New in MARS Archive

MARS Labor Projections

• Per LO requests, added new functionality to allow Post Differential Pay inclusion (for the eligible employees assigned to certain overseas areas) in the MARS Labor Projection cost planning.

Credit Card Processing

• Implemented changes due to the CBS PCARD vendor switch (CitiBank).

• Previously, MARS Data Entry grouped PCARD transactions by assigning MARS Affected Reference Number (Emp Last Name-Invoice Date-Credit Card Number).

• For the new vendor, AFFECTED_REFERENCE_NO will be the original CBS value ("P" + ACS Code + 8 digit Billing account number + Date file was created).

• Because of this, records for different cardholders can be combined in one commitment, based on the Billing Account Number. Cardholder Name will be added to the Reqnum (MARS populates it with the Purchase Date).

MARS Reports

• MARS Data Entry data (as of last MARS refresh) is available in R&Q for Ad-Hoc queries: Labor Projection, MARS Commitment, and Funds Control and Budget data.

• MARS Data Entry REAL TIME reports are available on the R&Q side: Labor Projection, Funds Control and Budget.

MARS Log-in

• MARS sign-on procedure is changed to allow single-sign-on to both Data Entry and Reporting & Querying modules (using CAC Card PIN or E-mail log-in).

FFS fund codes (October 2017)

• The FFS (Fee for Services) fund codes are flowing seamlessly from CBS to MARS.

NWS Monthly Financial Review Reports

• The second execution of the Monthly reports package is not any more needed as NOAA does not longer require LO level variance explanations (APRIL 2019).

• Created a set of reports for the NWS Internal Fund review. The reports display the Internal Fund before and after the Over /Under process, as well as the amount not spread (August 2018).

• Created a new tab on the “Red Flag” Corporate Report to capture the portion of internal fund that is not spread (November 2018).

• Developed 2 Corporate Reports mimicking the Over/Under process. These reports are updated every fiscal year based on the new SLT.

• Implemented a solution to provide the month-end Data Entry measures (MARS Budget, Remaining Commitment, etc) at any point of time (December 2017).

• Filtered FAAPS procurements below 150k on the FAAPS table on the budgetary report. Only FAAPS procurements above 150k are meaningful (March 2018).

• Replaced the column “P2 Desc” by “Sub activity Desc” in some Monthly reports, due to the presence of duplicate values in the “P2 Desc” field (January 2018).

NWS Portfolio (April 2018)

• Mapped old programs to a Portfolio based on new knowledge on the Portfolios.

Internal Fund (September 2018)

• Changed the definition of the NWS Internal Fund in the impacted universes et reports (from (Activity=09 AND LO=20) to Line Item = 09-04-01.

Training Material

• Published to MARS Portal under the “Training” menu, pre-recorded training videos on how to navigate MARS R&Q reports (APRIL 2019).

• Published to MARS Portal under the “Training” menu, the “Data Behind the Data” presentation (October 2017).

Portfolio Allocation reports (April 2018)

• Created a “Portfolio Allocation Program” universe and related reports to enter allocation data by Portfolio, Fund, Program, FMC. Data is validates against a total Portfolio allocation from CFO1.

• Configure users’ permissions to enter allocations.

New Reports

• Created the “AGO Monthly Report” for the AGO group (April 2018).

• Created the report “MARS Hours and Dollars by Employee and Project” (March 2019).

Improved Reports

• Updated the report “Reimbursable Earnings” per the new Internal Fund process effective since 2015 (July 2018).

• Removed the Initplan/Appropriation column from the public version of these reports: Mars Two Digits Object Code Report, Mars Labor Report, and MARS Status of Funds (February 2018).

• Re-formatted reports “MARS Labor Detail by Labor Type” & “MARS Labor by Labor Type (with $ and FTE)”, and Applied customizations to set zoom to 150% (February 2018).

• The commitments for the AGO and the ProTech fees are now accounted for as non-labor on the commitment reports (November 2018).