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ABOUT THE WHITE HOUSE
OFFICE
OF MANAGEMENT AND BUDGET
OMB
Circular A-127, "Financial Management Systems."
AGENCY: Office
of Management and Budget, Executive Office of the President
ACTION: Interim
final revision of OMB Circular A-127, "Financial Management Systems."
SUMMARY: OMB
Circular No. A-127 "Financial Management Systems," dated
July 23, 1993, prescribes policies and standards for executive departments
and agencies to follow in developing, operating, evaluating, and reporting
on financial management systems. The Office of Management and Budget
is issuing an interim final revision to Circular A-127 to incorporate
recommendations from the Chief Financial Officers (CFO) Council. These
recommendations change the process for acquiring software to meet core
financial system requirements by eliminating the restriction to only
acquire the software and related services from the FMSS Schedule, and
to provide for software testing that is independent of the procurement
process. These recommendations will result in the revision of Sections
8d and 9b, as well as adding a new Section 9a(3) and 9c. These changes
are shown below.
DATES: The
interim final revision is effective July 1, 1999. Comments on the interim
final revision must be received on or before August 2, 1999.
ADDRESSES: Comments
on this interim final revision should be addressed to Jean Holcombe,
Federal Financial Systems Branch, Office of Federal Financial Management,
Office of Management and Budget, 725 17th Street, NW, Room 6025, Washington,
DC 20503. Comments up to three pages in length may be submitted via
facsimile to 202-395-3952. Electronic mail comments may be submitted
via Internet to jholcomb@omb.eop.gov. Please include the full body
of electronic mail comments in the text and not as an attachment. Please
include the name, title, organization, postal address, and E-mail address
in the text of the message.
FOR
FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Jean Holcombe, Federal Financial
Systems Branch, Office of Federal Financial Management, Office of
Management and Budget, (202) 395-3993.
SUPPLEMENTARY
INFORMATION: In January 1997, at the request of Federal
agencies, the Financial Systems Committee (FSC) of the Chief Financial
Officers (CFO) Council formed the Joint Systems Solution Team (JSST)
to assess the core financial management system acquisition process
that was based upon using the FMSS Schedule. At that time, the mandatory
GSA FMSS Schedule acquisition award process was linked directly with
the software certification (testing) process. The team recommended
to the CFO Council an approach that included separation of the testing
of products from the acquisition process in order to: (1) provide
more information to agencies; (2) provide assistance to vendors to
stimulate product development, and (3) establish a procurement vehicle
with streamlined procedures. Through research and analysis, including
on-site visits and groupware sessions with public and private sector
representatives, the JSST recommended a three-phase program to achieve
the goals of effective certification of the off-the-shelf financial
systems and simplified procurement. The three phases recommended
were: (1) determinations of requirements, (2) test and qualification
of software, and (3) establishment of a procurement vehicle with
streamlined procedures. The JSST also recommended that a Program
Management Office (PMO) within the Joint Financial Management Improvement
Program (JFMIP) be responsible for the requirements determination
and the testing and qualification phases and that GSA manage the
establishment and administration of the procurement vehicle. These
recommendations were approved by the CFO Council. Circular A-127
is being revised to reflect changes in testing and acquiring that
resulted from these recommendations. In addition, OMB intends to
seek public comment on additional revision to A-127 later this year.
These revisions will include: (1) FFMIA review and reporting requirements;
(2) guidance on procuring financial management systems and services;
and (3) clarifications of current financial management system requirements.
Jacob
J. Lew
Director
The changes
to Circular A-127 are as follows.
1.
Section 8d of the current Circular should be deleted in its entirety
and replaced with the following:
8d(1).Use
of "Off-the-Shelf" Software. Agencies replacing software
to meet core financial system requirements are required to use
the GSA FMSS Multiple Award Schedule until its expiration on September
30, 1999. As of October 1, 1999 agencies replacing software to
meet core financial system requirements are no longer required
to use the GSA FMSS Multiple Award Schedule; they must use "off-the-shelf"
software that has been tested and certified through the JFMIP software
certification process as meeting JFMIP Core Financial Management System
Requirements. Agencies may purchase this software using the strategy
and procurement vehicle they believe will best enable them to meet
their needs in a timely and effective manner following the competition
requirements associated with the procurement vehicle being used to
conduct the acquisition.
In addition,
agencies will notify JFMIP that a core financial management software
procurement is planned -- preferably prior to, or in the early phases
of, acquisition planning. JFMIP will electronically post a public
message to permit interested certified system vendors to market agencies.
The sole purpose of this message is to facilitate agency market research.
This message is not intended to, and shall not, serve as an invitation
for offerors to submit bids, proposals, or quotes.
OMB policy
pertaining to using "off-the-shelf" software is contained
in OMB Circular A-130 and must be followed when replacing financial
management systems.
8d(2). Software
Certification Testing. "Off-the-shelf" software will
be tested to ensure that it meets core financial system requirements
as defined in the Core Financial System Requirements document
published by JFMIP. JFMIP will coordinate the testing process and
issue software certifications. Information on the details of the
certification testing process and its results will be available
to any interested Federal agency for any certified software package.
2.
A new section 9a(3) is being added to the current Circular as follows:
9a.(3). Notify
JFMIP on Plans to Acquire Core Financial System Software. Agencies
shall notify JFMIP on plans to acquire software supporting core
financial system functions.
3.
Section 9b of the current Circular is revised to read as follows:
9b. GSA
Responsibilities. GSA is responsible for continuing to support
existing contracts under the FMSS Schedule until their completion.
GSA also will make procurement vehicles available to agencies for
acquiring software which has been certified according to the processes
in Section8d(2).
4.
A new Section 9c is being added and will read as follows:
9c. JFMIP
Responsibilities. JFMIP will establish processes for testing "off-the-shelf" software
supporting core financial system requirements which include:
--developing
and administering the certification test.
--notifying GSA when a software package successfully completes the
certification test.
--providing interested parties with information on the core financial
system requirements and their related testing scenarios.
--providing interested parties with details on the results of the
certification tests for certified software packages.
--posting a public notice on planned core financial system procurements.