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The NORTH CAROLINA ACCOUNTING SYSTEM INFORMATION GUIDE (SIG) contains a variety of information on the North Carolina Accounting System topics. SIG provides a quick and easy way to access information that was previously found only on paper. By using SIG, you can now access and view information online.

This label indicates that a specific topic is forthcoming but still in the draft stage.

Recent changes and late-breaking North Carolina Accounting System news can be found in the News Bulletins section. To remain current on the North Carolina Accounting System, refer to News Bulletins often.

Contents

From the home page, you can access these topics:
 

• News Bulletins contains the most current news regarding the North Carolina Accounting System.

• Information Guide Help provides information on the topics contained within SIG, as well as tips on how to navigate through SIG.

• NCAS Data Elements contain definitions and listings of all key NCAS reporting data elements including: Company (Financial Reporting Unit), Accounts, Center Structure, Budget Codes, GASB Funds,Accounting Rules and Document IDs.

• North Carolina Accounting System Documentationcontains information on statewide policies, procedures, step-by-step processes, reports, forms, SmartStream DSS and Year-End Activities

Systemware (XPTR, XNET, XTND) Reports describes the production and management reports that are regularly distributed to all agencies via the system.

Report Libraries (XXPUBLIC) contains information on standard statewide reports that are run on demand.

Month-End Reports provides information on reports that are scheduled to run at the end of every month.

Request Forms provide information on forms used to request system changes or processes from the Office of the State Controller (OSC).  Client support, security, and training forms are included in this section.

Printed Forms provide information on "boilerplate" forms that are produced by the OSC, such as purchase orders and checks.

Form Templates contain examples of forms that agencies can tailor to their own needs.

Policies provide the state's guiding principles regarding certain topics, such as financial reporting and tax compliance.

Procedures (System Processes and Agency) contain information on fulfilling the policies established by the state.

Step-by-Steps provide step-by-step instructions on performing a certain task or set of tasks.

Job Aids provide quick references to courses taken on the NCAS

• Training provides catalog descriptions of all courses in the North Carolina Accounting System curriculum. This section also contains the current training schedule, registration form and CBT descriptions.

• Operationscontains the North Carolina Accounting System operating calendar for three months (current, previous, and next month), as well as standard operating hours and month-specific hours.

• NCAS Overview provides basic information about the NCAS including a diagram of the NCAS functional modules and diagrams for the technical architecture of the system. A list of all the financial entities of the state including general government agencies, universities, community colleges, boards and commissions can be found in this section. CFF vs. EFF definitions are also found here.

• Agency Contacts The Agency Contacts rolodex on the NCAS SIG home page provides a list of names, phone numbers and e-mail addresses by agency by contact type. The purpose of this section is to provide a quick reference point that allows users to identify their counterparts in other agencies.

Hotspots also provide another level of navigation. By clicking on a hotspot, you can directly access a specific topic.

Search
The search form  allows you to search on any word or combination of words. By typing a word or words,
and then picking a topic out of the returned list, you can access a specific topic.

Back
The Back button on your browser returns you to each previous topic in the order it was viewed.

History
If you are using Netscape, the History window can be opened either by typing the control key and the letter H at the same time, or by choosing "History" under the Communicator menu on your browser.    This window accesses the last  topics you viewed while using your browser, not just the SIG. The most recent topic viewed is listed first. To return to a topic, double-click on it.

Glossary
The Glossary contains commonly used acronyms as well as complete terms. To view an acronym or term beginning with a particular letter, click on the letter in the alphabetical list or scroll to the acronym.

HELP
The HELP menu on your browser give you access to many browser-specific help resources.

PRINT
The print button on your browser allows you to print the page you are viewing.  Either this button or the print command in the menu bar (File...Print) may be used. See the Troubleshooting section below for a description of printing using the menu bar.

COPY
There are a couple of ways to copy information from SIG topics to other documents.  One way is to choose "Save As.."  from your browsers File menu and saving the page.  This will not save the graphics.  To save the graphics, right click on each of them and  choose "Save Image As..." from the menu.

Another  way is using notepad. If you highlight all the text on the page, then select Edit/copy from the menu bar,  it will copy whichever topic you have open in SIG to the Notepad. You can then select a portion of the topic to copy and paste to other programs such as Word or WordPerfect. Be Aware: If there is a graphic in the topic, it will not copy; you will receive a blank space in the notepad document. This will only work for text.  However, you can still follow the above directions for saving images, if you need them for another document.

Troubleshooting
The following section provides solutions to problems that may arise when using SIG.