By Amy Cooper, Deputy Director, Business Operation and Solutions Division
As we ramp up to support departments with the upcoming Fiscal Year 2025-26 closing activities and prepare for accounting book of record functionality to go live on July 1, we have been working intently on the delivery of three highly integrated solutions: electronic invoicing, supplier information management (SIM), and electronic funds transfer (EFT).
Utilizing Coupa, a software as a service solution, electronic invoicing was officially launched and offered to end user departments in February 2026. The first in a series of solutions, this solution allows suppliers to submit invoices electronically, leveraging features such as expanded approval options, automated creation of FI$Cal vouchers, electronic dispute capabilities, and tracking of invoice aging. Efficiencies such as reducing the need to manage paper or email invoices and manually processing the keying of vouchers with attached invoices, are also realized. For this effort, the Department of FISCal (FI$Cal) was awarded the IT Team Leadership Award at the California Public Sector CIO Academy in April.
SIM, the second solution in the series, is a self-service supplier portal that digitizes the supplier onboarding process and automates supplier data validations. We are actively engaged in the pilot phase with designated departments, and base configurations and supplier conversions have been completed. Interfacing between the FI$Cal system and the SIM solution has been established and successfully tested. Pilot departments are actively inviting select suppliers through a unique email invitation to establish and verify their account information such as supplier name, address, and banking information. This process has been instrumental in allowing us to identify challenges such as how to accommodate federal suppliers, document the support model, and finalize the onboarding process before preparing to roll out to all FI$Cal departments and suppliers. SIM is a prerequisite for EFT, the third and final solution in this series.
The EFT pilot is well under way and has successfully demonstrated a more efficient and secure way to issue payments to suppliers. Through the pilot, participating suppliers received electronic payments accurately and on time, helping streamline the payment process, while reducing reliance on paper checks. The pilot also provided valuable feedback from stakeholders and suppliers, confirming the effectiveness of the new process and identifying opportunities for continued improvements. Building on this success, we are working closely with the State Controller’s Office for the broader adoption of EFT capabilities beginning in August 2026. FI$Cal continues to support the pilot departments and suppliers with regular touchpoint meetings, training materials, and monitoring.
Through the rollout of electronic invoicing and the successful pilots for both SIM and EFT solutions, we are streamlining how we partner with suppliers, accelerating payments, and strengthening transparency. These initiatives are not just upgrades; they represent a shift toward a faster, more secure, and more efficient future for doing business with FI$Cal.