March 22, 20 II

The Honorable Darrell Issa

Chairman
NATldNAL&
COMMUNITY
SERVICEtut
Committee on Oversight and Government Reform
House of Representati ves
2157 Rayburn House Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20515
Dear Chairman Issa:
In a March 8, 201 1, letter you requested information related to the electronic systems
in use at the Corporation for Nat ional and Community Service (CNCS) to support business
and accounting functions; grants and loan management; contracts management; and reporting
to govermnent-wide systems such as USASpending.gov and Recovery.gov to assist you in
your oversight eff0l1s. I have attached the information requested as questions and answers
following the format used in your letter. The data covers CNCS' accounting, grants, and
contracts management systems. CNCS does not provide loans or have any loan activity.
If you have any questions or require further information, please do not hesitate to call
me at (202) 606-6980.
Sincerely,
William Anderson
Chief Financial Officer
Corporation/or National and Community Service
cc: The Honorable Elij ah Cummings, Ranking Member
Committee on Oversight and Government Reform
AttaclU11ent
1201 New Yor k Avenue, NW Washington, DC 20525
202-606-5000 www.nationaiservice.org
Seni or Corps AmeriCorps Learn and Serve America
Attachment
i. identifj, and briefly describe each o[your agency's business and accounting systems. i[
separate divisions. bureaus, or o[flces o[your agency use separate systems, identify
which divisions, bureaus, or o./fices use each system.
CNCS operati ons are carried out through the following business and accounting systems,
All unit s within CNCS utili ze these systems. There are no separate division, bureau, or
office business and accounting systems in use.
CNCS SYSTEMS
Momentum Financials
Momentum Financials is a commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) system used to carry out
C lCS' accounting and acqui siti on processes in a completely integrated maTmer.
Momentum performs core federa l financia l system functions and is certified on extensive
federal financial system requirements. Momentum appli es open Web technology
standards to simpli ty system deployment and enable interoperabi lit y with external
systems and is portable across hardware platforms, operating and database management
systems, and communicati ons infrastructures, Momentum meets the stri ctest federal
securit y requirements with built-in appli cati on securi ty best practices for identificati on,
authenti cation, authorizati on, privacy, integrity, non-repudiati on, monitoring and
configurabl e securit y business rules. The acquisiti ons module is full y integrated and
includes purchase order management, contract admini stration, procurement cards, vendor
self'service, soli citati on management, and strat egic sourcing, CNCS' appli cation is
hosted by an approved shared service provider that services CNCS and seven other
federal agencies.
eGrants/eSPAN System
The eGrants/eSPAN system, developed by CNCS, handles both grants management and
member management processes, It consists of four integrated modules:
eGrants II - eGrants II is a Web-enabled external grantee appl icati on and
managementireporting system. It all ows grantees and sub-grantees to apply, amend, and
submit their applicati ons based on Not ices of Funds Avai labili ty (NOFA). Grantees use
the system to enter and submit their Federal Financial Reports (FFRs), Program Progress
Reports (PPRs), as well as program specific report ing.
eGrants Classic - eGrants Classic in an internal staff appl ication used to manage the
grantee appl icati on process from submi ssion, review, award, performance and closeout.
Other processes that are managed through eGrants Classic include state profil e report
generation for Congress and the monitoring and oversight of grants.
eSPAN - eSPAN is the central appl ication used to manage AmeriCorps members during
their service, payroll for VrST A and NCCC members, stipend payments and post-service
benefits (education awards).
MI'Amel'iCol'ps POl'tallTl'ust POl'tal - The My AmeriCorps Portal is a self-service,
central location for applications, candidates, members, and alumni to go for program
information, get answers to questi ons, fill out forms, access benefits and contact other
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members and alumni. It provides a streamlined system of processes touching on all
aspects of the member li fecycle, from recruitment through enrollment, service, close of
service, and alumni support. In additi on, it provides Corporati on staff, as well as Proj ect
Sponsors and Grantees. with a consistent interface for gat hering necessary data from and
about members, run standard reports and maintains an audit trail.
IBudget
IBudget is a commercial off-t he-shelf system for Performance Budget preparation and
execution.
Salary Jl1allagemellt System
Salary Management System (SMS) is a salary management and forecasting tool used to
analyze payroll trends and activity.
EXTERNAL SYSTEMS
Departmellt of Health alld Humall Services, Paymellt Mallagemellt System
CNCS grantees are paid tlHough the Department of Health and Human Services'
Payment Management System (HHS PMS). HHS PMS is a government -wide system
which allows grantees to draw funding and report expenses.
