OPM RESPONSE TO MARCH 8, 2011, INQUIRY FROM

COMMITTEE ON OVERSIGHT AND GOVERNMENT REFORM ON

FINANCIAL SYSTEMS MANAGEMENT
MARCH 22, 2011
[NOTE: OPM RESPONSE IN ITALICS]
1. Identify and briefly describe each of your agency's business and accounting systems. If
separate divisions, bureaus, or offices of your agency use separate systems, identify which
divisions, bureaus, or offices use each system.
OPM Response: OPM currently maintains two financial management systems: (1) the core
accounting system to manage the administrative filllds and (2) the core tn/st fimd
accounting system to manage our eamed benefit programs. To date, these two systems have
not yet been integrated. The modemized core accounting system for the administrative
fill/ds was deployed on October 1, 2009 as a part of the CBIS Project Phase 1
modemization effort. OCFO has experienced some transition issues. In FY 2012, CBIS
Phase 2 intended to migrate the Trust Funds to the core financial system that was
implemented during Phase I However, the project was placed on OMB's list of investments
requiring attention in December 2010. OPM's CBlS Executive Steering Committee
(comprised of OPM senior executives), in concert with OMB, placed an indefinite hold on
Phase 2. This hold was anticipated due to the challenges in transitioning to a new financial
system. The CFO organization, with the support of Senior Leadership is continuing to
address these challenges (i.e. centered on people, business processes, and data) as a part of
a larger remediation action.
In FY 2011, the CBlS Project team has developed and is executing remediation activities to
ensure a successfitl completion to Phase 1 and is planning activities to improve training to
close business process gaps. As a part of this specific activity, the CBlS Project is validating
roles and responsibilities across the various business processes, re-Iaunching a
comprehensive Change Management and COllllllunications strategy, and establishing
peliorll/ance measures to track progress. In addition to training, the CBlS Project is in the
process of refining testing and defect management strategies. The CBlS Project team is
incorporating stakeholder identified pain points and using this information to prioritize
issue resolution. Our stakeholders will be involved early in all testing efforts to include
peliorming usability and acceptance testing to ensure that business processes operate and
filllction according to our requirements. Lastly, we are formalizing our release management
planning and execution.
Our official response is noted under Sections I.A and I.B below.
J.A - Core Accounting and Business Systems (Administrative Fundsl
OPM's accounting, procurement, and business processes are integrated under CBlS and
assist OPM in managing its administrative processes relative to Salaries and Expense
(S&E) and Revolving Fund (RF) accounts. CBlS is a Commercial off the Shelf (COTS)
solution /Ising Oracle E-Business Suite forfinancialmanagement (which includes Accollnts
IIPage
OPM RESPONSE TO MARCH 8, 2011, INQUIRY FROM
COMMITTEE ON OVERSIGHT AND GOVERNMENT REFORM ON
FINANCIAL SYSTEMS MANAGEMENT
MARCH 22, 2011
Receivable, Assets, Projects, Accounts Payable, Purchasing, and General Oracle
Hyperionfor budgetformulation and reporting, Compl/Search PRISMfor contract
administration and management, and Oracle's Business Intelligence Enterprise Edition
(OBIEE) for data warehousing and ad-hoc reporting. CBIS is lIsed agency-wide by all
divisions and offices as the core accounting and business management system.
The components of the overall CBIS solution are comprised of a series of modules and
applications that support specific business jimctions and operations. These modules and
applications are listed below.
Oracle Purchasing Module - Manages the requisition and procurement of goods and
services. This includes creating RFQs, requisitions, and purchase orders, reviewing
requisitions against jimds and budgets, approving requisitions via a defined process,
transmitting purchase orders to suppliers via EDI or XML, defining shipment schedule
requirements, and recording supplier acceptance of purchase orders. The module also
includes controls for receiving goods, such as defining receipt and inspection
procedures, implementing routing controls based, recording returns to suppliers,
generating debit memos for returned items, and generating invoices. Finally, the module
transmits accounting transactions to the General Ledger module for encumbering
commitments, obligations, and accming expenditures, and transmits purchase orders
and receipts to the Payables module.
Oracle Federal Administrator Module - Manages some of the cllstom federal
government requirements including maintaining treasulJI symbols (numeric codes which
contain unique accollnting information that identifY: 1) a Federal agency, 2) a period of
availability ofjimds, and 3) afour-digit and generatingfederal
reports (such as the SF-132, FMS-224, FACTS I reports, and FACTS II reports). In
addition, the module establishes and manages budgets including appropriations,
apportionments, allotments, rescissions, warrants, and deferrals.
Oracle General Ledger Module - Manages the general ledger and general journal for
the administrative fimds [i.e. Salaries and Expense (S&E) and Revolving Funds (RF)j,
including capturing and postingfinancial transactions, managing the financial account
hierarchy, controlling spending against the budget, and enabling online inquiries. Also
enables budgeting to compare actual balances with project results and to control actual
and anticipated expenditures.
Oracle Accounts Payables Module - Enables the AlP process, including managing and
tracking suppliers, controlling spending against the budget, entering and approving
invoices, creating accounting entries for Payable transactions, creating payment files
that go to the u.s. Treaswy to generate checkslelectronic transfers, and transferring
accounting entries to the General Ledger module.
Oracle Accounts Receivables Module - Enables the AIR process for the administrative
jilllds (S&E and RF), including managing and tracking customers, entering transactions
21 P age
OPM RESPONSE TO MARCH 8, 2011, INQillRY FROM
COMMITTEE ON OVERSIGHT AND GOVERNMENT REFORM ON
FINANCIAL SYSTEMS MANAGEMENT
MARCH 22, 2011
such as invoices, commitments, and receipts, generating dunning letters, managing the
billing lifecycle, and transferring entries to the General Ledger module.
