Commerce Administrative Management System (CAMS) Program Management Plan (PMP)

A-76 – This Circular establishes Federal policy regarding the performance of commercial activities and implements the statutory requirements of the Federal Activities Inventory Reform Act of 1998, Public Law 105-270. The Supplement to this Circular sets forth the procedures for determining whether commercial activities should be performed under contract with commercial sources or in-house using Government facilities and personnel.

Activity Request – A request submitted by the NIST CAMS Implementation Team to CSC that captures the following information: impact of the request, priority of the request, and the status and resolution of the request.

Allocation – At NIST, approval by the Director for OU Directors to incur obligations up to a set level of funding. The sum total of allocations plus reserves of an appropriation must equal the apportionment. Sub-allocations or operating levels to Division Chiefs are established by the OU Directors consistent with the programmatic distribution of funds appropriated by Congress.

Accounting Classification Code Structure (ACCS) – A sequence of numbers that are grouped in a systematic function and is the “key” component of all CFS transactions.

Accounts Payable (AP) – Performs all of the accounting functions relating to processing purchase orders which includes the follow-up of unpaid invoices, requesting payment authorizations, accruing the cost, paying invoices, and reconciling costs with payments; and reviews all documents for accuracy and completeness; performs all of the accounting functions and makes payments to vendors for purchase of goods and services received related to processing documents such as training orders, contracts (government and non-government), printing requisitions, utility orders, foreign guest researcher payments, storeroom requisitions, blanket purchase agreements, service contracts, and NVLAP accreditation; advises employees of the requirements of the Prompt Payment Act; and is responsible for making proper accruals, obligations, de-obligations, and reconciling accounts.

Accounts Payable Standard Interface (APSI) - A standard interface to pass invoice, estimated accruals, advice of correction and receiving ticket data from a feeder system to CFS.

Accounts Receivable (AR) – Reviews all public contracts that obligate NIST to perform technical and scientific work which involves negotiating any changes and rejecting or accepting agreements and contracts; prepares invoices; assigns financing; collects unpaid bills; monitors the establishment, deletion, and termination of cost centers and sponsor codes; prepares financial statements and other reports as required for Office of the Secretary and other client Bureaus' management and sponsors; returns funds to sponsors on expired agreements and reconciles the associated General Ledger accounts; responsible for the reconciliation of appropriated funds; reviews interagency agreements and memoranda of understanding for services performed by other government agencies, performs complete invoicing and collection functions for reimbursable services; operates and maintains the Accounts Receivable system which includes reconciling General Ledger accounts and preparing various debt, credit, and cash management reports required by the Department of Treasury; reconciles general ledger accounts which pertain to payments made by accounts payable as well as general ledger accounts for payroll; analyzes, classifies, and controls the various types of other charges properly effect the general ledger accounts providing for accurate financial reports; prepares and processes various financial data that feed the FARS accounting system; compiles and verifies various financial reports at the end of accounting periods and provides appropriate distribution; maintains and updates various financial information databases and makes them available to FARS users; and processes in-house edits, listings, and the subsidiary General Ledger accounts listings used for reconciliations.

Activity Request (AR) – A request submitted by the NIST CAMS Implementation Team that captures the following information: impact of the request, priority of the request, and the status and resolution of the request.

Administrative Officer (AO) – An AO reports directly to a Senior Management Advisor within a particular Operating Unit and is responsible for performing budget, financial management and human resource activities for their appointed division(s).

Architecture – The characteristics of styles that describe the overall system design. Architecture predetermines the appearance and relationship among its components.

“As-is” – High-level overview of the current NIST Financial Management System and business processes.

Assembly Testing – Testing that supports the aggregation of system functionality.

Automated Standard Application for Payments (ASAP) – This interface will support use of the ASAP system to disburse grants for grantees by communicating between the CFS and the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond (FRBR).

Balanced Scorecard – A measurement tool that translates strategic objectives into a coherent set of performances. The Scorecard is balanced because it measures both leading and lagging indicators. These indicators are expressed in financial or non-financial terms.

Billing Run Master File – A file generated from CIS and the Title File used to print unbilled receivables report, billing run by appropriation and billing run by cost center.

Blanket Purchase Agreement – A Blanket Purchase Agreement (BPA) is simply an Agreement that is established between NIST and a Vendor which details the discounts that the Vendor will offer to NIST for all purchases, based on our purchasing history. BPAs are established with vendors with whom NIST has historically done a significant volume of business. BPAs enable NIST to obtain lower prices than otherwise would be obtained when employees use a one time only purchasing method.

Budget Execution – NIST distributes funding by appropriation, program, and in some cases by project through an allotment process. From these allotments, Operating Units will develop Budget Operating Plans (BOP’s), formerly fiscal plans.

