Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

The Financial Management Quality Service Management Office (FM QSMO) is a U.S. Department of the Treasury initiative which is a key component to reaching goals under Treasury's 10-year Vision for the Future of Federal Financial Management.

Treasury's vision is to partner with agency leaders and provide agencies with access to innovative and proven financial management solutions and expert guidance that will advance government-wide financial management goals.

The FM QSMO focuses on brokering access to modern, standards-based solutions that will move agencies away from outdated systems, improve government operations and performance and advance government-wide financial management goals, including improved transparency and better use of data for decision making.

Treasury’s Bureau of the Fiscal Service manages a marketplace of solutions and services to help agencies meet their financial management needs and shared government-wide goals using an agile, customer-centric, collaborative approach with both federal agencies and industry.

The FM QSMO is committed to the principles of agile development and human-centered design to enhance innovation and customer experience. Using these principles, we developed a Marketplace Catalog as a first stop for helping agencies get standards-based financial management solutions and services.

The Marketplace Catalog is available as a resource for agencies to explore, identify, and get solutions and services that can help support financial management needs and deliver on shared government-wide goals.

The FM QSMO seeks to engage federal agencies planning financial management improvements and systems modernizations. The goal is to understand current and future needs and connect agencies with Marketplace Catalog offerings. We can also provide access to lessons learned and leading practices from the FM community.

The FM QSMO would like to be a valued partner for agencies during the financial system modernization planning process to discuss a path toward migration to the Marketplace core financial system cloud solution and use of other Marketplace solutions and services.

Other benefits for agencies include the following:

• Choice and flexibility across the Marketplace offerings
• Streamlined and cost-effective procurements
• Timely incorporation of standards into Marketplace core financial system solutions

The FM QSMO's approach to designing its marketplace is guided by the following principles:

• Focus on customer experience
• Increase the strategic value of data
• Deliver progress using agile processes.

Agencies will have access to commercial and federal providers in the Marketplace and it will be solution-centric, compared with the earlier more provider-centric approach to expanding shared services. There will be choice of and flexibility in solutions and services through a network of providers, including federal shared service providers (FSSPs) where the provider role aligns with the goals of the agency in which the FSSP resides.  Agencies that pursue commercial service providers (CSPs) for core financial systems and other solutions and services will benefit from those solutions’ adherence to federal standards for financial management that are built into contractual requirements at the FM QSMO Marketplace level.

The marketplace will also drive innovation using agile processes and ensure compliance with the Financial Management Standards.

The FM QSMO will be a broker between agencies and providers to help agencies and ensure easy access to standards-based solutions and other offerings in the Marketplace.

The FM QSMO's approach to designing its marketplace is guided by the following principles:

• Focus on customer experience
• Increase the strategic value of data
• Deliver progress using agile processes.

The FM QSMO is not a financial management solution or service provider but brokers agency access to solutions through the Marketplace Catalog. Solutions and services available in the Marketplace Catalog are pre-vetted to ensure they comply with federal financial management standards and other common capabilities. These standards and capabilities are defined in the Financial Management Capability Framework (FMCF).

The approach is grounded on a foundation of shared goals which are widely accepted across the financial management community:

• Standardize processes and data.
• Decrease operation and maintenance costs.
• Modernize and automate processes.
• Improve customer satisfaction.

The following principles are guiding the design of the Marketplace:

• Focus on customer experience.
• Increase the strategic value of data.
• Deliver progress using agile processes.

The FM QSMO is a collaborative and innovative, customer-centered organization dedicated to achieving the following objectives:

• Offer and manage a marketplace of high-performing and cost-effective solutions to respond to agency needs.
• Partner with agencies to determine strategies and solutions that will help them reach agreed-on government-wide goals.
• Guide and govern the long-term sustainability of core financial management services and solutions.
• Institute a customer and provider engagement and feedback model that allows for continuous improvement and performance management of solutions; and
• Work with customers and providers to adopt standards and comply with regulation and policy.

Both the FM QSMO and the Administrative Resource Center (ARC) are in Treasury’s Bureau of the Fiscal Service. But, they are separate organizations with separate management structures.

• ARC is a Federal Shared Service Provider (FSSP) in the Marketplace Catalog that provides financial management, and other services, to federal agencies.
• The FM QSMO manages the Marketplace Catalog and works with all providers, both commercial and federal, to ensure that solutions and services are available to federal agencies.