Oracle iProcurement Module - Enables OPM employees to initiate and track
requisitions via a web intel/ace. The application loads and displays supplier catalogs.
Employees can then requisition products ji-om the catalog or use pre-defined templates
to order products that are not in a catalog. Employees can allocate costs to olle or more
projects and validate fimds availability in real-time, while iProcurement enforces
purchasing policies and calculates pricing. Once created, the requisition is transferred
to the Purchasing module to go through the approval process, while employees can
track approvals and deliveJY status, change or cancel line items, and acknowledge
receipt of goods in iProcurement.
Oracle PaVl1lents Module - Receives payment requests ji-om the Accounts Payable
module and creates payment files that go to the U.S. TreasUlY to generate checks and
electronic transfers.
PRISM Web Procurement System - Manages the procurement lifecycle, including line-
item enfly, defining delivelY locations and fill/ding sources, lVorliflow for reviews and
approvals, and payment certification. The system also contains extensive document
management capabilities, such as document generation with agency-defined clauses and
rules, document numbering, and uploading of supportilig documentation into an
electronic case file. The system is customized to the business processes and forms of the
federal government, supportingforms and award types prescribed by FARS and
transmitting requisition opportunities to FedBizOpps.
Oracle Business Intelligence Enterprise Edition - An OLAP analysis and reporting
server that contains interactive dashboards, capability for ad hoc queries and analysis,
and alerts for changes to key metrics.
Oracle Proiect Costing Module - Processes expenditures to calculate their true costs by
project and determine the GL accounts to which the costs will be posted. This includes
entering expenditures and importing expenditures ji-om other systems, classifYing the
expenditures by cost types and project, calculating raw and burdened costs, determining
the accounts to post to, and transmitting transactions to Accounts Payable and General
Ledger modules. The system implements controls on these activities to limit the
expenditures that users can charge to specific projects or purchase order agreements,
and to manage spending against budgeted monies. With costs assigned, users are able to
compare both actuals and outstanding cOlllmitments to the original and current budgets.
Oracle Project Billing - Manages billing for projects purchased by cllstomers under
reimbursable agreements. The system allows fimding agreements to be created and
project billing cycles and resource billing rates to be defined. It then accrues revenue
based on a billing algorithm, applies billing controls and limits to prevent billings ji-Olll
exceedingfimding, generates invoices based on defined milestones (costs, events, or
work progress) and transfers them to the Receivables module, and transmits
31Page
OPM RESPONSE TO MARCH 8, 2011, INQUIRY FROM
COMMITTEE ON OVERSIGHT AND GOVERNMENT REFORM ON
FINANCIAL SYSTEMS MANAGEMENT
MARCH 22, 2011
transactions to the General Ledger module (open receivables, credit memos, etc.). The
project fimding can be monitored throughout the accounting cycle.
I.B - Benefits Financial Management Systems (Trust Funds)
Five prill/my systems and intelfaces support OPM's eal'lled benefit programs:
Federal Financial SYstem - OPM uses version 5.4 ofCGI-AMS' Federal Financial
System (FFS), a commercial ofJ--the-shelffinancial system, as the core of its Benefits
Financial Management Systems. Rather than /Ising all available FFS modules, OPM
IIses only the FFS accollnts receivable and budget execution modules.
FFS has been extended through a cllstom-built, integrated subsystem known as the
Investment Subledger, which is described below.
Financial Management Collection Deposit 2812 Svstem - Employee with holdings and
agency contributions to the Retirement, Health Benefits, and Life Insurance Programs
are due to OPM on the same day the participating employee is paid. Prior to
automation, all employee with holdings and agency contributions were remitted to OPM
on the hard-copy SF 2812 and SF 2812-A - "Report of With holdings and Contributions
for Health Benefits, Life Insurance, and Retirement to OPM " Most of this data is now
captured through the automated Retirement and Insurance Transfer System (R1TS).
Agency payroll providers that are technically unable to remit with holdings and
contributions to OPM via RITS, however, are permitted to remit withholding and
contribution information via the hard copy SF 2812 (and SF 2812-A) directly to OPM or
to OPM's lockbox depositmy. The 2812 system also provides the following
fUllctionality: (1) sorts total withholdings and contributions by account andfimd; (2)
maintains program contingency and administrative reserves though a "Health Benefits
Subledger"; (3) supports premiums payable to community-rated carriers; alld (4)
supports letter-ofcredit accounts for experience-rated carriers.
Retirement and Insurance Transfer System - The vast preponderance of with holdings
and contributions are received via the Retirement and Insurance Transfer System
(R1TS), which was jointly developed by OPM and TreaslllY. FMS partnered with the
Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond to re-engineer and improve the RITS application in
order to electronically transfer the "Report of Withholdings and Contributions for
Health Benefits, Life Insurance and Retirement" (SF2812) and the "Report of
Withholdings and Contributions for Health Benefits by Enrollment Code" (SF2812A)
data ji'OIll Govel'llment payroll providers to OPM RITS accumulates information from
Federal Program Agencies (FPA) about the total amount of with holdings alld related
agency contributions for retirement, health benefits and life insurance. Each user
agency defines one or //lore payrolls, associated pay cycles alld payroll start dates.
