Request for Proposal General Ledger Software

Transcription

1 Request for Proposal General Ledger Software Date of Issue: August 12, 2013 Proposals must be received by: September 13, 2013, 5 p.m. CST 1

2 I. INFORMATION ABOUT THE VILLAGE Located approximately 14 miles west of Chicago in Cook County, the Village of Westchester encompasses a 4.5 square mile area and is home to 16,718 residents based on the 2010 United States Census. The Village was incorporated in 1925 and operates as a non home rule unit of government. The village is primarily residential and commercial in nature, with housing stock consisting of 7,219 units. The Village operates under a council manager form of government as defined by the Illinois Municipal Code. The Village President, Village Clerk, and six trustees are elected at large to serve four year terms, with three trustees elected every second year. The Village Attorney is appointed by the Village President, with the advice and consent of the Village Board. The Village Manager is hired by the Village President and Board of Trustees. All department managers are hired by the Village Manager. The Village Manager is the chief administrative officer of the Village and is responsible for its day to day operations. The Village Manager oversees a full time staff of five department managers including Finance, Police, Fire, Public Works and Community Development. The Village of Westchester wishes to replace its existing general ledger software. The Village would like to streamline its financial reporting systems, and feels that a replacement of our current general ledger and cash receipts systems is necessary to achieve this goal. The accounting software should allow for fund based governmental accounting. We currently use LOCIS for our general ledger, utility billing, accounts payable, miscellaneous billing, cash receipting processes and reporting. The Village uses Paylocity for payroll and will be considering whether to continue that process or to bring the payroll process in house The Village is looking for proposals that will handle all of those mandatory functions and prefers if pricing information is broken down by those categories. Proposals submitted for this project should include all applicable costs for software and licensing fees, hardware, transfer of all stored data, training for all employees that utilize the software, and all other applicable costs to allow software to be fully functional for Village of Westchester employees. It is not expected that the proposals will include costs to upgrade or purchase individual computers; however servers needed are expected to be included in the cost of the proposals. Deadline for receipt of proposals is 5:00pm Central Standard Time on September 13, 2013 at the Village office located at the Westchester Village Hall, W Roosevelt Rd, Westchester IL Bids received after the deadline may not be accepted. The awarded bid, if one is selected, will be approved by the Village Board. Please prepare and submit (3) copies of the bids. Completed bids should be clearly marked "RFP for General Ledger Software and Conversion Service for the Village of Westchester." Responses will be evaluated objectively based on the vendor's responses to the RFP. The Village of Westchester will not pay costs incurred in the proposal preparation including the costs for printing, site evaluation, project demonstration, contract negotiation process, etc. All costs for the preparation of the bid shall be borne in full by the proposing vendor. 2

3 II. VENDOR INQUIRIES The Finance Department for the Village of Westchester has prepared this RFP and has designated Anne Burkholder as Project Manager. Please direct questions or comments concerning either the administrative or technical requirements of this RFP to the Project Manager via e mail at aburkholder@westchester il.org or via phone at III. NOTIFICATION OF WITHDRAWAL OF PROPOSAL Proposals may be modified or withdrawn by an authorized representative of the vendor or by formal written notice prior to the final due date and time specified for proposal submission. Submitted proposals will become the property of the Village of Westchester after the proposal submission deadline. IV. CONTRACTUAL OBLIGATIONS The successful vendor will be required to enter into a contract with the Village of Westchester in which the vendor will undertake certain obligations. These obligations include, but are not limited to, the following: Inclusion of Proposal The proposal submitted in response to this RFP will be incorporated as part of the final contract with the selected vendor. Proposals shall remain firm and open to acceptance by the Village of Westchester for a minimum period of sixty (60) days after the proposal opening. If the time period has expired the Village of Westchester could request a letter from submitters asking to extend the time period. Payment Payment expectations shall be included in the proposal submitted. The Village of Westchester reserves the right to select the most beneficial terms. Indemnification and Insurance The successful vendor(s) shall indemnify and hold the Village of Westchester and its officers, agents, employees and assignees, harmless from any liability imposed for injury whether arising before or after completion of work hereunder, or in any manner directly or indirectly caused, occasioned or contributed to, or claimed to be caused, occasioned or contributed to, in whole or in part, by reason of any act or omission, including strict liability or negligence of vendor, or of anyone acting under vendor's direction or control or on its behalf, in connection with or incident to, or arising out of the performance of this contract. The successful vendor shall maintain and shall require all of its subcontractors to maintain the following insurance coverage for the extent of the project. Type of Insurance Limits: Worker s Compensation (Statutory) Commercial General Liability $1,000,000/$1,000,000 CSL Professional Liability $1,000,000 Commercial Automobile Liability $1,000,000 On all liability policies of insurance contractor shall have the Village named as an additional insured and shall further require that their liability carrier(s) notify the Village at least thirty (30) days prior to the effective date of any change(s) in or cancellations of said insurance policies. A current copy of Proposer s insurance certificate providing proof of insurance as stated above must be on file in the Finance Department prior to 3

