# Presentation: 199102

## FDMS Overview

- FDMS and SuperFDMS
- Nancy Soreide and Eugene Burger
*April 23-24, 2003, Silver Spring, MD*

## FDMS Designed to meet NOAA Research financial data management needs 

- Development based upon requirements solicited from all NOAA Research operating units
- Administrative staff inputs budget/administrative information
- CAMS data imported directly from CAMS Data Warehouse
- Management data available via customized reports or dynamic queries
- Data and reports available on-line in real-time
- Supports NOAA business practices
- Operational since January 2001
- Support
- Web site, system status updates, User Documentation, Help Desk
- Updated to accommodate CAMS changes and user needs
- Envisioned as the “core” element of the NOAA Research  Science Management Information System

## FDMS

- Supporting all NOAA Research Operating Units

## FDMS Technology

- Microsoft Access based system with database for each laboratory/program office
- 22 units for entry, management and retrieval of financial information
- 2 databases:  CAMS and FDMS commitment data
- Users access FDMS through Citrix
- Security
- Desktop system/network physical security and login
- Isolated on a secure network
- Accessed through CITRIX
- Specification of IP addresses
- User account and login
- System and network security
- FDMS/Microsoft Access security
- User verification at user and group level

## Features for AOs & Managers

- Supports NOAA business practices
- System updated to accommodate CAMS changes and user needs
- Budgetary control and oversight
- through Allowance Advice unit
- Fiscal control
- through reports at the Line Item and Project level
- with labor and Other Objects summarized
- Units customized for AO, Project Manager
- Reports provide commonly required information
- Specific questions are answered using the query capability
- CAMS
- AO can verify the data in CAMS
- Facilitates transition to the new accounting environment
- All CAMS tracking data, General Ledger account information, etc. is formatted to be consistent with CAMS

## FDMS – CAMS data loop

- Entries into CAMS Travel ManagerLabor DataBankcard Data

- CAMS Data Warehouse

- CAMS Data Warehousedata downloaded to FDMS

- CAMS data available in FDMS

## FDMS instrumental in identifying problems ... resulting in corrections to CAMS ... and savings for NOAA Research

- Lead to revision of CAMS treatment of prior year downward adjustments
- Identified that a subsystem_code/trans_source of EA//EA wasn’t reflecting the correct affected document identification - Impacted data for all NOAA LOs
- Identified that CAMS was not linking PY travel accruals to FY2003 payments, resulting in overstatement of costs ($30K for one OAR FMC alone) - corrected through NOAA Budget Office.
- Identified large number of records missing from CAMS B&E Query application – CAMS office applied corrective patch.

## Features for Administrative staff

- Data entry is streamlined
- Screens intuitive and easy to navigate
- Defaults selectable from popup menus, etc.
- Twenty-two functional units
- Commitment data (Travel, Requisitions, Credit Cards, BPO), Project funding functions, Labor, CAMS reconciliation
- Forms
- Requisitions and Allowance Advices generated in hardcopy for signature as information is entered
- Data queries
- Data sorts, searches and queries for each module
- Support
- On-line documentation
- Help Desk and email contact form
- Web site with status, documentation, help, etc.
- System updated to accommodate CAMS changes and user needs

## FDMS Websitehttp://fdms.oar.noaa.gov

- FDMS Websitehttp://fdms.oar.noaa.gov
-  Status
-  User Documentation
-  Common Questions
-  Support – Help Desk

## FDMS team... Responsive to user needs

- “Thanks for the quick service, once again, you guys prove you are the best.”
- “Just wanted to let you know how great I think the Other Objects viewer is – it
- has helped greatly with matching document numbers – it has so much
- information – Thank you”
- “Thank you for all of your help today.  I learned a lot.”
- “Thanks so much.   This will make the report so much easier to review.”
- “I really appreciate you taking the time you did to help me out and give such a
- detailed explanation as to the exact problem.”
- “It is rare to get such great customer service and a logical reason for
- something happening.”

