Step-by-Step Guide for Conducting FRC Review

Open the Financial Review and Control (FRC) application in Atlas

Access the FRC application directly or through Atlas. To find the application in Atlas, select Reports from the menu and then FRC Monthly Review Application in the Finance section. Log in to access the profit centers and cost objects you are authorized to review.

Customize your review options

When you log in to the FRC application, you will have two options on the left sidebar. The default option is the Cost Object report, but you can also select the Transaction Type report by clicking on the middle icon.

After you specify one or more profit centers, supervisors, or cost objects related to your review, choose Run Report to show unreviewed/unresolved items.

You also can rerun your report at any time to change your review options. The application doesn’t automatically save your work, so be sure to save your changes before running a new report.

Complete visual and detailed reviews

The transactions displayed in your report will be color-coded according to the status of your review:

Unshaded expenses require only a visual review (items labeled "Low Risk").

Orange-shaded expenses (items labeled "High Risk") require a detailed review.

Yellow-shaded expenses (items labeled "10% Random Sampling") are transactions that have been randomly selected for a detailed review.

You have the option to sort by all items in the G/L Accounts (default), by High-Risk G/L Accounts, and by Low-Risk G/L Accounts. In the Low-Risk G/L Accounts View, you can select all transactions and click Submit Selected Reviews to expedite your review.

While reviewing your transactions individually, side-scroll to find the Review column. The column has two buttons: DRfor Document Reviewed and IS for Issue.

Once you start selecting buttons in the Review column, transactions will be color-coded according to the status of the transaction:

Green-shaded expenses have been marked as DR (Document Reviewed)

Red-shaded expenses are those you have marked as IS (Issue).

Note financial transactions needing detailed review

As noted in VPF’s detailed FRC guidelines and policies and summarized in the Financial Review & Control Procedures Quickguide, certain transactions are deemed to be high risk by the FRC application and require a detailed review. For reference, they are summarized below.

All Internal Billing postings – Document Type SI

Journal Vouchers – Document Type SA, FY, FS

Unallowable G/L Account Postings

Equipment G/L Account Postings

All lines that exceed $2,500

All lines in Fabricated Equipment Cost objects

Additionally, the FRC application selects a random 10% sampling of low-risk transactions for detailed review.

Comment on identified issues

You must list a reason for any expense you mark as IS for Issue. The FRC report provides a drop-down Reason menu that lists the most common reasons. Choose Other and explain in the Comment field if your reason is not displayed.

Save your FRC report updates

Once you have started reviewing transactions, the Submit All Reviews button at the bottom of the page will become active. Use this button to update your transactions and save your progress.

Be sure to save any changes you want to remain in the system. The FRC application does not back up automatically. In addition, if you leave the application open for more than 60 minutes, the system will time out, and you will lose any unsaved changes.

Reviewing Transactions

1. What to look for

Is the transaction allowable?

The following G/L accounts are for costs that are generally unallowable but reimbursable:

Meetings Food and Beverage—421000

Food—421200

Alcoholic Beverages—421205

Prizes and Awards—420319/420321

Other unallowable GL’s on research accounts include:

420186 - Grounds

420318 - Recreation Related Expense

420166 - Entertainment

420302 - Promotional Items and Memorabilia

420306 - Publicity

421584 - Membership and Dues-Social

Does the GL look correct?

Is the charge a meal receipt that’s been put under “Lab Supplies”?

It’s important to make sure the GL accurately reflects the transaction type.

Does the amount look correct?

If it’s “Office Supplies” that’s a $4,000 expense, that seems unusually high.

A case like this would prompt you to conduct extra review into this line item, since the amount seems suspicious.

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VR (Visual Review) vs. DR (Document Review): If an expense is Low Risk or under $75, and you recognize it and verify the cost object/GL/amount, then you can automatically mark the line as VR. If the expense is High Risk and over $75, then you must also review the supporting documentation for the expense.

2. What to NOT look for

A receipt

A packing slip

Supporting documentation if the item is Low Risk or under $75

Reading the FRC report

1. General Report Info

Transactions are designated by color:

White - Low risk

Yellow - 10% Random Sampling: transactions that have been randomly selected for a detailed review.

Orange - High risk

Once a transaction has been reviewed, it will change color:

Green - Marked as Reviewed (VR or DR) with no issues

Red - Marked as “Issue Identified” (IS) and needs to be corrected

2. Filter

You can filter your view by profit center, cost object, etc

This can be helpful if you’d like to review only Concur expenses, then only B2P expenses, etc.