Budget Operating Plans (BOP) – Formerly fiscal plans, BOP’s are developed within each Operating Unit based upon allotment levels.

Business Case – A qualitative model of benefits and costs used to approve an investment and guide the work conducted during the investment.

CAMS Implementation Team – The Team consists of both government and contractor personnel who are responsible for the overall implementation of CAMS/CFS including interfaces to all the bureaus that NIST provides financial management services.

CAMS Support Center (CSC) – The CAMS Support Center is responsible for the day-to-day management of DOC CAMS development, maintenance, and support to the Bureau implementation efforts.

Cash-In-Your-Account – Formerly Cash-in-a-Flash, provides system to allow awards granted by supervisors to recognize accomplishments which represent steps toward achievement of organizational goals or purposes, but for which higher level recognition such as honor awards, performance awards, or superior accomplishment awards are not appropriate. Awards may be granted to employees for noteworthy contributions, which have benefited the employing office, the employee's Bureau, or the Department.

Commerce Administrative Management System (CAMS) – The Department of Commerce’s new financial and administrative management system that includes the following components: Core Financial System (CFS); Bankcard; and Labor.

Commerce Purchase Card System (CPCS) – This module allows CAMS users to record, monitor, track and control all activities related to bankcard transactions.

Commerce Standard Acquisition and Reporting System (CSTARS) – CSTARS is an enterprise wide automated procurement system, which will support e-Commerce, e-Business, and e-Government programs. The goal of CSTARS is to provide a robust procurement/acquisition functionality powered by a COTS solution.

Conference Room Pilots (CRP’s) – A technique for evaluating the fit of a particular solution with an organization’s current operations and workforce. It identifies and addresses gaps between the packaged software and the application requirements specification.

Configuration Management – The process of identifying, managing, and revising components of a business capability and their relationships to one another in a controlled manner.

Core CAMS – Consists of CFS and two administrative system interfaces: NFC Labor Distribution Module and Commerce Purchase Card System (CPCS).

Corporate Information Systems (CIS) – CIS stores summary financial and payroll information at NIST, reporting the results of financial processing to financial administrators within the Operating Units.

Cost Allocation – A systematic way of distributing costs across projects/tasks.

Cost Management – See Cost Allocation.

Cost System (Cost) – The Cost System, commonly referred to as “Cost”, is the heart of the current “As-is” Financial Management System that tracks and distributes detailed financial cost information. Cost accepts batched input from multiple sources, including interface feeder files and manually entered Journal Voucher (JV) entries. Cost updates data to CIS and provides financial data for the General Ledger entry.

Commercial Off the Shelf (COTS) – Non-customized commercial software.

Data Warehouse (DW) – The Data Warehouse is a repository of recent production data, organized logically and efficiently to promote fast queries and the development and execution of financial reports without affecting the daily operations of the production database.

e-Approval – This is a COTS software package designed to allow NIST to conduct business more efficiently by acting as a conduit between administrative systems and allowing electronic signature and electronic routing of documents.

Electronic Certification System (ECS) – Designed by the Department of Treasury, ECS provides Federal Program Agencies with the ability to create, certify and transmit payment schedules on a microcomputer, using ECS software. ECS calculates and validates a cryptographic Message Authentication Code (MAC) for each payment schedule.

Feeder Files – These sub-processes provide manually batched financial data files to the Cost System.

Financial Accounting and Reporting System (FARS) – Financial legacy system utilized by the NIST cross-serviced Bureaus.

Financial Information System (FIS) – FIS is comprised of three parts: Other Objects, Labor, and Solvency.

Funds Management – See Budget Execution.

General Ledger (GL) – The GL is the system of record for NIST that manually captures financial data at a summary level.

Government Travel Account (GTA) Interface - The GTA Interface automates the entry of travel ticket expenses into CFS.

Grants Management Information System (GMIS) – Designed to automate financial assistance workflow processes and to create and approve financial transactions related to grants and cooperative agreements.

Graphical User Interface (GUI) – GUI is a simplistic and efficient window modality and layout of a windows environment.

Integrated – The system user is able to have one view into the system, at any given user access level, and may obtain needed information efficiently and effectively through electronic means.

Integration Testing – Also known as Regression Testing. Verifies that the newly delivered code does not adversely affect any module of CFS. A group of set scripts are run with expected results. Any change in functionality must be verified.

Interface – Describes the external visible behavior of a component and represents the services, which the component must receive from other components in order to perform its own operations.

Invoice Master File – A file accessed during the matched run program containing all invoice data entered in the Invoice Data Entry System.

Joint Financial Management Improvement Program (JFMIP) – Mandates that every Federal Agency be responsible for establishing and maintaining a single, integrated financial management system.

