Community Exchange

We're a private, not-for-profit research institution using Banner as our ERP. We're looking for recommendations on third-party financial reporting solutions (other than Excel) that peer universities use to produce real-time consolidated statements of financial position and statements of activities. What tools have you found effective?

Stanford University uses Workiva

We're a private, not-for-profit research institution using Banner as our ERP. We're looking for recommendations on third-party financial reporting solutions (other than Excel) that peer universities use to produce real-time consolidated statements of financial position and statements of activities. What tools have you found effective?

I hear that Workiva is a great product. What ERP system do you use with Workiva? Thanks!

Stanford University uses Workiva

We're a private, not-for-profit research institution using Banner as our ERP. We're looking for recommendations on third-party financial reporting solutions (other than Excel) that peer universities use to produce real-time consolidated statements of financial position and statements of activities. What tools have you found effective?

We're a private, not-for-profit research institution using Banner as our ERP. We're looking for recommendations on third-party financial reporting solutions (other than Excel) that peer universities use to produce real-time consolidated statements of financial position and statements of activities. What tools have you found effective?

We're a private, not-for-profit research institution using Banner as our ERP. We're looking for recommendations on third-party financial reporting solutions (other than Excel) that peer universities use to produce real-time consolidated statements of financial position and statements of activities. What tools have you found effective?

We're a private, not-for-profit research institution using Banner as our ERP. We're looking for recommendations on third-party financial reporting solutions (other than Excel) that peer universities use to produce real-time consolidated statements of financial position and statements of activities. What tools have you found effective?

Patricia - Ramapo College is also a Banner ERP school, which we use to produce our reported financials, however we also use Adaptive Planning as our budget tool and also for interim P&L reporting. Adaptive received daily data feeds from Banner and I'd be happy to connect you with our Budget Team who could provide you with a more in-depth look at how we use it. Its very effective for us. 

We're a private, not-for-profit research institution using Banner as our ERP. We're looking for recommendations on third-party financial reporting solutions (other than Excel) that peer universities use to produce real-time consolidated statements of financial position and statements of activities. What tools have you found effective?

We're a private, not-for-profit research institution using Banner as our ERP. We're looking for recommendations on third-party financial reporting solutions (other than Excel) that peer universities use to produce real-time consolidated statements of financial position and statements of activities. What tools have you found effective?

Miami was using Banner (and still is for some things) and switched to Workday July 2024. 

We're a private, not-for-profit research institution using Banner as our ERP. We're looking for recommendations on third-party financial reporting solutions (other than Excel) that peer universities use to produce real-time consolidated statements of financial position and statements of activities. What tools have you found effective?

Hi Christy,

Oberlin is currently a Banner school and is considering other ERP options including Workday.  How do you like Workday for budget and planning?

Angela

Miami was using Banner (and still is for some things) and switched to Workday July 2024. 

We're a private, not-for-profit research institution using Banner as our ERP. We're looking for recommendations on third-party financial reporting solutions (other than Excel) that peer universities use to produce real-time consolidated statements of financial position and statements of activities. What tools have you found effective?

We're a private, not-for-profit research institution using Banner as our ERP. We're looking for recommendations on third-party financial reporting solutions (other than Excel) that peer universities use to produce real-time consolidated statements of financial position and statements of activities. What tools have you found effective?

We're a private, not-for-profit research institution using Banner as our ERP. We're looking for recommendations on third-party financial reporting solutions (other than Excel) that peer universities use to produce real-time consolidated statements of financial position and statements of activities. What tools have you found effective?

We're a private, not-for-profit research institution using Banner as our ERP. We're looking for recommendations on third-party financial reporting solutions (other than Excel) that peer universities use to produce real-time consolidated statements of financial position and statements of activities. What tools have you found effective?

We're a private, not-for-profit research institution using Banner as our ERP. We're looking for recommendations on third-party financial reporting solutions (other than Excel) that peer universities use to produce real-time consolidated statements of financial position and statements of activities. What tools have you found effective?

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Patrice Harris
Director
Nova Southeastern University
------------------------------

We're a private, not-for-profit research institution using Banner as our ERP. We're looking for recommendations on third-party financial reporting solutions (other than Excel) that peer universities use to produce real-time consolidated statements of financial position and statements of activities. What tools have you found effective?

