November 22, 2018
For users of the AMA, BPAS, CBS, and FNTS budget systems.
BPAS 2.0 Project
Work is progressing on the update to the budget system.
BPAS 2.0 will not be a total re-design of the existing
system; agencies will still enter budgets by appropriation at the account level;
the system will use a similar account hierarchy to summarize data for reporting.
However, agencies will see some changes when BPAS moves from a multi-dimensional to a relational
database system:
- All data—base budget, change items, and
transfers—will be entered in one application.
- All data and reporting from the system will be
real-time; there will be no interruptions for data aggregations and batch
uploads of change and transfer data.
- There will be a one-to-one relationship between
Appropriation ID and Fund. (This is now enforced when an agency creates a new
appropriation ID in the Appropriation Maintenance Application AMA.)
BPAS
2.0 is being completed in phases, with the first components targeted to be ready by August
2018 for agencies to prepare base budgets for the November 30, 2018 submission.
MMB will continue to use and maintain the existing BPAS, a multi-dimensional
database system built on Oracle’s Hyperion software. MMB will evaluate the
project’s status in May 2018 and if it requires more time to complete, the existing BPAS will
be used for the 2020-2021 biennial budget process.
A prototype of the system’s Announcement page is shown below:
BPAS FY 2017 Reconciliation is Complete
Thanks
to agencies that completed reconciliation of the uploaded fiscal year 2017 SWIFT
close data in BPAS. As of November 15, all account net variances in 2017 actual
data are eliminated. The data will be reported in the upcoming November
Forecast, which will be released on Tuesday, December 5.
Annual User Authorization Review
Each
year, MMB reviews FNTS user access to ensure that only individuals authorized
and directly involved in the fiscal note process have access to the system. State
agencies must certify their FNTS users by Friday, December 8, for all staff who
will be using the system for the 2018 legislative session.
FNTS Agency User Training Schedule
FNTS
training for agency users will be held in February 2018. The training is
recommended for agency staff who will be preparing and entering fiscal note
information into the system and have not attended system training or who think
they need a refresher. Registration will open the first week of January on the
Self-Service Portal through ELM. FNTS users will be notified by email when the
registration is open. To register, you must have a current agency FNTS user
authorization form on file. Below is a
list of dates and times to be offered; all sessions will be held in the
Columbine Room on ground floor of Centennial Office Building.
CBS
is closed for entering requests for the 2018 capital budget. Authorized CBS
users have read-only access to view their requests, and will be able to view the
governor’s recommendations after the January 16, 2018 release of the capital budget to the legislature. Capital requests totaling more than $2.3
billion have been entered into CBS by 26 state agencies, Minnesota State and
the University of Minnesota; 2018 requests from 85 local government entities total
more than $831 million.
AMA
User Training and Workshops
2018 AMA User Training sessions are tentatively scheduled for
March 20, 22, 27 and 29. Registration will be through ELM on the Self-Service
Portal and open in February. Walk-in morning workshops are also being planned
April 25, May 9 and May 23. Both training and workshops will be held in the
Columbine Room of Centennial Office Building. Look for more information in upcoming
editions of the Budget Systems Newsletter.
Have a question about or a suggestion for improving the budget systems? Email it to Budget Operations at budget.finance.mmb@state.mn.us, Subject: Budget Systems Newsletter.
| 
