REQUEST FOR PROPOSAL (RFP)
City of Lula, GA
Subject: Cloud ERP Software
RFP #: 24-20
Due Date/Time: 2/15/2025 at 2:00 pm
Submit To: Franklin Etheridge, Assistant City Manager
Lula City Hall, P.O. Box 99 (6500 Main Street), Lula, GA 30554
Table of Contents
Section Title ____ Page
1 Schedule
2 Overview
3 Guidelines & Process
4 Scope of Work
5 RFP Response Format & Requirements
6 Requirements
7 Pricing Worksheet
1 Schedule
Listed below are important dates and times by which the actions noted must be completed. If the City finds it necessary to change any of these dates or times, the change will be accomplished by addendum. All dates are subject to change.
Milestone Expected Completion Date
Issue RFP December 19, 2024
Deadline for Questions January 13, 2025
Response to Questions January 16, 2025
Deadline for Submitting Proposals January 24, 2025
Demonstrations February 2025
Contract Negotiation February 2025
Contract Approval February 24, 2025
2 Overview
2.1 Background
The City solicits sealed written proposals for the implementation of a Cloud ERP Solution for Financial Management, Utility Management, & Community Development and related modules, data conversion, on-site training, implementation assistance, integration and ongoing software support, in accordance with the terms, conditions and specifications outlined in this Request for Proposal (RFP). The desired solution should be vendor-hosted or cloud-based. The City is looking for one completely integrated system, not separate solutions that are connected together.
2.2 Existing Software
The City is currently using the following CSI software modules:
o Accounts Payable
o Accounts Receivable
o Cash Receipting
o General Ledger
o Budgeting
o Utility Billing
The City is currently tracking Building Department information using paper and spreadsheets.
2.3 Scope of Work
The City is seeking proposals from qualified and experienced software vendors to provide a functionally rich, fully integrated Cloud ERP software application package. The Proposer shall prepare a response that clearly represents the experience of the firm in the municipal environment, functionality of the software package, and outlines an accurate representation of all costs. The following modules are included in the scope:
• General Ledger
• Budgeting
• Bank Reconciliation
• Accounts Payable & Accounts Receivable
• Cash Receipting
• Fixed Assets
• Utility Billing (Water, Sewer, Garbage)
• Building Permits
• Work Orders
• Business License
• Online Payment Portal (fully integrated)
• Online Customer/Contractor Portal for:
o Permit & License Application Submittal
o License Renewal
o Inspection Requests
For the purposes of this proposal, vendors should assume a fully integrated implementation including installing the software purchased, training and conversion of data from the current systems. All modules should be provided by one vendor unless otherwise noted.
Data Conversion - The City requires conversion of existing CSI data. A separate breakdown for data conversion should be included in the pricing proposal.
Training - The City requires on-site training for each of the modules to be provided. The vendor will be responsible for developing a training plan in collaboration with the City and delivering on site training to end-users. A separate breakdown for these interfaces is included in the pricing proposal.
2.4 User and Data Volume Estimates
Number of Employees 17
Number of Accounts Payable Vendors 1,000
Estimated Number of Accounts Payable Checks per Month 250
Number of Utility Billing Accounts 1,200
Number of Fixed Assets 200
Number of Users 3-5
2.5 Proposal Due Date and Opening
Sealed proposals must be received on or before January 24, 2025 at 2:00PM (Eastern Daylight Time), at the City Offices. Any proposal received after the specified time will be returned unopened. The Proposer is solely responsible for ensuring the proposal is received on or before the deadline.
RFPs will be opened and listed publicly in City Hall, 6055 Main St, Lula, GA 30554 on the date and time specified above.
All proposals that are not submitted in the required format or missing required forms will be subject to rejection. All proposals must be signed in ink. It is agreed upon by the Proposer that the signing and delivery of the Proposal represents the Proposers acceptance of the terms and conditions of the specifications.
3 Guidelines & Process
3.1 Proposal Submission
3.1.1 Electronic Submission: Proposals must be submitted electronically in PDF format.
3.1.2 Email Address: Send the PDF to frank.etheridge@cityoflula.com.
3.1.3 Subject Line: The email subject line should read “RFP Submission - [Your Company Name]”.
3.1.4 Deadline: Proposals must be received by January 24, 2025 at 2:00 pm Eastern Daylight Time.
3.1.5 File Naming Convention: Name the PDF file as “RFP_[Your Company Name]_[Date].pdf”.
3.1.6 Confirmation of Receipt: You will receive an email confirmation upon successful submission. If you do not receive a confirmation within 24 hours, please contact Teresa Heath at 770-869-3801
3.1.7 Attachments: All supporting documents must be included within the single PDF file.
3.1.8 Any questions concerning this RFP should be directed to Franklin Etheridge via email at frank.etheridge@cityoflula.com.
3.2 Evaluation Process
Conformance with RFP Guidelines and Submittal Requirements – The vendor must follow all RFP guidelines and submittal requirements, including the completion of required forms and templates.
Quality of Proposal – The vendor will be evaluated on the quality, clarity, and completeness of proposal.