FM QSMO and the Office of Financial Innovation and Transformation (FIT) are separate organizations in Treasury's Bureau of the Fiscal Service. FIT identifies and helps to carry out innovative solutions so that government agencies can become more efficient and transparent in federal financial management. One of FIT's major roles is managing the government-wide Financial Management Line of Business (FMLoB). In this role, FIT is responsible for developing and maintaining the FMLoB Financial Management Standards through collaboration with the Federal Management Standards Committee (FMSC).

FM QSMO and FIT are working together to ensure that financial management standards will be embedded in the Marketplace Core FS solutions. FM QSMO is also working with FIT to leverage the FMSC community of stakeholders by providing regular updates to the advisory board, steering committee and working groups, and requesting feedback on Marketplace Core FS solution capabilities.

The FM QSMO Marketplace Catalog is a resource for agencies to explore, identify, and get solutions and services that can help support financial management needs and deliver on shared government-wide goals.

Marketplace Catalog offerings include a mix of technology, advisory, and operational solutions and services provided by:

• Commercial vendors
• Federal Shared Service Providers (FSSPs), and
• Treasury’s Bureau of the Fiscal Service

The Guide to the FM QSMO Marketplace includes an overview of the scope of the FM QSMO Marketplace.

The FM QSMO Special Item Number (SIN) 518210FM, within the Information Technology (IT) Category of the General Services Administration (GSA) Multiple Award Schedule (MAS) contract vehicle, provides Federal agencies with access to commercial financial management solution/service offerings of the FM QSMO Marketplace and is the mechanism through which agencies procure these solutions/services. The scope of SIN 518210FM represents a subset of the overall scope of the FM QSMO Marketplace (i.e., IT related solution/service offerings from commercial providers). SIN 518210FM is comprised of four (4) subgroups, as follows:

1. Core Financial Management Solutions (Core FS)
2. Additional Financial Management (FM) Solutions
3. Financial Management (FM) Solution/Service Adoption and Transition Services
4. Financial Management (FM) Technology Operations Support Services.

For a complete description of the scope of SIN 518210FM, please refer to the IT Category Attachment of the GSA MAS solicitation located on GSA eOffer/eMod.

Federal shared services providers (FSSPs) have both a provider and consumer role in the Marketplace. As a Marketplace provider, a FSSP offers essential core accounting and financial management services to federal agencies and is open to accepting new customers. FSSPs may also consume or use the solutions and services available in the Marketplace Catalog to support their operations and systems.

The Bureau of the Fiscal Service offers a variety of collections, disbursing, and reporting services to support federal financial management needs. Most of these services are used by federal agencies today—either they are required or they are systems that support government-wide processes. Several, however, are value added services and promote efficiency, streamline processes, and support expansion of electronic alternatives.

Agencies should reach out to the FM QSMO to discuss current plans for modernization or new investments. We would like to help and support planning work and ensure awareness around the FM QSMO Marketplace timeline.

Chief Financial Officer (CFO) Act agencies should contact the FM QSMO team when they are planning a new investment for the following:

• New core financial system with related support services
• Legacy financial system technology and support services

FM QSMO is working closely with the other designated QSMOs and lines of business to identify interoperability needs and areas where data and business information will need to be exchanged across systems through interfaces or integrations. The FM QSMO is also supporting work started by the General Services Administration’s (GSA) Office of Shared Solutions and Performance Improvement (OSSPI) to identify common processes and approach across all the QSMOs. OSSPI is an office of government-wide policy that supports governmentwide shared services by coordinating governance and developing processes to support implementation of OMB policy as it relates to mission support services.

FSSPs play an important role in providing financial management shared services today. Existing relationships do not need to change. Small agency prospective customers may reach out to a FSSP directly for more information or contact the FM QSMO team for information on how to navigate the Marketplace Catalog or research process.

Marketplace Catalog offerings are compliant with federal policies and standards. The offerings in the Marketplace Catalog conform to common standards and capabilities referred to as the Financial Management Capability Framework (FMCF).

The FMCF includes the standards defined in the Federal Financial Management (FFM) Federal Integrated Business Framework (FIBF) and more capabilities defined by the FM QSMO in collaboration with federal agencies and industry stakeholders. The FMCF is used as a basis for evaluating and ensuring that Marketplace services and solutions meet baseline needs. FM QSMO's goal is to standardize and streamline what is common for agencies.

The FM QSMO is responsible for maintaining the FMCF and will update it periodically to show changing policy or other requirements. To do this, we work closely with the Financial Management standards lead in Treasury who manages the standards, including the annual review and update process.

