Labor eyes new budget system

• By Wilson P. Dizard III
• Aug 06, 2004

The Labor Department is seeking information about commercial systems it might use to manage budget information better. Vendors must respond to Labor's request for information by the end of this month.

The department is not yet committed to purchasing a new budget system, however. The RFI referred to a possible acquisition as the Automated Electronic Federal Budget Formulation, Publication and Integration Solution, or Budget Support System.

Labor's budget center, in the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Administration and Management, said it understands that 'companies have matured their offerings' enough to automate the federal budget submission and reporting process.

The RFI said Labor's existing methods of processing budget information are beset by problems, including:

Late, inaccurate and incomplete data submissions

Expensive manual labor to create labels and books

Lost opportunities for client support and customer service

Lack of integration with financial management systems

Poor visibility to top leaders

Costly offline formatting and duplication.

Department officials want to eliminate those problems, as well as create an audit trail, build a 10-year appropriations history and improve knowledge sharing across bureaus.