Communication from the Commission - Progress Report as at 31 march 2007 on the modernisation of the accounting system of the European Commission
Date: 2007-06-21
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: European Commission, accounting system, computer system, financial regulation, institutional reform, international standard, management audit, report

COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES 

Brussels, 21.6.2007 
COM(2007) 343 final 

COMMUNICATION FROM THE COMMISSION 

PROGRESS REPORT AS AT 31 MARCH 2007 ON THE MODERNISATION OF THE 
ACCOUNTING SYSTEM OF THE EUROPEAN COMMISSION 

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TABLE OF CONTENTS 

PROGRESS REPORT AS AT 31 MARCH 2007 ON THE MODERNISATION OF THE 
ACCOUNTING SYSTEM OF THE EUROPEAN COMMISSION......................................... 1 

1. 

2. 

3. 

3.1. 

3.2. 

4. 

4.1. 

4.2. 

5. 

6. 

7. 

8. 

9. 

Introduction .................................................................................................................. 3 

Summary of implementation in the year to 31 March 2007 ........................................ 3 

Implementation of modernised accounting in the Commission................................... 4 

Annual accounts ........................................................................................................... 4 

Training ........................................................................................................................ 5 

Accounting control environment and validation of local systems ............................... 5 

Accounting quality ....................................................................................................... 5 

Validation of local systems .......................................................................................... 6 

IT developments for the General Budget ..................................................................... 6 

ABAC Delegations ...................................................................................................... 8 

European Development Fund (EDF) ........................................................................... 9 

Implementation of ABAC by the other Institutions and Agencies .............................. 9 

Future developments .................................................................................................... 9 

10. 

Conclusion ................................................................................................................. 10 

ANNEX I: -LEVEL PLANNING ............................................................................................ 11 

ANNEX II:  System security and synchronisation................................................................. 12 

1. 

2. 

ABAC Accounting..................................................................................................... 12 

ABAC Workflow ....................................................................................................... 12 

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1. 

INTRODUCTION 

On 17 December 2002, the Commission adopted its Communication on the modernisation of 
the  accounting  system  of  the  European  Communities1.  An  accrual-based  accounting  system 
was  put  in  place  in  January  2005  and  the  2005  accounts  were  prepared  in  accordance  with 
internationally  accepted  accounting  standards,  thus  respecting  the  deadlines  set  in  the 
Financial Regulation. 

The transition to a new accounting system gives the European Commission greater day-to-day 
control over its finances and provides it with better financial information. 

The  Court  of  Auditors  gave  a  positive  opinion  on  the  2005  accounts,  except  for  two 
reservations,  and  the  discharge  authority  welcomed  in  particular  the  efforts  made  by  the 
Commission  to  adopt  the  accounts  for  the  financial  year  within  the  shortened  Financial 
Regulation deadlines for the production of the financial statements. 

The work on modernising the accounting system is however not yet complete. Attaining full 
compliance with all accounting standards and achieving a more fully integrated IT system is a 
process  which  takes  time.  The  accrual-based  accounting  system  continued  to  be  developed 
throughout 2006, and development will continue in 2007 and 2008. 

The Commission has presented reports2 regularly on the progress made on the modernisation 
project  since  2002.  The  present  Communication  summarises  the  progress  made  from  April 
2006 to 31 March 2007. Like the preceding reports, it will be communicated to the relevant 
committees of the discharge authorities, and to the Court of Auditors. 

2. 

SUMMARY OF IMPLEMENTATION IN THE YEAR TO 31 MARCH 2007 

During 2006 and first quarter 2007, the project was implemented largely in accordance with 
the  project  plan  2006-7  set  out  in  Annex  1  to  the  Communication  on progress  to  31  March 
2006.  The  plan  for  developing  and  improving  the  IT  systems,  annexed  to  this  report,  was 
updated and extended to 2008. It includes the integration of the European Development Fund 
and  the  Agencies  into  ABAC,  building  a  Single  Data  Warehouse,  better  integrating  the  IT 
systems,  and  improving  the  accounting  control  environment  and  management  reporting 
facilities. 

