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City of Moses Lake
Request for Information for Financial Software
INTRODUCTION AND PROCESS
The City of Moses Lake wishes to acquire and implement financial systems software to replace its current financial applications on a turnkey basis. A first step in this process is to locate software systems which closely match the needs of the City. To minimize vendor expense and encourage responses, the City has decided to use a Request for Information (RFI) process which can be responded to with a minimum of effort by interested vendors. The City plans to proceed with the selection process as follows:
1. The City will mail RFI to potential software vendors.
2. The City will analyze responses and select approximately three vendors as finalists for further consideration. Apparent functionality, Washington State references and price will be important factors in the selection of these finalists.
3. Finalists will be asked to complete a detailed systems capabilities checklist regarding software capabilities. The purpose of the checklist is to determine how closely the proposed software meets the needs of the City.
4. The City will contact the references of those vendors which meet the City's functional requirements and visit at least one reference which uses the proposed software.
5. Finalists which appear to have the required functionality based on the checklists submitted in 3 above and which have satisfactory references will be asked to provide a functional demonstration of the proposed software using a script provided by the City. The purpose of the demo is to give City users a "feel" for the software.
6. Based on the answers to the checklist, the demonstration and the site visits, the City will select its preferred vendor and proceed to contract negotiations. If negotiations are not successful with the preferred vendor, the City may negotiate with the next preferred vendor or decide to make no selection.
This process is designed to minimize vendor expense and insure the City makes the best choice. In all cases, however, the City reserves the right to alter the process as it sees fit given the circumstances it encounters.
THE CITY OF MOSES LAKE
Moses Lake is located in Eastern Washington. Moses Lake provides basic municipal services including fire, police, public works, parks and recreation, and the usual general governmental services. The following statistics give a sense of the size and complexity of the City:
Population
Assessed Valuation
Employees
Finance Department Staff
Utility Accounts
All Funds Budget
Active Business Licenses
Active Vendors
Annual Vendor Permits
City services are provided from city hall and _______ remote City sites. These remote sites must have data entry and inquiry access to the new financial software.
EXISTING COMPUTER HARDWARE AND SOFTWARE
The bulk of the City financial systems run on an HP 3000/967 under the MPE/iX operating system. The City also runs seven Windows NT file servers for various purposes. This hardware is supplemented with a network of PC workstations and dumb terminals. The City also operates the Bi-County Police Information Network on the City's HP 3000/967. The following statistics provide a sense of the computer activity at the City:
Remote Sites Supported
PCs Supported
Networks Supported
File Servers Supported
Disk Storage used (gigabytes)
NEW SOFTWARE REQUIREMENTS
Desired Software Modules
The City is requesting information on the following modules. Vendors should provide enough information about each module to allow the City to judge its functionality and suitability. This may include flowchart overviews, data element lists, on-line screen samples, and report samples at the vendor's discretion.
1. General Ledger Accounting
2. Project/Grant/Cost Accounting
3. Budget/Position Control
4. Purchasing/Encumbrance Accounting/Stores Inventory
5. Accounts Payable
6. Payroll/Human Resources
7. Accounts Receivable
8. Fixed Asset Accounting
9. Investment Management
10. Cashiering/Cash Receipting
11. Check and Bank Reconciliation
12. Utility Billing - multiple utilities
13. Business License/B & O Tax
The City plans to replace several other non-financial systems after implementation of its new financial software. Several of these non-financial systems must be interfaced to the core financial software. Please indicate which of the following systems your firm can provide with interfacing to your core financial software, but do not provide detailed materials at this time:
1. Animal Licensing
2. LID Accounting
3. Parks and Recreation Scheduling and Registration
4. Property Parcel Information
5. Facilities Maintenance/Scheduling
6. Planning Permits
7. Fleet Maintenance
Account Structure
The State of Washington prescribes an account structure called Budgeting, Accounting, and Reporting System (BARS) for its political subdivisions. A brief overview of the BARS account structure is shown as Attachment B. Annual reports must be submitted to the State in the BARS format but it is not necessary for a jurisdiction to do its daily accounting using BARS, although many do. The City currently uses straight BARS as its source account coding.
The City may wish to use an efficient account structure for internal accounting and reporting which can be converted to the BARS account codes for its annual reports to the State of Washington.
General System Features
To be seriously considered by the City, proposed financial software must:
1. Have a proven track record with a satisfied user(s) in Washington State.
2. Support a biennial budget.
3. Be year 2000 compliant.
4. Be a fully integrated system with a common user interface to all modules.
5. Allow decentralized on-line entry of financial data with central review and verification. Data entry should be user friendly with on-line help and access to lookup tables by account or name/name fragment. Electronic approval of remotely entered expenditure requests should be provided.
6. Allow real-time on-line inquiry by City departments to current and historical financial data, including descriptions of transactions.
7. Allow easy setup of funds and accounts and other system options.
8. Produce summarized governmental GAAP compliant financial statements in the BARS format with on-line adjustment capabilities.
9. Support organizational as well as program reporting of financial information.
10. Provide a full featured project management system which keeps financial data on a project life basis across budget years.
