Budget Systems Newsletter – February 2017

Change of Web Address Coming

On May 15 both the SWIFT Administrative Portal—through which users log in to BPAS, DE, FNTS and CBS—and the MMB Budget Division Document Management SharePoint will each have a new web address or URL. Once the move is complete, you will need to update links to these sites in your internet browser’s “Favorites.” Look for future notices in the Budget Systems newsletter.

Appropriation Account Maintenance Application (AMA)

AMA is on schedule for launch in early April. This new web-based system will replace the paper form and Excel spreadsheet process for requesting appropriations for the upcoming biennium, as well as copying or making modifications to existing appropriations. Agencies will submit and MMB will approve requests in the system, allowing their status to be tracked on-line from submission through upload to SWIFT and/or BPAS. Access to AMA will be through a link in the SWIFT Administrative Portal and tied to SWIFT security.

AMA User training begins Tuesday, March 21 and runs through March 30. Registration for AMA courses is through Employee Self-Service Learning and is open only to employees with the requisite SWIFT security role whom agencies have designated responsible for appropriation entry and/or approval. An agency chief financial officer or agency budget director may add an employee to the list by emailing Budget.Finance.mmb@state.mn.us, Subject: AMA Training List. Provide the employee’s name, state employee ID, and SWIFT security role(s).

Capital Budget System (CBS)

MMB has begun preparing CBS for the upcoming 2018 capital budget process. In the next week, state agencies and local units of government that submitted requests during the last capital budget cycle will receive from MMB Budget Operations a list of personnel who were authorized to use CBS. Agencies and local governments must update and return their lists to MMB by no later than March 31.

Authorized state agency CBS users will be eligible to register for system training through Employee Self-Service Learning. Training for state agencies will be held in mid- to late April at the Centennial Office Building in St. Paul. System manuals and training videos will be available on MMB’s website for local government system users.

CBS is targeted to open on May 1 for agencies to enter their preliminary capital requests—and local units of government their final capital requests—which will be due on Friday, June 16, for publication of the Preliminary Capital Requests document, which must be submitted to the legislature on July 15.

Fiscal Note Tracking System (FNTS)

MMB recently installed an update on the FNTS Prepare Screen, where agencies enter fiscal data and narratives. The “Open Narratives” button is now disabled until the user completes the Fiscal Impact section. This update will prevent narrative entries from being cleared before they are saved. If you must enter a fiscal note’s narrative before the bill’s fiscal impact has been determined, click “No Impact” as a placeholder to enable the “Open Narratives” button. Return to the Prepare Screen and update the five Fiscal Impact radio buttons when the fiscal impact is known.

Charts and Images If a chart or image is pasted into a fiscal note’s narrative, an error message will display on screen when the user clicks the View button. This is because the system’s PDF generator will not allow these images, which are not accessible. An update has been developed that will alert users and delete any charts and images will be installed with the next system release.

Entering FTE Impact You must first enter an expenditure impact amount in Section 3.1 of the Prepare Screen before the system will allow you to enter the FTE impact in Section 6. Once expenditures have been entered for at least one fund, an “Add Row” button will display in Section 6. Click the button to select a fund and then enter the related FTE amount.