Financial Management Service

© 2008 Federal Reserve Bank of Boston. p. 2 Introduction Dana Strecker  Bureau of Public Debt/ARC  Project Manager, Accounting Services Division Partnering with Financial Management Service and Federal Reserve Bank of Boston

© 2008 Federal Reserve Bank of Boston. p. 3 Agenda IPP Review IPP Team IPP’s Workflow Implementation strategy Planning for IPP

© 2008 Federal Reserve Bank of Boston. Why IPP? Workflow application will increase efficiency and improve communication during the invoice approval process Best practice to use available government systems Partnership with FMS IPP allows users from vendor/agency/ARC to see and use the full history of the transaction p. 4

© 2008 Federal Reserve Bank of Boston. p. 5 How Does the IPP Benefit Agencies? Streamline processes and eliminate time- consuming inefficiencies Improves document flows through automation Provides a new channel for electronic presentment of invoices, reducing expenses associated with paper and postage Reduces late payments; increases discount opportunities Minimizes time spent responding to payment- related and phone inquiries through vendor self-help over the Web

© 2008 Federal Reserve Bank of Boston. p. 6 Internet Payment Platform Is  A Web-based payment information service made available to Federal agencies and their suppliers by the Treasury’s Financial Management Service (FMS)  A free service for government agencies and our suppliers

© 2008 Federal Reserve Bank of Boston. p. 7 Implementation Costs  Free service from FMS  No licensing fees or required client software  Implementation and ongoing administrative processes –IT and subject matter experts (ARC) –Communication and security software/hardware (ARC) –Documenting business processes (joint effort)

© 2008 Federal Reserve Bank of Boston. p. 8 Internet Payment Platform Is  A centralized purchase order, invoice, and payment portal in the Order-to- Pay process for agencies and their suppliers  A modular platform, not “One Size Fits All”

© 2008 Federal Reserve Bank of Boston. p. 9 IPP Modules  IPP is implemented in a modular fashion  Choose modules that will be most helpful  Leverage existing Agency investments in financial systems  Opportunity for incremental transformation  Select services appropriate to an Agency’s needs:  Payment and adjustment reporting  Purchase order  Invoice  Invoice routing for on-line approval (Workflow)

© 2008 Federal Reserve Bank of Boston. p. 10 Internet Payment Platform Is  A means to aggregate suppliers across multiple Government agencies– deploy a vendor once to transact with all participating agencies  Interfaces with all major financial systems via file exchange

© 2008 Federal Reserve Bank of Boston. p. 11 Internet Payment Platform Is NOT  A replacement for an agency procurement or core financial system  A new payment or certification process  A replacement for Central Contractor Registration (CCR)

© 2008 Federal Reserve Bank of Boston. p Workflow Agency Purchasing Purchase Orders (w/updates) Vendor (Ordering System) Vendor (Invoicing System) Vendor (A/R System) Invoices, Acks & ASNs Agency A/P Invoices Invoice Status Treasury Regional Operations Payment Request Payment Information Vendor’s Bank Payment Information POs Account Reconciliation ACH Workflow IPP Web Display IPP Information Flow Overview ACK is purchase order acknowledgement by Supplier ASN is an advanced shipping notice * *

© 2008 Federal Reserve Bank of Boston. p. 13 IPP Team Treasury Web Application Infrastructure (TWAI):  Is a shared user environment  Provides hosting environment available 24/7 (except maintenance window)  Provides technical operations  Provides data security  Provides users provisioning - Username and Password for login

© 2008 Federal Reserve Bank of Boston. p. 14 IPP Team Agency and Supplier customer service support available through the FRBB  M-F (except Bank holidays) 8:00 am to 6:00 pm, EST  FRBB dedicated team –Programmers and analysts –Help desk –Implementation support

© 2008 Federal Reserve Bank of Boston. 15 PAID Migrated to IPP - October 2008 Payment Advice Internet Delivery (PAID) services now offered by IPP:  The IPP uploads payment information for registered suppliers and sends notifications  Future agencies that implement the IPP benefit from reduced vendor enrollment efforts  Opportunity for IPP-PAID vendors to transact with IPP agencies to send and receive electronic invoices and POs

© 2008 Federal Reserve Bank of Boston. p. 16 IPP’s Workflow Defined Workflow is highly configurable and therefore very flexible and powerful Controls the movement of documents Assignment is based on order and invoice data Different types of invoices –Invoice – PO (referencing) –Invoice – Non-PO (non-referencing) –Agency-entered (self-service)

© 2008 Federal Reserve Bank of Boston. p. 17 Workflow Defined Typical workflow allows: notification Approval (multiple levels possible) Rejection Automated delegation Reassignment Automated escalation (after reminder) And controls whether (and when) the document is passed to the agency’s core financial system.

© 2008 Federal Reserve Bank of Boston. p. 18 User Workflow Defined - Levels User Routing Rules For tasks Delegation User Escalation User Escalation Approval To Oracle User Escalation User Escalation User Escalation User Escalation - Multiple levels of delegation or manual reassignment - 2 Levels of Escalation - Multiple levels of Approval Rejection

© 2008 Federal Reserve Bank of Boston. Implementation strategy Phase I - Intra-governmental pilot BEP is disbursing agency ARC is collector Opportunity to experience functionality that our vendors will use Opportunity to provide feedback on possible use for intra-gov transactions p. 19

© 2008 Federal Reserve Bank of Boston. Implementation strategy Phase II – Pilot agencies Three customers who are representative of increasingly complex processes Recruit a few pilot vendors Work with vendors, COTRs and ARC personnel to identify and document best practices and lessons learned Recruit more vendors for pilot agencies Self-service for remaining vendors p. 20

© 2008 Federal Reserve Bank of Boston. Implementation strategy Phase III – All customers Schedule remaining customers Recruit a few pilot vendors Provide training to COTRs and ARC personnel Continue to refine best practices and benefit from lessons learned Recruit more vendors Self-service for remaining vendors p. 21

© 2008 Federal Reserve Bank of Boston. p. 22 Planning for IPP Think about these questions  Would you would like to be early or late in our schedule?  Who will be our primary contact in your organization?  Do you want to make changes in your approval process – number of approvals required or how escalation works, for instance?

© 2008 Federal Reserve Bank of Boston. p. 23 Planning for IPP Vendor selection for pilot and beyond Vendors already registered in IPP Smaller companies COTRs who handle change well Most complex routing

© 2008 Federal Reserve Bank of Boston. p. 24 Thank You For more information visit Please forward questions and comments to: Dana Strecker, BPD Project Manager (304)