Fund Allocation Loader
Alma supports loading allocation amounts to each fund from an Excel spreadsheet. This document describes the two-step process that Collections Services staff need to follow to populate the Excel spreadsheet and submit a Service Now request that the values be loaded into Alma.
Process Steps
Step 1:
Add a row for each fund/budget in the Excel file stored in box: https://duke.box.com/s/7ehz4kj4y14qb3hlmcc45rb402f4w068 . If you’d like to create separate files for different types of funds so that those can be loaded at separate times, that’s ok - just name the files with something to distinguish them. This file layout is the standard Excel layout provided by ExLibris and is the expected input for the job that loads this data.
Column Names:
FUND_EXTERNAL_ID
Disregard the name of this column. Add the Fund Code value here, not the External ID and it will still work in the loader.
FISCAL_PERIOD_ID
Use value 22 for the 2025 fiscal year (23 for 2026, etc). These values are defined in a configuration table in Alma - see the note about this in “References” below.
AMOUNT
To reduce allocation, create a minus sum, such as -100
TRANSACTION_REFERENCE_NUMBER
Leave blank - not mandatory to have value in this column
TRANSACTION_NOTE
Not mandatory to have value in this column, but you may include a note that will appear with the transaction in Alma.
Note: The batch load will allow multiple rows for the same fund.
If it would be helpful to include additional columns to help as you fill out this sheet, feel free to add whatever columns you need since the LSIS team can make a copy of the file and strip out any extraneous columns before loading to Alma.
Step 2:
Once an Excel sheet is complete with the funds you want to update, submit a Service Now, select the “Alma Support” option, and request that the allocation file be loaded to Alma https://intranet2.lib.duke.edu/servnow/.
Be sure to include the name of the Excel file and/or a link to the file in box so that the correct file is loaded.
The allocation loader job must be run by a user with General Administrator permissions, so an LSIS administrator will move a copy of the Excel sheet to the Alma S/FTP server, run the allocation loader job, verify the results, and let you know via Service Now that the update is complete.
LSIS Staff: See Fund Allocation Loader for information on how to run the job.
How to view allocation transactions in Alma
Use the persistent search bar at the top to select “Funds” as your search facet and type a value in the empty search box. Using “All” will interrogate the fund external id, code, name, and description fields.
The result list should include the fund you’re looking for - click on the name of the fund to open the Summary Details screen for the fund.
Select the “Transactions tab”
You can filter the list of transactions to view only allocations if needed. Notice that there is a column here for “Notes” - that’s where any notes that you add to the Excel loader sheet are displayed.
To view additional details about a transaction, click on the “…” elipses for that row and choose “View”. The Transaction Details screen opens.
Notice that on the right you can click the “i” icon to expand additional info about the transaction including metadata about when/how it was created. This allocation transaction was created using the “Update Fund Tx” job which is what Alma calls this allocation loader job.
References
Where is the Fiscal Period ID stored in Alma?
Fiscal Period ID is found in: Configuration > Acquisitions > General > Fund and Ledger Fiscal Period. The Fiscal Period ID for FY-2025 is 22; the expected ID for FY-2026 will be 23.
Alma Documentation https://knowledge.exlibrisgroup.com/Alma/Knowledge_Articles/How_to_upload_a_list_of_Fund_allocations_from_a_file_to_Alma%3F