April 29, 2021
For users of the Appropriation Maintenance Application (AMA) system.
AMA is available for agencies to submit their 2022-2023 biennial appropriations for MMB approval and upload into the state accounting system, SWIFT. AMA also keeps agencies’ appropriation attributes in the state budget system, BPAS, in sync with SWIFT. Here are some of the system updates for AMA:
SWIFT Entry – Biennium Appropriation Excel Upload Panel
The Excel Upload panel messaging has been updated to make it more clear to users that selecting the 'Send to Edit' button uploads all ready to save records to AMA's Edit Screen. Selecting the 'Cancel' button creates an Excel file with all the records that did not pass validation. This Excel file is saved locally to the downloads folder and can be opened, edited, and re-imported.
 Please see page 44 of the AMA User Guide for step-by-step instructions on using the Excel Upload feature.
SWIFT Entry - Create New Appropriation Form
When users create a new appropriation ID with the Budget Status value “H – Hold,” AMA will not restore the default Budget Status of “O – Open” when the transaction is submitted to the Edit screen. Thanks to a member of MMB’s Budget Systems User Group for suggesting this change.
Legal Citation Fields
Each of the three Legal Citation field pop-up entry forms will automatically convert lower-case alphabetic character entries to upper-case.
MMB Budget Operations has a number of offerings to assist agencies with using AMA to prepare their appropriations for the 2022-23 biennium.
- A 60-minute webinar will be offered on Thursday, June 3 at 1:00 pm. The webinar will provide a brief overview of AMA highlighting the new excel export/upload feature and offer an opportunity for questions and answers. To register, email budget.finance.mmb@state.mn.us.
- A library of 11 AMA training videos is available on MMB’s website. The videos provide instruction on all of AMA’s functions and have in-system demonstrations.
- The AMA User Guide and AMA Glossary are available on MMB’s website and also linked in the help menu within AMA. These are excellent resources for new and experienced users.
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One-on-one assistance on the AMA system is available by appointment. Email budget.finance.mmb@state.mn.us to request a time.
It’s time again for the Statewide Systems Survey. In May, MMB’s Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) will invite a sample of system users to participate in the electronic questionnaire, which will be administered by MMB’s Management Analysis Division. MMB conducts the periodic survey to assess users’ overall level of satisfaction with each system, user training and support. The survey will again include open-ended questions on what system features the user appreciates, what system features the user would change, areas in which they would like additional training or instruction and preferred training mode(s). If you’re invited to take the survey, please respond to help guide future enhancements to systems, user training and support.
Have a question about or a suggestion for improving the budget systems? Email it to Budget Operations at budget.finance.mmb@state.mn.us, Subject: Budget Systems Newsletter.
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