As regards assuring the quality of accounting data, progress has been made in improving the 
control  environment.  Accounting  controls  have  been  reinforced,  and  all  DGs  and  services 
deployed considerable efforts to help prepare the 2006 accounts, to check the data and make 
the necessary corrections, and to estimate the accrued expenditure at the end of the financial 
year  on  a  coherent  and  consistent  basis.  In  his  report  on  the  validation  of  local  systems  in 
2006, the Accounting Officer noted that, in general, services had taken appropriate measures 
to address the important but not fundamental matters raised in his previous year's report, and 
underlined  the  significant  progress  made  by  the  two  DGs  whose  validation  had  been 
suspended in 2005. Furthermore, the Commission services have given the highest priority to 

1 
2 

COM(2002) 755. 
At  30  June  2003  (SEC(2003)  790),  at  31  December  2003  (SEC(2004)  118),  at  30  June  2004 
(COM(2004) 565), at 31 January 2005 (COM(2005) 90), at 31 March 2006 (COM(2006) 358). 

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remedy  the  weaknesses  underlined  by  the  Court  in  the  2005  annual  report.  The  2006 
provisional  annual  accounts  were  forwarded  to  the  European  Court  of  Auditors  and  to  the 
Budgetary Authority by the legal deadline of 31 March 2007. 

Significant  progress  has  been  made  in  developing  the  ABAC  IT  system.  As  planned,  the 
delegations'  imprest  accounts  were  fully  integrated  into  the  ABAC  system  in  January  2007. 
Two  Institutions  and  six  Agencies  also  migrated  to  the  ABAC  system  during  the  year;  an 
updated project plan for the migration of the EDF accounts to ABAC has been prepared and 
the Commission services are working to "go live" in January 2008. Work on the Single Data 
Warehouse  progressed  sufficiently  for  it  to  serve  as  a  basis  for  the  2006  annual  budgetary 
reporting of the Commission and some financial reports necessary for the calculation of the 
year-end estimations. The Commission services continue to work on the complete integration 
of the IT systems through the Budget Control System (BCS) project and the Assets II project. 

3. 

IMPLEMENTATION OF MODERNISED ACCOUNTING IN THE COMMISSION 

3.1. 

Annual accounts  

EC annual accounts 2005 

The  first  EC  provisional  annual  accounts  based  on  the  new  accrual  accounting  rules  were 
presented to the Court of Auditors on 31 March 2006 as required by the Financial Regulation. 
Following  this,  the  Court  proceeded  with  its  audit  and  examination  of  these  accounts.  The 
final  accounts  were  then  adopted  by  the  Commission  on  20  July  2006.  The  Court  issued  a 
positive  opinion  concerning  the  reliability  of  these  accounts  -  it  stated  that  the  accounts 
present  fairly,  in  all  material  aspects,  the  financial  position  and  results  of  the  EC  for  2005, 
although  with  reservations.  These  reservations  concerned  an  estimated  overstatement  of  net 
assets of EUR 314 million (or 0.5% of net assets) and the lack of assurance surrounding the 
figures  of  DG  EAC  (as  mentioned  in  the  Annual  activity  Report  of  the  Director-General 
responsible). 

The  discharge  recommendation  from  the  Council  included  an  acknowledgement  of  the 
achievement of finalising these accounts within the tight timeframe set, and of the success of 
the move to accrual accounting, a sentiment repeated in Parliament's discharge report. 

EC annual accounts 2006 

The  2006  EC  provisional  annual  accounts  were  transmitted  to  the  Court  of  Auditors  on  30 
March 2007. These accounts are subject to audit before being approved by the Commission in 
July 2007. The lessons learnt from the problems and delays encountered during these first two 
years  of  accrual-based  accounting  should  enable  the  Commission  to  assure  a  reasonable 
quality  of  the  financial  information.  No  Director-General  or  Head  of  Service  included  an 
accounting reservation in his or her 2006 Annual Activity Report. 