System Functionality – including how well the system meets the overall needs of the City. The majority of points will be awarded based on the scoring of the Requirements matrices described in Appendix A.
Software Maintenance, Updates, and Support – including the vendor’s process and methodologies for software maintenance and updates, as well as the vendor’s methodology, experience, and infrastructure for providing technical support.
Overall System and Technical Description – including the maturity of the software solution, the use of current technology that is in line with the City’s capabilities, the proposed environment, and the overall architecture (e.g. MSSQL, Windows and/or browser, .NET, runs in virtual server environment, etc.).
Company Background and Experience – including the vendor’s financial and organizational stability, as well as the firm’s experience performing work of a similar nature to that solicited in this RFP.
Project Understanding – including how well the vendor demonstrates its understanding of the City’s project goals and objectives, and how it perceives its role in carrying out the responsibilities required by this implementation.
Project Staffing and Organization – including the experience level and competence of the proposed consultants and organizational staff in performing similar work for other clients and the comparability of that experience to the business and technical environment of the City.
Project Work Plan and Schedule – including the vendor’s demonstrated understanding of the overall scope of work for this project and the proposed project approach and methodology
Cost Proposal – Detailed Breakdown: Provide a detailed cost breakdown, including but not limited to:
• Initial setup costs
• Licensing fees
• Data Conversion fees
• Project Management and Implementation Fees
• Training Fees
• Maintenance and support costs
• Any additional costs (e.g., training, customization)
• Payment Schedule: Outline the proposed payment schedule, including milestones and deliverables associated with each payment.
• Cost Assumptions: Clearly state any assumptions that the cost proposal is based on, such as usage levels, number of users, or specific service levels.
Demonstration – Short-listed vendors will be invited to provide on-site demonstrations of the proposed solution.
Client References – including the quality and timeliness of work performed by the vendor and its proposed consultants for previous clients and the comparability of such work to the requirements of this RFP. The City will conduct reference calls.
3.3 Limitations
3.3.1 All information and materials submitted will become the property of the City. Vendors should not submit proprietary or confidential business information unless the Vendor believes such information is critical to its presentation. Such information should be clearly identified as such. The City will protect such proprietary or confidential information only to the extent which the law allows.
3.3.2 This RFP does not commit the City to award a contract(s) or pay any costs incurred in the preparation of a proposal in response to this request.
3.3.3 The City reserves the sole right to accept or reject any or all proposals received as a result of this RFP, to negotiate with qualified contractors, or to cancel this RFP in part or in its entirety.
3.3.4 Each proposal shall include a statement indicating whether or not the firm or any individuals working on the contract has a possible conflict of interest and, if so, the nature of that conflict.
3.3.5 Information must be furnished complete, in compliance with the terms, conditions, provisions and specifications of the Request for Proposals. The information requested and the manners of submission are essential to permit prompt evaluation of all proposals on a fair and uniform basis. The response must follow the RFP Response Outline provided in Section 5.
3.3.6 Accordingly, the City reserves the right to declare as non-responsive and reject any proposal in which material information requested is not furnished or where indirect or incomplete answers or information are provided.
3.3.7 Proposals and modifications or corrections received after the closing time specified will not be considered.
3.3.8 No telegraphic, telephone or facsimile of proposals will be accepted. If a photocopy is to be submitted, it must be signed in original, in ink.
4 Scope of Work & Requirements
4.1 General Requirements
The City intends to acquire and implement a suite of applications that will meet present and future needs. The selected vendor(s) will implement a system that is based on proven solutions that use current technologies. The software vendor’s solution must specify all required hardware, software and professional services. It is imperative that the vendor’s solution must offer the following:
• All modules should be fully functional solutions with multiple levels of processes and approvals.
• The system should facilitate the exchange of information by supporting electronic messaging and mail functions.
• Security functionality should be flexible, provide controls that meet the latest auditing standards and are in accordance with best practices in the industry.
• Basic financial processes such as closing year-end and opening new fiscal year should be automated and require no developer intervention.
• All systems quoted should provide user-defined fields and export functionality into Excel and .pdf formats as well as provide flexible standardized reporting.
• The system should provide customized ad-hoc report writing capabilities.
• Database: The solution must utilize a single, unified database to ensure data consistency and integrity.
• Cybersecurity: The vendor must manage all aspects of cybersecurity, including regular updates, monitoring, and threat mitigation.
• Disaster Recovery (DR): The vendor must provide a comprehensive disaster recovery plan, including regular backups and a clear recovery process to ensure minimal downtime.
The City has prepared requirements worksheets by functional area to be completed by the software vendor. These worksheets will form part of the basis for scoring the software vendor’s overall response. The worksheets are meant to determine how much of the required functionality each vendor’s product can provide. The requirements are weighted and will be scored based on the vendor’s response. It is very important that vendors complete the worksheets accurately as it will affect their opportunity to be considered further in this procurement.
The requirements worksheets are described in Appendix A and need to be completed and submitted electronically along with the requested number of hard copies to be included in the RFP response.
