The Assets Data Collection is a subset of the University Data Warehouse containing data from the BEN Assets module of BEN Financials. The Assets data collection contains current and historic information about building, fixed, movable and land assets at Penn.
For a brief overview of the collection, see Assets Data Collection Quick Reference Guide.
Tables are listed in alphabetical order. Select Table to obtain the explantion, common uses, primary keys, indexed data elements, and related tables for a table. Select Elements to obtain the definition, list of values, formats, and not null values for each data element in the table. A description of table and data element terminology is in the document What the Warehouse Contains.
Looking for a specific element or caution? Try the searching the collection documentation for particular keywords (search page will open in a new tab).
| ASSET_ADJUSTMENTS Table Elements |
ASSET_LOCATIONS_HISTORY Table Elements |
| ASSET_CATEGORIES Table Elements |
ASSET_RETIREMENTS Table Elements |
| ASSET_CHANGE_HISTORY Table Elements |
ASSET_SECURITY Table Elements |
| ASSET_INVENTORY Table Elements |
ASSETS Table Elements |
| ASSET_INVOICES Table Elements |
LEASES Table Elements |
| ASSET_LOCATIONS Table Elements |
Snapshot versions of select tables are also available.
The Assets collection is refreshed nightly, Monday through Friday, following the completion of BEN Assets batch processing (updates should usually be completed by start of business). In addition, the ASSETS, ASSET_CATEGORIES and ASSET_LOCATIONS tables are captured in monthly snapshots at at the close of the BEN Assets period.
Source of the Data
The data in the Data Warehouse that is accessible via the Business Objects BEN Assets universes comes from the BEN Assets module of the University's financial system, BEN Financials. The universes also join to related tables in the General Ledger and Space@Penn data collections.
Time Span Covered
The Data Warehouse stores current information on building, fixed, movable and land assets, as well as historical information on assets, categories and locations. The data goes as far back as March 2008, (the MAR-08 accounting period, in fiscal year 2008), when BEN Assets was implemented, and continues from that point, through the current open period.
The Assets collection is described in the BEN Assets and BEN Assets Snapshots diagrams. Each diagram illustrates the architiecture of a specific BusinessObjects universe and identifies the join criteria between tables.
The BEN Assets diagram provides access to current information about assets, their locations, and related adjustment and invoice data. In most instances, you will use this diagram when querying the Assets Data Collection. This diagram should be printed using landscape orientation.
The BEN Assets Snapshots diagram identifies the tables that make up the BEN Assets Snapshot universe and their join criteria. This diagram should be printed using landscape orientation.
The BusinessObjects repository contains reports which users can use to retrieve data to which they have access.
Aging Report of Untagged Equipment: This metric report lists items in BEN Assets with a Tagging Status of “Ready for Tagging”, and groups assets by the number of days between the Create Date in BEN Assets and the current date, such as <30 days; 30 to 60; 60 to 90; 90 to 120; >120.
Asset Additions: This report identifies asset acquisitions for a specified time period, by Major and Minor category, along with asset attributes and related invoice detail.
Asset Change History: Identifies assets that have had a change in select key attributes such as location, responsible ORG, acquisition cost, accumulated depreciation, or research amount.
Assets that Cannot be Located: Identifies assets with “Found During Inventory?” value of “N” that have not been retired in BEN Assets. This report can assist in monitoring assets identified as having been not found during the inventory to ensure that all such assets are subsequently located or appropriately retired.
Assets with Invalid Custodian Tagger Location or RespOrg: This report identifies those assets whose Custodian, Tagging Contact, Asset Responsible ORG and/or Location are invalid, and need to be corrected in BEN Assets.
Assets Inventory: Displays the results of asset inventory, based on the Inventory Name selected at the time of report execution. Only assets with any sort of discrepancy between data in BEN Assets and information returned by the inventory will be displayed.
