Case Studies

Department of Defense (DoD) Financial Management Transformation
Business Transformation Agency (BTA)

Period of Performance: December 6, 2006 – Present

Federal Element Inc is a trusted adviser to the DoD’s Business Transformation Agency (BTA) on all financial management policy, architecture, process re-engineering, and Enterprise Resource Plan (ERP) implementation issues. Since October 2006, Federal Element Inc serves as a financial management consultant to BTA with respect to the alignment of planned and ongoing implementation strategies and other modernization initiatives with existing financial management statutory, regulatory, and policy requirements and the transformation strategy reflected in the Business Enterprise Architecture (BEA). In particular, Federal Element advises the BTA within ongoing modernization efforts.

Standard Financial Information Structure (SFIS)

As a member of the Transportation Priorities and Requirements (TP&R) Team, Federal Element has played a role in the development and implementation of the Standard Financial Information Structure (SFIS), which is being implemented across the DoD to address material weaknesses identified by GAO. SFIS addresses the root cause of many material weaknesses by defining specific data requirements for any business system generating financial information. SFIS provides the means for DoD standardization of all financial data elements necessary to support budget performance integration, accounting, and external reporting.

USSGL Transaction Library

Federal Element Inc led the effort in analyzing and restructuring a DoD-wide USSGL Transaction Library that delineates the USSGL transactions contained in the Treasury Financial Manual (TFM) down to the transaction level unique for each enterprise level business event within the Department.

In FY2008, Federal Element Inc incorporated two vital resources, the Standard Financial Information Structure (SFIS) and the USSGL Transaction Library. This consolidated resource enables all DoD accounting systems to speak a common business language, and incorporates enterprise standards for defining financial accountability, in alignment with the Treasury Financial Manual (TFM) United States Standard General Ledger (USSGL) Supplement, OMB’s Federal Enterprise Architecture (FEA) Business Reference Model (BRM) Lines of Business, and the Common Government-wide Accounting Classification (CGAC) structure.

SFIS and the USSGL Transaction Library provide a framework with which system implementers will configure business systems to meet DoD accounting requirements and be compliant with Congressional, OMB, and US Treasury Financial Management Service (FMS) authoritative guidance. Federal Element is supporting BTA’s enterprise integration efforts to ensure that SFIS and USSGL requirements are well understood and fully implemented by the Department’s ERP implementation teams.

USSGL Implementation Assistance

Federal Element Inc was instrumental in driving the development of a USSGL “road show” for providing USSGL Implementation Assistance across the DoD enterprise. This 3-hour briefing has received positive reviews from participants, including senior officials within the Department of Treasury Financial Management Service (FMS) and the DoD Accounting Policy. The purpose of this training is to provide management and the user community with a practical understanding of Federal accounting guidance and how common everyday business events impact the overall financial position of the Department or Agency.

Included in the USSGL Road Show is an overview of the USSGL structure, various formulas for comparing budgetary and proprietary transactions, and a drill-down of the Department level Financial Statements. In addition, the briefing includes a full-scale demonstration of transaction type and category codes for filtering on the multitude of Treasury defined USSGL accounts and transactions.

Requirements Analysis

Federal Element Inc has also been a key participant in assisting the Defense Finance and Accounting Service (DFAS) identify and development “To Be” requirements for internal control testing. Specifically, Federal Element Inc participated in joint application development/design (JAD) sessions over a 6-month period in FY2007 that allowed DFAS to identify requirements and multiple general ledger application streams, including Accounts Receivable, Accounts Payable, Intra-Governmental Transactions (IGT), Disbursing and Debt Management. Federal Element fulfilled the role of BTA Subject Matter Experts (SME) for accounting standardization, SFIS standardization, and ERP implementation.

Enterprise Integration

Federal Element Inc has actively supported the engagement of key stakeholders in the further development and implementation of these requirements, including the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense (Comptroller) (OUSD(C)), DFAS, and DoD Component Program Managers for all major target business system implementations.