4.2 Implementation Plan
The City requires that each vendor prepare a detailed Implementation Plan outlining the required tasks, estimated hours, responsibility, major deliverables, and timing. At a minimum, the RFP response will cover the following areas:
• Implementation approach
• Environment installation, including supporting software (OS, DBMS, etc.) and hardware platform installation and configuration, if necessary. The vendor shall be responsible for assisting the City with configuring all required environments, including testing, training, and production.
• Application set-up (tailoring, configuration, end-user set up)
• Application-level security design and configuration
• Design and development of customized reports
4.3 Data Conversion
It is anticipated that data conversion will occur when migrating to the new application. The successful vendor(s) is expected to assist the City in the conversion of both electronic data as well as the coordination and planning related to manual data conversion (e.g. hand keying) to the new system. The City expects the successful Vendor(s) will be responsible for overall data conversion coordination, definition of file layouts, and automated data import and validation into the new software. It is expected that the City will be responsible for any manual data conversion (e.g. hand keying), as agreed upon and running reports to assist in the conversion
The scope of data conversion is expected to include, at a minimum:
General Ledger Budget & Balances
General Ledger 5 years of Detailed Journal Transaction History
Accounts Payable Vendors
Accounts Payable 5 Years of Check History (linked to Vendors and Invoices)
Accounts Payable 5 Years of Invoice History (linked to Vendors and Checks)
Cash Receipting Receipt Items & Tender Types
Cash Receipting 5 Years of Detailed Receipts History
Utility Billing Service Addresses & Resident Information
Utility Billing 5 Years of Account Information (Meters, Billing Items, Deposits, Work Orders, Comments)
Utility Billing 5 Years of Billing & Payment History
Fixed Assets Asset Information & Depreciation Information
Building Department Parcel & Owner Information (imported from county)
Describe the roles and responsibilities between your team and the City related to data conversion activities.
4.4 Integration
It is expected that information would be entered only once into the system and then transferred electronically to other required systems. Modules within the system should be integrated in real-time with each other so that batch processes are not required to transfer information from one area of the system to another.
The following tables contain a listing of current and/or desired application interfaces and their likely need in a future integrated software environment.
Item Integration Item Source System Target System
1 Send positive pay file to bank Account Payable Comerica Bank
2 Export 1099 Files Accounts Payable IR
3 Export Vendor ACH Payment file Accounts Payable Comerica Bank
4 Export Customer ACH Payment File Utility Billing Comerica Bank
5 Export / Import of Meter Read Information Utility Billing Neptune
6 Import Master Parcel data from County County Proposed Central Address
4.5 Training
The vendor will be responsible for developing a training plan in collaboration with the City and delivering on site training to end-users. The City will be responsible for performing and documenting system testing, and documenting business processes and procedures. The vendor is expected to primarily Instructor Led training. For some selected activities, (Purchase Order Training for example), the Vendor can train subject matter experts and they will conduct the end user training in a “Train the Trainer” Approach. Vendors must specify any training that is expected to be “Train the Trainer” approach. Vendors should also include a minimum of two follow up training sessions scheduled 30 to 45 days after initial training. These sessions will be used to supplement the initial training and help users in any problem areas.
5 RFP Response Format & Requirements
5.1 Cover Page
Show the name of Proposers agency/firm, address, telephone number, name of contact person, date, and the proposal number and description.
5.2 Table of Contents
Include a clear identification of the material by section and by page number.
5.3 Executive Summary
• Limit to one or two pages.
• Briefly state the Proposers understanding of the work to be done and make a positive commitment to perform the work.
• Give the names of the persons who will be authorized to make representations for the Proposer, their titles, addresses and telephone numbers.
• Provide an official signature certifying the contents of the Proposers responses to the City’s Request for Proposal.
5.4 General Information
• Name of Business.
• Mailing Address and Phone Number.
• Names and contact information of persons to be contacted for information or services if different from name of person in charge.
• Normal business hours.
• State if business is local, national, or international and indicate the business legal status (corporation, partnership, etc.).
• Give the date business was organized and/or incorporated, and where.
• Give the location of the office from which the work is to be done and the number of professional staff employees at that office.
• Indicate whether the business is a parent or subsidiary in a group of firms/agencies. If it is, please state the name of the parent company.
• List all contracts, business agreements or other business relationships with computer hardware and/or other software vendors. List the names of the vendor and state the relationship.
• List all MIS services, computer hardware and/or software products marketed by the firm, its parent firm or any subsidiary firm.
5.5 Requirements
The City has outlined specific requirements that must be addressed by the software vendor. These requirements will form part of the basis for scoring the vendor’s overall response. It is crucial that vendors provide a comprehensive response to each requirement, as this will impact their opportunity to be considered further in this procurement.
The Contractor should include a detailed response to each requirement listed in the RFP. If any item is available at an additional cost, please include details in the comments area and ensure it is included in the base price if it is a mandatory requirement.
Exceptions or deviations from the specifications stated in this RFP must be clearly identified. Any stated requirements that your proposal does not meet must be clearly noted in this section. If an exception is not listed, it will be understood by the City and the Contractor that the requirement will be met.
5.6 References
Specify three (3) municipal references with similar characteristics to Lula
2/21/2025