Gelleral Services Admillistratioll, e2 Travel System
The e2 Travel System is a web-based integrated travel service tool. It integrates travel
authori zation wit h self-service reservation and voucher systems, allowing end-to-end
travel management including plalming, authorizing, arranging, and processing official
Federal travel on-line. The e2 Travel System is a GSA cont racted, government- wide
system admini stered by Carl son Wagonlit.
Departmellt of Agriculture, Natiollal Fillallce Cellter, Payroll System
The Department of Agri culture, National Finance Center's (NFC) payroll system
provides benefits processing, payroll , payroll accounting, tax reporting, employee debt
management, and standard and ad-hoc reporting services. The Entry Processing Inquiry
and Correction (EPIC) module is used to process personnel acti ons, benefits, and payroll-
related documents.
Departmellt of TreaSIll)I, Bureau of Public Debt, Web TA System
WebTA is a Web-based time and anendance (T &A) software appli cation designed to
capture hours worked, leave used and accounting information on a bi weekl y basis. Public
Debt, Admini strati ve Resource Center (ARC) is a Shared Service Provider (SSP) and
hosts WebTA for Public Debt and franchi se customers.
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2. Explain holl' the bllsiness and accollnting systellls identified in/'esponse to Reqllest No. j
interact with each othe/'.
Momelltum Fillallcials
Momentum Financial s (Momentum) is the central business and accounting system and is
the system of record for CNCS. The eSPAN/eGrants system feeds data into the
Momentum Financial s appli cation through a near real-ti me electronic interface . The
I-IHS PMS system, the NFC Payroll system. and the e2 Travel System feed data to
Momentum via electronic data file transfers. IBudget data is loaded into Momentum
manuall y.
eGrallts/eSPAN System
The eGrants/eSPAN system electronicall y updates the Momentum system for Trust
payments made to instituti ons on behal f of members who have earned educati on awards.
The eGrants/eSPAN system is linked to Momentum Financial s with a real-t ime interface
for recording commitments and obl igations in Momentum as grant acti vity occurs in
eGrants/eSPAN. All commitment, obli gati on or expense informati on for grants that is
di spl ayed within eGrants/eSPAN is queri ed di rect ly from Momentum in real time.
IBudget
The lBudget information is used to prepare the appropri ated budget for use in the
Momentum system. Gudget data is transferred manuall y from lI3udget into the
Momentum upon receipt of an apporti onment fro m OMB.
SMS
SMS is a salary management and forecasting tool used to analyze payroll trends and
act ivity. Data ti'om the ' FC Payroll system is entered via electroni c fil e transfer weekly.
HHS Paymellt Mallagemellt System
CNCS grant ees are paid through the Department of Heal th and Human Services'
Payment Management System. New grant awards are loaded into HHS PMS from
Momentum daily via electronic fil e transfer. Grantee draw downs of funds are loaded
into Momentum from HHS PMS dail y via electroni c fil e transfer. Grant ee reports of
expendi tures are loaded into Momentum twice monthly via electroni c file transfer.
e2 Travel System
The e2 Travel system updates Momentum with travel vouchers for empl oyee travel
through a near real-t ime electroni c interface. The vouchers include the nature of the costs
and the vendor to be paid. Voucher payments are spl it between the employee and the
travel card company.
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NFC Payroll System
Data files from the NFCs Payroll System are loaded weekl y through electronic fi le
transfer into the Moment um System to capture payroll costs.
ARC WebTA System
The attendance and accounti ng data from the WebTA system is loaded through a
biweekly electronic file transfer into FCs Payroll system as the basis for paying
employee payroll.
3. For each system identified in response fO Request No. I. sfat e whether in/onnationfound
inthm system is regularly or periodically submilled to any of the government-wide
accounting .systems maintained by the Department of the TreaslllY. e.g. GFRS FACTS 1.
FACTS II. IFCS, etc .. and e>\plain how and at what intervals those submissions occur.
including descriptions of both manual and automated processes.
Momentum is CNCS' system of record for the general ledger and is used to provide data
for FACTS I, FACTS II , and GFRS. Grant, travel, award and other CNCS data from
subsidiary systems is integrated in Momentum for reporti ng purposes and reported to
government-wide systems as follows:
FACTS I - CNCS provides information to FACTS I on an annual basis. In the past we
have entered all FACTS I information manuall y based on a series of queries run against
Momentum. For fi scal 20 II an automated script has been developed that creates a file to
load the financial information to FACTS I directl y through electronic fil e transfer. The
narrat ive informati on is still entered to FACTS I manuall y.
