Federal agencies will have a new way to buy financial management software, under an Office of Management and Budget policy announced Thursday.
The change will free agencies from the now-mandatory Federal Management Systems Software (FMSS) schedule, which expires Sept. 30. Beginning Oct. 1, agencies will be able to buy any off-the-shelf software package to manage their finances, as long as the software meets federal financial standards.
The Joint Financial Management Improvement Program (JFMIP) office will certify software packages for federal use. The General Services Administration will include certified software packages on the Group 70 IT Solutions Schedule, which is run by GSA's Federal Supply Service.
For more than three years, the federal 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 Agencies complained that buying software through the FMSS schedule took so long that software packages had become outdated by the time agencies were able to buy them. 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, OMB's revision this week of Circular A-127, which governs federal financial management systems, moves the government closer to eliminating the FMSS schedule. OMB is accepting comments on the revision until Aug. 2.
The announcement appeared in the July 1 Federal Register.