The Financial Information System for California (FI$Cal) began as a business transformation project in 2005, and was formalized with a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) signed in 2007 by the State Controller, the State Treasurer, and the Directors of the Departments of Finance and General Services.
FI$Cal is one of the largest and most dynamic information technology (IT) undertakings in the history of the state. FI$Cal enables the State of California to combine accounting, budgeting, cash management, and procurement operations into a single financial management system. This eliminates the need for hundreds of independent legacy systems and state-entity-specific applications that support the state’s internal financial management operations. FI$Cal provides more standardization, transparency, discipline, effectiveness, and efficiency for the state’s crucial business processes. FI$Cal employs a robust change management program with extensive training and outreach activities to ensure the system’s successful implementation.
When completely implemented, more than 160 state entities and 15,000 end users will conduct the financial business of California with the FI$Cal system.