Miriam Barcellona Ingenito, director, Department of FI$Cal
Following years of preparation, and one hectic cutover weekend in July, the Department of FI$Cal brought its largest and final group of state entities into the fold. We now have 152 departments and 15,000 state employee end users transacting in a single system that integrates budget, procurement, accounting, and soon, cash management functions.
To offer some context on the magnitude of this project, the FI$Cal system serves the government for the fifth-largest economy in the world. The system captures $293 billion of California’s state budgetary expenditures. Starting in October 2018, it will handle more than $2 trillion in cash management transactions.
In the last 24 months, the Department of FI$Cal has completed enough functionality to close out 11 major portions of the original project scope. In 2016, FI$Cal implemented statewide deployment of the Cal eProcure system that now has 97,000 suppliers with access to bids and solicitations to do business with the state. For state employees responsible for procurement, the FI$Cal system allows visibility into the life cycle of each purchasing transaction.
Since 2016, departments across the state have been entering actual and proposed budgetary information through FI$Cal. 2016 was the first year in which the public could see the enacted budget on the Department of Finance website at the same level of detail previously available only for the proposed Governor's Budget.
Also since 2016, the FI$Cal system contains full accounting functionality used by departments active in the system. By July 2019, the final essential pieces that will bring cash management into the system will be complete.
The Department of FI$Cal has gone beyond basic functionality and is maximizing effectiveness of the system by offering additional tools and services. The Legacy Data Repository available since 2017 is a cloud-based environment where departments can securely store their historical data and access records not needed in the FI$Cal system.
The University of FI$Cal, up and running since 2017, gives end users an avenue to advance FI$Cal system knowledge through a certification program and potentially open new career opportunities in state government. More recently, we have rolled out self-service and advanced reporting tools to assist end users and their managers in transacting more effectively.
Because all scheduled departments are in and so much of the system is already complete, we can focus on helping our end users become more proficient in the system. FI$Cal is a true accounting system that requires accounting expertise. It will take an investment in human capital at the department level to realize the full benefits and transparency that FI$Cal provides. However, we are doing our part by offering in-person, hands-on, video, online and even weekend support for our end users. In the very near future, the system will implement chatbot functionality in the most widely used procurement module so end users can get help without interrupting their workflow.
We anticipate the average time it takes for end users to become proficient in the system will be three years, which is an industry standard. We have documented steady improvement each year that departments transact. Notably, because we have also improved support year-over-year, some of the 2017 Release departments are closing their months on schedule, even though fiscal year (FY) 2017-18 marks their first year in the system.
Ultimately, what we and all of our departments are working for is providing greater transparency and accountability into the management of California’s taxpayer dollars. With this in mind, we are rolling out a pilot of our transparency website — Open FI$Cal — a full year ahead of schedule. It offers a user-friendly window into the state’s expenses. By next July, all 152 departments using FI$Cal will have their expenditures on the Open FI$Cal website. This represents 65 percent of the state’s expenditure data.