The EC has undertaken to constantly improve the quality of the data underlying the accounts, 
and the presentation and readability of these accounts. In the 2006 accounts, it provided more 
information on the recovery of expenses and on financial corrections so as to make them more 
useful to stakeholders and other readers. 

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3.2. 

Training 

A  significant  effort  concerning  staff  training  continued  to  be  made  in  2006,  the  main 
achievements in this area being: 

–  Delivery  of  nearly  4 000  participant  days  of  ABAC  training  to  Commission  staff  in 
Brussels  and  Luxembourg  (one  participant  attending  one  day's  training  equals  one 
participant day); 

–  Satisfaction with the quality of training rose from 91% in 2005 to 94% in 2006, of which 

38% found the courses "very good", compared with 32% in 2005; 

–  Delivery  of  over  2.300  participant  days  of  ABAC  training  to  Commission  staff  in 

Delegations in preparation for the implementation of ABAC Delegations; and, 

–  Delivery of another 1 000 participant days of ABAC training to staff of other Institutions 

and Agencies to support the roll-out of ABAC. 

The  main  objective  for  2007  is  to  continue  delivering  high-quality  training  courses  to  staff 
across the world and to staff in Institutions and Agencies. A special effort regarding training 
on accounting issues will be undertaken in 2007 and 2008. 

4. 

ACCOUNTING CONTROL ENVIRONMENT AND VALIDATION OF LOCAL SYSTEMS 

4.1. 

Accounting quality  

As a result of the adoption of the new accounting framework, each Directorate-General and 
Service was asked to ensure that its accounting procedures were sufficiently well organised so 
as to achieve a high level of quality in the accounting data. 

For the 2006 accounts, the Accounting Officer's staff carried out checks on the quality of the 
accounting data and organised meetings with the Accounting Correspondents of all the DGs 
in  order  to  discuss  the  controls  to  be  undertaken,  and  the  closure  and  cut-off  procedures. 
Checklists for the controls to be executed were transmitted and explained to all DGs. 

In  order  to  improve  the  accounting  environment  in  each  DG  over  the  medium  term,  an 
'accounting  quality'  project  was  developed  during  2006.  The  objective  of  this  project  is  to 
explain to the authorising services the tools made available to them, and the controls which 
enable them to guarantee the quality of the accounts for the operations managed by them. The 
responsibilities and the roles of the main financial actors were defined, in particular that of the 
Accounting Correspondent. The project was presented to the senior management of all DGs, 
and  now  the  position  of  Accounting  Correspondent  is  formally  integrated  in  the  internal 
organisation of each DG. Several guidelines and practical aids were developed by DG BUDG 
and  presented  to  the  DGs.  The  checklists  and  controls  used  for  the  closure  of  the  2006 
accounts have been integrated in these practical aids.  

After  a  trial  in  selected  DGs,  the  implementation  of  the  accounting  quality  project  was 
launched  in  all  DGs  in  March  2007,  with  the  objective  of  putting  the  necessary  actions  in 
place during 2007. A significant obstacle to its success is the shortage of qualified accounting 
staff. The Commission continues to address this issue by launching specialised competitions. 

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4.2. 

Validation of local systems 

The quality of the data introduced into the accounting system directly or via local IT systems 
depends on the control environment put in place by each Authorising Officer by delegation. 
DG  Budget's  validation  team  monitors  such  controls  across  all  DGs  and  Services  to  ensure 
that the established quality criteria are met. 

During 2006, the team undertook a programme of in-depth checks of nine systems laid down 
by  the  Authorising  Officers  to  supply  or  justify  accounting  information,  as  required  under 
Article 61(1)(e) of the Financial Regulation. This brings the number of services subjected to 
these  checks  to  twenty-two  over  the  period  2005/2006  and  covers  the  bulk  of  expenditure 
incurred by the Commission. 

