Custom Salesforce reports, shaped through working reviews, that give a separate finance unit a trustworthy view for reconciliation.

Solution design and implementation (Technology Manager) · UCLA Anderson Executive Education · Implemented during the legacy-system replacement

The Business Office, a finance unit that operates in coordination with but separate from Executive Education, had relied on Excel spreadsheets, and staff had raised concerns about how reliable the legacy system’s data was, with < 50% of records reliably reflecting payments. As I moved operations onto Salesforce, finance needed reports organized around its reconciliation process, plus a way to see them directly. A total by itself wasn’t enough. The team needed to trace each registration to its invoices, individual payments, refunds, and remaining balance, along with project IDs, payment dates, program dates, and fiscal year.

My approach

• Started from the review process. I went through the requested fields with the Business Office and built the reports around them, with identifying details next to every amount so each transaction could be read in context.

• One reporting view across related records. A custom report type joins Programs, Registrations, Invoices, and Payments. The data model’s master-detail chain (Program → Registration → Invoice → Payment) let the report show those relationships without a separate spreadsheet. I grouped results by registration number so each registration framed its own transactions.

• Fields that answer real questions. A text formula, Payment Note, combines the invoice and payment type in one column after an analyst asked for clearer transaction descriptions. When a review showed some fully paid records still carrying a balance, I rewrote the Actual Balance logic to account for payments, credits, and refunds. Roll-ups give totals at the invoice and registration level.

• Dates kept distinct. Payment date, program start and end dates, and fiscal year (based on program start, as the requirements specified) are separate columns rather than one overloaded date.

• Refined through working sessions. I treated the first field list as a draft, made documented changes after each review, and added a Program End Date field when finance leadership asked for it.

• Access as part of delivery. I provisioned a Salesforce license for a Business Office analyst and set up read-only access to the reports.