Skip to main content
Office of the University Controller Indiana University

Kuali Financial System

System Purpose

The Kuali Financial System (KFS) is Indiana University's core financial system, and is comprised of three main components:

  1. E-docs: Users initiate and update financial data;
  2. General Ledger (GL): The official repository of all the university's financial and budget information (receives financial data feeds from other enterprise systems including HRMS Payroll, BUY.IU, and Chrome River); and
  3. Decision Support: Enables users to retrieve data, such as budgets, balances, and individual transactions, from the GL via inquiries and reports.

KFS contains modules for managing various types of activity, including but not limited to:

  • Accounts Receivable: processing non-student customer payments for goods and services provided by IU.
  • Capital Assets: creating and maintaining capital asset records.
  • Chart of Accounts: maintaining accounts, sub-accounts, and object code attributes; updating account delegates.
  • Financial Processing: initiating general-use e-docs that support basic financial operations.
  • Labor Distribution: managing the accounting aspects of compensation-related expenses such as salaries and benefits.
  • Pre-Disbursement Processor: preparing non-payroll data files for check printing and bank files for automated clearing house (ACH) direct deposits; creating payment ledger entries.

 

Types of Users

Employees with fiscal responsibilities typically use KFS. Anyone who initiates, reviews, or approves financial transactions, or simply performs balance inquiries, may be a KFS User, including:

  • Fiscal officers (FOs) and delegates
  • Departmental support staff, professional staff, and faculty
  • Contracts and Grants principal investigators
  • Deans, directors, and department chairs
  • Administrators

 

Our Support Role

The Office of the University Controller shares the technical maintenance and functional support of KFS with several other offices, including the University Budget Office (UBO), Office of Research Administration (ORA), and the Financial Systems team in University Information Technology Services (UITS). Our own team consists of many subject matter experts, business and systems analysts who work with fiscal officers (FOs) and other users to troubleshoot system issues and meet data needs.

Additionally, our office establishes financial policies and accounting standards that are acheived, in part, by effective use of KFS. Visit the Compliance section of our website to learn about FO compliance, controls, and reporting tools. We encourage users to first work with their FOs when seeking accounting transaction guidance.

 

Need Technical Support?

If you’re experiencing technical difficulties, such as a system outage or slow performance, please contact our office:

Report a system issue

 

Need Access?

Our office manages most types of KFS access. Visit our page on KFS Access to learn about the various levels of access, requirements, and request procedures.

Learn about KFS access

 

Looking for Training?

You can now find most training and documentation offered by EVPVA organizations in one place - on the Financial Training & Communications website.

Explore VPCFO training resources

 

Looking for Policies and Accounting Standards?

A large section of our site is dedicated to helping Fiscal Officers maintain compliance in financial operations, and KFS is the core application used to conduct that activity. Study the Compliance pages - particularly the new IU Accounting Standards Book. Be sure to check back often, as new content continues to be published monthly.

Study Fiscal Officer Compliance resources

 

Hours of Availability

Monday-Saturday: 6 a.m.-10 p.m.

Sunday: 10 a.m.-10 p.m.

Depending on the overnight batch process completion cycle, KFS may be available outside these times; however, the times listed above are the only ones when access to KFS is guaranteed.

 

Technical Specifications

As KFS is a web-based application, any operating system (OS) that can run up-to-date and modern browers should be compatible. As for web browsers, Firefox and Chrome are generally the most recommended. Safari, Edge, and other Chromium-based browsers also work, but users may encounter display issues not present with Firefox and Chrome.