At-a-glance:
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Employees in units who will initiate financial transactions can now register for training. Registration will remain open for several weeks.
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Initiators will be determined at the college and unit level. If you are an employee who is expected to initiate financial transactions, you will be contacted by the leadership in your unit.
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Training sessions will begin in January 2026 and be offered in several formats.
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The Penn State financial shared services will launch in February 2026.
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After the launch, faculty and staff will have access to hypercare, on-demand support and personalized guidance, to navigate the new processes.
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Questions can be directed to FinanceOST@PSU.edu.
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — As the University prepares to implement a shared service model for finance in February 2026, guided by the Finance Optimized Service Team (OST), employees who will initiate financial transactions are encouraged to register for upcoming training sessions.
The Finance OST will introduce consistent, standardized, University-wide application of accounting, procurement, and finance transactions, reporting, policies, practices and tools through a shared services model.
With this transition, finance operations will be unified within Finance & Business and unit employees will initiate transactions to be handled within the shared services model, such as travel and expense, procurement, budget, and accounts receivable activities.
“We really put a lot of thought into how to make sure our initiators are prepared,” said Sara Thorndike, senior vice president of finance and business/treasurer. “We are committed to meeting people where they are, offering live training sessions and on-demand recordings. Beyond that, we are providing a robust library of job aids and resources to ensure our faculty and staff can confidently adopt the new process.”
The process to initiate financial transactions will be open to all employees. Unit leadership will have the flexibility to identify and designate these initiators, a decision that will be guided by the nature of the unit's financial activity and available internal resources.
The process for initiating transactions is designed to be straightforward and user-friendly: The necessary steps require no specialized financial knowledge and will be similar to submitting an IT support ticket. The platform used to collect this information and initiate transactions, ServiceNow, is already familiar to the University community as the platform used by Penn State Information Technology for request intake.
Registration is now open for training sessions in January and February 2026
Training registration is open now and will continue through February 2026 to accommodate those identified as initiators, on a rolling basis. Live training sessions will begin in January and continue through February. For initiators identified after our shared services launch, or those unable to attend a live session, all training recordings, job aids, and on-demand resources will be available.
The training for initiators will have two tracks: the initiator overview sessions, for all unit employees who expect to initiate financial transactions; and deep-dive training courses focused on specific transaction types, such as internal billing and reimbursements.
To register for these trainings on the Learning Resource Network, visit the Finance OST website.
Strategic Finance Partners
A key component of the new operating model is the introduction of Strategic Finance Partners, or SFPs, a role that replaces the function of financial officers in units. These leaders will serve as the critical link between units and the new centralized financial organization. SFPs are tasked with deeply understanding unit needs, guiding financial planning and analysis, and coordinating resources. The full list of Strategic Finance Partners assigned to each unit can be found here.
Period of “hypercare” to follow February launch
A dedicated period of "hypercare" will begin with the launch of the new shared services model for finance in February. Hypercare is designed to support initiators in units and other employees who are navigating the process of submitting financial transactions using the ServiceNow platform for the first time.
Its purpose is to ensure a smooth, confident shift to the new operating model by providing immediate, personalized assistance when and where it is needed most. Once the shared services model launches in February, these hypercare resources will be accessible for faculty and staff on the Office of Enterprise Change and Transformation website.
“I want to thank everyone for their dedication and support as we navigate this change," Thorndike said. "Through this new shared services model, we will be more impactful, agile, efficient, and ultimately, more supportive of Penn State's mission.”