11. Support a flexible and easy-to-use report generator. The report generator should not only produce reports but also summarize and extract data for import into word processors and spreadsheets.
12. Have complete audit trails to financial transactions.
13. Have a comprehensive security system which can restrict system access at the terminal and user level on a need to know/use basis.
14. Be easy to interface with other systems where necessary.
15. Have flexible and proven backup and recovery features to prevent data loss and minimize recovery time when system failures occur.
16. Have support for cashless financial transactions such as payroll direct deposit, ACH debits, debit cards, and credit cards.
17. Have the ability to accrue payroll costs on a calendar month basis even if the pay cycle is other than monthly or semi-monthly.
18. Have comprehensive, clearly written system, user and operations documentation.
19. Have the ability to interface handheld meter reading devices to the core financial systems.
Other Features
While not a requirement, the City is very interested in the following features:
1. Support for performance budgeting or tracking of "service efforts and accomplishments". Some form of this type of reporting may eventually be required by GAAP.
2. SQL access to application files from other city systems.
3. Document imaging to connect paper documents to financial audit trails.
User Interface
The City would prefer that its new software have a Windows GUI interface which would easily integrate with the Windows 95 desktop. At the same time, it is important that the system perform well in a remote user environment. Vendors should clearly describe their current interface and how they see their future direction.
HARDWARE AND DATABASE CONSIDERATIONS
The city does not wish to limit responses based on hardware or database considerations. Therefore, the City will consider any hardware platform or database to run its new financial software. However, the final selection process will consider the hardware and database costs of proposed solutions.
ESTIMATED COSTS
Each vendor is requested to complete the pricing sheet included with this RFI as Attachment A. The pricing sheet should include all expected costs the City would incur implementing the proposed solution. While these prices are estimates only, the City would not expect significant deviations from them if your solution is selected. Please consider your figures as a good faith estimate based on your limited knowledge of City size and probable needs. Use the following guidelines in completing the cost estimate:
1. If possible, base your cost estimates on a previous actual installation you have completed for a similar sized City, particularly for modification and implementation costs.
2. Base your hardware costs on the assumption that the financial software will run on a new server or mini-computer but will use the exiting City LAN/WAN. Include costs for the acquisition of the necessary server or mini-computer. If your solution will run on the City's existing HP 3000/967, please so note and do not include hardware costs in your proposal. Assume that the City will provide all the necessary terminal emulation software.
3. Base your application software license fees on 30 concurrent users. Include a budget estimate for typical customization costs to your software based on your previous experience with the modules proposed.
4. Include costs for necessary data base or operating system software.
5. Assume the city will provide all data conversion programming but that you will provide the conversion specifications.
6. Include any other direct costs which the City will incur in implementing your solution.
7. Remember, the purpose of this cost estimate is to give the City a sense of the order of magnitude of the expected total implementation costs. Make sure your cost estimates are realistic but on the conservative side.
SUBMITTAL REQUIREMENTS
Vendor submittals should contain the following information:
1. Vendor name, address and phone number.
2. Contact person name.
3. Vendor background (years in business, etc.).
4. Description of proposed software with sample screens, reports, etc.
5. List of non-financial software which your firm can provide which is fully
integrated with your proposed financial software (see desired software
modules above).
6. Description of how software maintenance services will be provided.
7. Description of hardware platforms and databases on which your software will run.
8. Description of your approach to implementing the software at the City of Moses Lake.
9. Completed pricing sheet (Attachment A).
10. List of references (including all Washington State users) which the City may contact which use substantially the same proposed software. Include the length of time your software has been used by each reference.
In the spirit of this being a RFI, we encourage vendors to use existing marketing materials as much as possible in their responses.
Please submit six copies of your response no later than ________________, 1998 to:
Ronald R. Cone
City of Moses Lake
P. O. Box 1579
Moses Lake, WA 98837
Questions regarding this RFI should be directed to Ronald R. Cone, Finance Director, at 509-766-9204
.Attachment A CITY OF MOSES LAKE
Financial Systems Cost Summary
Vendor Name ________________________________
No.
ITEM
QTY
ONE TIME $ ANNUAL
RECURRING $
COMMENT
1. APPLICATION SOFTWARE
2. General Ledger Acctg
3. Project/Grant/Cost Acctg
4. Budget/Position Control
5. Purchasing/Encumbrances
6. Accounts Payable
7. Payroll/Human Resources
8. Accounts Receivable
9. Fixed Assets
10. Investment Management
11. Cashiering/Cash Receipting
12. Check/Bank Reconciliation
13. Utility Billing
14. Business License/B&O Tax
15. Est Total Modification Costs
16. Other
17. **Subtotal Application Software
18. SYSTEM SOFTWARE
19. Operating System
20. Runtime License
21. Database Management
22. Report Writer
23. Other
24. **Subtotal System Software
25. HARDWARE
26. Mini-computer Central Config
27. LAN Servers
28. Installation & Setup - all
29. Other
30. **Subtotal Hardware
31. IMPLEMENTATION
32. Software Install & Setup
33. Conversion of Existing Data
34. Training
35. Travel
36. Other
37. **Subtotal Implementation
38.
39. TOTAL ALL COSTS