We're a private, not-for-profit research institution using Banner as our ERP. We're looking for recommendations on third-party financial reporting solutions (other than Excel) that peer universities use to produce real-time consolidated statements of financial position and statements of activities. What tools have you found effective?

We use Cognos to report on data from Banner.  Banner AR data is posted to the ERP (Oracle Financials) and then financial reports are run out of Oracle. 

We're a private, not-for-profit research institution using Banner as our ERP. We're looking for recommendations on third-party financial reporting solutions (other than Excel) that peer universities use to produce real-time consolidated statements of financial position and statements of activities. What tools have you found effective?

Old Dominion uses Cognos Banner and Insight Analytics.   Does your university require the departments to reconcile their budgets?

We use Cognos to report on data from Banner.  Banner AR data is posted to the ERP (Oracle Financials) and then financial reports are run out of Oracle. 

We're a private, not-for-profit research institution using Banner as our ERP. We're looking for recommendations on third-party financial reporting solutions (other than Excel) that peer universities use to produce real-time consolidated statements of financial position and statements of activities. What tools have you found effective?

Carlisa,

Can you be more specific by what you mean by "require departments to reconcile their budgets"?  I am puzzled as to what that would mean.

We are Banner school.  We have Non Sufficient Funds editing turned on (FOASYSC).  If trying to do something that will send them over budget, department will get error message.

Departments can use FGIBAVL to monitor their budget status.  We do use budget pools here in Banner Finance.  

Old Dominion uses Cognos Banner and Insight Analytics.   Does your university require the departments to reconcile their budgets?

We use Cognos to report on data from Banner.  Banner AR data is posted to the ERP (Oracle Financials) and then financial reports are run out of Oracle. 

We're a private, not-for-profit research institution using Banner as our ERP. We're looking for recommendations on third-party financial reporting solutions (other than Excel) that peer universities use to produce real-time consolidated statements of financial position and statements of activities. What tools have you found effective?

Hi John,

    Reconciliation is using their reports and receipts and checking them against the university's financial system (we also use Banner) to make sure they match.  It's like when you check your check register and bank statement to make sure everything is paid, and it's your expense.  It also has to be signed by your supervisor and a compliance reviewer to make sure your purchases do not violate any restrictions.  Right now, we use an excel report to post expenses as they come throughout the month.  At the end of the following month, we print the transaction report from Banner for just one month and check against our Excel report.  If it is our legitimate expense, we attach the receipt to the Banner transaction report in Adobe.  When complete, we get our signatures and then save in Academic Affair's sharepoint folders.  At any time, the auditors can review them.  It's a pain but we have to do it.

Carlisa,

Can you be more specific by what you mean by "require departments to reconcile their budgets"?  I am puzzled as to what that would mean.

We are Banner school.  We have Non Sufficient Funds editing turned on (FOASYSC).  If trying to do something that will send them over budget, department will get error message.

Departments can use FGIBAVL to monitor their budget status.  We do use budget pools here in Banner Finance.  

Old Dominion uses Cognos Banner and Insight Analytics.   Does your university require the departments to reconcile their budgets?

We use Cognos to report on data from Banner.  Banner AR data is posted to the ERP (Oracle Financials) and then financial reports are run out of Oracle. 

We're a private, not-for-profit research institution using Banner as our ERP. We're looking for recommendations on third-party financial reporting solutions (other than Excel) that peer universities use to produce real-time consolidated statements of financial position and statements of activities. What tools have you found effective?

Hi John,

    Reconciliation is using their reports and receipts and checking them against the university's financial system (we also use Banner) to make sure they match.  It's like when you check your check register and bank statement to make sure everything is paid, and it's your expense.  It also has to be signed by your supervisor and a compliance reviewer to make sure your purchases do not violate any restrictions.  Right now, we use an excel report to post expenses as they come throughout the month.  At the end of the following month, we print the transaction report from Banner for just one month and check against our Excel report.  If it is our legitimate expense, we attach the receipt to the Banner transaction report in Adobe.  When complete, we get our signatures and then save in Academic Affair's sharepoint folders.  At any time, the auditors can review them.  It's a pain but we have to do it.

Carlisa,

Can you be more specific by what you mean by "require departments to reconcile their budgets"?  I am puzzled as to what that would mean.

