Transaction and Data Sources ('Collector')

The 'Collector' aggregates transactions for pending financial activity. The process relies on input from multiple sources, one of which is KFS-generated financial transaction electronic documents (e-docs). These transactions are generated by the KFS from online input and are stored in the standard pending transaction format expected by the GL. Stored transactions go through a screening process to determine which are passed to the GL. During this process, canceled transactions and transactions disapproved in the Workflow process are excluded.

The second source of transactions is feeds of financial activity from supporting applications (for example, your institution's Payroll and Bursar systems). In most cases, transactions from external feeds are not sent to the GL in the standard pending transaction format. Two choices are available for addressing the difference in formatting:

•      Batch Enterprise Feed (Origin Entry Transactions): The external applications may be modified to correctly format transactions and store them for direct GL processing; or

•      XML and Flat File Transactions: External application transactions may be generated in XML or a flat file format and uploaded to KFS. The KFS 'Collector' process scans XML transactions and converts them to Kuali format GL origin entries.

XML (eXtensible Markup Language) is a set of rules for defining tags that break a document into parts and identify the different parts of the document. XML provides a structured file format for the interchange of data among different applications.

   For information about using the XML file batch upload function, see Collector XML Upload.

Pending financial transactions are validated against your institution's Chart of Accounts (which is where the organizational structure and accounts and the detailed categories of financial transactions are defined). The Chart of Accounts provides options for assigning attributes for sorting, summarizing and reporting financial activity. Collector files go through the same validation and Pre-Scrubber processes described below for the Scrubber.

Several summary and detail reports are generated when the GL pending entries are collected.

•      Collector report (collector)

•      GLPE Statistics Report (glpe_ledger)

•      Pending Ledger Entry table Report (glpe_list)

More:

Transaction Validation ('Scrubber')