From these parameters RITS creates and maintains an automated payroll and reporting
schedule. This schedule gives the FPA and OPM the ability to calculate and track
41 P age
OPM RESPONSE TO MARCH 8, 2011, INQUIRY FROM
COMMITTEE ON OVERSIGHT AND GOVERNMENT REFORM ON
FINANCIAL SYSTEMS MANAGEMENT
MARCH 22, 2011
obligation due dates and payment timeliness. Agency submissions are monitored on a
regular basis by OPM In the event that a payment is delinquent, OPM staff andlor RITS
will automatically create an estimated report on the agency's behalf Estimated reports
are based on the most recent drawn down payments made by the agency that best
reflects the probable amount of the current obligation. Once an agency generates a
RITS transaction for a delinquent obligation, the RITS application automatically
reverses any estimated payment (these reversals are processed by OPM staff as needed).
On a daily basis, the OPM administrator initiates the process to collect all RITS
transactions due and submitted for payment. This process extracts all Retirement,
Health Benefits, and Life Insurance Program information for transmission to OPMfor
filrtherprocessing. At the same time, RITS generates IPAC transactions to transfer
fill/ds to satisfY the obligations incurred by each report.
FFS Investment Sub ledger - The Investment Sub ledger is a fit/ly integrated subsystem
of the FFS. It was developed for OPM to record trust fillld investments and to generate
related accounting transactions. Each business day, the Investment Subledger extracts
collections and disbursements by fimd fi'om the FFS general ledger. OPM uses this
extracted data to determine the amount of daily investments or redemptions, which is
then entered into the BPD 's FedInvest System.
Annuitv Roll Processing Svstem - The Annuity Roll Processing System (ARPS) is an
umbrella for a number of systems and processes used by OPM to adjudicate benefits for
retired federal employees, their dependents and survivors. ARPS represents the mqjor
inte/face for the Benefits Financial System providing daily and monthly accounting data
regarding annuity expenses and deductions withheld fi"om annuities.
These systems are collectively referred to as the Benefits Financial Management Systems
(BFMS). BFMS is the agency's core Tl1Ist Fund system and is used bystaffunder the
Retirement and Insurance divisions for administering the government-wide earned benefit
programs.
2. Explain how the business and accounting systems identified in response to Request No. 1
interact with one another.
OPM Response: The listing defines holV the financial systems components relate and interact with
one another.
Oracle General Ledger Module-
o Posts transactions fi"om the sub-ledgers (i.e. Oracle Accollnts Payable, Accounts
Receivable, Oracle Projects, Oracle Purchasing) to generate and post GLjournals
against USSGL accounts and helps to manage financial account hierarchy,
controlling spending against the budget, and enables online inquiries.
Oracle Purchasing Module-
SIPage
OPM RESPONSE TO MARCH 8, 2011, INQUIRY FROM
COMMITTEE ON OVERSIGHT AND GOVERNMENT REFORM ON
FINANCIAL SYSTEMS MANAGEMENT
MARCH 22, 2011
o Oracle Purchasing intelfaces approved Purchase Requisitions data to the PRISM
Web Procurement System. The intelface sends suggested vendO/'S as well as all the
requisition information needed by PRISM to create an Obligation and solicit vendO/'S.
This is a real-time integration.
o Oracle Purchasing receives travel authorization data ji'om the GSA E2 Solutiolls (for
Travel Management) system which establishes the obligations within the jinancial
system upon confirmation of the availability of budget my resources. Thisjile is run
on nightly basis.
Oracle Accounts Payables Module -
o Daily intelface with GSA Central Contractor Reposito/y (CCR) to Oracle Accounts
Payable. The intelface updates vendor data for relevant changes contained in the
CCR daily extract jiles. The intelface supports the data dejinitions (e.g. data types;
jield names; jield lengths) used in CCRfor applicable CEIS vendorjile.
o Oracle Accounts Payable intelfaces vendor data to the PRISM Web Procurement
System. Vendor data updates ji-om the master vendor AP table are sent to update the
PRISM vendor data table. This is a real-time integration.
o Oracle Accollnts Payables receives credit card information ji-om JP Morgan Chase
Payment.Net on a daily basis.
o Oracle Accounts Payable inteifaces and accepts vendor payments ji'om the OPM
Personnel Investigations Processing System (PIPS), which tracks activity related to
casework conducted by OPM's Federal Investigative Services (FIS) division. PIPS
generates a jile daily that contains data for all open cases that had activity for that
day, including information for payments that need to be made to vendors who have
provided services. The data is loaded into Oracle Accounts Payable to generate
invoices. This information is intelfaced daily.
o Oracle Accounts Payable receives travel voucher data ji-om the GSA E2 Solutions
(for Travel Management) system which establishes the travel invoice within the
jinancial system, tying the voucher to the travel obligation established under Oracle
Purchasing. This jile is rUII on nightly basis.
Oracle Payments Module-
o Oracle Payments sends payment requests (inlllultiple payment formats) to us
Department ofTreaswy Secure Payment System, receives conjirmationji-om
Treasury of payments made to vendors.
Oracle Project Task/Costing Module-
o Oracle Project Costing receives customer-billing adjustments for closed investigation
cases ji'om PIPS and sends them to be reflected in CEIS Projects. These adjustments
can either be due to an increase or decrease from the original amount and the
appropriate change is then made to the cllstomer billing invoices. This information is
intelfaced daily.
o Oracle Project Costing extracts Project Agreement and Project Task data ji-Olll the
Projects and sends it to PIPS. The interface extracts all active agreements, and allY
new task that has been created since the last extract was run, which would include
61Page
OPM RESPONSE TO MARCH 8, 2011, INQillRY FROM
COMMITTEE ON OVERSIGHT AND GOVERNMENT REFORM ON
FINANCIAL SYSTEMS MANAGEMENT
MARCH 22, 2011
any new cases added by the PIPS to Projects interface. The extract file includes both
PIPS specific as well as CBIS specific data elements. This information is intelfaced
daily.
o Oracle Project Costing receives Labor Costs through a nightly intelface which
processes the detail labor cost file that is produced for each pay cycle as part of the
GSA Payroll Accounting and Reporting (PAR) system, which receives information
recorded by OPM employees ill the Electronic Time and Attendance Management
System (ETAMS). Data fi'om this file is loaded into the Projects Transaction Open
Interface Table and then imported into Project Costing to record direct labor costs
for projects defined in the financial system.
