Financial project management
Vidatum supports the project management of externally funded research projects.
Externally funded research projects provide the university with more than 100 million euros each year. Good financial project management is essential to retain this funding and control the costs. Vidatum helps with formulating an accurate financial status and forecast for projects.
How will Vidatum affect financial project management?
Vidatum can be used for recording and managing all externally funded research projects. This means that:
- All externally funded research projects will be entered in Vidatum.
- Time tracking on projects from 1 December will be able via Vidatum (instead of the current SAP time-tracking system).
- Integration with SAP/AFAS enables the capture of current project budgets, ensuring accurate forecasting.
What are the advantages?
Vidatum will be used for recording not only estimates and budgets, but also all the relevant project information and definitive documents. As a result, the financial (and other) management of projects will be more transparent and efficient.
- Clear and structured recording of financial information
- Clear recording and management of project documentation
- Better control of budgets and project expenditures
- Clear assignment of rights for modifying project information and budgets
Who will be the main users?
Financial project management is intended for everyone who is involved in managing and reporting on research projects.
- Project controllers and controllers: to manage the financial aspects of projects and ensure accurate records. They will use Vidatum for recording projects and project budgets.
- Principal investigators: to gain insight into and an overview of the projects for which they bear ultimate responsibility, and to supplement and modify information themselves.
- Researchers: to record hours and contribute to financial reports. After the move from SAP CATS, they will use Vidatum for time tracking.
- Project managers, institute managers, directors of operational management: to gain insight via reports, and to give approval for taking projects to the next stage, where relevant.
Timeline and rollout
Together with the faculties, we’ve now entered most externally funded research projects into Vidatum. In addition, the transition from the current time-tracking system in SAP to Vidatum is being prepared. More information will follow soon.
Time tracking
Starting from 1 December 2025, Leiden University will begin using Vidatum instead of SAP Self Service to track time spent on externally funded research projects.
What does this mean for you?
As a prefiller, time tracker or approver
Your workflow will remain largely the same. You’ll continue to prefill, record or approve hours, but now in Vidatum, a simple and user-friendly system. We’ll support you throughout the transition and will publish instructions on how to start tracking time in Vidatum on Monday 17 November.
Important dates
Recording hours (for time trackers)
- By 7 December 2025 at the latest: record your November hours in SAP Self Service.
- From 1 December 2025: record your hours in Vidatum.
Approving hours (for approvers)
- By 23 December 2025, 17:00 hrs. at the latest: approve hours for November in SAP Self Service.
- From 1 January 2026: approve hours in Vidatum.
Adding time trackers (for project controllers)
- By 30 November 2025 at the latest: add time trackers to budgets and approvers to project teams. Then time trackers can start recording hours in Vidatum from 1 December.