institute of Techni co amp ss 2011 2012 Budget Figure 3 2 Tuition Fee Revenue amp Expense Summary Screen Three years of information is shown on the same form Cells with information populated are grayed out Version 2012 2013 Page 5 July 2012 FIRS User Guide 4 Financial Information Reports Reports are available for you to print the information y
13. ou ve entered at any stage of the data entry process All appropriate records will be displayed with or without values entered by the institution All of the data elements that you see on the screens are also presented on the reports including calculated values It is often useful to generate the reports prior to entering data These reports can be used as templates for collection of the information from others at your institution When all data has been entered and you are ready to submit the data we encourage you to print all of your reports and keep them where they can be referred to later To generate reports select the Business Plan Report option from the Reports menu ZE Business Plan Report selection Re Vf Include Notes Reports l E Expenses 2009 2010 Actual Expenses 2011 2012 Budget Indirect Costs 2009 2010 Actual Indirect Costs 2010 2011 Actual Indirect Costs 2011 2012 Budget Revenue 2009 2010 Actual Revenue 2070 2011 Actual Sa cd dn Ei I Figure 4 1 Business Plan Report Selection Screen Use the appropriate selection buttons to select the desired reports The D and nl buttons will select and deselect a single report The HI and buttons will select and deselect all reports The Lal and g buttons will allow you to preview and print the selected reports Reports can be re generated at any time and may be printed or viewed Version 2012 2013 Page 6 July 2012 FIRS User Guide 5 Setup Cur
14. p of the section Executing the Installation Files The directory may already be displayed correctly E Setup Launch lo Select Destination Location Where should Launch be installed Setup will install Launch into the Following Folder To continue click Next IF you would like to select a different Folder click Browse C 4ECDIDEPT Browse At least 12 4 MB of free disk space is required lt Back C next gt Cancel Figure A 2 Installation Directory 5 Click on Next twice and click on Install to begin the installation process 6 Click on Finish to exit the installation wizard 7 Repeat the process for any additional files When the entire install process is complete the following paths will be found on your X drive where X refers to the drive you selected during the install X AECD DEPT BIN where the program files reside X AECD DEPT DAT where the data files reside Inside the BIN you will find the launch ico file and inside the DAT folder you will find the database files Version 2012 2013 Page 14 July 2012 FIRS User Guide Windows NT If you are running Windows NT you will have to go to the folder containing the Launch exe Sf launch exe program and create the shortcut yourself To create the shortcut on your desktop 1 Locate the BIN folder and double click on it 2 Right click on the launch exe file and click on Send To 3 From the submenu click on Desktop Create Shortcut
15. rent Submission Year To allow you to view the information your institution has entered in different years select the Current Submission Year option from the Setup menu ZS Setup Current Submission co E 3 Set Current Submission ear To pelo Le Figure 5 1 Setup Current Submission Year Screen Select a year in the drop down list box and press OK button to set up the current submission year 6 File Transfer Protocol FTP Browser a FTP Browser FTP Location Download FTP Files J_FIRS_Prog_20112012aene BBS KB a __Launch_Prog_2011fexe 7 836 KB __LERSProg2010a exe 15 085 KB Download Directory CMAECOADEPT Download Browse Figure 6 1 FTP Browser Screen This form connects the application to the FTP server at Alberta Enterprise and Advanced Education Once the FIRS application has been installed on your computer FTP downloads related to this application can be done from this form Three different options are available from the dropdown list Generic Data from Advanced Education and Submission Folder The Generic folder will contain the applications from Alberta Enterprise and Advanced Education Launch KPIRS LERS and FIRS The Data from Advanced Education folder will contain Data installation files FIRS will alert you to the presence of new versions of the data files upon startup of the application The Submission Folder will allow you to verify that you have made your Version
16. s Upload File Name Upload Figure 8 1 Provider Upload Screen This form allows the user to upload any type of file to the FTP server For example ZIP files of the data directory can be sent for an analyst to review and identify and resolve issues Pictures of error messages and supporting excel files to name a few Browse to the file for upload Click on the Upload button to send to the FTP server 9 Appendicies Appendix A Installation of the FIRS Program Overview When installing the FIRS system for the first time ask your institution s IT department to contact FIRS Support at Gordon deRouyan gov ab ca regarding the user access rights the users of FIRS need Installing the FIRS system requires that you first go to the AL Generic Transfer Protocol FTP site and download the Launch and the FIRS Program software files The FIRS data file is located on your institution specific FTP site Version 2012 2013 Page 9 July 2012 FIRS User Guide The FIRS application consists of three required files The files are __Launch_Prog_9999X exe Where 9999 is a numeric value representing a year Where X represents the version for that year __FIRS_Prog_99989999X exe Where 99989999 is a numeric value representing an academic year Where X represents the version for that year __FIRS_Data_XX_99999999999999 exe Where XX represents the code specific to that institution Where 99999999999999 represent the date and time th
