CTAS Case Study

Background & Saturn Relationship


The Small City and Town Accounting System - CTAS is an accounting software program for small local units of Government. It was developed by the Minnesota State Auditor's Office to help local units of Government automate and improve their accounting functions. CTAS was originally developed in 1989 as a DOS based program running a dBase database. In 1999, CTAS was reprogrammed as a 16 bit Windows based application running Access 97.

In 2004, the State Auditor's Office released a Request for Proposal (RFP) seeking to upgrade the application to a 32-bit Windows / Access application, plus enhancements. Saturn Systems responded to the RFP, and was pleased to be awarded the contract.

Situation


The CTAS program is currently in use by over 1000 cities and towns throughout Minnesota, and is fairly mature. However, as with any software application, enhancements and new features are sometimes necessary. The State Auditor's office coordinated a focus group of users and determined approximately 42 specific enhancements to be implemented in conjunction with the application upgrade. These enhancements included additional reports, improved operational functionality, and at least one additional major module.

Saturn Approach


For Phase I of this effort, a detailed Functional Specifications document was drafted, which outlined the approach for each of the 42 Requirements. The document was a contract deliverable, in conjunction with the Functional Specifications review meeting. This meeting served to attain consensus on the specific functional items, and development proceeded.

The new applcaition was developed according to the Functional Specifications, and delivered as Alpha and Beta versions for testing by the State Auditor's office and the focus group. A data migration program was designed which allowed CTAS users to convert their existing data to the new system. Finally, a custom installation program was built and delivered with an updated the reference manual to reflect the new changes.

Results


This project was developed successfully, and delivered on time and budget.

Technologies Used:

• Microsoft Visual Basic 6.0
• Microsoft Access
• Wise InstallBuilder