CALSTARS Development Plan

MISSION STATEMENT

The specific continuing mission of CALSTARS, and the emphasis of the Development Plan, is to insure that the system is a "...modern and complete accounting system for each agency of the state..." (Government Code, Section 13300) and that the system remain a cost effective and value-added service to fully support the business functions of each client agency.

Agencies are faced with increasing demands for program performance within limited resources. There is an increased importance on fiscal information as a strategic resource for the effective execution, monitoring, and evaluation of program operations. The Development Plan must transcend those original goals and objectives and recognize the strategic position of CALSTARS within each client agency. It must provide the direction to keep pace with the administrative and technological advances to assure the placement of CALSTARS within the business strategies and information infrastructure of the client agencies to serve as an information system useful to the business decision makers of those agencies.

To meet both needs, the Development Plan focuses on the following goals/strategies.

GOALS/STRATEGIES

Sustain the original goals and objectives established for CALSTARS. It must continue its goals of uniformity and consistency of the state's fiscal processes. Maintain a close liaison with the State Controller's Office, State Treasurer's Office, and Department of General Services to further integration with other systems and processes of those offices. Shared cost of continued enhancement and expansion of the common system functionality will provide every client agency with a more complete system solution at the lowest cost possible.

Operate and maintain a value-added, cost effective accounting system that satisfies the business needs of its client agencies and the accounting and reporting requirements of the state and federal government. The system must be reliable, auditable, secure, and have long-term durability. Continue to provide a small cadre of superior, experienced staff to support the system and its operation.

Maintain a cost effective technology base and infrastructure of CALSTARS that complements and supports the internal information infrastructures and future needs of CALSTARS client agencies. This will avoid duplicative costs of hardware, software, and communication devices within that infrastructure.

Respond to the business needs and demands for timely and accurate fiscal information and financial reporting. Fiscal information is an important ingredient to the decision making process of client agencies. CALSTARS must provide the reporting tools, techniques, and processes as needed by the agencies in a timely fashion to assist that decision making process.

Exploit the uses of existing and emerging technologies to re-engineer the state accounting process and minimize or eliminate labor intensive workloads of departmental accounting operations. Workload savings will allow client agencies to better utilize their limited resources for analyses of data and information produced by the system.

In conclusion, the Development Planning Document represents the commitment of the California State Department of Finance, on behalf of all client agencies, to provide and operate a system that:

Minimizes workload associated with daily, month-end, and year-end accounting processes;

Serves as an integral part of the management information infrastructure of each agency.

Development Plan in PDF format:

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