4 the award. Submission of an evidence of insurability from your provider or an insurance certificate copy may be included with the submittal. Hold Harmless Agreement The Proposer covenants to save, defend, keep harmless, and indemnify the Village of Westchester and all of its officers, departments, agencies, agents, and employees from and against all claims, loss, damage, injury, fine, penalties, and costs including court costs and attorney s fees, charges, liability, and exposure however caused resulting from, arising out of, or in any way connected with the proposer s negligent performance or non performance of the terms of the contract. Contractor Status Proposer understands and agrees that its employees, agents, or sub proposers are not employees of Village of Westchester for any purpose whatsoever. Proposer s Qualifications Proposer must demonstrate to the satisfaction of the Village of Westchester that he has adequate equipment, personnel, experience and understanding of the specifications to perform service under the contract. No contract will be awarded to any proposer who, in the opinion of the Village, is not qualified to perform satisfactorily due to a previously unfavorable performance, reputation or lack of experience, capital, organization, equipment, and/or personnel to conduct and complete the services in accordance with the terms and conditions of the contract. Equal Opportunity Employer The Village of Westchester is an equal opportunity employer and does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, marital status, physical or mental disability, or any other characteristic protected by law. The Village is also committed to employing only United States citizens and aliens who are authorized to work in the United States. The Village complies with the Immigration Reform and Control Act of Therefore, the successful proposer must demonstrate to the satisfaction of the Village that he also conforms to all Federal, state, and local equal opportunity statutes. Further, the contractor will reimburse the Village of Westchester for any damages incurred due to any violation of the above mentioned statutes by the contractor while under contract to the Village. Ambiguity, Conflict or Other Errors in RFP If a Proposer discovers any ambiguity, conflict, discrepancy, omission or other error in the RFP, it shall immediately notify the Village of Westchester of such error in writing and request modification or clarification of the document if allowable by the Village of Westchester. V. RIGHT OF THE VILLAGE TO REJECT PROPOSALS The Village of Westchester reserves the right to reject any and all proposals or any part of any proposals, to waive minor defects or technicalities, or to solicit new proposals on the same project or on a modified project which may include portions of the originally proposed project as the Village of Westchester may deem necessary in its best interest. The Village also reserves the right to negotiate with any vendor regarding all or part of any proposal that is in the best interest of the Village. VI. EVALUATIONS The Village personnel evaluating the proposals will make recommendations based upon the proposal that will best serve the Village of Westchester. Any ideas generalized from the proposal process will become the property of the Village of Westchester. After review of the RFP, Village personnel will request a full demonstration of the software for finalists. Selected proposers should be available to do an in person demonstration of their software at Village Hall, W Roosevelt Road, Westchester, IL, 60154, the week of 4

5 September 22, 2013, to be considered for final selection. The cost of the demonstration will be borne by the bidder. VII. CONFIDENTIALLY OF DOCUMENTS All responses to the RFP submitted by vendors shall be deemed public documents at the time they are opened by Village of Westchester. The RFP is intended to be worded in a manner so as not to elicit proprietary information from the vendor. If proprietary information is submitted as part of the proposal, such information is to be labeled proprietary and be accompanied with a request that the information is to be held in confidence by the Village of Westchester until such time as the contract is set. Any proposal that is submitted with a general statement or limitation that would prohibit reasonable public inspection shall be considered non responsive and shall be rejected. VIII. PROJECTED SCHEDULE OF EVENTS Release of request for proposals: August 12, 2013 Responses are due to be received by: 5:00p.m. CST on September 13, 2013 Review of responses and demonstrations: Week of September 22, 2013 Recommendation of preferred vendor to Village Board: October, 2013 IX. PROPOSAL RESPONSE FORMAT In order to facilitate the analysis of responses to this RFP, vendors are required to complete their bids in the following format: Section Title Introduction Title Page, Letter of Transmittal Table of Contents 1.0 Executive Summary 2.0 Vendor Background & Qualifications 3.0 Cost Information: Summary Bid 4.0 Cost Information: Detail Bid 5.0 Hardware Specifications 6.0 Data Storage/Technology Requirements 7.0 Software Specifications 8.0 Training/Timeline/Conversion Process 9.0 Maintenance Plan 10.0 Customer References 11.0 License Agreement 5