More information on the connection between financial management standards and Marketplace offerings can be viewed on our FMCF Webpage.

Under OMB Memo M-19-16, agencies are directed to consult with the respective QSMO, in functional areas where designated, before developing plans for new or modernized technology which will require a new investment, and issuing a new, connected solicitation. QSMO Marketplaces should be the first stop for agencies looking to acquire solutions and services in the relevant functional areas. QSMOs will help agencies with offering a path for using the QSMO Marketplaces.

If the respective QSMO and customer agency agree that solutions/services available in the Marketplace do not meet the agency’s needs, then the agency must prepare an Investment Action Plan for approval. Investment Planning Guidance was developed to help federal agencies navigate this process.

FM QSMO has been meeting with agencies to learn about financial system modernization plans and discuss how future solutions and services in the Marketplace can support those initiatives. If we have not yet connected with your agency, please reach out to the FM QSMO team.

In Fiscal Year 2021, the FM QSMO issued two Requests for Information (RFIs) to the vendor community to get input on the design of the Marketplace and the corresponding framework of standards and capabilities. Using this feedback, the FM QSMO developed the Guide to the FM QSMO Marketplace providing an overview of how the FM QSMO operates and how federal financial management standards and capabilities apply to the Marketplace and the Financial Management Capability Framework (FMCF) itself including those standards and capabilities that define baseline needs for solutions and services in the Marketplace.

The draft information provided in those past RFIs is no longer current and interested vendors should refer to the Guide and the FMCF for current information. For specific questions about previous FM QSMO market research and industry engagement activities, please contact the FM QSMO at FMQSMO@fiscal.treasury.gov.

The FM QSMO encourages small businesses to participate in the FM QSMO Marketplace through SIN 518210FM of the GSA Multiple Award Schedule (MAS) Program. The scope of the SIN provides many opportunities for small businesses to participate by offering specific solutions and/or services and Core FS Solutions. Small businesses are also permitted to partner with other businesses to provide offerings under the SIN (i.e. teaming). Small businesses who provide financial management services and solutions to federal agencies will support a diverse and inclusive Marketplace that provides choice and flexibility for agencies.

Small business vendors interested in applying for SIN 518210FM should review what solutions/services are in scope, and under which subgroups they are covered, review the additional instructions and technical submission elements and submit offers or modification requests using the GSA eOffer/eMod online submission tool. The application period for SIN 518210FM is continuously open to provide ongoing opportunity. For more information about how to apply to SIN 518210FM, refer to vendor guidance and other resources available on the FM QSMO Resources web page.

Yes, vendors can offer support for legacy core FS systems in the FM QSMO Marketplace under the FM Technology Operations Support Services subgroup of SIN 518210FM. While federal agencies are planning for modernizations, they will continue to need support for legacy systems. Support for legacy financial systems may include a variety of different things (e.g., additional software licenses under limited circumstances, software license maintenance/support, remote hosting services, O&M, DME). Specific needs will vary based on agency circumstances (e.g., on-premise vs. cloud deployments, product license conditions, status of product support availability, modernization readiness/plans).

Support for legacy financial systems is intended to correspond to agency needs specific to their existing financial system deployments. It is not intended to offer agencies a path for obtaining new financial system products outside of Core FS Solutions as defined and available in the FM QSMO Marketplace.

The FM QSMO interacts with the following stakeholders:

• Federal Agencies
• Industry (commercial providers of financial management software solutions and service)
• Legacy federal shared service providers, which are listed on the GSA OSSPI website.
• Other stakeholders and partners (OMB, GSA, governance councils)

Partnership with industry is crucial to the success of the FM QSMO initiative. Industry will be asked to bring modern, configurable, and service-oriented solutions to government to decrease any unnecessary or duplicative footprint and the risk of operating aging technology.

Also, industry is expected to bring solutions that are innovative, and FM QSMO plans to engage regularly with industry through outreach initiatives such as industry days, meetings, and requests for information (RFI).

Agency customers guide the development of the Marketplace, and their input will be important to its future. The FM QSMO will continue to ask customers what brings the most value to them through collaborative customer experience sessions as the Marketplace continues to develop.

Vendors interested in applying for the FM QSMO IT SIN518210FM should review what solutions/services are in scope, and under which subgroups they are covered; review the additional instructions and technical submission elements; and submit offers or modification requests using the GSA eOffer/eMod online submission tool.

For more information about how to apply to SIN 518210FM, please refer to vendor guidance and other resources available on the FM QSMO Resources web page.