Oracle Project Billing-
o Oracle Project Billing receives customer-billing adjustments for closed investigation
casesfi'om OPM PIPS and sends them to be reflected in CBIS Projects. These
adjustments can either be due to an increase or decrease from the original amount
and the appropriate change is then made to the cllstomer billing invoices. This
information is intelfaced daily.
o Oracle Project Billing receives cllstomer billillg alld revenue activity from PIPS,
which tracks activity related to casework conducted by OPM's FIS division. The data
is loaded into eBIS Projects to create or update the CBIS Project stl1lcture and
billing data. This information is illtelfaced daily.
PRISM Web Procurement System -
o The PRISM Web Procurement System exports obligation data /I'om PRISM to Oracle
Purchasing using a web service. It generates document detail at the document line
alld sub-line levels. This is a real-time integration.
Federal Financial System (FFS)-
o FFS sends and receives subsystem data 5 different financial activities. The FFS
subsystems in use at OPM are accounts receivable, budget execution,financial
reporting, general ledger, alld investments subsidimy ledger. The following sections
describe each of these subsystems.
o FFS integrates to custom-built subsystemlalOwn as the Investment which
is described below. TFG posts the investment premium and discount totals to the
general ledger in FFS.
3. For each system identified in response to Request No.1, state whether the information
found in that system is regularly or periodically submitted to any ofthe govermnent-wide
accounting systems maintained by the Department of the Treasury, e.g., GFRS, FACTS I,
FACTS II, IFCS, etc., and explain how and at what intervals those submissions occur,
including descriptions of both manual and automated processes.
OPM Response:
7jPage
OPM RESPONSE TO MARCH 8, 2011, INQUIRY FROM
COMMITTEE ON OVERSIGHT AND GOVERNMENT REFORM ON
FINANCIAL SYSTEMS MANAGEMENT
MARCH 22, 2011
Oracle Purchasing Module - Data ji-om this system component is not directly (regularly
or periodically) submitted to any of the government-wide accounting systems maintained
by the Department of the Treaslll)'.
Oracle Federal Administrator Module - Data ji-om this system component directly (on
monthly, quarterly, or annual basis) generates federal reports (such as the SF-i32,
FMS-224, FACTS I reports, and FACTS Jl reports) to government-wide accounting
systems maintained by the Department of the Treasury. Data is downloadedji-om the
system into spreadsheets using queries and then govel'llment forms such as the SF-i32,
FMS-224, FACTS I reports, and FACTS Jl reports are manual entered with information
and submitted to the Department ofTreaslllY.
Oracle General Ledger Module - Data ji-om this system component not directly
(regularly or periodically) submitted to any of the government-wide accounting systems
maintained by the Department of the TreaslllY.
Oracle Accounts Pavables Module - Data ji-om this system component not directly
(regularly or periodically) submitted to any of the government-wide accounting systems
maintained by the Department of the TreaslllY.
Oracle Accounts Receivables Module - Data from this system component not directly
(regularly or periodically) submitted to any of the government-wide accounting systems
maintained by the Department of the Treasury.
Oracle iProcurement Module - Data from this system component not directly (regularly
orperiodically) submitted to any of the government-wide accounting systems maintained
by the Department of the Treasury.
Oracle Payments Module - Data fi'om this system component directly (on daily basis)
sends payment requests (ill multiple paymentformats) to US Department ofTreaslllY
Secure Payment System, and receives confirmation ji-om Treaswy of payments made to
vendOl'S.
PRiSM Web Procurement Svstem - Data ji-om this system component not directly
(regularly or periodically) submitted to any of the government-wide accounting systems
maintained by the Department of the TreaslllY.
Oracle Business Intelligence Enterprise Edition - Data ji'om this system component not
directly (regularly orperiodically) submitted to any of the government-wide accounting
systems maintained by the Department of the Treaswy.
Oracle Project Costing Module - Data ji-om this system component not directly
(regularly or periodically) submitted to any of the govel'llment-wide accounting systems
maintained by the Department of the TreasU/)'.
Oracle Project Billing - Data ji-om this system component not directly (regularly or
periodically) submitted to any of the government-wide accounting systems maintained
by the Department of the Treasury.
Federal Financial System - Data ji-om this system component directly (Oil monthly,
quarterly, or annual basis) generates federal reports to govel'lllllent-wide accounting
systems maintained by the Department of the Treasury. Specifically, FFS:
81Page
OPM RESPONSE TO MARCH 8, 2011, INQUIRY FROM
COMMITTEE ON OVERSIGHT AND GOVERNMENT REFORM ON
FINANCIAL SYSTEMS MANAGEMENT
MARCH 22, 2011
o Sends budgetmy accollnting data required to generate the quarterly Report on
Budget Execution and Budgetmy Resources (SF-133), the Year-End Closing
Statement (FMS-2108) to the Federal Agencies' Centralized Trial-Balance System
(FACTS 11).