Ready for Tagging: This report identifies assets with a Tagging Status of “ Ready for Tagging”. This report can assist the school/center Tagging Contact in locating and tagging assets for verification in BEN Assets. The report can be downloaded to an Excel spreadsheet, where it can be used to record the tag number and tagging date which will be entered in BEN Assets. The report can also be used to verify asset information such as model number, serial number, etc., with the information in BEN Assets to identify any changes needed to the information in the system.
Report of Assets: This report identifies active (non-retired) assets based on parameters entered by report requestor. This report can assist the School/Center with asset inventory, identification and location.
Report of EIP Assets: This report identifies active (non-retired) equipment in process (EIP) assets based on parameters entered by report requestor. This report can assist the School/Center with EIP asset inventory, identification and location.
Retired Assets: Identifies asset retirements for a specified time period, by Major and Minor category, along with asset attributes and related invoice detail.
Tagging Metrics: This metric report displays counts of assets within a center by tagging status, as well as number of assets tagged by month, and tagging aging for untagged items.
Untaggable Assets: Identifies moveable assets that have been designated as ‘untaggable’ in BEN Assets.
Data training for this collection is offered on an ad hoc basis -- please contact Enterprise Information & Analytics for assistance with specific training questions. You can also refer to the table and element documentation for information and cautions about specific data.
In general, individuals must have BEN Assets access before they can be granted access to the Assets collection in the Data Warehouse. Users must complete the Assets Data Access eForm, and obtain supervisor and school access administrator (or senior business officer) approval.
Those individuals who do not already have access to the source system (BEN Assets), but who need ad hoc access to the Assets collection in the Data Warehouse, must complete BEN Assets training along with the Assets Data Access eForm, BEN Assets training schedules and registration information are available at http://www.finance.upenn.edu/ftd/).
Releasing Data Outside the University
The only two offices that may disclose assets data outside the University are the Property Management Group in the Office of the Comptroller, and Institutional Research & Analysis. If you do not work for those offices and you receive a request for data to be sent outside the University, refer the requester to the Property Management Group.
Releasing Data Within the University
Within the University, asset data may be disclosed only if it is needed to do the business of the University, and only to those who need to know the information in order to do their jobs. If you are not sure whether to fulfill a request for this information, call the Property Management Group.
Query Results
If you save your query results in Excel, pdf, or any other local file type, you must see to it that any sensitive data stored on your peronal computer is safeguarded through physical security, access control software, or encryption. When a computer is left signed to an account, it is easy for someone to gain unauthorized access. Either sign off from your account before you leave your computer or restrict access by some other means (physical security or access control software).
For more information on security and privacy, contact the Office of Information Security.
Overview. Assets data is extensive, and a listserv and adhoc meetings are available to help you query the Warehouse and retrieve Assets data efficiently and effectively.
Whenever possible, canned queries and reports are provided to give you standardized perspectives on Warehouse data. Before creating your own query, check to see if a canned query or report already exists for the information you want. Assets corporate documents are available in the "BEN Assets" folder/category in the BusinessObjects repository.
Subscription to the listserv. When you are granted access to the Assets data in the Warehouse, a subscription is automatically set up for you to participate in an E-mail listserv called ASSETS-WH@LISTS.UPENN.EDU. (Those with subscriptions to the list are called list members. If any member sends an E-mail note to the list, every member of the list receives a copy.)
When you have a question. If you have a question about the Assets data, please send E-mail to the list -- and if you have the answer to a list member's question, please E-mail your reply to the list so all the members can benefit from the discussion.
The list is also the place to send E-mail if you notice that some documentation needs updating. For documentation published on the Web, please specify the URL for the documentation that needs to be updated. For BusinessObjects documentation (help for Objects), please specify the Universe, Class, and Object.
Notification about general and special meetings. From time to time, notes are sent to the list to invite list members to general meetings to discuss the Assets data in the Warehouse, or to special interest group meetings to discuss specific issues, such as joining payment and account balance data.