FACTS II - CNCS provides information to FACTS II on a quarterl y basis. CNCS runs a
script which creates a fi le to load the financia l information di rectly to FACTS II via
electronic fil e transfer. I f there are any edi t probl ems once the fil e is loaded, the
necessary adjustments are entered to Momentum. ew tri al balances are generated from
Momentum. Adjust ments to FACTS II after the ini tial fi le transfer are posted manuall y
from the updated tri al balances.
GFRS - CNCS provides information to GFRS on a mont hly basis by submitting the
Statement of Transactions (SF-224). CNCS runs a script against Momentum whi ch
generates a series of fi les properly formatted to load directly to GFRS via electroni c fi le
transfer. Thi s ensures consistency between C CS' general ledger and the activit y
submitted on its mont hl y Statement of Trans acti ons.
IFCS - CNCS performs a quarterl y reconci li ation of investment activi ty recorded in
Momentum with the investment act ivity reported by the Bureau of Public Debt in IFCS.
CNCS developed report s correspondi ng to the required information for agencies to enter
into IFCS to assist with the reconcili ati ons. CNCS uses these reports to identi fY the
necessary information for IFCS and then manuall y enters the results into IFCS.
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-I. For each 5ystem identified in response to Request No. I. state whether in{ormalion{ound
in that system is regularly 01' periodically submitted to the Office a/Management and
Budget's ("OivIB ") MAX In/ormation System. and explain how and at what il1lervals
those submissions occur. including descriptions o{both automated and manual
processes.
Momentum is CNCS' system of record for the general ledger and is used to provide data
to the MAX system at vari ous times during the fi scal year in accordance with OMB' s
schedul e.
MAX Scltedules - Various agency port ions of MAX schedul es are entered manuall y into
MAX by the budget office on an annual basis. There are a series of reports that have been
developed to run against Momentum to provide the necessary information.
Fillallcial Statemellts - Financial Statements are loaded into MAX each quarter via an
electronic fil e transfer. Momentum is the source of financial data for all of our principal
statements.
MAX Validatioll - Momentum is used to provide validati on data to MAX through the
F ACTS submi ssions to Treasury described in the response to question 3.
5. For each .Iystem idel1lified in response to Request No. I, describe recent. current. and
planned migration 01' modernization projects.
CNCS SYSTEMS
Momelltum Fil/{/Ilcials
Momentum Financials is a commercial off-the-shelf product. We are currentl y mi grating
from Momentum Version 6.1.5 to Momentum Vers ion 6.5. 1. Thi s upgrade is scheduled
to be completed in August of201 1 and wi ll not involve development. The Vers ion 6. 5.1
impl ement ati on will be stri ctl y off-t he-shelf.
eGml/fs/eSPAN System
CNCS has initi ated a review to streamline work flows and provide recommendations on
business processes. Thi s proj ect seeks to document at a hi gh level the current "as- is"
technology and provide recommendati ons on a future business process and techni cal
infrastructure to support it. Thi s business process redesign will potentiall y lead to new
requirements for the eGrants/eSPAN system. The re-engineering study and
recommendations are due to be completed in May 20 I I wit h the re-design
impl ementation phase to start in 20 12.
IBudget
The Department of Treas ury creat ed a Budget Formulati on and Execution Management
(BFEM) tool linking budget plann ing. formulat ion and execution information and has
made it avail able to ot her agencies under the line of business effort. CNCS is
implementi ng BFEM in fi scal 20 II and will retire the IBudget appl icati on.
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SMS
SMS is a commercial off-the-shelf product used to provide informati on on salary trends.
CNCS has no plans to upgrade this system.
EXTERNAL SYSTEMS
CNCS does not control the government-wide external systems that we use as a customer.
In each case, the other agencies can be contacted for upgrade, moderni zation, and
migration information.
6. /n addilion 10 your agency 's submissions 10 governmenl-wide accounling syslems
mainlained by Ihe Deparlmenl oflhe Treaswy and OMB, as described in response 10
Requesls Nos. 3 and 4, does your agency publish any oflhe same informal ion online for
public viewing? If so, describe how and in what formal lhal informal ion is published
On December 8, 2009, the White House issued the Open Governmenl Direclive which
required federal agencies to take immediate, specific steps to achieve key milestones in
transparency, pm1icipat ion, and coll aborat ion. The goal of the transparency plan is to
publi sh data about our ongoing operations and projects to help the public understand
CNCS and our act ivities. Over the past year, we establi shed a plan with concrete
milestones for achieving greater transparency.