In  addition,  quality  checks  were  performed  on  cut-off  data  (essential  for  the  preparation  of 
accrual-based accounts) generated by certain key services in order to ensure the reliability and 
accuracy  of  such  information.  Finally,  a  procedure  for  the  prior  notification  of  proposed 
changes  to  local  (IT  and  administrative)  systems  came  into  operation  on  1  June  2006,  thus 
enabling  the  Accounting  Officer  to  carefully  consider  how  such  proposals  complied  with 
validation criteria before they were introduced. 

The validation team completed all the work planned in the Directorates-General for 2006. The 
progress report covering the period to end-June 2006 noted that, in general, services had taken 
appropriate  measures  to  address  the  important  but  not  fundamental  matters  raised  in  the 
previous year. The final report for 2006, adopted on 20 March 2007, confirmed this view and 
also noted the significant progress made in the two DGs (AIDCO and EAC) whose validation 
had  been  suspended  in  2005.  Due  to  the  necessarily  long  lead  time  required  to  make  the 
appropriate changes to their local IT systems, the Accounting Officer was not in a position to 
validate  these  systems  for  the  financial  year  2006  but  both  systems  are  well  placed  to  be 
validated during 2007. With regard to DG RELEX, the ABAC-Delegations IT project, which 
should rectify the problems identified in 2005, went live in 2007. 

5. 

IT DEVELOPMENTS FOR THE GENERAL BUDGET 

The  IT  development  plan  aims  to  provide  the  functionalities  required  to  improve  financial 
accounting and controls and to have a better integration of the various modules. 

ABAC upgrades 

The ABAC modules were progressively improved through the releases in June and November 
2006 and then in January and March 2007. The June release was dedicated to the introduction 
of two modules in the ABAC WF Java version: the commitments and the inbox functionality. 
In the November release a new facility for the tracking of audits on legal entities was made 
available. 

A  specific  release  at  the  beginning  of  2007  was  dedicated  to  the  "go  live"  of  the 
delegations  project,  replacing  the  Relex  local  systems.  The  development  of  this 
module  consumed  a  great  deal  of  the  resources  during  the  reporting  period.  The 
March  2007  release  focused  on  the  go  live  of  the  new  Asset  modules  for  the 
delegations together with the integration of these modules with the Invoice module. 

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During mid-2006 an upgrade of the SAP system (version 5.0) was implemented. This upgrade 
was  complex  and  gave  rise  to  considerable  work  on  the  year-end  procedure  since  a  large 
number of programmes in that domain were running for the first time in the EC environment. 
This  upgrade  was  important  for  ECFIN  Activities,  so  that  the  accounts  are  fully  compliant 
with international standards, and for the planned upgrade to SAP-BCS. 

BCS (Budget Control System) 

The new version of the SAP FM module, BCS, will be used to replace the version currently 
used (i.e. FBS) for the central budget management, as it is capable of incorporating the local 
budgetary  lines  required  to  provide  departments  with  a  more  detailed  system  for  managing 
their budgets. 

During 2006 BCS was split into two projects, phase I dedicated to replacing the SAP module 
currently used for the central funds management by the new BCS version, and phase II aimed 
at the migration to BCS of "local lines", the local budget management functionalities that are 
currently performed in ABAC workflow and not recorded in SAP. 

In  phase  I,  BCS  has  been  configured  to  support  the  core  EU  functionalities  and  has  been 
successfully implemented for the PHEA agency's accounts. Given the need to ensure adequate 
integration  between  BCS  and  ABAC  workflow,  the  implementation  for  the  General  Budget 
has  been  postponed  from  April  2007  to  October  2007.  There  are  technical  obstacles  to  a 
migration  during  the  year  change  (i.e.  beginning  of  2008).  Appropriate  tools  will  be 
developed to facilitate the migration to BCS, and the local system users will be informed in 
good time of any changes in the information to be communicated via ABAC workflow. 

The accounts of the European Development Fund (see section 7 below) will be on SAP-BCS 
from the 2008 year. 

The planning of the second phase of the BCS project started in 2006, and is ongoing. Given 
the  high  potential  impact  of  the  local  budget  management  functionalities  on  the  ABAC 
architecture,  a  careful  analysis  of  all  the  relevant  issues  is  required  before  a  realistic  action 
plan can be issued, and a deadline for implementation proposed. 

