November 15, 1999

MEMORANDUM No. NCAS-00-0006

To: Chief Fiscal Officers
Vice Chancellors

From: Edward Renfrow
State Controller

Subject: 1999 Financial Systems Master Plan

The Office of the State Controller is pleased to provide the agencies of the State of North Carolina with an updated version of our Financial Systems Master Plan. This important document communicates information about the North Carolina Accounting System (NCAS) and the role of statewide accounting in North Carolina. The OSC was assisted in this project by PricewaterhouseCoopers, LLP.

The current version of the Financial System Master Plan (FSMP) replaces the version that was published on March 7, 1997. This revision contains several important updates to our approach and vision for statewide accounting business initiatives. Changes in the user community for NCAS and the continuing evolution of information technology have precipitated a need to update this document.

Changes to the FSMP are outlined in the following paragraphs:

Section 2 –NCAS Project Approach has been revised to include the NCAS Business Requirements and Business Overview, which was a separate section (Section 3 in the 1997 FSMP). This particular chapter has been updated to reflect current capabilities of the NCAS as well as other business requirements that would be incorporated into a future system. This section also includes a description of the current project initiatives affecting the NCAS.

Section 3 –Future Evolution of the NCAS has been added in place of Section 4 (NCAS Technical Architecture) in the 1997 FSMP. This section describes the State’s current technical direction, the emerging technologies which are the drivers in this evolution, the environmental factors affecting the NCAS and future project initiatives being considered in response to the emerging and present technologies.

Section 4 – Impacts and Benefits of the NCAS- This section has been updated to reflect the impacts and benefits of future initiatives and the associated risks.

The Appendices have been revised to clarify the uniform information requirements of the NCAS for primary and secondary agencies and to include a current list of the components of the State of North Carolina Financial Reporting Entity.

The Office of the State Controller looks forward to working with the NCAS user community to continually improve the business environment and functionality of the NCAS. For your convenience, the entire Financial Systems Master Plan can be found on the OSC Web Page at the following address: http:///

If you have any questions regarding this updated version of the Financial Systems Master Plan, please contact Don Waugh (981-5465) or Zeke Partin (981-5420) at the Office of the State Controller.

To:	Chief Fiscal Officers Vice Chancellors
From:	Edward Renfrow State Controller
Subject:	1999 Financial Systems Master Plan