Impacts of the NCAS
and Future Implementation Strategies
The purpose of the NCAS
is to provide a comprehensive, integrated accounting environment that supports
the State’s ability to provide accurate financial and budgetary information
in a timely manner to users. The users are program managers, clerks,
fiscal managers, purchasing officers, State executives, legislators, and
other persons who need access to financial information. The NCAS
is composed of a set of policies, procedures, key data elements, and reporting
requirements that together define the statewide accounting environment.
Impacts associated with the
current NCAS implementation are very similar to the impacts associated
with newer business strategies currently being considered for the NCAS.
Some of the key impacts include:
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Re-thinking of business processes
and organizations at the central management and agency levels and adoption
of "best practices" for the State enterprise.
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Re-thinking of State accounting
and budgetary processes at the central management and agency levels.
-
Creating an environment where
new concepts are accepted and "the way we've always done it" is cast aside.
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Consolidation of information
databases, retooling of information access techniques, and the elimination
of the paper "security blanket."
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Creating an information access
environment that supports the analysis of financial and operational information
in new ways, improving the ability of agency program and agency and central
financial managers to make more effective decisions.
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Investment costs in new technology
and training.
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Investment in implementation
resources.
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Investment costs in new central
management functionality and infrastructure.
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Refinement/modification/replacement
of central management systems that rely on or provide information to the
NCAS.
-
Refinement/modification/replacement
of agency management subsystems that rely on or provide information to
the NCAS.
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Opportunity to streamline processes,
reduce redundant system support costs, provide automated business workflows,
and create a new cooperative environment for financial application management.
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Managing the impact of change
on agency and central management staff resulting from new business processes,
system flows, and technology improvements.