We are Banner school.  We have Non Sufficient Funds editing turned on (FOASYSC).  If trying to do something that will send them over budget, department will get error message.

Departments can use FGIBAVL to monitor their budget status.  We do use budget pools here in Banner Finance.  

Old Dominion uses Cognos Banner and Insight Analytics.   Does your university require the departments to reconcile their budgets?

We use Cognos to report on data from Banner.  Banner AR data is posted to the ERP (Oracle Financials) and then financial reports are run out of Oracle. 

We're a private, not-for-profit research institution using Banner as our ERP. We're looking for recommendations on third-party financial reporting solutions (other than Excel) that peer universities use to produce real-time consolidated statements of financial position and statements of activities. What tools have you found effective?

We're a private, not-for-profit research institution using Banner as our ERP. We're looking for recommendations on third-party financial reporting solutions (other than Excel) that peer universities use to produce real-time consolidated statements of financial position and statements of activities. What tools have you found effective?

------------------------------
Patrice Harris
Director
Nova Southeastern University
------------------------------

Hi Patrice, 

When I was at Babson College, we used Workday Adaptive Planning for all our budgeting and reporting - including board decks, financial statements, program P&Ls, and any budget analysis.  I now focus on budgeting and reporting for Higher Education and recently spoke at the NACUBO Annual Conference and the NACUBO Planning, Budgeting, and Analysis conference about budgeting and AI.  I have some demo videos (3-5 min each) of how Workday Adaptive Planning can be used in higher ed - feel free to take a look at your convenience. These are hosted on my linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/smart-links/AQEYkXLr7o_vMQ

Reach out if you have any questions. 

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John McGrath
Director of Strategy & Innovation | Strada
Former Budget Director in Higher Education

Original Message:
Sent: 10-30-2025 12:10 PM
From: Patrice Harris
Subject: Financial Reporting Software

We're a private, not-for-profit research institution using Banner as our ERP. We're looking for recommendations on third-party financial reporting solutions (other than Excel) that peer universities use to produce real-time consolidated statements of financial position and statements of activities. What tools have you found effective?

------------------------------
Patrice Harris
Director
Nova Southeastern University
------------------------------

We're a private, not-for-profit research institution using Banner as our ERP. We're looking for recommendations on third-party financial reporting solutions (other than Excel) that peer universities use to produce real-time consolidated statements of financial position and statements of activities. What tools have you found effective?

H Patrice, Denison just went live with Workday on 07/01/25 and are using it for budgeting. We will be implementing Adaptive planning in the spring, so I will have more information on that soon. Up until the transition to workday we used Synario for financial statement forecasting and what if analysis. Feel free to email me if you would like to talk about any of this. 

Cindy

------------------------------
Cynthia Buxton
Budget Director
Denison University

Original Message:
Sent: 10-30-2025 12:10 PM
From: Patrice Harris
Subject: Financial Reporting Software

We're a private, not-for-profit research institution using Banner as our ERP. We're looking for recommendations on third-party financial reporting solutions (other than Excel) that peer universities use to produce real-time consolidated statements of financial position and statements of activities. What tools have you found effective?

------------------------------
Patrice Harris
Director
Nova Southeastern University
------------------------------

We're a private, not-for-profit research institution using Banner as our ERP. We're looking for recommendations on third-party financial reporting solutions (other than Excel) that peer universities use to produce real-time consolidated statements of financial position and statements of activities. What tools have you found effective?

We're a private, not-for-profit research institution using Banner as our ERP. We're looking for recommendations on third-party financial reporting solutions (other than Excel) that peer universities use to produce real-time consolidated statements of financial position and statements of activities. What tools have you found effective?

We're a private, not-for-profit research institution using Banner as our ERP. We're looking for recommendations on third-party financial reporting solutions (other than Excel) that peer universities use to produce real-time consolidated statements of financial position and statements of activities. What tools have you found effective?

------------------------------
Patrice Harris
Director
Nova Southeastern University
------------------------------

We're a private, not-for-profit research institution using Banner as our ERP. We're looking for recommendations on third-party financial reporting solutions (other than Excel) that peer universities use to produce real-time consolidated statements of financial position and statements of activities. What tools have you found effective?