6 3.0 Summary Bid Format 4.0 Detail Bid In addition to the summary, please include within your bid the above information specific to each module. The total for each module should equal the total for your bid. If it does not (for example, some costs relative to your proposal are fixed), please indicate that as well. Pleasee also indicate how many users are allowed for the prices quoted, and how the prices change if additional userss are required. 5.0 Hardware Specifications Provide a complete itemized listing of minimum hardware requirements needed to run your software and a recommended hardware listing necessary for optimal performance. Also include an estimated cost for the hardware components and cite any additional costs for non vender specificc software necessary to facilitate implementation. 6.0 Data Storage/Technology Requirements Please indicate if your software is housed on a server within the Village or remotely on a cloud web based system. If both options are available, please indicate the cost difference. Describe your database platform and requirements? What development platform is used throughout your application including the application and presentation layers? What reporting services are available for use with your applications? Do you index your database tables? Do you have standardized XML import/exports? Do you have standardized PDF reports? Do you integrate with Microsoft Office? If not, how do you import/export to Office products? Do you integration with Microsoft Exchange Server? o Outlook Calendar integration o Outlook Contacts & Global Addresss Book integration What client PC platforms do you support? What server platforms do you support? 6

7 6.0 Data Storage/Technology Requirements (Cont.) Describe all available client platform requirements including desktop applications, and browser clients (and supported web browsers). What are your minimum recommended hardware requirements (clients and servers)? Is hardware provided with your solution? If not, provide recommended hardware specifications to support your platform for 5 7 years. 7.0 Software Specifications The Village has identified the following system modules or features as mandatory: General Ledger and reporting system o The Village operates nine funds (General, Utility, Motor Fuel Tax, Police Forfeiture, Hotel/Motel Tax, Emergency 911, Debt Service, Capital Projects, and Deposits) o We have approximately ten users on our GL software. Cash receipting o The Village collects cash receipts for utility bills, permits, taxes, fines and fees. We collect cash, checks, and credit cards at one central station in the Village Hall, totaling roughly 100 transactions per day. We use a variety of non cash transactions hosted by third parties that the software must be able to accommodate, including: Lockbox uploads Online credit card processing (hosted by Illinois EPay) Accounts payable (including Purchase Orders) o The Village's accounts payable transactions are submitted before the Village Board twice per month. We process approximately 100 accounts payable checks to vendors every two weeks. Utility billing (must accommodate at least three utilities) o The Village operates a municipal utility for water, sewer and refuse service. We have approximately 6,500 residential and 200 commercial accounts. Residential accounts are billed on a rotating quarterly basis (we process 1/3 of the town each month). All commercial accounts are billed each month. The software must be able to interact with SENSUS water meters Accounts Receivable o As necessary, the Village generates invoices for various services. The Village has identified the following modules as possibilities: Payroll o The Village processes payroll twice per month for 100 full time and 15 part time employees. We currently utilize Paylocity for payroll processing. Building Permitting The decision to use either of these modules may not be made immediately at the time of a signed contract. Please indicate the prices for each of these modules separately, and how long the prices are valid for. Please also address the following information about your software: Describe how your reporting system works and what tools are included for creating custom reports. Describe the administration of application security. Include how it is configured, how groups or roles 7

8 are used, and what actions can or cannot be taken for various settings, etc. Describe how your solution creates an "audit trail" when data is changed. Include the types of data for which a trail is created, and what is recorded (user id, date, etc.)when the data is changed. 8.0 Training Please summarize your approach to training. Responses should detail the estimated number of hours of training included and method of training: on site training, off site training, etc. Also indicate whether ongoing training is available after the initial training and conversion timeframe. In considering this topic, please consider potential training needs for a refresher course perhaps needed one year after implementation, training for new employees and training for upgrades. Bid should specify if costs are required for these needs. Timeline The Village operates on a fiscal year ending 4/30. Please include in your response an estimated conversion, training and implementation timeline covering all modules. Our goal is to be running live with the mandatory modules by 1/31/2014, and, if the Village deems appropriate, bringing on payroll and building permitting during fiscal Conversion Process Describe the approach and resources needed to implement the proposed software. Attach a proposed implementation schedule with key activities and estimated milestones. 9.0 Maintenance plan Specify any costs related to system maintenance beyond initial installation of the system. Also include whether annual maintenance fees include system upgrades, annual license fees or other components. Please outline maintenance costs for the next five years Client experience Please include in your proposal a listing of other municipalities that are similar in size and complexity to the Village that are current clients, whenever possible please include Illinois municipalities. Also include in your response other modules that are available through your system such as budgeting, capital assets, parking, etc License Agreement Please provide a sample license agreement. 8