ABAC Assets II (termed SAM) 

DG  BUDG  is  currently  assessing  the  possibility  of  fully  integrating  a  Supply  and  Asset 
Management module into the corporate ABAC system, replacing ABAC-Assets, which runs 
on the separate Syslog system. This work is progressing, with one service, OIB, acting as a 
test  environment  to  see  whether  such  a  solution  would  be  desirable,  feasible  and  cost-
effective. An initial "demo" of the Supply and Asset Management module was presented to 
DG BUDG and OIB on 13 March 2007 resulting in a decision to proceed to the next stage, a 
full Proof of Concept analysis. Should a "go for deployment" decision be reached later in the 
year, then the needs of all potential users will have to be integrated into the new system. An 
initial launch limited to OIB is planned during 2008. 

ABAC Assets I and ABAC Contracts 

The Commission is continuing with maintenance and minor improvements for ABAC Assets 
I,  until  conclusions  on  the  ABAC  Assets  II  project  are  available,  and  for  ABAC  Contracts, 
until  DG  JLS's  experience  with  the  SAP  grantor  module  provides  a  basis  for  a  longer-term 
development strategy. 

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Single Data Warehouse 

Developments on this project began in June 2006 using an approach based on phases for each 
business area. The first two areas to be analysed were Budgetary Execution (Appropriations – 
Commitments  –  Payments  –  SAP/FM)  and  the  corresponding  General  Accounting  aspects 
(Invoices – SAP/FI). 

As  a  result  of  progress  made  by  the  end  of  2006,  the  Single  Data  Warehouse  was  able  to 
provide DGs and services with a first version of reports which could facilitate the preparation 
of their respective year-end cut-off data. The Single Data Warehouse was also used to prepare 
the annual budgetary reporting included in the 2006 accounts, and to prepare the individual 
budgetary reporting annexed to the Annual Activity Reports of each DG and Service within 
the Commission. 

It  is  intended  that  the  Single  Data  Warehouse  will  be  opened  to  all  DGs  in  June  2007. 
Additional  functionalities  and  improvements  will  gradually  be  added  in  order  to  reach  full 
functionality by the end of 2008. In the meantime, the existing Data Warehouse infrastructure 
will have to be maintained. 

IT development processes 

IT  development  processes  are  being  improved  through  the  adoption  of  data  modelling 
techniques, and the constitution of a data dictionary. This project aims to ensure that present 
and future developments are fully documented, the software rendered as efficient as possible, 
and the implications for archiving data properly understood. The business area of income was 
selected for the first phase of this work, which had made good progress by 31 March 2007. 
Annex II to this report presents the progress made on security of access to the system, and on 
ensuring the coherence of the data held in the ABAC system. 

6. 

ABAC DELEGATIONS 

DG  Budget,  DG  RELEX  and  DG  DIGIT  collaborated  during  2006  to  incorporate,  as  from 
2007,  the  delegations'  imprest  accounts  transactions  into  ABAC.  The  existing  DG  Relex 
Delegations local system could not be validated as it was not accrual compliant. 

The  ABAC  modules  have  been  adapted in  order to be web-based and to be able to manage 
local payments and small expenditures via imprest accounts in the delegations. 

ABAC-Assets  has  also  been  adapted  and  web-based  in  order  to  permit  the  RELEX 
delegations  and  the  representation  offices  of  DG  COMM  to  manage  and  book  their  fixed 
assets  in  the  central  system.  ABAC  Workflow  was  opened  for  all  delegations  on  8  January 
2007 and ABAC Assets on 26 March 2007. Training has been given on those modules to key 
financial staff from each delegation. 

With  these  achievements,  one  of  the  main  remaining  issues  is  being  addressed,  namely  that 
the  large  number  of  small  services  outside  the  Commission's  headquarters  (delegations  and 
representation  offices),  to  which  financial  responsibilities  have  been  decentralised,  are 
integrated  into  the  central  system  and  may  thus  comply  with  the  accounting  rules  and 
methods. 