o Receives CA$HLINK II data of payments received through OPM's lockbox service
provider, Us. Bank of daily deposits made through FMS-managed collection
mechanisms. These collection mechanisms include the TreaslllY's General Account,
Lockbox, Pay.gov, Credit Card, Paper Check Conversion, and the Fedwire Deposit
System.
o Transfers cases to FedDebt, a system under Us. TreaslllY's Debt Management
Services division in accordance with the requirements of the Debt Collection
Improvement Act of 1996 (DCIA), to refer debts delinquent over to TreaslllY for
cross-servicing. FedDebt is the web-based system used to enter and track each debt
case referred to DMS.
o Receives case status information and accepts debt cases transferred from DMS
back to OPM
o Receives current holdings and balances by account number of Government Account
Series (GAS) securities from Fedlnvest. Users can also receive a list of currently
available GAS securities allowing market-based and par value special issue
secllrities to be purchased in $1,000.00 increments. One day (i.e., overnight)
securities may be purchased in any increment.
o Sends and Receives data ji'om US. Treasury's Financial Management Service
GOALS II applications: (1) Inter-Governmental Payment and Collection - IPAC,
(2) Treasll/y Receivable Accounting and Collection System - TRACS, (2) SF-224,
(3) Federal Centralized Trial-Balance Systems - FACTS I, (4) RFC Agency Link,
(5) Statement of Difference - SOD, and (6) UND.
o Receives data ji'Olll TreaslllY's Payments, Claims, and Enhanced Reconciliation
(PACER) system where OPM attempted to (1) stop payment on a previously issued
check, (2) reclaim erroneously issued EFT payments, (3) view digital check images,
and (4) trace EFT payments.
4. For each system identified in response to Request No, 1, state whether information found in
that system is regularly or periodically submitted to the Office of Management and Budget
occur, including descriptions of both automated and manual processes.
OPM Response: The CBIS Federal Administration 11l0dule maintains the data of the
explanation required ill the Standard Form132, Apportionment and Reapportionment
Schedule to assist in generating the SF-133 Report on Budget Execution and Budgetmy
Resources. The submission to MAX Information Syste11lremains a manual process.
91Page
OPM RESPONSE TO MARCH 8, 2011, INQUIRY FROM
COMMITTEE ON OVERSIGHT AND GOVERNMENT REFORM ON
FINANCIAL SYSTEMS MANAGEMENT
MARCH 22, 2011
5. For each system identified in response to Request No, I, describe recent, current, and
planned migration or modernization projects.
OPM Response: As indicated in our Response under Question #1, the CBlS Project team
has developed and is executing remediation activities to ensure a successjiil completion to
Phase 1 and is planning activities to improve training to close business process gaps. As a
part of this specific activity, the CBlS Project is validating roles and responsibilities across
the various business processes, relaunching a comprehensive Change Management and
Comlllunications strategy, and establishing pel/ormance measures to track progress. In
addition to training, the CBlS Project is in the process of refining testing and defect
management strategies. The CBlS Project team is incorporating stakeholder identified pain
points and using this information to prioritize issue resolution. Our stakeholders will be
involved early in all testing efforts to include pel/orming usability and acceptance testing to
ensure that business processes operate and jimction according to our requirements. Lastly,
we are formalizing our release management planning and execution.
As a part of our release management planning, OPM is currently evaluating the benefit of
upgrading to Oracle release 12.1 and PRlSMversion 6.5 SP3. Afinaljimctionalupgrade
assessment deliverable was submitted and delivered by the System Integrator on March 4,
2011. Thisjilllctionalupgrade assessment documents the existing CBlS issues to be
addressed by the upgrade, new capabilities provided by the upgrade, the impact of the
upgrade on key areas of CBlS, a recommended upgrade approach, an estimated the level of
effort including a list of deliverables, schedule, and cost pricing, and risks associated with
deferring the upgrade. OPM is currently evaluating the jilllctional upgrade assessment
deliverable and the Executive Steering Committee will determine if the upgrade to CBlS
benefits the end-users and agency business operations.
6. In addition to your agency's submissions to government-wide accounting systems
maintained by the Department ofthe Treasury and OMB, as described in response to
Requests Nos. 3 and 4, does your agency publish any ofthe same information online for
public viewing? If so, describe how and in what format that information is published.
OPM Response: OPM publishes information online for public viewing for the following as
listed below.
OPM provides contract data to be published on 2 segments of USA Spending. go v: the
Federal Procurement Data System - Next Generation (FPDS-NG) and Federal Funding
Accountability and Transparency Act (FFATA). FPDS-NG and FFATA provides data on
contracts and purchases made by the Agency. Information can be accessed by the public
in various formats (i.e. Excel, PDF, etc.).
IOIPagc
OPM RESPONSE TO MARCH 8, 2011, INQUIRY FROM
COMMITTEE ON OVERSIGHT AND GOVERNMENT REFORM ON
FINANCIAL SYSTEMS MANAGEMENT
MARCH 22, 2011
OPM provides cost, schedule and pelformance data on OPM IT investment projects to
be published on 1 segment ITSpending.gov. Information can be accessed by the public in
variollsformats (i.e. downloads into Excel, etc.).
Financial reporting under the American Reinvestment and RecovelY Act (RecovelY
Act)-OPM received no direct RecovelY Act appropriations but has been reporting to
the web site forfinancial activity where it provides requested assistance to other
agencies who use their identified Recovel)1 Act fund. For OPM, transactional data is
extracted and summarized based upon expenditures, alldlorpayroll costs that are
associated with a reimbursable project task that is beingfilllded with RecovelY Act
monies fi'0/1/ a cllstomer agency.
Annual OPM Consolidated Financial Statements-controls over those statements are
covered by the existing OPM A-123 Appendix A program as well as the annualfinancial
statement audit (published to the OPM public website in PDF format).