## Based on Logons
Some offices have a small number of users
Some staff logon for each transaction
Some staff logon for a day that includes many individual transactions 

- Based on Logons
- Some offices have a small number of users
- Some staff logon for each transaction
- Some staff logon for a day that includes many individual transactions

- FDMS Usage FY02 – Apr 03

## SuperFDMS

**Consolidates ****Financial  Data across  all of NOAA Research**

## FDMS modules and units

**FDMS has 22 unique modules**
**Comprising 3 Maintenance units, 7 Commitment units, 4 Report units, 1 Project unit, 2 Funding units, 2 Tool units, 3 Miscellaneous units**

## FDMS UNIT STRUCTURE

**Allowance Advice (OR&F Commitment) Unit:** Addresses the movement of Congressionally appropriated NOAA funds into FMCs and between projects in each FMC

**Reimbursables (A&R):** Tracks the allocation of non-NOAA funds for specific projects

***FUNDING***

**Employee Unit:**  Contains employee-related information for use in other Units

**Maintenance Unit:** Contains FMC-specific information for use in other Units

**COMMITMENT UNITS**

**Reports Unit:** Contains printable reports with data from both individual Units and combined data from more than one Unit

**Requisitions:** Creation and tracking of  Requisitions to purchase goods or services not procured by BPO, Credit Card, etc.

**Blanket Purchase Orders (BPO):** Creation and tracking of Blanket Purchase Orders to purchase goods and services associated with specific projects

**Shop Charges:** Entry of shop staff charges for Engineering Services. NOTE: This unit may not be needed in all Labs.

**VAX Charges:** Entry of costs associated with use of the central computer (VAX). This unit may not be needed in all Labs.

**Miscellaneous Expense:** Entry of documents from a source other than the CAMS download or other FDMS Units.

**Query Tool:** Allows User to query FDMS database and CAMS data to create ad hoc reports not included in Reports Unit.

**Division Reports Unit:** Contains printable reports with data for a User’s Division from both individual Units and combined data from more than one Unit

**MAINTENANCE UNITS**

**PROJECT FUNDING UNITS**

**PROJECT UNITS**

**REPORTING UNITS**

**Credit Card:** Tracks credit card spending)

**Projects:** Allows user to set up new OR&F / Overhead and Reimbursable Projects

**Groups Unit:** Allows admin staff to set up FDMS Unit Groups and select which Units a User can access

**Historical FIMA Reports:** Contains historical FIMA data from 1991 to 2002

**Travel:** Tracks employee travel expenses

**Other Objects Notes Unit:** Used in conjunction with Reports Unit

**Other Objects Viewer:** Allows user to view CAMS data (other than Labor)

**MISCELLANEOUS UNITS**

**Quarterly Budget Monitor:** Allows users to track spending for specific Line Items.

**TOOLS UNITS**

**Labor Overhead Edit Unit:** Allows User to adjust Overhead Rates and re-calculate Employee Labor data

**FDMS UNIT STRUCTURE**

**Download viewer:** Allows users to view when new data has been downloaded from CAMS

## Allowance Advice

- Manage resources at FMC level
- Not possible in CAMS, as allotments are at LO level
- Maintains distinction between permanent and one-time funding
- Manage funding so that project allocations do not exceed their FMC’s Line Item/PPA allocation
- Readily track project allocation history

## Commitment data entry modules

- Blanket Purchase Order module
- Requisition module
- Shop module
- Miscellaneous expenses unit
- Can enter internal documents as well as CAMS documents which are not in other FDMS units
- Can project everything from labor costs to proposed grants and/or contracts
- Can export data directly from CAMS downloads into this unit
- Can create document numbers to reserve funds for specified purposes

## Download modules

- Credit Card data
- Travel Manager data
- Note: we download travel orders from CAMS
- Voucher data is NOT available from CAMS via Travel Manager
- Users must edit the travel order data once the vouchers are submitted
- Problematic, but stems from CAMS not FDMS
- Coming soon:
- Travel order data will be downloaded directly from the CAMS Data  Warehouse (but Voucher data is still not available from CAMS).

