Banner Student Aid (BSA)

BSA is now the system of record for the following aid and award payments:

• All centrally-administered undergrad awards, aid and loans (SSAO)
• All centrally-administered graduate fellowships and awards (GPS)
• Requests submitted by faculties and units via the APF (Award Processing Form) in Minerva
• External agency grants (e.g. NSERC, SSHRC, CIHR awards)
• Government aid

For financial aid and awards handled within BSA, a disbursement schedule establishes when and how a payment is released to the recipient student. All transactions originating from BSA use Banner ACCOUNT code 600200. The grid below explains the impact in the Financial Information System:

 

Payment Method	In Finance	How to look up details
If a student receives payment by direct deposit or cheque	An Accounts Payable invoice document is created in Banner as document numbers starting with I (e.g. I0901234).	Minerva: Use View Document from the Finance Administration menu. Enter the I document number to see related payment information. Banner: Use FOIDOCH to view invoice and payment details (doc type = INV and enter the I document number). The 'vendor invoice' field will carry a string such as GPSOFELW0013812: The first 4 characters represent the level of the award (GPSO = Graduate, SSAO = Undergraduate) The next 4 characters represent the award type (FELW=fellowship, SCHL= scholarship, PRIZ=prize, etc.) The remaining 7 is a unique one-up number needed for posting, with no meaning derived.
If the payment is directed to the student's McGill fee account	An entry is processed in Accounts Receivable and posted to Finance as a feed with a document number starting with F (e.g. F0901234)	Minerva: Use View Document from the Finance Administration menu. Enter the F document number (with type = Journal Voucher). Banner: User FGIDOCR to search by the 'F' document number. See the 'document reference field' for the Accounts Receivable receipt #.
If the disbursement is FUTURE-dated (regardless of payment method) within the fiscal year. These are called 'memos' in BSA.	New memos are processed in Finance as original encumbrance documents starting with E (e.g. E0901234) and a rule code of EX10. The encumbrance is adjusted (e.g. amount changed) or liquidated (e.g. payment becomes due) as a document starting with J (e.g. J0901234). The rule code is EY20 and EZ32 respectively.)	Minerva: Use View Document from the Finance Administration menu. Enter the E document number (with type = Encumbrance) or the J document number (with type = Journal) Banner: The best overall option is using FGIENCD with the original E document number. This form will show the history of changes along with the outstanding balance. For subsequent adjustments and liquidations (i.e. J documents), the original encumbrance number is quoted in the 'document reference' field.
If the disbursement is FUTURE-dated (regardless of payment method) beyond the fiscal year. These are called 'memos' in BSA.	Memos with a payment date beyond the fiscal year are not immediately encumbered since the matching budget will only become available in the new year. On the 1st day of the fiscal year when the memos are to be disbursed (e.g. May 1st for 2011), they are processed as described in the box above.	No documents posted in Finance until the 1st day of the fiscal year in which the disbursement is scheduled. See box above for instructions.

Using the Financial Statement option from the Minerva Finance (Fund) Administration menu (view the How To Use Minerva page), authorized users can quickly access monthly reports showing all BSA-related transactions. Accessible with the appropriate Fund/Org security, these reports will assist Fund Financial Managers and their administrators to plan, track and analyze their Student Financial Aid & Award activities. These reports are available in PDF format as well as SLK format for easy extract to Excel:

KZRFDTS – BSA Transaction Details by Student
Displays fiscal year-to-date disbursements, encumbrance amounts (representing future disbursements scheduled within the year), as well as amounts scheduled to pay in future years. This report groups transactions by student for a given Fund and Fiscal Year.

KZRFDTM – Monthly BSA Transaction Details
For a given month, displays the disbursements, encumbrances (relating to future disbursements scheduled within the year), as well as amounts scheduled to pay in future years. This report is sorted by transaction date for a given Fund and Month.

Users can save these reports or print them as desired.