7. Identify and briefly describe each system that your agency uses to manage grants, direct
loans, and/or loan guarantees. If separate divisions, bureaus, or offices of your agency use
separate systems, identify which divisions, bureaus, or offices use each system.
OPM Response: OPM does not administer or manage grants, direct loans, and lor loan
guarantees.
8. For each system identified in response to Request No.7, explain how it interacts with any
business or accounting system identified in response to Request No. I.
OPM Response: Please refer to our response to Request No.7. OPM does not administer
or manage grants, direct loans, andlor loan guarantees.
9. For each system identified in response to Request No.7, state whether information found in
that system is regularly or periodically submitted to the Catalogue of Federal Domestic
Assistance (CFDA), and describe how and at what intervals those submissions occur,
including descriptions of both automated and manual processes.
OPM Response: Please refer to our response to Request No.7. OPM does not administer
or manage grants, direct loans, andlol' loan guarantees.
10. For each system identified in response to Request No.7, state whether infonnation found in
that system is regularly or periodically submitted to any of the govemment -wide grants
management and reporting systems, egg., FAADS, FAADS , PLUS, etc., and describe how
and at what intervals those submissions occur, including descriptions of both automated and
manual processes.
lllP age
OPM RESPONSE TO MARCH 8, 2011, INQUIRY FROM
COMMITTEE ON OVERSIGHT AND GOVERNMENT REFORM ON
FINANCIAL SYSTEMS MANAGEMENT
MARCH 22, 2011
OPM Response: Please refer to our response to Request No.7. OPM does not administer
or manage grants, direct loans, andlor loan guarantees.
11. For each system identified in response to Request No.7, describe recent, current, and
planned migration or modemization projects.
OPM Response: Please refer to our response to Request No.7. OPM does not administer
or manage grants, direct loans, andlor loan guarantees.
12. In addition to your agency's submissions to government-wide grants management and
reporting systems, described in response to Requests Nos. 9 and 10, does your agency
publish any of the same information online for public viewing? If so, describe how and in
what format that infOlmation is published.
OPM Response: Please refer to our response to Request No.7. OPM does not administer
or manage grants, direct loans, alldlor loan guarantees.
13. Identify and briefly describe each system that your agency uses to manage contracts. If
separate divisions, bureaus, or offices of your agency use separate systems, identify which
divisions, bureaus, or offices use each system.
OPM Response:
CompuSearch PRISM: PRISM Procurement is a web-based application capable of
fldly supporting the procurement process fi"om requisitioning to closeout. GBIS utilizes
PRISM to create contracts fi"om purchase requisitions while capturing all the relevant
data for internal and external reporting. Please see diagram example of process
between Oracle and PRISM below.
AcqTrack: This is OPM's Acquisition Tracking system which provides:
1. Worliflow capabilities that route documents, track approvals and rejections;
121 P age
OPM RESPONSE TO MARCH 8, 2011, INQillRY FROM
COMMITTEE ON OVERSIGHT AND GOVERNMENT REFORM ON
FINANCIAL SYSTEMS MANAGEMENT
MARCH 22, 2011
2. Order tracking where customers and PMO Officials can track progress of
acquisitions ji'OIll submittal to award;
3. Management information to allow Contracting Group managers to easily manage
group workload (better customer service) and allows RMOs and PMO Official to
track acquisitions across their organization; and
4. Reports to aid in strategic planning, tracking, and business process improvement.
14. For each system identified response to Request No. 13, explain how it interacts with any
business or accounting system identified in response to Request No.1.
OPM Response: Contract actions are interfilced fro/11 PRISM to the Oracle Purchasing and
Oracle Accounts Payable modules at the transaction level. More specifically:
The PRISM Web Procurement System exports obligation datafi'om PRISM to Oracle
Purchasing lIsing a web service. It generates document detail at the document line and
sub-line levels. This is a real-time integration.
Oracle Purchasing intelfaces data to the PRISM Web Procurement System where
approved Purchase Requisitions are retrieved ji'O/l/ CBIS Oracle Purchasing and sent to
CBIS PRISM using the PRISM Web Service. The interface sends suggested vendors as
well as all the requisition informationlleeded by PRISM to create an Obligation and
solicit vendors. This is a real-time integration.
Oracle Accounts Payable intelfaces vendor data to the PRISM Web Procurement
System. Vendor data updates from the master vendor AP table are sent to update the
PRISM vendor data table. This is a real-time integration.
15. For each system identified in response to Request No. 13, state whether information found
in that system is regularly or periodically submitted to any of the govemment-wide contract
management and reporting systems, e.g., FPDS, FPDS-NG, FAPIIS, etc., and describe how
and at what intervals those submissions occur, including descriptions of both automated and
manual processes.
OPM Response:
CompuSem'ch PRISM: Datafi'om this system component is periodically entered into
the FPDS government-wide contract management and reporting system. The process
used to get data into FPDS is manual. Contracts, task orders, modifications are all
entered manually into FPDS by OPM Contracting Officials after they are jillly awarded
in the PRISM contract administration system. While there is all automated process
available through the PRISM application, it is not currently being used because PRISM
is not configured to produce a unique Procurement Instrument Identifier document
(PIID) number per FAR guidance. OPM is currently reviewing new conftguration
I3IPage
OPM RESPONSE TO MARCH 8, 2011, INQUIRY FROM
COMMITTEE ON OVERSIGHT AND GOVERNMENT REFORM ON
FINANCIAL SYSTEMS MANAGEMENT
MARCH 22, 2011
recommendations that lVould provide for use of an automated process to inteiface
contract data to FPDS thereby eliminating the current manual entl)1 process .
