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Centralized Accounting and Payroll/Personnel System (CAPPS)

What Is CAPPS?

The Centralized Accounting and Payroll/Personnel System (CAPPS) is the official name of the statewide Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system created by the Comptroller’s office project team (originally called ProjectONE).

  • CAPPS provides a single financials and human resources (HR)/payroll administration software solution for Texas state agencies.
  • CAPPS allows aging and inefficient legacy systems to be replaced with an easy-to-use, easy-to-update system that can be scaled to meet the needs of any agency regardless of complexity and size.
  • Reporting is easier and more accurate with CAPPS. Agency functions are recorded in a common data language on an interconnected system that allows financial and HR/payroll departments to exchange information quickly, safely and reliably.

Benefits of Implementing CAPPS Statewide

  • A single, web-based source of financial and HR/payroll information for all state agencies
    • Statewide versus siloed strategy
    • Continuous improvement of state government operations
  • Real-time, reliable information on the state’s revenue and spending
    • Systems integration between HR/Payroll and Financials modules
    • State savings through economies of scale
  • Simpler, more transparent reporting on the state’s business
    • Improved transparency, efficiency and productivity
    • Greater state accountability
    • Agency-inclusive CAPPS governance
  • An up-to-date system that allows agencies to retire outdated processes and systems.
    • Improved security
    • Legacy system modernization

The CAPPS Program Model

Because agencies require more than a one-size-fits-all product for their financials and HR/payroll system needs, flexibility is the main factor of the CAPPS program model.

Each agency has unique budget requirements and priorities. Smaller, less complex agencies typically have different system needs than larger, complex agencies. All agencies benefit from an ERP solution that is cost effective to deploy, operate and maintain.

A program model coordinated by the Comptroller’s office benefits all agencies by providing:

  • Application modifications available to all CAPPS agencies at the same time.
  • CAPPS security software updates that are applied consistently across all CAPPS agencies.
  • Access to existing PeopleSoft knowledge and expertise.
  • Reduced costs for implementation and support.
  • Leverage for statewide licensing and maintenance costs.
  • Reporting/CAPPS Hub agency flexibility.
  • Agency-specific processing.
  • The ability for large, complex agencies to keep ERP and non-ERP data closely tied together.
  • Increased functionality for agencies using the Uniform Statewide Accounting System (USAS) and the Uniform Statewide Payroll/Personnel System (USPS).
  • A central data repository for robust reporting capabilities and transparency.
  • Reduced Comptroller’s office information technology costs.

The CAPPS program model offers agencies two alternatives for onboarding to CAPPS: CAPPS Central or CAPPS Hub. See the table below for details.

Program Considerations CAPPS Central CAPPS Hub
System Platform

The main systems platform of the CAPPS program, centrally managed and maintained by the Comptroller’s office.

The platform consists of PeopleSoft-based CAPPS Financials and CAPPS HR/Payroll baseline applications and related components.

Hub agencies are the exception in the CAPPS program model.

Rather than being centrally managed by the Comptroller’s office, CAPPS Hub agencies receive their own copy of and regular updates for of the CAPPS Financials and CAPPS HR/Payroll baseline applications to implement on their own infrastructure.

This option may be useful for large, complex agencies or agencies with established PeopleSoft-based systems that want to transition to CAPPS.

Costs Agencies cover costs such as:
  • Staffing
  • Internal training
  • Third-party systems interfacing to CAPPS

The Comptroller’s office bears most of the costs, including:

  • Transition and deployment
  • Ongoing system maintenance and support
  • Data storage
  • Software licensing
CAPPS Hub agencies implement CAPPS applications on their existing systems and bear the costs of:
  • Transition and deployment
  • Ongoing maintenance and support, which includes keeping CAPPS baseline applications current

CAPPS Modules

CAPPS is composed of several modules, including core modules and non-core (optional) modules that agencies can implement. The modules are detailed on the CAPPS Modules page.

CAPPS Governance

The CAPPS program includes a collaborative, agency-inclusive governance process. CAPPS governance facilitates critical aspects of the project including roles and responsibilities, change control, and a decision framework. CAPPS governance includes three committees, each with nine voting members representing CAPPS agencies to ensure their input on decisions that affect their CAPPS-based systems. The governance committees are:

CAPPS Financials User Group: Meetings are open to all state employees.
CAPPS HR/Payroll User Group: Meetings are open to all state employees.
CAPPS Steering Committee: Closed meetings for designated representatives.
CAPPS user group meetings are open to all participating agency staff so employees are aware of CAPPS system enhancements and deployment activities, and can participate in special-interest discussions on specific modules or functionality.