Section 15849.22.

(a) (1) To serve the best interest of the state by optimizing the financial business management of the state, the Department of Finance, the Controller, the Treasurer, and the Department of General Services shall collaboratively develop, implement, utilize, and maintain the FISCal system. This effort will ensure best business practices by embracing opportunities to reengineer the state's business processes and will encompass the management of resources and funds in the areas of budgeting, accounting, procurement, cash management, financial management, financial reporting, cost accounting, asset accounting, project accounting, and grant accounting.

(2) (A) Except as specified in subparagraph (B), the FISCal Project Office in the Department of Finance shall implement the requirements of paragraph (1).

(B) Upon the establishment of an Office of the Financial Information System for California, the Office of the Financial Information System for California shall implement the requirements of paragraph (1), and the FISCal Project Office in the Department of Finance shall no longer implement those requirements.

(b) (1) All state departments and agencies shall use the FISCal system, or, upon approval from the office, a department or agency shall be permitted to interface its system with the FISCal system. The FISCal system shall replace any existing central or departmental systems duplicative of the functionality of the FISCal system.

(2) The FISCal system shall first be developed and used in partnership with a select number of departments, including the officers and departments identified in subdivision (a). Once the FISCal system has developed end-to-end processes that will meet the financial management needs of all state departments and agencies and have proven to be effective, operationally efficient, and secure, the FISCal system shall be implemented, in phases, at all remaining state departments and agencies, or, upon approval of the office, a department or agency shall be permitted to interface its system with the FISCal system.

(c) The Legislature intends that the FISCal system meet the following objectives:

(1) Replace the state's aging legacy financial management systems and eliminate fragmented and diverse reporting by implementing standardized financial management processes and systems across all departments and control agencies. For purposes of this paragraph, "financial management" means accounting, budgeting, cash management, asset accounting, vendor management, and procurement.

(2) Increase competition by promoting business opportunities through the use of electronic bidding, online vendor interaction, and automated vendor functions.

(3) Maintain a central source for financial management data to reduce the time and expense of vendors, departments, and agencies collecting, maintaining, and reconciling redundant data.

(4) Increase investment returns through timely and accurate monitoring of cash balances, cashflow forecasting, and timing of receipts and disbursements.

(5) Improve fiscal controls and support better decisionmaking by state managers and the Legislature by enhancing the quality, timeliness, consistency, and accessibility of financial management information through the use of powerful data access tools, standardized data, and financial management reports.

(6) Improve access and transparency of California's financial management information allowing the implementation of increased auditing, compliance reporting, and fiscal accountability while sharing information between the public, the Legislature, external stakeholders, state, federal, and local agencies.

(7) Automate manual processes by providing the ability to electronically receive and submit financial management documents and data between agencies, departments, banks, vendors, and other government entities.

(8) Provide online access to financial management information resulting in a reduction of payment or approval inquiries, or both.

(9) Improve the state's ability to preserve, access, and analyze historical financial management information to reduce the workload required to research and prepare this information.

(10) Enable the state to more quickly implement, track, and report on changes to financial management processes and systems to accommodate new information such as statutory changes and performance information.

(11) Reduce the time, workload, and costs associated with capturing and projecting revenues, expenditures, and program needs for multiple years and scenarios, and for tracking, reporting, and responding to legislative actions.

(12) Track purchase volumes and costs by vendor and commodity code or service code to increase strategic sourcing opportunities, reduce purchase prices, and capture total state spending data.

(13) Reduce procurement cycle time by automating purchasing authority limits and approval dependencies, and easing access to goods and services available from existing sources, including, but not limited to, using leveraged procurement agreements.

(14) Streamline the accounts receivable collections process and allow for offset capability which will provide the ability for increased cash collection.

(15) Streamline the payment process and allow for faster vendor payments that will reduce late payment penalty fees paid by the state.

(16) Improve role-based security and workflow authorization by capturing near real-time data from the state's human resources system of record.

(17) Implement a stable and secure information technology infrastructure.

(d) The Legislature recognizes that the FISCal system will be developed in the departments listed in paragraph (1) of subdivision (a) and in a series of waves described more fully in the Approved FISCal Project documents.

(e) (1) Throughout the development of the FISCal system, the Bureau of State Audits shall independently monitor the FISCal system as deemed appropriate by the State Auditor. The bureau's independent monitoring of the FISCal system shall include, but not be limited to, the following duties:

(A) Monitoring the contract for independent project oversight and independent verification and validation services relating to the FISCal system.

(B) Assessing whether concerns about the FISCal project raised by the independent project oversight and independent verification and validation services are being addressed by the office and the steering committee of the office.

(C) Assessing whether the FISCal system is progressing timely and within its budget.

(2) The bureau shall report, at a minimum, annually prior to January 10, on the FISCal system activities that the bureau deems appropriate to monitor pursuant to this subdivision in a manner consistent with Chapter 6.5 (commencing with Section 8543) of Division 1.

(3) Nothing in this subdivision shall supersede or compromise the Chief Information Officer's oversight authority and responsibilities with respect to the FISCal system.

(Repealed and added by Stats. 2010, Ch. 727, Sec. 4. Effective October 19, 2010.)