Financial Management System (FMS)
FMS is the VHA general ledger, the primary repository of VA financial data. It categorizes spending by fiscal period, station, and account. Both labor and non-labor spending is reported.
The same spending may be attributed to more than one account in FMS. For example, payroll data appear twice. One set of codes attributes labor costs to more than 70 separate categories, such as full-time physician, registered nurse, and social worker. These can be used to calculate hourly and annual labor costs systemwide or for particular sites. The second set divides labor costs by pay status and type, such as regular time, overtime, benefits, and so on. There are non-labor accounts as well.
FMS data are stored at the Corporate Franchise Data Center, formerly called the Austin Automation Center. They may be accessed through a timeshare account established through the Information Security Officer (ISO) of the user's station. Selected elements of FMS data may also be found on the intranet web site of the VISN Support Services Center, also called the "KLF Menu."
A number of guidebooks, presentations, and technical reports are available on the contents and use of FMS. The downloads section of this web page lists two guidebooks created outside of HERC. The first is Volume IV of the "Blue Books," a reference from the mid-1990s. It is listed below in both regular and zipped formats. The third file is a VA handbook that defines FMS subaccounts. Next is a HERC guidebook on micro-cost methods. It features a chapter on FMS and includes a table of the contents of the two FMS files most commonly used by researchers. The following file is a PowerPoint presentation by HERC economist Mark Smith that briefly describes FMS and offers suggestions for its use. The final downloadable file is a 2004 listing of FMS subaccount codes.
To ensure the protection of VA information, we have restricted access to certain files (denoted by the"lock" icon). Contact HERC to download these restricted files.
- VA Databases Resource Guide Volume IV (Blue Books - Describes VA CDR, FMS, and CALM cost data sets)
Date: 8/1/1997 | Size: 6.52Mb
Volume IV of the Department of Veterans Affairs Databases Resource Guide focuses on nationally available accounting and cost distribution data sources useful for identifying Veterans Affairs (VA) healthcare costs. It's purpose is to present information to facilitate access to and use of VA databases by health services researchers. Volume IV was first published in 1994, and last updated in 1997. It was prepared by Martha Beattie, Ralph Swindle and others at the HSR&D Center of Excellence in Palo Alto, and updated by Swindle and his team of Health Services Researchers at the Indianapolis VA.
- VA Databases Resource Guide Volume IV (Zip - Blue Books - Describes VA CDR, FMS, and CALM cost data sets)
Date: 8/1/1997 | Size: 2.79Mb
- VA Handbook 4679: Subaccount distribution of personal service costs
Date: 10/1/1994 | Size: 237Kb
This handbook contains definitions of FMS subaccounts.
- Micro-cost methods of determining VA health care costs
Date: 12/1/2005 | Size: 2.10Mb
See Chapter 3 of this guidebook for detailed information on FMS files commonly used by researchers.
- VA economic data sets IV: NPPD, Fee Basis
Date: 8/3/2005 | Size: 167Kb
- Subaccount Codes
Date: 1/14/2004 | Size: 86Kb
This spreadsheet lists all official subaccount codes (sub-object codes) used in FMS. The policy that sets subaccount codes is updated every few years. The latest version always appears on the VA Office of Financial Management intranet web site.