Minutes - Florida Department of Financial Services
Contents
1. Encumbrance Subsidiary file Answer No The Contract Deliverable Information Record layout will have some codes added to make it useful Question Are you working with MFMP Answer Yes Direct Orders will be eventually added to this application and information from the LARS leasing system The Deliverable Information Record Layout will be where you define what is to be done This may eventually replace the Contract Summary form currently required by the Bureau of Auditing Coding layout for CSFA amp CFDA will only apply for those types of agreements Agencies must review each record in the merged extraction files to ensure data meets the requirements in the record layouts When you scrub records add anything that will now be required that is not already included on the record You can also feed back to us any new contracts that are not on the file provided back to you Comment We have internal systems where this is going to have a major impact Response That is why we are having this meeting You are invited to attend any workshops that we hold Question Do we need to clean up current records that need to be deleted Answer Only send back records that you want Anything you do not include on the return file will be marked for inactivation and will go through the normal purge cycle These items will also be purged from the GL master file Any deleted records are included in the history file If a contract is not merged into the new2. be activated no later July 1 2012 Secure Shell FTP This will be a new way to secure transmissions due to an audit criticism We are currently working with Agency IT staff This should be completed by July 2012 This has been a BIG undertaking Thank you to all the agencies for working with us on this gt FLAIR Website New Look Joannne krieberg Wolin We are making the FLAIR main page more user friendly It is designed to look more like the main CFO home page with similar colors and pop up boxes Cleaner The sub pages will not change Implementation date is January 17 2012 Question Answer Question Answer gt Adjourn The online FLAIR manual is frustrating to use with its three sections Bureau of State Payrolls has their manual all in one document and with hyperlinks and it is just as big When will this be updated The FLAIR manual is in the process of being re written What about an online version where you can search for terms We will look into that Mike asked if there was any other business No one had new business Mike asked if the facility was satisfactory and received a positive response The next FLAIR User Group meeting will be held in June 2012 Meeting adjourned at 10 50
3. numbering the Contract Number field but so many old numbers that no one inactivated or deleted are still out there that it wasn t feasible Agencies will provide the five character contract number Question Will we be able to access the nightly file Answer Yes Agencies will receive batch error reports and files through FTP secured data Agencies will have to request reports Question Will the C amp G Sub system go away Answer No on April 2 2012 the FLAIR Contract Information file entry point will be eliminated and agencies will need to enter their contract data via SCRS Question As of March 1 2012 no one will be able to update contracts in FLAIR Answer Correct FLAIR will be updated through this new application Inquiry access to FLAIR will be available until April 2 2012 Question For FTP files will these be pushed out or will we need to retrieve them Answer We will decide on that in the next couple of weeks Some agencies will want the full file and some will want the updates only Question Who wants all the files each night Response 10 hands went up Question What about agencies that have systems that retreive information from FLAIR Answer We put it in a format so agencies can pull the data Question Will there be a security profile Answer Yes The profile will be all inclusive Question Can you give us the time when it will be available Answer Yes but it may vary by agency We will determine
4. system it will be purged from the Contract Information Title file Question What if have closed contracts that need to appear on my master GL file Answer If you need the record on the Master GL put it on the file to have it added to the new system The reviewed extraction files should be returned to us by batch processing The successful records will be on the website There will also be a batch error report Agencies can then re input the correct information We do plan to have user training Comment As the definition of agreement evolves we may want to add more than five characters or we will run out of numbers Response We recognize that However we cannot change FLAIR at this point We are starting now and will keep 10 years of history Mike Wolfe adjourned the meeting for a break at 10 04 We reconvened at 10 23 gt State Contract Reporting System Impacts to FLAIR Joanne Krieberg Wolin The FLAIR Contract Information inquiry function will be available until April 2 2012 Once we convert FLAIR reports will no longer run pertaining to contracts Joanne has a list and encourages everyone to look at the list of reports that will no longer run Reports will be run through the web application Question Will we be able to schedule reports using the web application Answer Not at this time Question Is there any reason the inquiry functionality can t be left on until the end of the fiscal year Answer The r
