UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Penn State Human Resources (HR) and IT Learning & Development (ITLD) have launched a new training program to support employees that work in the SIMBA and SAP/Concur financial systems. This new program is called “Financial Systems @ Penn State.” 

SIMBA is the University’s System for Integrated Management, Budgeting and Accounting, and it is home to all of Penn State’s financial transactions and budgeting processes. It is used across all campuses, departments and administrative units. The SAP/Concur system is used to reimburse employees for travel and goods-and-services expenses and to manage purchasing cards.  

The new training resources can be accessed from the Financial Systems @ Penn State page in the Learning Resources Network (LRN). The resources are broken into three categories: the Financial Services Toolkit, the Procurement Toolkit and the SAP Concur Toolkit. Each toolkit contains asynchronous tracks where users can navigate to the topic they would like to explore. The track can be completed in its entirety, or users can navigate to specific subtopics for targeted instruction. If a track is completed, a digital certificate is awarded with successful completion of the final knowledge check. 

Dave Gindhart, associate vice president for Business Technology Solutions said, “Two years after SIMBA was launched, we gathered feedback from focus groups to identify ongoing issues for SIMBA users. We found that the original training did not satisfy users’ needs, so with the support of Finance and Business leadership, the ITLD and HR teams have created clear and user-friendly training to address that gap. In addition to this update of SIMBA training, we’ll be creating new training in support of major enhancements to the Procurement and Budgeting and Planning modules scheduled for late 2024.” 

The current tracks in the Financial Services Toolkit include: 

1. SIMBA Essentials 
2. Journal Entries 
3. SIMBA Support 

The current tracks in the Procurement Toolkit include: 

1. Non-PO Invoice Processing 
2. Shop OnLion Default Settings 
3. Ensure Accuracy 
4. Lion Marketplace and PSU Contracts Cart 

The current tracks in the SAP Concur Toolkit include:

1. Intro to SAP Concur 
2. SAP Concur Travel Reports 
3. SAP Concur Goods & Services Report 

Virginia Teachey, associate vice president for Budget and Finance said, “As we have brought on more advanced tools to inform strategic decisions, it is critically important to provide our teams with strong training and information resources. This new program complements the new SIMBA website, easily improving access to real-time system resources for our financial services employees.” 

Check back to the Financial Systems @ Penn State page often as more resources are developed and added. These resources are designed by Penn State employees with Penn State employees in mind to deliver effective and relevant training in each system. 

Visit the SIMBA website or the ITLD SIMBA service page for additional training resources available to Penn State employees.