Journal Voucher (JV) – A JV is a manual General Ledger account entry posted to the General Ledger.

Knowledge Management – A systematic process for acquiring, creating, synthesizing, sharing, and using information, insights, and experiences to achieve organizational goals.

Limitation Ledger – The Limitation Ledger is a “checkbook” for advance agreements reflecting the sponsor’s name, agreement number, cost accrued on agreement, receipts against the agreement, un-liquidated obligations, un-financed costs, and OA finance reports to send to customers.

Most Efficient Organization (MEO) – MEO refers to creating an organization that would most efficiently perform a commercial activity after a managed competition under A-76.

New Receiving and Inspection File (NEWRIF) – A file produced by the matched run program that contains AP data (obligations and accruals).

Obligation – Amount of an order placed, contract awarded, service received, or similar transaction, which requires payment at the same or a later time.

Obligation Standard Interface (OSI) - The OSI will interface obligations from CSTARS, GMIS, NAIS and Travel Manager to CFS.

Operating Unit (OU) – Units that provide technical leadership for vital components of the nation's technology infrastructure needed by U.S. industry to continually improve its products and services within NIST (also can be referred to as laboratories).

Other Agencies (OA) – The OA process reviews, monitors and accepts reimbursable and advance agreements/contracts, and provides financial data for GL entry.

NIST Financial Management System – The “As-is” NIST Financial Management System is known as Cost and the “To-be” NIST Financial Management System is CAMS.

National Finance Center (NFC) Labor – NIST has outsourced its payroll processing to the NFC.

Payment Management – See Accounts Payable.

Property Management System (PMS) – An Oracle based COTS package that tracks NIST’s property and equipment inventory.

Program Management Plan (PMP) – A dynamic document serving as a primary resource for systems planning and decision-making across the NIST Deputy Chief Financial Officer landscape as it relates to the CAMS Implementation.

Receipt Management – See Accounts Receivable.

Reimbursable – The reimbursable process includes establishing a project, recording the agreement and unfilled customer order which determines the budget authority for a reimbursable customer, and accumulating costs against the reimbursable project.

Release Testing – Testing effort by the CAMS Testing Team, which includes Spot and Integration Testing. The scope is determined by code delivery frequency and production need. Documents include the Test Plan and Executive Summary of Results.

Quick Purchase System (QPS) – Administers bankcard purchases for selected NIST personnel for use in making allotted purchases of $10,000.00 or less.

Senior Management Advisor (SMA) – An SMA reports directly to an OU Director and Deputy Director and is responsible for analyzing the budget for an entire Operating Unit, which may have multiple divisions. An SMA also participates in NIST-wide activities (e.g., serving on a NIST-wide committee).

Software Development Life Cycle (SDLC) – Process used at NIST to manage software application development and maintenance.

Standard General Ledger (SGL) – The United States SGL provides a uniform Chart of Accounts and technical guidance to be used in standardizing Federal agency accounting, which supports the preparation of standard external reports required by central agencies.

Standard Reference Data (SRD) – Scientific and technical data that can be examined from three viewpoints: how well is the data generation described, how does data follow the known physical laws, and how does the data compare to other measurements or calculations of the same phenomena.

Standard Reference Materials (SRM) – NIST ensures accurate and compatible measurements through the development, certification, and distribution of Standard Reference Materials (SRMs). Approximately 1,300 SRMs are currently available for use in: (1) industrial materials production and analysis; (2) environmental analysis; (3) health measurements, and (4) basic measurements in science and metrology.

Store Inventory System (SIS) – SIS tracks costs, issues, credits, receipts, and inventory adjustments for over 8,000 items.

Technical Architecture – The technical architecture is the underlying network infrastructure (e.g., hardware, network components) that supports business processes.

Title File – The authorization of cost centers at the start of each fiscal year is accomplished by creating a new "Cost Center Title File" using cost centers, which were authorized during the previous year as a starting point.

“To-be” – A “snapshot” that maps the current NIST Financial Management System functionality to CAMS.

Travel Manager – Enables users to prepare, route, and approve paperless travel documents (i.e. travel authorizations and voucher) in accordance and compliance with all Federal travel regulations and current per diem rates.

Travel Order Entry System – System used in the NIST Travel Office to enter travel orders.

Unit Testing – The testing of an individual piece of the solution that ensures that the unit correctly implements the design specifications.

Workflow Management – Enables users to: establish administrative approval routing for budget operating plans, commitment documents and obligation documents; create document approval routing lists; review and approve/disapprove system routed documents; and view messages generated as a result of a user action or system initiated event.

Working Capital Fund – A revolving fund from which the costs of most work performed by NIST are initially paid.

Summary of Changes: