Since the kickoff last November, the GRIP Team has undergone three major events: 1) forming a complete team; 2) documenting Grant and Contract Accounting (GCA) processes; and 3) establishing a model of GCA processes in J. D. Edwards (JDE), the new accounts receivable software package.

First and foremost, we are excited to have three new members join the team. They are Tracy Monaghan, Cesar Cordero and Michael Duong of C&C. Cesar and Michael were hired specifically for this project. They bring a wealth of JDE knowledge and experience, which are crucial factors in successful implementation and on-going maintenance.

The GRIP Team gathered a complete list of current GCA business practices. This document was used to bring our consultants from AMX, an outside consulting agency specializing in JDE, up to speed on the business needs and requirements.

Lastly, the GRIP Team has recently drawn up a model of the GCA process flow in JDE. The model was achieved by a close collaboration with the consultants through an extensive analysis of the business requirements and various intensive training sessions in JDE. We have presented the model to the Resource Committee (advisory group) and received positive feedback. The model design has also been extremely helpful in identifying gaps between the current process and the functionalities in JDE. In addition, the model will assist in reaching the next milestone, which is to set up prototypes for GCA processes.

The GRIP Team is now working to define a detailed scope of the project, determine roles and responsibilities between the team and consultants, and revisit the implementation date and determine whether it is realistic.

The project is now going full steam, and we are happy to report that the results of the work done so far look promising!