Job Cost Accounting System

Request for Information: Job Cost Accounting System Contracting Office Address: U.S. Government Publishing Office, Acquisitions Services Division 732 N. Capitol Street, NW Room A-332 Washington, D.C. 20401 Sources Sought Synopsis: THIS RFI IS NOT A REQUEST FOR PROPOSAL. It is a market research tool (MMAR Part 10) being used to determine potential contractors capable of providing the services described herein prior to determining the method of acquisition and issuance of a Request for Proposal. It is also a tool to get feedback on the requirement, detailed in this document. Feedback is encouraged and appreciated. The NAICS contemplated for this requirement is 511199 with a size standard of 500 employees. Responses to this Requests for Information (RFI) are not considered offers and cannot be accepted by the Government to form a binding contract. This RFI is for market research purposes only. Respondents should not submit any proprietary information when responding to this RFI. Respondents should also note that the Government will not return any information submitted in response to this RFI. The Government is not responsible for any costs incurred by respondents regarding any responses to this RFI. Respondents must submit capability statements that clearly define the firm's ability to perform the work stated in this RFI, as well as answers to the questions provided. Introduction The United States Government Publishing Office (GPO) is seeking the services of a contractor to perform an analysis and prepare a set of recommendations on a path forward to implement a new Job Cost Accounting system that will improve and streamline the ratemaking process, track progress of jobs, produce product line profit and loss statements on a monthly or as needed basis, and perform a number of other functions for GPO's Office of Finance. This Statement of Work (SOW) describes the tasks, and deliverables for this contract. Background on Current GPO Job Cost Accounting GPO operates on a full cost recovery basis, receiving most of its income from agency, public, and Congressional payments for services performed and/or products purchased. Funds for printing congressional products are recovered by GPO from the Congressional Publishing (CP) appropriation. GPO's Office of Finance is responsible for establishing and monitoring billing rates. Before 2000, congressional hearings were billed at cost. In 2000, GPO began billing congressional hearings on a page rate basis. Rates are analyzed annually for all products (aggregated), not individually. Pricing on the aggregate is adjusted to account for the Plant's overall costs each year. This annual analysis and subsequent adjustment ensures GPO is able to meet its statutory requirement to recover all of its costs while not overcharging the CP Appropriation. GPO is in the process of modernizing, streamlining, and integrating its plant operations and financial processes and systems. Plant Operations is expected to implement a new planning and estimating system and is also exploring the potential of replacing its current Production Estimating and Planning System (PEPS) with this new manufacturing workflow system. This new planning and estimating system, along with any new plant workflow tracking systems, are expected to be interoperable with the job costing system. Proposed Job Cost Accounting System A new Job Cost Accounting System will enable Finance to perform the following functions: Simplify the ratemaking process; Track the progress of jobs from an accounting perspective as they are processed; Control the use of materials and labor by uncovering trends in spending; Pinpoint the specific areas where money is made or lost (e.g., the ability to produce product line profit and loss statements on a monthly or as needed basis); Make informed business decisions based on appropriate reports; Perform variance reporting; Use job costing reports to prepare future budgets; Monitor efficiency of production equipment; Allocate indirect costs, overhead; and Increase agency transparency. Scope: Task 1: Conduct Assessment of Current GPO Job Cost Accounting System Contractor shall conduct an assessment of the overall GPO Job Cost Accounting System and related documentation, including - 1. Review and assessment of existing documentation - a. Vision Document - b. As-Is Document - c. Concept of Operations - d. Requirements Document - 2. Interviews and assessments conducted by the contractor with personnel from GPO, including representatives from Finance & Administration and Plant Operations Task 2: Recommendation and Risk Analysis Based on the findings of the assessment conducted in Task 1, specify recommendations for improvements in terms of risk-level and priority, as well as suggesting risk mitigation strategies for high priority recommendations with regard to the scope and potential impact. The result of this task will be a documented assessment of GPO's Job Cost Accounting System needs, strengths and weaknesses, recommendations for path forward in developing or acquiring a new system, recommend existing systems that may meet GPO's needs (including strengths of suggested systems and possible sources), and the prioritization of program risks as well as high priority risk mitigation strategies. 2.0 Deliverables and Completion Dates The period of performance will begin on the day of award and shall extend for no more than 60 business days. During the performance period the contractor shall complete the following deliverables. All deliverables shall be submitted to the Contracting Officer and Contracting Officer's Representative (COR), unless otherwise agreed upon. Unless otherwise specified, the Government will have a maximum of five (5) business days from the day the draft deliverable is received to review the document, provide comments back to the contractor, approve or disapprove the deliverable(s). The contractor shall also have a maximum of five (5) business days from the day comments are received to incorporate all changes and submit the final deliverable to the Government. Deliverables and Deliverables Schedule are identified in the below table. # Task Deliverable Format Due Date Distribution 1 Task-1 Conduct Assessment of current GPO Job Cost Accounting System Report containing interview results, and assessment of current system MS Word (and Excel, if applicable) Due 30 days after award of contract. Contracting Officer and COR 2 Task-2 Recommendations and Risk Analysis Report containing documented assessment of program strengths and weaknesses, with prioritized recommendations and associated risk mitigation strategies MS Word (and Excel, if applicable) Due 54 days after award of contract. Contracting Officer and COR Quality All final deliverables shall be properly accepted by the GPO COR based on fulfillment of project objectives as previously stated. Source code, documentation, and deliverables developed for this project shall be owned by the Government and brought under GPO configuration management control. The GPO project team will execute deliverable review and provide feedback within five business days. Questions Answers to the following questions (as applicable) are requested: - 1. Do you have experience performing the services identified in this requirement? - 2. Do you have a GSA Schedule that's applicable for these services? If yes please provide your GSA Schedule number. - 3. Please provide the details of your capability; an estimated amount of time; as well as an estimated cost for these services. Questions and/or Comments: All responses, questions, or comments must be submitted to the identified GPO Point of Contact by December 12, 2016; emails only please. GPO Point of Contact Contracting Officer - Lorna Baptiste-Jones Email: AcquisitionServicesproposals@gpo.gov. (Please reference "Job Cost Accounting System-RFI" in the subject line, when responding). No phone calls please. U.S. Government Printing Office, Acquisition Services Division, 732 North Capitol Street, NW, Room A332, Washington, DC 20401