In July 2020, The Department of FISCal (FI$Cal) launched Power BI, a robust tool for departments to view their data and build reports. As part of our strategic plan, FI$Cal is committed to continuous improvement of the system; over the last two years, we have rolled out updated reports that improve the system and allow end users to better capture the data they need to do business.
Updates to Power BI are created through a feedback loop involving FI$Cal staff, end users and partner business executives. One method of feedback is the Customer Impact Committee (CIC), which meets regularly with the goal of uplifting pain points within the system and suggesting needed updates to FI$Cal. Within the CIC are workgroups, including the Business Intelligence Working Group, which regularly discusses updates, improvements and expansions to FI$Cal’s Power BI reports. Outside the working group, departments that use FI$Cal can submit requests for new Power BI reports via FI$Cal Service Center tickets. Regardless of the source of the submission, new report requests are prioritized and scheduled along with the rest of the ongoing enhancements to the FI$Cal system.
Recently, we launched a new purchasing card (P-Card) transaction report for departments. This allows departments to monitor P-Card transactions that exceed $7,500 to an individual merchant, per calendar year, or that are valued at $2,500 and above, per transaction. The report will help departments maintain compliance with both the State Contracting Manual and state law for when a purchase order is required. It will also help departments better identify these transactions, ensuring ongoing compliance.
Another improvement coming soon is the project expenditures and reimbursements report. This report provides information on the beginning balance, revenues, expenditures, reimbursements, adjustments, encumbrances, operating reserves by fund, and project level. This report is for business units that are using project costing for reimbursements, and is intended to improve user experience by eliminating additional work departments have to do in combining data from multiple queries. By reducing workload for these queries, it is hoped that departments will be able to increase productivity. More on this new report will be available in the coming months.
As we continue to update the system, end users can learn about new functionality through their departmental designee, email communications from FI$Cal, and our other external communication channels, such as the Focus newsletter and FI$CalTv.