University of Wisconsin-Madison

Managing Encumbrances post Program Release

With the Program Release and the removal of Purchase Orders (POs), Requisitions, and encumbrances from the legacy system, a new form has been developed to assist in managing encumbrances. The Encumbrance and PO Management form attempts to offer the same level of service available to Dean's offices in the legacy system.

To make any types of changes to your PO and encumbrance (including closing POs and changing dollar amounts or funding), you will need to complete this new Excel based form. The form was designed in conjunction with campus representatives and attempts to capture all the common uses and needs with drop down boxes. Completed forms should be submitted to the Dean's office for approval via email and then routed via email from the Dean's office to Purchasing.

Note: The form will not be able to affect previous transactions, e.g. if a payment was already completed, a non-salary cost transfer must still be completed to transfer funds; however, the form could be used to ensure that future payments are applied correctly.

How Does This Affect Campus?

• As of February 15, 2008:
  • To make changes to your POs and encumbrances (including closing POs and changing dollar amounts or funding), users will need to complete an Encumbrance and PO Management form
  • Completed Encumbrance and PO Management forms should be routed to your Dean or Director's office as an email attachment for approval
  • The Dean's office will forward the completed form to Purchasing to complete your changes to the extent possible
  • Only completed forms received from the Dean's office will be able to be accepted
  • Once completed, changes will appear in WISDM the following day
  • Changes will also be logged as completed in the Requisition Inquiry available through http://www.bussvc.wisc.edu/purch/purchinq.html in the same manner that requisitions can be tracked.

Using the Encumbrance Management Form:

• The Encumbrance and PO Management form is available as an Excel document on the Purchasing Services Forms page.
• Instructions for using the Encumbrance and PO Management form are available as a pdf.
• Instructions for finding your current encumbrance balance in WISDM to list on the form are available as a pdf.