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7. 

EUROPEAN DEVELOPMENT FUND (EDF) 

The  IT  platform  for  the  accounts  of  the  European  Development  Funds,  which  differ  from 
those of the General Budget, is also being modernised. 

The accounting rules for the EDF were updated in 2005, and it is planned to replace the EDF's 
existing IT system, OLAS, by a combination of ABAC and DG AIDCO's local IT system for 
the general budget, CRIS. These two systems are currently being adapted to the specificities 
of the EDF. 

The developments of the central ABAC component for EDF were substantially completed and 
tested  by  mid-2006.  The  implementation  of  the  new  IT  system  (ABAC-FED)  is  currently 
planned  for  January  2008.  An  extra  year  was  needed  for  DG  AIDCO  to  complete  the 
developments necessary for CRIS to comply with the accounting rules for the general budget. 
There is a firm commitment to give this project the highest priority in 2007. The project plan 
has been updated, and particular attention is being paid to the quality of the migration process 
and data. Training the future users in the 46 ACP delegations remains a challenge. 

It  is  important  to  underline  that,  although  the  new  IT  systems  are  still  being  developed,  the 
EDF annual accounts for the 2005 and 2006 years were nevertheless drawn up in compliance 
with accrual-based accounting principles. The accounting information provided by the current 
IT accounting system (OLAS) has been adapted where necessary in order to present accrual-
compliant data. The EDF Accounting Officer also made the necessary corrections to the cash-
based accounting data, based on additional information supplied by the Authorising Officer. 

8. 

IMPLEMENTATION OF ABAC BY THE OTHER INSTITUTIONS AND AGENCIES 

Three  executive  agencies  (IEEA,  EACEA,  PHEA)  and  three  regulatory  agencies  (EMSA, 
Galileo, Frontex), as well as two committees (Economic and Social Committee, Committee of 
the Regions)3 have been connected to the ABAC system during 2006. Nine further agencies 
will start using ABAC in 2007, and six regulatory agencies should be connected to ABAC in 
2008. 

A specific financial and accounting environment is implemented in ABAC for each Agency 
or  Committee,  whose  accounting  officer  remains  responsible  for  its  accounts  and  for  the 
execution of its payments. 

As  several  regulatory  agencies  are  still  using  a  version  of  the  Commission's  Si2  system  for 
their budgetary accounts, the Commission agreed to continue to support Si2 until it is able to 
integrate all its users into ABAC. 

9. 

FUTURE DEVELOPMENTS 

The modernisation project action plan has been updated for 2007 and extended to 2008. Major 
IT  developments  in  the  forthcoming  months  will  focus  on  integration  of  the  EDF  accounts, 
implementation of the BCS module, completion of the Single Data Warehouse, development 

3 

Are classed as Institutions in accordance with Article 1 of the Financial Regulation  

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of the enhanced Web-Income module, enhancing security and possible implementation of the 
Supply and Asset Management module (SAM) of SAP for the OIB. 

Further  IT  developments  will  relate  mainly  to  improving  user-friendliness  and  the  financial 
reporting  functions,  and  to  achieving  the  longer-term  aim  of  enhanced  interoperability  and 
closer integration of local systems and providing further tools for user support and financial 
management. As regards the accounting framework, work will focus on defining the roles and 
responsibilities  of  the  actors  in  the  financial  procedures,  on  improving  the  quality  of 
accounting  data  and  of  management  reports,  and  on  monitoring  compliance  with  validation 
criteria for local systems by all Authorising Officers by delegation. 

10. 

CONCLUSION 

The transition to a new accounting system in the European Commission has continued to meet 
the  statutory  deadlines  set  for  the  preparation  of  annual  accounts  on  an  accrual  basis  which 
comply  in  all  material  respects  with  internationally  accepted  accounting  standards.  The 
Commission's external auditors and discharge authorities have been very largely satisfied with 
the progress made. 

