Set up departments

Create departments to organize your positions and decide who can work with them. You can place departments under other departments and change that arrangement from a chosen date. Earlier records keep the department arrangement that applied at the time.

The department hierarchy describes reporting or organizational relationships. Access coverage determines who can work with records in those departments. Availability determines which departments can be selected, and financial classifications describe the codes used for costs. Review each choice separately when reorganizing a department.

Before you begin

You need the Manage departments permission to create departments, change their place in the organization, manage availability, or maintain financial classifications. Managing which job classifications are available also requires Manage job catalog.

Create a department

On Settings → Departments, use the display control to choose Flat list or Department tree. Your choice is remembered for your next visit. In the tree, use the chevrons to expand or collapse departments, or Collapse all to return to the top level. Search also finds departments inside collapsed branches. The effective date determines which arrangement you see.

Before creating a department, decide its stable name, external identifier when used, place in the hierarchy, and first effective date. A department should represent a lasting area of responsibility, not a temporary project or a person’s name.

1. Open Settings, then Departments.
2. Enter the name and external ID when used.
3. Choose the parent department and effective date.
4. Review and save the department.
5. Configure the job classifications that positions in the department may use.
6. Configure position availability when the department should be available only for a defined period.
7. Review the hierarchy on the first effective date.

A department name must be unique across the organization while the department is available, regardless of its level or parent. Changing capitalization or adding spaces does not create a different name. A name may be reused after the earlier department becomes unavailable, provided their availability periods do not overlap, including scheduled future periods.

The external ID is useful when a trusted source or reporting process already identifies the department. Keep it stable. Do not reuse an old ID for a different department.

Keep four department choices separate

If someone can use a parent department and the departments beneath it, moving a department can change which records they can use from the move date. Check the affected people’s department access before saving. Making a department unavailable is a different action; it does not remove its earlier positions or reports.

Change the hierarchy

Add a later parent relationship when a department moves in the organization. Correct an existing relationship only when the recorded parent or date was wrong.

Example: department reorganization

Customer Operations reports under Operations through June 30 and under Customer Experience beginning July 1.

Record the new parent beginning July 1. A June 30 hierarchy report continues to show the earlier structure, while a July 1 report shows the new one.

Do not overwrite the earlier parent. That would make historical position and report views appear as if the later organization had always existed.

Before moving a department, review:

• lower-level departments that move with it;
• positions whose reporting lines cross the old and new structure;
• access coverage that includes lower-level departments;
• approval reviewers assigned by department; and
• reports used to compare periods.

Availability

Make a department unavailable when it should remain in history but no longer be selected for new work. Review active positions, members, requests, and financial responsibilities before changing availability.

Record an available or unavailable value with the date the change begins. Availability values have no end date. Use Correct entry when the recorded date or value was wrong, and Void entry when that entry should never have existed.

If positions remain active after the department becomes unavailable, resolve that conflict before saving the change. The page may prevent a change that would leave approved information without valid setup.

Financial classifications

Use Set up department financial classifications to configure general ledger segments, allowed codes, and dated department values. Lower-level departments can inherit values from the department above. Review that inheritance when moving a department.

Check a department change

1. Select a date before the change and confirm the earlier hierarchy and availability.
2. Select the effective date and confirm the new result.
3. Open one affected position and confirm its department remains valid.
4. Review job classification choices for a position in the department.
5. Review one access role whose department coverage could be affected.
6. Run Department Hierarchy when you need a repeatable review result.
7. Open Activity history to confirm who recorded the change and why.

Does moving a department move every employee?

The move changes the department hierarchy. The department responsible for each employee and assignment follows the dated records that apply to that person, not merely the department’s parent.

Can two departments use the same job classification?

Yes, when the job classification is available to both departments. Department availability controls selection without creating duplicate job classifications.

Review structure changes

Open Structure changes from organization settings or the department navigation. Use Upcoming, Today, Prior, or All to choose when changes take effect. Narrow the list by date and search; where offered, select the record type or source. A department-specific view stays limited to department changes.

Open the affected record to review its before and after values and effective date. Check departments beneath a moved department and any access or job-classification availability that follows that hierarchy. Use the record’s supported change action for a correction; the list itself is for review.

Use Activity history when you need to know who recorded a change and when, rather than when the business change takes effect.

Form choices

Use this reference to choose form values. Available choices depend on the task, selected date, and your access.

Department choices show their place in the organization, whether you are choosing one department or several. A higher-level department may appear dimmed to help you find an available department below it. You cannot select a dimmed department. Branches with no departments available to you are hidden.

Searching shows the path to each matching department. Selecting a department includes lower-level departments only when the form says so. For those choices, the whole branch must be available to you; otherwise, choose an available department below it.

Higher-level department

Choose the department above this one in the organization tree. Leave it blank for a top-level department.

Moving a department can affect inherited account values and access that includes lower-level departments. Select the intended parent and effective date together, then check the tree and affected department coverage.

Optional practice: add the department used in the walkthrough

For exercises that change records, use a separate practice organization and complete the preparation below.

Practice steps and checks

1. Open department setup and create Outpatient Services under the intended parent department.
2. Set its starting information early enough for the position’s January 1, 2027 start.
3. Open Outpatient Services and check its parent, name, required fields, and approvers.
4. Have the requester and reviewer open Outpatient Services to check they can do their work.
5. Check a department they should not be able to use.

A department’s place in the organization can affect who can work with its positions and which settings it inherits.

Use a separate department to try a future move. Open Structure changes and compare the day before and after the move. Next, prepare the Patient Services Coordinator job classification.