Distribution of Commonwealth Accounting
And Reporting System (CARS) Reports

Virginia Department of Health

implemented this best practice in August 1997

Qualifying under the Best Practices catalogue:
3 Provide Capabilities
33 Provide administrative support services
331 Information for decision-making

Best Practice Summary
(how it works, how you measure it)

The system provides the capability for electronic distribution of the CARS monthly reports. It places selected report(s) in a file on an internal server at the Virginia Department of Health to be transferred by the District/Division staff to their computer. FTP or Kermit may be used by the client for the transfer. The following options are provided:

. to download into one file all (six) reports for a selected cost code

. to download a selected report for a selected report cost code

The entire CARS report file (all CARS reports) are also archived on CD for future reference.

Impact on the Process Organizational Performance (OUTCOMES)

In the past, the CARS reports were printed by the Department of Accounts and delivered to the Virginia Department of Health. The Fiscal Office made the necessary copies of the originals, and then mailed/distributed reports to 33 district offices through the state and to Central Office Programs. This process was time consuming, costly, and delayed the receipt of these reports by approximately 15 days.

This system was designed to eliminate the need for the manual process at the Virginia Department of Health and to allow the districts and central office programs to obtain their CARS reports within two-to-three working days of availability by providing the capability for electronic distribution. It also eliminates the need to maintain paper copies of all reports centrally for future use by agency staff and auditors.

Best Practice Qualification

Other state agencies continue to receive paper versions of CARS reports with the exception of a select few. Of these few, the Department of Health initiated the capability to download these reports from sites throughout the state.

For Additional Information

Virginia Department of Health
1500 East Main Street
Richmond, VA 23219

Elizabeth D. Franklin
General Accounting Manager
(804) 371-4027
efranklin@vdh.state.va.us

James C. Moore
Department of Accounts
(804) 225-2347
jcmoore@doa.state.va.us

Search the Best Practices Database

While the individual best practices are shown under the Best Practices Repository, you may also query the repository by keying in a word or phrase below. The repository will then be searched for your phrase. If it is not found, you are invited to e-mail the Commonwealth Competition Council with the topic you are interested in, and an attempt will be made to contact one of the Virginia state government agencies responsible for that issue.