5. that and let you know Question We have a contracts system already Will we be able to push uploads to you Answer Yes but it will need to be in the correct format Question How can we obtain a history Answer We will have a formatted query for agencies to download All data will be stored in the Information Warehouse DFS will refresh the data to include old field formats on April 2 2012 There will be one conversion date for the information in three separate systems Departmental FLAIR Contracts amp Grants Sub system CFO Non Competitive Solicitation Reporting Website State Contract Management System LAS PBS some fields that are pulled have long field lengths If they have data at the beginning of the field you will get it on the conversion file If the data didn t start until somewhere in the middle of the field you may not get it We will pull as much usable information from the systems as possible Agencies will need to ensure that current records are valid If there is no data in required fields it will need to be added There will be some fields added that will be optional Question heard renewal contracts cannot be given new numbers Answer Correct There are record types on the website With the record type and status you should be able to tell it is a renewal This is to ensure transparency and ease of public use Question How will we distinguish between extensions and renewals Answer We will discuss that in th
6. DEPARTMENT OF FINANCIAL SERVICES Meeting Agenda FLAIR User Group Date 12 16 2011 Location Capital Circle Office Center 2450 Shumard Oak Blvd Building 2 Room 1250 Agenda gt gt FLAIR User Group Call to Order Mike Wolfe Chairman Meeting called to order Mike noted that due to a scheduling conflict the agenda would be adjusted to allow Molly Merry to present before Bill Dubose Approval of the Minutes Mike Wolfe Chairman http Awww myfloridacfo com aadir FLAIRUserGroup MinutesJune201 1 pdf Motion to approve minutes from the June 2011 meeting was made and motion to second was made Minutes from June 2011 were approved 3 Federal Withholding from Vendor Payments Molly Merry The 3 Federal Withholding Law was repealed on November 21 2011 There was a lot of effort by national road building and construction associations to repeal this law They lobbied and put a lot of pressure on the Federal Governement Many people are relieved The Department of Financial services DFS will be sending an Agency Addressed Memo regarding the 3 Withholding Repeal to provide official notification several projects are continuing o Implementation of backup withholding during the next calendar year Backup withholding at a rate of 28 is required when the IRS notifies us that a vendor has supplied an erroneous Taxpayer Identification Number This is a long standing IRS requirement that FLAIR has never been able to ha
7. e policy workgroup Definitions will be determined and policy will be set Question This is not a statutory requirement How can we allow a system to determine business operations Answer This whole project is to provide transparency We must define things clearly so the public can see we are within guidelines There is also a Reference Number on the Amendment page so you can number the amendment how you want using that field Disbursements will be tracked at the total contract level not by renewal Question What is the contract budget Answer The appropriation Question For one fiscal year Answer No The Budget Amount is recurring You may have additional non recurring amounts to add to the contract We understand you may have multi year contracts with unfunded amounts so we are adding a field for unfunded amounts This will be tied to the 29 digit FLAIR account code The Correlation Table will now be mandatory and will edit the account code against the Account Description file The Vendor ID will be 13 or 21 digits and will be an edited field There will need to be a record on the AD or VS file Question Can we use confidential vendors Answer We will address that Question What if need to pay a contract disbursement from one FLAIR account code and later split the funding with a JT Can I do that Answer Yes You would need to add both FLAIR account codes to the Correlation Table Question Will this system be tied to the
8. ecords will still be out there There are some fields that can no longer be updated so possibly they may not be valid Question Can we still query titles from the Title file Answer Yes Question Will Information Warehouse be affected Answer You can use the natural logon only but not IW file gt Secure 3270 Emulation Bluezone Joanne Krieberg Wolin Most agencies use Attachmate or Extra to sign on to FLAIR They do not encrypt passwords during transmission We are currently working with the primary data centers to get encryption We at DFS have moved to Bluezone This transition has been seamless We can work with you to move to Bluzone and we have purchased statewide licenses for all users so this will be at no cost to agencies Question Do you have a website where we can check what features Bluezone offers Answer You should be able to Google it and find it that way You can make Attachemate secure We can work with you on that Bluezone does not work with the automation functionality where Secure Attachmate will However Attachmate will not become secure automatically Contact the Helpdesk for assistance Question If we are already using Bluezone do we have secure transmissions Answer Not necessarily You may have to turn security on Question Did hear you say you have licenses for everyone Could we switch Answer Yes We are working with the data centers and will put together information so you know what your op
9. ndle in the past Target go live date for backup withholding is January 1 2013 o Implementation of the W 9 edits in FLAIR on March 5 2012 see below o Development of a plan to perform a cleanup of the Statewide Vendor File this will be a long term project FLAIR Vendor Edits Molly Merry Transactions using Vendor type object codes will not be processed beginning on Monday March 5 2012 unless the vendor has a valid W 9 on file These are the same edits that were originally going to take effect on November 7 2011 As areminder you can use queries provided in the Information Warehouse website to identify vendors that do not have a valid W 9 on file including those with current encumbrances and payables See AAM 14 2011 12 for instructions on how to get to these queries These queries will be available at least until March 5 2012 We are seeing many more W 9 forms than we were so we know the agencies are doing a great job of reaching out to vendors However we did see a slowdown once we announced the implementation date moved Please continue communicating with your vendors regarding the need to submit a Substitute Form W 9 via the new Vendor Portal website at httos flvendor myfloridacfo com In January we will resume e mail and letter communications to our more active vendors regarding the March edits We will begin enforcing Backup Withholding 28 in January 2013 see above Question How will we know if vendors are subjec
