A Newsletter From the Core-CT Project

October 2002

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The Benefits of Core-CT

Less than a year from now, Core-CT will be up and running. Though the day may seem far off, it's not too early to start picturing what the new system will be like.

For starters, we know that we will be entering transactions on Core-CT and that in most cases the system will make changes to the state's official records. This single database will track information ranging from agency budgets, to personnel lists, to the name of your health insurance provider along with many other types of information that help the state conduct its business.

How does this compare to the situation we have today? Currently many business transactions are begun on paper. These transactions might have to be signed off by somebody else - maybe each needs three or four sign-offs before being considered ready. When the paper is final, it may then be forwarded for data entry (in some cases by a third party with a cost attached) into an interface for a legacy system such as APS or the Comptroller's Central Accounting System. Or it may reach these major central systems through an agency's own accounting or human-resource system via another interface. It may be uploaded into one of many databases that include similar information without the information necessarily agreeing among these separate systems: A change may affect one database while leaving the other untouched. This scenario has worried state policymakers and IT professionals for years and, combined with other factors such as the age of some of the large central systems, was the impetus for Core-CT.

Core-CT will run on the web, with the look and feel of your browser (familiar to many of you), rather than on separate legacy system screens. As we know, some of these programs are not exactly user-friendly. With Core-CT, you will mostly point and click. You will enter HR, payroll and financial data only once. It will reside in one database only. When Phase 2 of the project is complete, you will be able to make simple inquiries by yourself. Also in Phase 2, Employee Self Service will include time entry for many employees. And you will be able to make direct queries from your own desktop, without having to talk to a programmer about the report you want.

Top state managers in Central agencies will be able to report across agency lines, looking at programs from a higher level than before. And because PeopleSoft often upgrades its software based on input from customers like the State of Connecticut, we will benefit from ongoing improvements in the base product.

Core-CT is divided into two sections, HRMS (Human Resources Management System, essentially what we currently think of as various Human Resources systems and functions, Time and Attendance, Payroll, and Benefits) and Financials (the business office functions in most agencies). HRMS will accomplish the tasks listed here (a link) and Financials will perform the functions listed here.

Note that Financials will be the first set of modules to be implemented. The date for financial applications to go live is July 1, 2003. (HRMS will follow in three months.) Financials training will begin in the spring of 2003, only a few months from now.

Detailed statements of HRMS module benefits and Financials module benefits, listing the benefits by task, can be found on this site via the highlighted links. In addition, the impacts of each business process, as discussed in the recent business process workshops, are listed in the following documents: Financials impacts and HRMS impacts. Core-CT Connection urges you to delve into these documents to learn more about the capabilities of our new system.

A brief discussion of the largest points of change and benefit for each area follows.

FINANCIALS

The major benefits to Financials processing also derive from standardization. The state will have one vendor file, one item file, one accounting database. Key information will simply be copied from form to form (Core-CT page to Core-CT page) automatically, rather than having to be laboriously double-entered.

Under Core-CT, Financials transactions that are recorded into the Core-CT database will not be transmitted to a reviewer at the Comptroller's Office. With automated and supervisory edits, these transactions will be entered into the official state accounting database - Core-CT - without requiring a central-agency review.

A major redesign of the state's chart of accounts - called Chartfields in Core-CT - will allow not only more detailed reporting on many agency functions, but also will allow tracking of statewide expenditures on a programmatic basis. Access to this information will be in real time; most regular system-based reports will be available in electronic format. (Ad-hoc reporting will significantly increase accessibility of all financial information at all levels of state government.) The number of accounting-string code characters in the legacy accounting system is 36, while Core-CT uses 72 characters, including 23 for agency use.

General Ledger: This Core-CT module will allow for calculations and reporting in three accounting methods (cash, accrual, and modified accrual). For central agencies, the closing process and major end-of-year reports will be further automated. Central and line agencies will be operating from one budget, so there will be no conflicts between the two major legacy systems: SAAAS and the Comptroller's Accounting System.