17. stall to j aecd dept The screen shot below shows the Start in directory as J AECD DEPT BIN The installation directory for your specific computer will be J AECD DEPT for ALL of the installs Warning Do not install to the bin or dat folders The install routines will add these directory names after the installation directory you enter no Alberta Learning Properties EES Security Details __ Previous Versions General Shortcut Compatibility a rh Alberta Learning Target type Application Target location BIN Target J M4ECDSDEPT BIN Slaunch exe Start in J MAECD SDEPTSBIN Shortcut key None Fun Normal window Ms Comment Open File Location Change Icon Advanced OK Cancel Apply Les Figure A 1 Alberta Learning Icon Properties Version 2012 2013 Page 13 July 2012 FIRS User Guide The Install Process The following steps should be performed for each of the files that were downloaded The order of the installs is not important 1 Open Windows Explorer and locate the folder where you saved the files from the FTP server For example C temp 2 Double click on the file to be installed A Welcome screen will appear You can follow the on screen instruction or follow step 3 to 6 below 3 Click Next twice 4 Identify where the program was previously installed on your network Select the drive and install the program See the to
18. ual2 and Budget related to the current submission year can be chosen at the upper left drop down list box Arrow keys gt TN on the keyboard can be used to navigate on the form Tab move forward and Shift Tab key move backward can also be used for navigation but they can only be used to move across cells displayed on the screen Hidden columns and rows can be seen by clicking the a 4 buttons on the scroll bars Arrow keys can also go off the screen and make the hidden columns and rows visible By clicking the ry e H ID buttons on the scroll bar the top bottom right end or left end rows or columns on the form will be displayed on the screen Data can be entered into a cell by moving the cursor to the element for which you wish to enter data click on the element or move the cursor using the arrow keys and or the navigation buttons Single and double mouse click on a cell will allow user to enter data with a fixed maximum length according to the position the user clicked Triple mouse click on a cell will highlight the entire cell and user can enter a larger number Tabbing into the cell will also select the entire contents regardless if it is new data or old data If entering new data key in the appropriate values If editing values you may need to highlight the existing values before keying in the new information Characters are not allowed to put into any cells on Version 2012 2013 Page 4 July 2012 FIRS User Guide t
19. wser will either select a file to download or enter into a sub directory displaying more results If the browser asks to Save or Download the file always click on Download Once the file has been downloaded it will be up to the user to find where the file has been downloaded Google Chrome shows the file at the bottom of the page which can be clicked on to begin the install Safari leaves a window showing a list of downloaded files open Internet Explorer will prompt the user for the location where the file is to be saved As you can see each browser is different and would require different instructions for each Contact FIRS Support at Gordon deRouyan gov ab ca if you would like to be guided through this process FTP Browser in FIRS The process of downloading is described in detail in the section File Transfer Protocol FTP Browser If using the FTP Browser in FIRS it would be obvious that LERS FIRS or KPIRS had already been installed The FTP Browser within KPIRS could be used to download the FIRS application But only the FTP Browser within FIRS can get access to the FIRS Data file This is the easiest way to download files from the Alberta Enterprise and Advanced Education FTP Server FTP Explorer Steps 1 to 4 below explain how you can download the FIRS Program and the Launch program from the AL Generic FTP site using FTP Explorer To download the FIRS Program and Launch Program 1 Open FTP Explorer by double clicking on th
20. xplorer icon on your desktop or click on the Start button on the Windows task bar move the mouse up to Programs From the Programs submenu click on FTP Explorer 2 Click on your institution name on the Connect screen and then click on the Connect button At this time you are at your institution site 3 Locate the folder where the FIRS Data files are located On the right hand side you will see a file named FIRS_data_GP_99999999999999 exe or similar The file is institution specific with different numeric information at the end each time Press the Ctrl key on the keyboard and click on the file name Now the file should be selected 4 Gotothe menu bar and click on File From the drop down list click on Download To and the Download to dialog box appears Locate the folder where the files are to be saved to and click on the Save Button This process might take a few seconds Once the file is downloaded successfully a transfer complete message will display at the bottom of your institution FTP Explorer window At this time you are ready to install the three files that you downloaded Version 2012 2013 Page 12 July 2012 FIRS User Guide Executing the Installation Files If this is not the first time to install check the properties of the Alberta Learning icon on your desk top as to where to install For example if it was initially installed on the J drive then install it there e g j aecd dept bin launch exe in
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