10. pact business sytems Please request a meeting if you would like to have one to discuss your agency business systems Data conversion file layouts are on the website for agencies to download and view We are asking each agency to submit a plan including a conversion date and any obstacles that would keep you from converting by that date Each conversion plan is unique Let us know if you don t have enough IT staff and need support We need to have any IT issues submitted to us by January 12 2012 Review the Contract Batch File format and if you cannot provide files in the proper format let us know by January 12 2012 Review the data conversion timeline In March we must freeze the system The Update and Add functions will be disabled and the Inquiry function will be available for a time Data will be pulled from three systems and a consolidated file will be provided by March 4 2012 The website will be made public April 2 2012 with the exception of contact information and Vendor ID Question What if we have a new contract and need to do a financial transaction Where will we go to validate the information Answer We will complete batch uploads nightly for addition to the FLAIR Contract Information file There will be a delay as it will be updated overnight Question March 4 is a Sunday Will you Bill be there Answer The system will be available Question Will agencies set their own Contract numbers Answer Yes We looked at auto
11. t to backup withholding Answer If we are notified that a Tax ID Is invalid or if the vendor is notified by the IRS that they are subject to backup withholding then we will withhold This is still rare Only about 1 000 vendors are currently subject to backup withholding The AR Customer File will be available to all state agencies beginning January 3 2012 The AR Customer File was created when the FLAIR Client Vendor File was shut down in March 2011 It has been piloted and tested by five agencies until now The AR Customer File can be used for any FLAIR cash receipt or receivable transaction Edits prevent an AR Customer from being used in an encumbrance payable or disbursement transaction To obtain access to the AR Customer file Agency Access Custodians must contact the FLAIR Help Desk to get their Access Control updated for authorization to the AR Customer function A message will be posted to the FLAIR SYS NEWS screen today and we expect an Agency Addressed Memo to be issued today as well announcing this new functionality Statewide Contract Reporting System Transparency Bill Dubose e Project Status e Data Conversion e Data Interfaces There have been 17 agencies participating in a policy workgroup for the Statewide Contract Reporting System SCRS Issues addressed by this group include e Some fields that are currently Agency Unique will become State Standard e The DMS Commodity Service codes will be required We will be working wi
12. thh MFMP to determine which other codes need to be standardized e Currently working on defining deliverables and handling task work orders e Determinations regarding Rate Agreements and contracts with no end dates Eventually expenditures will be tied to the contracts must be made A draft user s manual will be available in mid January It should include field definitions instructions and examples on how to record certain types of agreements Question Will this be a flexible environment where if we have a statutory requirement to have a procurement method that is not on the list we could enter our own Bill No Currently the workgroup will be handling issues that are statutorily guided for specific agencies We currently have 70 procurment codes Only 10 15 are competitive and the rest are exemptions We may have to add a code as the need arises There is a list of codes on the web now The biggest debate however has been the definition of agreement Question Is this part of FLAIR or a separate application Bill This is a separate web based application which will provide information to FLAIR The FLAIR Contract Information file will be shut down for user input and will only be updated through this new program We will only have one entry point for this information The SCRS will eliminate a couple of systems We have received Impact Statements from some agencies We need to meet with some agencies to discuss how this will im
13. tions are Eventually non secure transmission will be blocked If an agency does not have a secure transmisison they will not be able to send transmissions to DFS We are looking at a six month timeline to implement this gt Security Joanne Krieberg Wolin e Changing of default password FLAIR default passwords will change as a result of audit criticisms It will now be an auto generated random 8 digit password When the custodian resets the password the new password will be provided The custodian will notify the user of the new password The user will be prompted to change the password upon signing on This does not affect the RACF IDs at this point only the User IDs to sign in to the accounting system This will be effective March 1 2012 e User Enhancement 2011 06 PPI Override Authorization This feature will be implemented no later than July 1 2012 It will edit data in the PPI field against the user s access control profile to determine if an M or Y can be used in the field If a user has been granted access to use Y then the user can use any valid code in that field If the user has access to use M in the PPI field than M or blank can be used If access is not given to use M or Y than user can only enter transactions for the current month Comment Thank you The system security has already been changed so you can begin changing access control for your users The system edits will
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