That plan requires us to publish data on all aspects of our operations including grants,
member statisti cs, contract costs, and other operational costs. As pm of that plan,
information from the Momentum system, eGrants/eSPAN System and other subsidiary
systems are publi shed in many locations, including CNCS' program web pages, CNCS'
Recovery Act web page, Recovery.Gov, and Grants.Gov. For example, as part of our
effort to help the publi c understand the nature and breadth of our programs we make:
State Profile informat ion avai lable on the CNCS website at
http://www.nati onalservice.gov/about/role impact/state profi les.asp.
Information on grant awards can be found at
http://www.nationalservice.gov/about/openli ndex.asp.
Information regarding CNCS' Recovery Act activities can be found at
http: //recovery.nati onalservice.gov/overview.asp and at
http://www.nati onalservice.gov/about/openlindex.asp.
These data sets are publi shed in Excel or as pdfs as appropri ate.
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7. Identify and briefly describe each ')lstem that your agency uses to manage grants, direct
loans, and/or loan guarantees. I{separate divisions. bureaus. or o.ffices o.{ your agency
use separate systellls, identify II'hich divisions, bureaus, or oJfices use each system.
eGrallts/eSPAN System
CNCS does not provide loans or have any loan activity, The eGrants/eSPAN system
descri bed in the response to question I is used for grants management. The system
accepts grant proposals. manages the peer review process, awards grants, manages grant
monitori ng, and enables grant close-out. There are no separate division, bureau, or office
systems in use.
8. For each system identified in response to Request No. 7. explain holl' it interacts lVith any
business or accounting ')lstem identified in response to request No. I.
eGrallts/eSPAN System
The eGrants/eSPAN system electroni call y submits financial acti vit y transactions
(commitment and obli gati on) and receives a return code indi cating whether or not the
transaction was successfull y processed in Momentum. The ful l range of edits in
Momentum Financials is appli ed to any transact ions ini tiated from eGrants/eSPAN. All
commi tment, obli gation and expense data screens di splayed in eGrants/eSPA 1 are
provided by real time queries into Momentum.
9. For each ,ystem identified in re,ponse to Request NO. 7. state II'hether il1{ormation found
in that system is regularly or periodically sublllilled to the Catalogue o{ Federal
Domestic Assistance (CFDA). and describe how and at what intervals those submissions
occur, including descriptions o{both automated and manual processes.
Program information fro m the eGrants/eSPAN system is loaded into the CFDA through
electroni c fil e transfer. The information includes program name, program objecti ve, and
Treasury symbol. The information is confirmed manuall y via a websi te. Program
information is loaded annual ly.
10. For each ,ystem identified in response to Request No. 7, state II'hether in{ormationfound
in that system is regularly or periodically submilled to any of the government-lI'ide grants
management and reporting .1y.S1ems. e.g., FAADS, FAADS PLUS, etc., and describe holl'
and atll'hat intervals those submissions occur. including descriptions o{both manual and
automated processes.
Information contained in the eGrants/eSPAN and Momentum is loaded into the
USASpending.gov system in the FAADS-Plus format. The F AADS system ceased
accept ing new data inputs in February of20 11 . The data is loaded into
USASpending.gov by elect ronic file transfer within thirty days of award.
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II. For each .system identified in response to Request No. 7. describe recent. current. and
planned migration or modernization projects.
As discussed in the response to question 5, CNCS has init iated a review to streamline
work flows and provide recommendations on business processes. This project seeks to
document at a hi gh level the current "as- is" technology and provide recommendati ons on
a future business process and techni cal infrastructure to support it. Thi s business process
redesign will potential ly lead to new requirements for the eGrants/eSPAN system. The
re-engineering study and recommendati ons are due to be completed in May 20 II wit h the
re-design impl ementation phase to start in 20 12.
I2. In addition to your agency's submissions to governmeJ1l-wide grams management and
reporting systems described in response to Requests Nos. 9 and 10. does your agency
publish any oflhe same informalion online/or public viewing? Ifso. describe holV and
whal in/ormalion is published.
See response to question 6.
I3. Identifj' and briefly describe each syslem that your agency uses 10 manage conlracts. If
separate divisions. bureaus. or offices o/your agency use separate syslems, identify
which divisions. bureaus, or offices use each syslem.
As di scussed in the response to questi on I. C CS manages cont racts through the
acqui siti ons module of Momentum. The acqui sitions module is nIll y integrated and
includes purchase order management, contract admini stration, procurement cards, vendor
sel f service, solicitation management, and strategic sourcing.