Purchasing, e-Procurement: Purchasing will be from searchable on line "catalogs" of pre-qualified items, with built-in guides for the user. Electronic requisitions will be created automatically (and funds pre-encumbered) when doing such "ordering." Requisitions will then be forwarded to the correct approval authority. Approval will create an electronic purchase order and budget dollars will be encumbered, again automatically. (Creation of this purchase order will be significantly faster than current processing allows.) Paper purchase orders will mostly be replaced by electronic means. And when goods are received, agencies will use the purchase order to record the shipment and send an automated electronic receipt to Accounts Payable. Core-CT will capture begin and end dates and maximum amounts for contracts and include such data for automated checks. Requests for Quotations (RFQs) will be created from previous RFQs or Requisitions, and successful quotes will be turned into purchase orders or contracts, reducing data entry. Users will be able to set defaults for many values related to the purchaser, user, requestor, buyer and item to simplify data entry. Reporting on purchasing trends will help the state negotiate volume discounts.

Accounts Payable: Accounts Payable will have an automated match between vendor invoices, purchase orders and receiving reports, resulting in fewer errors. Another benefit is that users will be able to inquire and report on vendor transactions on line. Purchasing card processing will be accommodated in Core-CT. And there will be no system downtime to accommodate month-end processing as current legacy systems require.

Accounts receivable: Agencies will have the ability to record and reconcile deposits in Core-CT. In phase 1, most agencies with customer billing systems will continue using their current databases. Some Federal grants will be identified as receivables. In phase 2, based upon need, agencies will implement full billing functionality.

Functionality in Grants, Asset Management, Inventory and Projects will be addressed at a later date, close to Phase 2, when they will be implemented.

HRMS

As a Core-CT user, the data that you user enter into the system will be recorded into the official state database then and there. Except with position processing, no central agencies will be making final edits on agency input. Agencies will enter - and maintain - HR, benefits, and tax information, and will set up their own employees' time and labor information, directly onto the system. In fact, everyone's information must be in the system correctly, and on time, before they can be paid.

With Core-CT, information that needed to be entered often as many as 3 times - into the MSA Payroll system, into the Automated Personnel System (APS), and into the agency's time and attendance system - will now simply be added once and maintained in one place.

Below are brief descriptions of some of the changes and advantages of the new system. (Again, for further detail, see the documents linked above.)

Payroll: There will be no separate set-up for employees in payroll - an employee's information will be entered once in the Human Resources (HR) module. Leave balances (for employees whose agencies are using time and labor), benefit plan data, and taxable gross information, will be printed on check stubs or advices of deposit. Core-CT will store all payroll information in an historical archive, starting from the go-live date of October 2003 (from data entered in September). The agency payroll office will be able to preview any payment, such as a large accumulated vacation payout, before the check is issued. And for the first time, garnishments will be processed centrally, relieving agencies of an administrative burden.

Benefits: This process, by which employees receive various benefits such as life and health insurance, will be automated for the first time. Rather than having a clerk manually looking up an employee's eligibility for certain levels of benefits, this will be done automatically based on that employee's profile in Core-CT. Begin and end dates of various coverages will function similarly. Changes in elections and new enrollments will be done using electronic forms and confirmation statements will be generated to validate the changes. In general, these forms will help employees better understand their benefits, leading to fewer inquiries and better decisions.

Time and Labor: Agency timekeepers will be able to view and correct time entries daily. Agencies will be able to track time by task if required and allocate costs accordingly. Time reporting rules will ensure adherence to statutes and contracts. For agencies using Time and Labor, leave balances will be calculated and will be available for printing on the check stub or advice of deposit. Agencies will be able to assign employees to a schedule to facilitate time entry.

Human Resources: Fifteen processes comprise the Human Resource module, beginning with select and recruit, and followed by hiring. When an employee is hired, information on his/her benefits, time and labor and payroll status will all be entered in one place: Core-CT. (Some information entered during the application process can even be used to save time.) An employee's appointment and transaction history will be easily viewable. A centralized applicant database will be accessible to all agencies; people will be able to apply for jobs on line. Small agencies will benefit by having the required monthly position report automated. And Core-CT will help agencies perform seniority calculations.

All in all, Core-CT will make many processes in state government simpler and will add functions in several areas. The new system will truly move the state's computer processing of human-resource and financial information into the vanguard of such applications among all state governments.

Core-CT Connection urges you to view the detailed summaries of system benefits included in the other pages of this edition.

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