Financial systems software package.

The NI Assembly Commission's Finance Office uses several software packages to deliver its services. PECOS Purchase to Pay (P2P) is one of the central packages with the software being used as both a purchase to pay and budgeting system having been used by the Assembly Commission from the mid-2000s. The current arrangements include an automated Purchase Ordering (PO) system to include; approval workflows within the system, an auto-generated audit trail to record same, a system solution for matching invoices to approved PO’s, generation of invoicing files for upload to the central finance accounting system (SUN Systems).

This facilitates the payment of supplier invoices and bills, records expenditure for budgeting and reporting purposes, aids reporting of expenditure commitments and accruals. Financial systems enable the Finance Office to carry out monthly financial management accounting, forecasting and budgeting processes to deliver essential Assembly Commission business. The financial systems software package also ensures that invoices are paid to suppliers and that expenditure is accurately recorded and reported to fulfil the Assembly Commission’s internal and external reporting requirements.

It is anticipated that the existing PECOS P2P software will be replaced as part of the wider Assembly Commission Corporate Systems Review project that will lead to the procurement and implementation of a new fully integrated system(s) to meet the needs of HR, Finance and Procurement. However, until a replacement system is fully implemented, the systems review project has been paused and alternative options are being considered. It is now anticipated that the project will be re-established shortly to procure several best of breed software solutions, but the implementation of agreed solutions will take at least 12-18 months therefore an interim solution is required to allow the Finance Office to continue operations.