Fiscal Best Practice Resources

The Hypercare/RA Flex Team is a group of experienced, dedicated research administrators with extensive expertise in Oracle, UCPath, and Kuali Research. We provide flexible, plug-and-play research administration support during staff vacancies, leaves of absence, and peak workload periods, helping departments maintain seamless operations and exceptional service to their PIs.

You can find additional information and make a request for services on the RA Flex Team Blink page.

A great one-page quick start sheet that highlights what OFC and PPM are, how to learn more about the systems, how to get help, and lists the most commonly used OFC reports.

What Is PIPER?

PIPER is a suite of financial reports hosted on Anaplan, a cloud-based platform that formally integrates planning, budgeting, and forecasting processes with our live activity hub data. PIPER allows PIs and their fund managers to better control their complex financial portfolios by seamlessly layering projections that cannot yet be captured in OFC, UCPath, or Kuali Research onto their existing account details.

What Kinds Of Reports Are On PIPER?

Portfolio Summary

• Financial Summary that can be sorted by Inception to Date, Current Budget, and Fiscal Period views. Allows users to drill down by:
  • Key Attributes
  • Budget/Resources
  • Costs
  • Committed Costs
  • Forecasted Incremental Costs
• Pending Proposals
• Exceptions

Runway Analysis

• Adjustments - enter “what if” scenarios and model alternate plans
• Personnel - review detailed personnel costs and forecasted amounts
• Combination Chart showing revenue, expenses, and ending balance

Personnel Effort by Position

• Review all personnel reporting directly or indirectly to the PI or paid from their managed funds.

Personnel Effort by Project

• Review all personnel paid from funds where the PI is an Award, Project, or Task Manager.

When Will PIPER Be Available To Use?

 PIPER is currently in "soft launch" status where a small group of PI's and Fund Managers are testing it with their current portfolios. Based on their experience and feedback, the goal is to open up PIPER to all campus Fund Managers in Winter/Spring 2026. Additional details and training opportunities will be announced closer to PIPER's official release. 

If you have questions before then, please let us know by emailing COE@ucsd.edu.

The Trend Analytics dashboard utilizes General Ledger data to provide insight into how Financial Units, Funds, Project Managers, and Projects have performed over time, facilitating data-driven decision making. For details, visit the Trend Analytics Dashboard Blink page.

The Staff Workload Dashboard provides a variety of metrics for leaders to assess comparative workloads of their staff. The dashboard currently provides metrics for fund manager workloads, but will encompass other staff types in the future. For details, visit the Staff Workload Dashboard Blink page.