Transition Plan

for Remote Data Entry (RDE) via Flashpoint

 

  1. Background. The Finance Officers Group (FOG) has sponsored the development of a USGS Flashpoint application. Flashpoint will be used as a data entry and inquiry front-end to FFS for division financial personnel. The primary target user community is division personnel performing RDE. The Flashpoint application provides standard data entry documents to be used by all divisions. For example, obligation documents will be entered in Flashpoint with a transaction code of 8O for all divisions, rather than 4O for WRD, 7O for GD, etc. Transition guidelines are in order to handle the change over from division-specific RDE documents to 8* documents.

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  2. Preparation of USGS Flashpoint Application. USGS has provided funding to the National Business Center (NBC) to develop the USGS Flashpoint application. Individuals from each division have been pilot testing the Flashpoint application since February 1999. At this point, the only outstanding issue being addressed is finding an easier way for the pixel settings to be adjusted for the large monitors used by WRD personnel. USGS plans to implement Flashpoint software effective the week of June 21st. Each Division will determine when and if they implement this fiscal year.

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  3. New RDE Personnel. Plans have been made to implement RDE within the National Mapping Division (NMD) this fiscal year. Training dates have been set in June, July, and August for the various NMD sites. Plans are also underway to implement RDE within the Office of Program Support (OPS) headquarters offices (in Reston, VA). Training dates for OPS have not yet been established. Since these organizations (NMD and OPS-Reston) will be implementing RDE for the first time, there is no need for a transition plan from division-specific documents to the 8* RDE documents. These RDE users will start using Flashpoint and the 8* data entry documents immediately after training has been accomplished.

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  4. Flashpoint Training for Existing RDE Users. In conjunction with the trips scheduled for NMD RDE training, plans are being made to also provide Flashpoint training for personnel from the other divisions at the end of these visits. This training will be targeted for experienced RDE users, and will not be the same as the RDE (complete) training offered for NMD personnel. While the details are still being worked out, it is anticipated that Flashpoint training will be provided during the summer months in Reston, VA, Denver, CO, and Menlo Park, CA. In that Flashpoint is an easy-to-use form of data entry to FFS, not all division RDE users will want or need the training that will be offered.

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  5. Transition to RDE via Flashpoint. The attached table is a list of issues associated with the transition from RDE to Flashpoint. One facet of the Flashpoint implementation for existing RDE sites that will have some ripple effects is the switch from division-specific documents (i.e., transaction codes that start with the division number, such as 3O, 4O, 6O, and 7O obligation documents) to generic RDE documents (e.g., 8O for obligation documents from all divisions). When Flashpoint is implemented, users will exclusively use the 8* documents except for modifications and cancellations to existing RDE documents. There will, however, still be outstanding documents with the division-specific transaction codes that need to be liquidated under Flashpoint. Based on the Flashpoint implementation date, users will need to determine which type of document to reference (e.g., a payment referencing an RDE obligation) when entering documents in Flashpoint. Also, during year-end close-out, division financial personnel will need to deal with two different sets of transaction codes that were used during the year (e.g., reviewing obligation balances, processing documents in accounting period 13, etc. Based on the policy issued by each division, OFM will process the appropriate changes in FFS (security privileges for RDE users, document numbering tables, etc.) to coincide with the division’s implementation plan for Flashpoint.

Issues to be Considered

for Transition to RDE via Flashpoint

 

 

Transition Issue

 

Comments

 

1. Document Referencing. Users will need to know if the document being referenced was established with an 8* document (Flashpoint) or a division-specific document (original RDE approach).

 

The primary impact is with the RDE users processing payments referencing obligations.

 

2. Modifications and Cancellations. The original method of RDE will still need to be used when modifying or canceling a document established with the division-specific transaction code. (No new documents should be established with these transaction codes, however, once an RDE site switches to Flashpoint).

 

This requirement exists regardless of the implementation date chosen.

 

3. Year-end Processing. Special arrangements are made at year-end to ensure RDE (and other) documents are processed in the correct fiscal year. As Flashpoint is implemented, the process gets more complex to ensure that the 8* documents are properly included in the FFS table changes that are required during closeout.

 

The process is much cleaner for year-end if a division is using all 8* document or all division-specific documents, rather than both.

 

4. Reporting. Any reports that select records for a division based on the transaction code will need to be changed to select based on other criteria (e.g., the first digit of the cost center).

 

Two Crystal Reports for GD will need to be modified.

 

5. FFS Hotline Support. OFM personnel answering the FFS hotline will need to be aware of problems associated with the transition from one set of transaction codes to another, and be prepared to answer user’s questions that are as a result of this transition.

 

 

 

6. Document Numbering. For RDE obligation documents based on the OAFA purchase order number format, the potential for duplicate document numbers exist when all divisions are using the 8O transaction code.

 

These issues will be addressed during training.

 

7. Division Financial Systems. AIS, AIMS, and TABS systems administrators should be aware of the transition to 8* documents, and be prepared for any potential impact on their systems.