Finance releases draft budget system requirements

The Department of Finance and Deregulation plans to select commercial, off-the-shelf software to replace its Central Budget Management System (CBMS) by the end of the year.

According to draft requirements released last Thursday, the software should meet at least 80 percent of the Federal Government's budget and financial management needs out of the box.

The CBMS is tasked with: collection and maintenance of agency and whole-of-Government budget estimates; management and tracking of cash; recording Government decisions; and reporting to Government and the public on the use and collection of funds.

Supporting around 1,200 users, the CBMS replaces an aging system and is expected to improve access to information, flexibility, and stability while reducing operational costs through automation.

More than 1.5 million transactions and 177 GB of data is estimated to have been transferred between users and the current CBMS during the last budget period.

Finance expects to issue a request for tender for CBMS software within the quarter, and to finalise a software procurement contract by the end of 2010.

It will invite expressions of interest for a systems integrator after software solutions are shortlisted in late 2010, and engage an integrator to implement the CBMS by mid-2011.

Detailed design, building and testing will take place in the 2011-12 financial year, and agencies will transition to new system by the second quarter of the 2012-13 financial year.

The project is funded by the ICT Business As Usual Reinvestment Fund, which was established by the 2008 Gershon Review. No cost estimates have been released so far.

Finance will conduct a public briefing on technical and functional requirements for the CBMS at the National Library of Australia on Friday morning.