I -I. For each system identified in re.sjJonse 10 Request No. 13. explain how il inleracts wilh
any business or accounting syslem idenlified in response 10 request No. I.
As discussed in the response to question I. the acquisitions module is full y integrated
with Momentum.
15. For each system idemified in response 10 Request No. 13. slale whether information
fo und in that system is regularly or periodically submifled 10 any o/the governll1eJ1l-wide
COJ1lraClll1anagelllent and reponing syslems. e.g. . FPDS. FPDS- NG. FAPIIS. etc .. and
describe how and al whal intervals those submissions occur. including descriptions 0/
both manual and aulomated processes.
Contract information is submitted to the FPDS/FPDS-NG system wit hin three days of
award. Currentl y, the procurement officer signs into the FPDS website to manuall y
submit the information. FPDS data is aut omaticall y moved into the USASpending.gov
website.
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16. For each ,ys/elll idemifled in response /0 Reques/ No. 13, describe recem. curren/, and
planned lI1igra/ion 01' moderniza/ion projec/s.
We are currentl y migrati ng from Momentum Version 6.1.5 to Momentum Version 6.5. 1.
This upgrade is scheduled to be completed in August of20 11 and will not involve
development. The version 6, 5, I implementation wi ll be strict ly off-t he-shelf
17. [n addi/ion /0 your agency's submissions /0 governmem-wide gran/s managemen/ and
repor/ing sys/ell1s described in response /0 Reques/s Nos. 15, does your agency publish
any of/ he same in(orma/ion online for public viewing? [(so, describe how and wha/
in(orma/ ion is published
See response to questi on 6,
18. Briefly describe your agency's e,[(or/s /0 comply wi/h OMB '.I' memorandum on/he Open
Governmen/ Direc/ive - Federal Spending Transparency, dated April 6, 2010, 1n
par/icu1ar, describe ",he/her and how your agency has begun/o collec/ and repor/ sub-
award da/a, as required by /he memorandum, and describe how your agency's reports on
OMB '.I' da/a quali/y me/ri cs, as required by /he memorandum are genera/ed
Si nce October 20 I 0, CNCS' subaward informati on is coll ected via the All -Government
FF A T A Subaward Report ing System (FSRS) in compl iance with the Open Government -
Federal Spending Transparency memorandum of April 6, 20 I O. USASpending.gov
reports on the timeliness, completeness, and accuracy of data for all agencies.
19. [(YOUI' agency interacts direc/ly with USASpending. gov. in addi/ion/o submilling
in(orma/ion/o the .Iys/ems fha/ feed USASpending.gov. describe /he na/ure,jiequency.
and purposes o( /ha/ in/erac/ion.
CNCS submits grant data via electronic fil e transfer to USASpending.gov in the FAADS-
Pl us fonnat within thirt y days of grant award.
20. Describe the data quali/y con/ro1s and procedures thai your agency has implemen/edfor
in(orma/ion /ha/ is submilled /0 USASpending.gov. including in(ol'lna/ion submilled
direc/ly and in(orma/ion sub milled /0 one o(/ he ,ys/ems /hat feed USASpending.gov.
Data submitted to USASpending.gov is generated di rect ly from our grant s and financial
systems. The data is subj ected to extensive automated edi ts to check for internal
consistency and completeness. The generated fil e is reviewed by multipl e personnel to
assure that errors are ident itied and eli minated both in the fil e and the origi nati ng system
prior to submission.
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21. State whether all olyour agency's current grants. contracts, and loans are accurately
on USA Spending go v, and ilnot. estimate the percentage of current grants,
contracts, and loans that are not accurately reflected. using both the number of
transact ions and dollarfigures.
All of CNCS' current grants and contracts are accuratel y refl ected in USASpending.gov.
CNCS does not provide loans or have any loan activity.
22. State whether your agency incurs any reporting burdens or costs as a result o.l its
obligations under the Federal Financial Assistance Tl'Onsparency Act (" FFATA '') that it
does not incur as a result o.lother reporting obligations. and estimat e those burdens and
costs in worker-hours and dollars.
CNCS has achi eved thi s reporti ng goal using current personnel with no add iti onal costs,
23. 1denti/jl the individual(s) II'ho servers) as Senior Accountable Oflicial(s) ("SAO ") over
federal spending data qualityfor yo/ll' agency, as defined by OlvlB.
The Senior Account able Official over federal spending data qualit y is Wi lli am Anderson,
Chi ef Financial Officer.
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