## Download viewer

- System users can quickly see when new data has been downloaded for their FMC
- Download history is documented by
- Employee labor (data by employee)
- Summary labor (summarized at project level)
- Other Objects data (nightly)
- Credit Card files
- Travel
- OAR_Down (salary data by employee)
- Information includes
- Date of download, relevant PP (e.g. for labor files), and file size (e.g., number of records).

## System maintenance modules

- Maintenance module
- Allows updating of tables and default values common to FDMS modules
- Strategic Plan codes
- Sponsors (OR&F and reimbursable funding)
- State/Country codes
- Type of agreement (MOU, MOA)
- Vendors
- Appropriations
- Custodian (Property)
- Default values (Requisitions)
- Division codes
- Lab/Operating Unit organization codes
- Legal Authorities
- Line Items
- Object Class codes
- Procurement categories (EQUIP, HAZD, SOFT, etc.)
- Initially populated as part of FDMS initial deployment
- Now maintained by each OAR operating unit

## System maintenance modules

- Project module
- Used to set up new projects
- Used to close projects in FDMS to preclude additional costs from hitting
- FDMS does not allow users to reopen projects if management needs so dictate
- Projects can be linked to specific organizational divisions for report purposes

## System maintenance modules

- Employee module
- Used to maintain a listing of Federal and non-federal staff
- Includes data for
- Position title
- Appointment Type (FTP, PTP, Joint Institute, etc.)
- Organization code
- SSN
- Salary (scale)

## System maintenance modules

- Groups module
- Allows system administrators to define FDMS users for their operating unit
- Establish their viewing and/or access rights
- I.e., assign access to specific modules

## Tools modules

- Other Objects viewer
- Powerful tool for querying the CAMS Other Objects database
- by FY, Organization Code, Download Date, document type, object class, project number, etc.
- Access summary level information
- Click on detail to bring up relevant CAMS data by transaction, including General Ledger Account number, CAMS tracking information, etc.
- Critical because there is no one place in CAMS to get full document information
- Current CAMS query capability forces user to pull data by individual project number or object class or FY, resulting in multiple query results and the potential to overlook relevant data
- Data can be copied directly to the FDMS Miscellaneous Expenses unit, saving data entry on the part of system users

## Tools modules

- Quarterly Budget Monitor
- Enables users to plan expenditures by line item/PPA by object class
- FDMS tracks commitment costs by the budget category to enable users to monitor spending
- Facilitates BOP planning and obligation tracking

## Tools modules

- Query tool
- Enables users to customize queries for labor, FDMS Other Objects and CAMS Other Objects
- Query results can be printed or exported to Excel, Lotus, etc. for use in reports
- More powerful Query tool is under development in FDMS

## Tools modules

- Labor OverHead Edit unit
- Includes pay period downloads of labor by employee
- Users establish the overheads for their FMC, then run the download labor data using the specified overheads
- System notifies users when there are labor records requiring the application of overheads

## Historical Reports

- Users have access to historical FIMA data through this report
- Enables users to pull up FIMA document histories through 9/30/02

## Reimbursable module

- Allows users to adjust funding levels on non-NOAA funded projects and track the funding history of Reimbursable projects
- Contains information relevant to the specific project,
- E.g., Legal Authority, Type of Agreement, etc
- Allows user to input
- Project Summary information, Project Objectives and Research results

## Reports unit/Division reports

- There are 62 reports for managers and administrative users
- Report units
- Division Report unit
- User can pull up reports only for division they are assigned to
- Standard Report unit
- User can pull up reports for the entire organization (e.g., FMC), for a specific Division, a specific project or a specific project leader
- Users can pull up reports from previous FY by changing FY criteria field
- Reports provide data at summary and detail levels
- Reports were developed in response to user requests since FDMS initial deployment