AcqTr({ck: Datafrom this system component is not regularly or periodically submitted
to any of the government-wide contract management and reporting systems (e.g., FPDS,
FPDS-NG, FAPIIS, etc.).
16. For each system identified in response to Request No. 13, describe recent, current, and
planned migration 01' modemizations projects.
OPM Response: Our procurement solution consists of OPM's AcqTrack and Oracle
Purchasing that closely integrate with CompuSearch 's PRISM Acquisition Solution. OPM
is currently assessing a possible upgrade of the PRISM contract administration software
ji'DlIl the existing version 6.1 to version 6.5 or version 6.5 Service Pack which includes nelV
jililctiollality and enhancements specifically for FPDS-NG.
17. In addition to your agency's submissions to govemment-wide contract management and
reporting systems, described in response to Request No. 15, does your agency publish any of
the same information online for public viewing? If so, describe how and in what format that
information is published.
OPM Response:
ComplISearclt PRISM: Data from this system component is not directly published
(regularly or periodically) online for public viewing. Data ji-om this system component
is periodically entered into the FPDS govel'llment-wide contract management and
reporting system. The process used to get data into FPDS is manual. The
data/information entered into FPDS is then made available to the public through
USASpending.gov.
AcqTrack: Dataji'ol1l this system is not published (regularly orperiodically) online for
public viewing.
18. Briefly describe your agency's efforts to comply with OMB's memorandum one the Open
Govemment Directive - Federal Spending Transparency, dated April 6, 2010. In particular,
describe whether and how your agency has begun to collect and report on sub-award data, as
required by the memorandum; and describe how your agency's reports on OMB's data
quality metrics, as required by the memorandum, are generated.
OPM Response: As recommended in the guidance, OPM is leveraging existing processes
and oversight groups organized pursuant to OMB's Circular No. A-123, Management's
Responsibilitv fOr Internal Control and the statute it implements, the Federal Managers'
Financial Integrity Act of 1982 (FMFIA). OPM's Senior Assessment Boardfor Internal
141 P age
OPM RESPONSE TO MARCH 8, 2011, INQUIRY FROM
COMMITTEE ON OVERSIGHT AND GOVERNMENT REFORM ON
FINANCIAL SYSTEMS MANAGEMENT
MARCH 22, 2011
Control over Financial Reporting oversees the documentation and testing of controls
relevant to federal spending data quality.
To implement a successfid data quality ji'amewol'k, OPM uses its existing intemal control
program. Specifically, to assess the effectiveness of intemal controls over the quality of
Federal spending data, OPM uses the gove/'llance structure and processes established for
Appendix A of A-i23 on Intemal Control over Financial Reporting. The Appendix A
requirements, which became effective in FY 2006, require evaluation and testing of
financial controls similar to that required in the private sector by the Sarbanes-Oxley Act.
Sarbanes-Oxley was implemented after private sector scandals occurred that went
undiscovered despite annual audits offinancial statements. The Intemal Control program
at OPM has been successfi" in bringing about improvements in the Agency's intemal
control environment through rigorous testing of financial controls. Corrective actions are
required and monitored for all control deficiencies. OPM will extend that program of
evaluation and testing to key controls over the quality ofOPM's spending data.
OPM has defined Federal spending data under the scope of th is plan to include:
Contract spending data reported monthly to USASpending.gov through the Federal
Procurement Data System- Next Generation (FPDS-NG) and Federal Funding
Accountability and Transparency Act (FFATA);
Cost, schedule and peliormance data reported to the IT Dashboard part of
ITSpending.gov;
Financial reporting under the American Reinvestment and RecovelY Act (Recovery
Act}-OPM received no direct RecovelY Act appropriations but has been reporting to
the web site forfinancial activity where it provides requested assistance to other
agencies who use their identified RecovelY Act fimds;
Annual OPM Consolidated Financial Statements-controls over those statements are
covered by the existing OPM A-123 Appendix A program as well as the annual financial
statement audit.
19. If your agency interacts directly with USASpending.gov, in addition to submitting
information to the systems that feed USASpending.gov, describe the nature, frequency, and
purposes ofthat interaction.
OPM Response: While our agency does not interact directly with USASpendinggov, OPM
information and data is submitted to USASpending.gov through other reporting
mechanisms.
15 I P age
OPM RESPONSE TO MARCH 8, 2011, INQUIRY FROM
COMMITTEE ON OVERSIGHT AND GOVERNMENT REFORM ON
FINANCIAL SYSTEMS MANAGEMENT
MARCH 22, 2011
Datafrom OPM's Oracle Purchasing module is not directly published (regularly or
periodically) onlinefor public viewing. Dataji'om this system is used indirectly to
confirm obligation of jimds through Oracle Purchasing prior to contract award within
the PRISM application. Upon contract award, data is entered manually into the
government-wide FPDS system. Informationji'om this system is then made available to
the public through USASpending.gov. The frequency of the confirmation of obligated
jimds occurs daily into PRISM
Datafrom CompuSearch PRISM is not directly published (regularly orperiodically)
online for public viewing. Contract award data from PRISM is periodically entered into
the FPDS government-wide contract management and reporting system. The process
lIsed to get data into FPDS is manual. The data/information into FPDS is then made
available to the public through USASpending.gov. The frequency of data ently into
FPDS-NG periodic and the purpose is to meet requirements of the Federal Financial
Accountability and Transparency Act (FFATA) guidance.
20. Describe the data quality controls and procedures that your agency has implemented for
information that is submitted to USASpending.gov, including information submitted directly
and information submitted to one of the systems that feed USASpending.gov.