The  project  cannot  rest  on  these  laurels.  The  accounting  processes  must  continue  to  be 
improved and developed further. The main challenges which remain are to: 

fully  embed  into  each  DG  and  Service  the  procedures  and  controls  necessary  to 
ensure  a  consistently  high  quality  of  accounting  data.  To  this  end,  each  DG  and 
Service  should 
is 
appropriately placed in the hierarchy so as to be able to influence the effectiveness of 
the  financial  circuits,  and  to  obtain  the  information  necessary  for  the  annual 
accounts; 

the  Accounting  Correspondent 

in  particular  ensure 

that 

improve the recording and reporting of sums recovered by the Commission and the 
Member States; 

complete the validation of the existing systems in AIDCO and EAC, and validate the 
new IT systems used by RELEX and planned by EAC and other DGs;  

incorporate  the  EDF  accounts  into  ABAC,  and  train  staff  in  the  46  delegations 
concerned; 

integrate  a  large  number  of  external  bodies,  i.e.  the  agencies  and  committees,  into 
ABAC, and service their corresponding needs in terms of training and support; and, 

optimise the integration of the IT systems, and provide the means needed by users for 
managing and reporting on the financial resources placed under their responsibility. 

The  project  plan  for  the  two  years  ahead  addresses  these  challenges,  and  the  Commission 
remains  committed  to  achieving  the  highest  standards  of  accounting  in  the  public  sector.

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ANNEX I: -LEVEL PLANNING 

07
1

2

3

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5

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08
9 10 11 12 1

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3

4

5

6

7

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09
9 10 11 12 1

2

3

ABAC Stabilisation

AWF Maintenance
AWFRevoke local lines & credit ops
 Archiving - LE/BA
Guarantees
Delegations II

BCS Implemenation

ABAC WF / Income

Integration Agencies

ABAC FED

SAP Dunning II

ABAC Contracts II

MUS/DICE

ABAC Contracts maint + absolute req

ABAC Assets maint + absolute req + C2 req

ABAC Assets II

SAP demonstration
Construction PoC
Construction OIB/OIL
Limited roll out EC-wide

Accounting Issues in SAP

ABAC WF & Security

ABAC Datawarehouse

ABAC DM/DD & User friendliness

Quality of Accounting data

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ANNEX II:  SYSTEM SECURITY AND SYNCHRONISATION 

1. 

ABAC Accounting 

In the course of 2006, two executive agencies, three regulatory agencies and two committees 
joined the ABAC system. The required developments and security set-up were completed in 
time  to  ensure  segregation  per  Accountant  (payment  run,  bank  reconciliation,  validation  of 
transactions and maintenance of posting periods). 

In  July  2006,  SAP  was  upgraded  from  release  4.7  to  release  5.0.  Following  this  upgrade,  a 
complete revision of the existing access rights had to be made, thus guaranteeing that at least 
the same level of security is implemented under release 5.0. This high-priority revision was 
completed successfully and the migration to 5.0 went smoothly. 

Specific developments and security rules were created in the second half of 2006 to enable the 
DGs' accounting experts to manage the end-of-year closure of their accounts. All Directorates 
registered their cut-off data for the first time in early 2007 for the 2006 exercise. 

The  revision  of  accesses  in  the  ABAC  Accounting  System  (SAP)  for  DG  BUDG  started  in 
2005. This revision progressed in 2006 but still requires finalisation in 2007. The top priority, 
namely  the  revision  of  the  access  rights  of  the  IT  experts,  was  successfully  achieved  in 
February 2006. 

2. 

ABAC Workflow 

Work started on recasting the security engine in ABAC Workflow and progress was made on 
several topics, such as the review of the technical users, the deputising mechanism and audit 
tracking. 

Priority was given to the security set-up for the Delegations in the context of their integration 
into  ABAC  Workflow.  A  new  module  for  the  imprest  account  holders  was  developed  and 
additional  developments  were  also  carried  out  in  order  to  guarantee  full  segregation  of 
operations by the 100-plus Delegations. Considerable effort went into this project throughout 
2006. The Delegations have been up and running in ABAC Workflow since January 2007. 

EN 

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   EN