You can also uncheck columns that you don’t want to appear in the table

An example of this may be “Profit Center,” since all of the Profit Centers are likely DMSE

3. Review Types

VR - Visual Review : This is for items that are Low Risk or under $75 (even if they appear in the Elevated or High Risk sections)

A Visual Review can be done fully in the FRC table

Look at the transaction line: does the amount look correct, do you recognize the charge, and is the GL accurate for the expense type?

Is the total amount $75 or under? Is it a Low Risk (yellow) transaction

If yes, then VR can be selected

DR - Document Review : This is for Elevated and High Risk items over $75

For these transactions, you’ll need to review the supporting documentation (detailed below) before marking the item as DR

If an Elevated or High Risk transaction is under $75, it won’t have an option to mark VR. You can mark these transactions as DR without first reviewing the supporting documentation.

IS - Issue Identified : This option is for transactions that DO NOT look correct or have an obvious issue that needs to be fixed.

Possible issues include:

Incorrect GL

Unallowable expense on the account type (i.e. A gift charged to a research account)

Incorrect amount

Please work on resolving transaction issues with the corresponding PI or purchaser, but if you need additional assistance then reach out to the Finance Team at dmse-finance@mit.edu.

RES - Issue Resolved : This option is for when a transaction marked as IS has been resolved.

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Note that you cannot unclick a Review checkbox once it is selected. In order to not save a clicked selection, you’ll have to fully close out of the table and lose all of your progress.

4. Amount

All columns are sortable.

Recall that transactions under $75 only need to be visually reviewed (VR), so sorting the Amount column low to high can be helpful for going through the VR transactions quickly.

5. Reference

This is the transaction’s reference number

If the reference numbers are identical for multiple lines, then the transactions are related to the same order.

This may be the same Buy2Pay PO#, the same travel report, multiple lines on the same JV, etc.

Note in the example below that transactions on the same report may have different risk distinctions (the yellow line being Low Risk and the peach line being High Risk).

6. PO Number

If a line has a PO Number, then it’s likely a Buy2Pay (Coupa) transaction.

Note that the blue Coupa number is a direct link to the Buy2Pay supporting documentation for the transaction. This is helpful when doing a Document Review (DR) for an Elevated/High Risk transaction over $75.

7. Show Reviewed Items

Once an item is marked as Reviewed, it will disappear from the FRC table since the system defaults to hiding reviewed transactions.

Clicking the Show Reviewed Items toggle at the top of the page will show the items marked as reviewed (VR and DR).

Finding Supporting Documentation for each Transaction Type

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It may be helpful to add the following ATLAS tabs to your sidebar menu: Journal Vouchers and Find RFPs. See the gif below for how:

1. Travel

Go into Concur

Make sure you’re acting as a Delegate for the appropriate PI

In the Expenses tab at the top of the page, select View → Last 90 Days

All transactions in your FRC report should appear in this Concur list

We’re looking for you to verify “Yes I recognize this trip and the expenses look correct”

If you have done that review and recognize the transaction, then it can be marked as DR

2. PCards

The process is the same for swept and non-swept transactions

Go into ATLAS → Journal Vouchers

Copy the Document Number in the Reference column in the FRC tool and paste it into ATLAS

Make sure you delete the dates in Posting Date as these fields are auto-filled but will interfere in your search

In the JV screen, click on the Attachments to review the Pcard documentation, which will include the amount, GL, cost object, and justification

Remember the justification is more important than the receipt, which is not needed for FRC review!

3. RFPs

In ATLAS → Find RFPs

Copy the Document Number in the Reference column in the FRC tool and paste it into ATLAS

Unclick Parked and click Posted

Review the screen that comes up to see if the transaction looks appropriate (transaction type, GL, amount)

4. Buy2Pay

There will be a direct link in the FRC table in the PO Number column that links you to Coupa (Buy2Pay)

click on the blue number in the PO Number column to be linked directly to the corresponding B2P transaction page

if the first click takes you to the Buy2Pay home screen, and not the transaction detail, try clicking on the link in the FRC table 1 more time. Likely you were not logged into the system, which is what the first click established

5. Internal Vendors

Double check that the expense is one that you recognize, is for the correct amount, and has an appropriate GL for the expense type

How to Complete FRC Review