GSA’s Federal Acquisition Service (FAS) evaluates the general administrative, technical, and pricing elements of vendor submissions. The FM QSMO conducts an evaluation of the technical elements of vendor submissions specific to SIN 518210FM to assess FMCF compliance. The FM QSMO conducts an evaluation of the technical narrative response for all proposed solutions/services. For proposed Core FS Solutions, the FM QSMO also conducts an Operational Capability Demonstration (OCD) evaluation.

For more information about evaluation criteria and the evaluation process for SIN 518210FM, please refer to vendor guidance and other resources available on the FM QSMO Resources web page.

Target completion times for FM QSMO evaluation of SIN-specific technical elements vary based on the types of offerings included in a vendor submission package and are as follows:

• Packages including Service Only offerings (20 business days)
• Packages including Service + Technology, or Technology offerings (40 business days)
• Packages including Core FS offerings (60 business days)

These target completion times do not include time associated with GSA’s initial review of vendor submission packages before those packages are provided to the FM QSMO for evaluation. It also does not include other GSA activities associated with finalizing award decisions (e.g., negotiation of terms and conditions, price reasonableness determinations) after receiving evaluation results and recommendations from the FM QSMO.

Understanding the GSA MAS Program is essential to participating in the FM QSMO IT SIN 518210FM. Information, guidance, and resources are available to both new offerors and current MAS contract holders through the GSA Vendor Support Center.

For more information about evaluation criteria and the evaluation process for SIN 518210FM, please refer to vendor guidance and other resources available on the FM QSMO Resources web page.

There is no deadline for submission of packages in response to SIN 518210FM. Vendor and solution onboarding will remain continuously open to provide ongoing opportunity to new commercial market entrants and industry innovations.

The larger scope of the FM QSMO Marketplace is limited to Federal Financial Management (FFM) functions, activities, and capabilities as defined in the Federal Integrated Business Framework (FIBF). So, budget formulation and procurement award or contract-writing solutions are not in scope of SIN 518210FM.

Yes, vendors can submit multiple packages to add services/solutions to the SIN at any time as they are ready. There is no limit on the number of packages that can be submitted and the ongoing open/continuous nature of the MAS solicitation can accommodate that approach. Vendors do not need to wait and bundle all proposed offerings into a single submission package.

A complete and responsive submission package for SIN 518210FM includes the elements required by the GSA MAS solicitation and the IT Category attachment, as well as the SIN-specific instructions and technical elements defined by the FM QSMO. The SIN-specific submission elements are outlined in the FM QSMO Vendor Guidance and further explained in the FM QSMO Vendor Onboarding Training, both available in the Vendor Resources section of the FM QSMO Resources web page.

Only the Core FS Subgroup and proposed Core FS solutions under that subgroup require capability demonstrations as part of the FM QSMO evaluation process. For additional information on vendor evaluations and OCDs under SIN 518210FM, refer to the FM QSMO Vendor Guidance and FM QSMO Vendor Onboarding Training in the Vendor Resources section of the FM QSMO Resources web page.

Business scenarios, FFM Business Use Cases, sample data, and correlation points are specified in the Core FS OCD Execution Plan. The Core FS OCD Execution Plan is available on GSA’s MAS Scope and Templates page for SIN 518210FM.

Yes, for each scenario vendors are required to show the use cases and steps in the order provided in the scenario “Demonstration” tabs of the Core FS OCD Execution Plan. The scenarios build on one another successively.

For purposes of the Core FS OCD, at minimum vendors are required to define budget structures at the “allocation” level. For more instructions, please refer to the Core FS OCD Execution Plan on GSA’s MAS Scope and Templates page for SIN 518210FM.

Vendors can create and enter one budget to cover the whole of three scenarios. For more instructions, please refer to the Core FS OCD Execution Plan on GSA’s MAS Scope and Templates page for SIN 518210FM.

Yes, vendors shall determine the original payroll entry for Scenario S.4.

The method for generating the CARS file is left to the vendor’s discretion. Solutions are required to produce files for full CARS reporters. The FM QSMO will not validate data, as the scenarios do not tie to the CARS file; however, demonstration that a CARS file can be generated in the correct format as prescribed in the Outbound File is required.

The method for generating the 1099-C report is left to the vendor’s discretion. Vendors are required to explain and show the process of generating the 1099-C. The FM QSMO will not validate the data on the 1099-C as being correct, only that the format of the report is valid.