FAST UPDATE

UPDATES FROM DLGS ON :

FINANCIAL AUTOMATION SUBMISSION TRACKING (FAST)

MISSION & VISION

• The FAST mission changes the internal and external environment in which users communicate the various components of data (Phase 1 Financial Reporting) used in Local Governments.

• The Future of FAST will evolve as we build modules that allow the exchange of data used in improving fiscal analysis for various scientific, social, and economic interpretations or presentation.

• We will look to work smarter not harder

• FAST will increase the efficiency in the collection and dissemination of local government financial information.

A LOOK TOWARDS THE FUTURE – FAST UNIVERSITY

• Training as the Portal Evolves – Webinars, Support from our Affiliates

• Support – End-User Documentation, Helpful Hints, DCA HelpDesk

• Versions and Updates

• Create “Tool Boxes” for Users

DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYTICS

• Each field in FAST is a unique data point

• Information sharing

• Trending

• At Risk

CONCENTRATION

• Generated Reports

• FCOA

• Validation

GENERATED REPORTS• The Official Documents

• ADS, SDS, AFS, Introduced/Amended/Adopted Budgets – Disable editing and identify submitted documents

• Delete working drafts or unwanted, unfiled documents

• Storing Submitted Reports, “Fiscal Reports”

• Review for outdated or unused information found in the documents

• Create Table of Contents to remove legacy “Sheet #’s”

• Overall Clean up of Report Generation• Fonts

• Formatting & Alignment

• Correct truncation and other placement of characters

FCOA CODES

• FCOA code determines an item’s section• Click “Add” in any section on a page to add new code• Deactivate instead of Edit

• Review and revise current list of FCOA codes – Grants, Utilities• 55- for Utility; 54- for Open Space

• “Class Codes” for organization by municipality structure• User Defined – Departments for your organization

• General Government - CAFR 20 – Administration, Finance, Tax Assessment, Tax Collection• Public Safety – CAFR 25 – Police, Fire, EMS, OEM

VALIDATION - ADS/SDS

• Equalized Valuations to Populate and adjust from year to year

• Filtering Bond Groups

• Regional and Local School Logic

• CFO Certification Prior to Submission

• Alerts for debt limits

• SDS – Pull data from last filed ADS/SDS**unless withdrawn

VALIDATION - AFS

• Trial Balance • Re-organize according to standard order

• Lock-down accounts with linked/calculated accounts

• Allow for adding of specialized accounts

• Separation of Deferred Charges and Emergency’s according to title

VALIDATION - AFS

• RUT – Insert option to submit with Budget

• Allow for Certifications by other officials – Tax Collector, Assessor’s prior to CFO Submission.

• Correct any calculated fields

• Validate for obvious calculations prior to CFO submission

VALIDATION - BUDGET• Insert logic for Budget Process

• Introduced/Amended/Adopted

• Advertisement and Public Hearing

• Auto-populate Cap Calculations to Explanatory Statement

• Lock down calculated data fields – Tax Rates, Totals, etc.

• Add check box for new Revenues

• Include Amendments Menu: Chapter 159, Change of Title and Text, Emergency/Special Emergency

• Insert Logic for 3 or 6 year Capital Plan

NAVIGATION – ADS AND SDS

• ADS• Summary: CFO lookup, Certification of ADS

• Other Bonds, Notes, and Loans

• Supplemental Debt Statements

• SDS• Summary: Certification, Net Debt per ADS, Addition of Bond Ordinances

• Regional School

• Notes, Attachments, and Report Generation

NAVIGATION - AFS

• AFS Certifications are on Affidavit Cert. & Report of Financial Assistance

• General Budget Revenues & Allocation of Current Tax Collections (159’s)

• Utilities

NAVIGATION – BUDGET AND UFB• Budget

• Budget Certifications – Roster of Officials, Budget Publication Details, Approval/Adoption

• Tax Rates (UFB-1) – Valuation needed to calculate

• RUT 1and RUT 2 • RUT 1 is AFS “Sheet 25”

• RUT 2 requires entry of full budget amount (Total Appropriations plus RUT amount)

• Utilities: Information must be entered on Explanatory Statement tab to populate to Summary of Appropriations Expended and Canceled

• User-Friendly Budget• UFB-1 (Tax Rates): Actual or Estimated based on amounts entered on Tax Rates tab

• UFB-2 (Revenues Summary): Displays in the Report

• UFB-7 (Personnel Costs): Data Entry tab

HELPFUL HINTSGeneral:

• Only the CFO can create/submit document

• Generating reports may take a few minutes (refresh, navigate, click save)

• Ensure all officials are associated users or contacts

HELPFUL HINTS – DEBT STATEMENTS

Annual Debt Statement:• Bond Group I refers to left-side navigation tabs

• Bond Group II refers to a section

• Bond Group III refers to a subsection

• Use the roman numerals as a guide

Supplemental Debt Statement:• ADS must be filed to create an SDS

• The SDS file may take a few minutes to appear

HELPFUL HINTS – AFSAnnual Financial Statement:

• Complete Certifications on the Affidavit Cert. and Report of Fin. Assistance

• Editing a Linked Record will override the calculation

• Enter the Fund name and the Bank name on Cash Rec.

• Utility sections now display as individual tabs

• Order for completion of the document

HELPFUL HINTS - BUDGET

Budget:• Tax Rates mimics UFB-1

• Any Add button may be used to add new items

• RUT 1 and 2

• Utility FCOA: 55-; Open Space FCOA: 54-

• UFB-8 Health Benefits: Employee Cost Sharing as a POSITIVE

• Attachments

• Employee counts allow for fractions

FUTURE MODULES AND TIMELINE

• County Budget• Pilot: 2019

• Required Use: 2020

• Fire District Budget• Pilot: 2019

• Required Use: 2020

• Authority Budgets to follow

FOR SUPPORT:DCA HELPDESK

• Email: helpdesk@dca.nj.gov

• Call: (609) 292-8134

• Please include:

• Name

• Municipality

• Document/Module

• Question or Issue