OPM Response: The governing authority for OPM's Internal Control program is its Senior
Assessment Board for Internal Control over Financial Reporting. The Board was originally
instituted in 2005 in preparation for the A-123 Appendix A requirements that went illto
effect beginning in FY 2006. The Board oversees the evaluation and testing of financial
controls which is primarily pelformed by staff in OPM's Policy and Internal Control
organization. The Board meets three or four times each year to, among other things, ensure
the annual assessment is carried out in a thorough, effective, and Iimely manner; approve
the scope of the assessment and the annual evaluation and testing schedule; analyze the
results of testing including internal control deficiencies and recommendations to address
those deficiencies; and approve the overall results of the annual assessment. The Board is
currently co-chaired by the Chief Financial Officer (CFO) and the Internal
Oversight and Compliance. It includes senior executive representatives from all major
OPM organizations, including positions identified in the OMB guidance: the CFO, Senior
Procurement Executive, Chief Human Capital Officer, Chief Information Officer (CIO),
Performance Improvement Officer, Senior Accountable Official over Recovery Act, and the
Senior Accountable Official for the Federal Spending Data Quality Plan.
Chief Financial Officer (CFO), Co-Chair - Stephen Agostini
Director, Office of Internal Oversight and Compliance, Co-Chair - Mark Lambert
Deputy CFO - Dan Marella
Associate CFO for Budget and Pelformance and Pelformance Improvement Officer-
Ed Callicott (Acting)
Associate CFO for Financial Services - vacant
161P age
OPM RESPONSE TO MARCH 8, 2011, INQUIRY FROM
COMMITTEE ON OVERSIGHT AND GOVERNMENT REFORM ON
FINANCIAL SYSTEMS MANAGEMENT
MARCH 22, 2011
Associate CFO for Financial Systems Management and Senior Accountable Official for
the Federal Spending Data Quality Plan - Rochelle Bayard
Chief Information Officer - Matthew Peny
Senior Executive Representative ji-om the General Counsel- Alan Miller
Senior Executive Representative ji-Olll Employee Services, Chief Human Capital Officer,
and Senior Accountable Official for RecovelY Act Implementation- Nancy Kichak
Senior Executive Representative ji-om Retirement and Benejits - Bill Zielinski
Senior Executive Representative ji-OIn Merit System Audit and Compliance - Jeff
Sumberg
Senior Executive Representative ji-om Federal Investigative Services - Merton Miller
Senior Executive Representative ji-Olll HR Solutions - Kay Ely
Director, Facilities, Security, and Contracting and Senior Procurement Executive- Tina
McGuire
Director, Planning and Policy Analysis - John 0 'Brien
Senior Executive Representative ji-om the OIG - Mike Esser (advisOly and consultative
capacity)
Chief, CFO Policy and Internal Control, Executive Secretmy - Robert Wurster
OPM uses the Board as the primmy mechanism to ensure that data quality over Federal
spending information is properly addressed in accordance with the OMB Framework and
existing data quality standards. The USASpending.gov data and reporting processes will be
added to OPM's list of "assessable units" to test under A-123 Appendix A in FY 2010 under
the Board's guidance.
21. State whether all of your agency's current grants, contracts, and loans accurately reflected on
USASpending.gov, and, if not, estimate the percentage of current grants, contracts, and
loans that are not accurately reflected, using both the number oftransactions and dollar
figures.
22. OPM Respollse: While OPM does not administer or manage grants, direct loans, andlor
loan guarantees, it does manage and administer contracts. However, the data on USA
Spending does not accurately reflect OPM contract information. Please see our estimates of
the percentages of current COli tracts reflected by transaction count and dollarjigures
below.
PRISM USA
Est. % of Dala 011
(OPM Sl!.elldinf:. Difference
Sl!,stellll III (p /'111 ati 011
USASpendillg.gov
Trallsacti01l
4221 1350 2871 32%
COl/lit
171Page
OPM RESPONSE TO MARCH 8, 2011, INQUIRY FROM
COMMITTEE ON OVERSIGHT AND GOVERNMENT REFORM ON
FINANCIAL SYSTEMS MANAGEMENT
MARCH 22, 2011
Transaction Vallie
$ 651 $ 350 $ 301 54%
*
* Vallie are displayed is Millions.
23. State whether your agency incurs any reporting burdens or costs because of its obligations
under the Federal Financial Assistance Transparency Act ("FFATA") that does not incur
because of other reporting obligations, and estimate those burdens and costs in worker-hours
and dollars.
OPM Response: OPM does incur cost burdens because of its obligations under FFATA. As
FFATA changes its requirements or guidance, OPM incurs the additional cost for which it
sometimes canllot adequately plan. These cost burdens are estimated below.
Annual Estimate
Count Avg Labor Rate Est. Total
perhr Hours
Government FTE 0.30 $57.00 40 $2.280.00
Contractor Maintenance Snpport 0.30 $90.00 40 $3,600.00
TOTAL $5,880.00
24. Identify the individual( s) who serve( s) as Senior Accountable Official( s) ("SAO") over
federal spending data quality for your agency, as defined by OMB.
OPM Response: OPM has designated the Associate CFO for Financial Systems
Management as the Senior Accountable Official for Federal Spending Data Quality. The
Senior Accountable Official is afitllmember of the Board and works with the other Board
members to ensure that the Framework requirements are met and that OPM has a strong
process ill place to evaluate, test, and report on the quality of Federal spending data. The
Senior Accountable Official, as well as the CFO and CIO, have fidly reviewed this Plall.
181Page