Feds begin testing software for fixing finances

The federal government is starting to test off-the-shelf financial management software as part of a new system agencies will use to purchase computerized accounting programs.

The Joint Financial Management Improvement Program (JFMIP), a panel associated with the federal Chief Financial Officers Council, is taking over the job of making sure commercial financial software complies with federal accounting requirements. Until now, the General Services Administration oversaw the tests.

JFMIP is accepting applications from software vendors this month and plans to complete testing by Oct. 1.

Vendors currently offering financial software on GSA's Financial Management Systems Software (FMSS) Schedule have already been certified for federal use by GSA, but will have to be recertified by JFMIP. The FMSS Schedule will expire on Sept. 30. Once financial systems are certified by JFMIP, they will be offered on the Group 70 IT Solutions Schedule, which is run by GSA's Federal Supply Service.

JFMIP recently issued a new version of its "Core Financial System Requirements" document, which explains the federal government's specifications for accounting software. The Office of Management and Budget later this year will release a revised version of OMB Circular A-127, which governs financial systems rules.

For more than three years, the Chief Financial Officers Council and JFMIP have been working on changes to the way agencies buy accounting software. Agencies complained that buying software through the FMSS schedule took too long and had become outdated in the face of advances in financial software. Vendors complained about the cost of testing and the government's secrecy about requirements.

However, vendors opposed the change from the FMSS schedule to the Group 70 schedule, saying it could jeopardize agencies' ability to account for tax dollars, would make the federal market less attractive to software providers, and increase prices for federal financial software.

Nonetheless, the change appears likely to occur this year.

"We are maintaining an aggressive schedule, with a goal of testing all interested vendors by Oct. 1, 1999," said Karen Cleary Alderman, JFMIP's executive director.