OMB provides updated financial system requirements draft

The Office of Management and Budget has made available its list of revised financial system requirements. Agencies have one week left in which to comment on the Core Financial System Requirements Exposure Draft, which updates the 2001 document to reflect changes and clarify requirements.

Establishing governmentwide requirements for financial systems promotes understanding among financial and program managers about core functions and technical capabilities, OMB said in the draft. Agencies must maintain a single integrated financial management system, provide a system improvement planning process and perform periodic reviews of capabilities.

Financial management systems provide timely information for reporting performance requirements, formulating budgets and monitoring programs. They also allow for one-time data entry for reuse with many transactions. Core financial systems handle general ledger tasks, control funds, make payments and reconcile accounts.

Changes in the core requirements include edits or expansion of accounting classifications in the system management category, additional account definitions in the general ledger section and requirement of more details for financial, operating and spending plans as part of budget planning.

Agencies and vendors will need to implement the final version of mandatory core requirements when planning for financial systems acquisition and development. Comments are due May 6.