3. GoC Context
• TB President has been directed to
ensure more oversight on costing
and to ground decisions on
“best available information”
• TBS moving forward on
– Step-variable approach
– Benchmarking of internal services
costing / comparative data
– Internal Service efficiency and
performance indicators being
introduced
• CBSA proactively moving forward
with costing centre of expertise to
strengthen costing and implement /
apply step-variable approach
4. CBSA Context
• Like other departments, CBSA
facing a tight fiscal environment,
with significant pressure to
justify resourcing needs
with evidence
• In 2014, at the direction of the Deputy, the Agency initiated a
“Tooth-to-Tail” (TTT) analysis of Agency front-line versus internal
services resources
• The TTT architecture and data set was then transformed and
expanded to incorporate core front-line operational activities and
associated volumetrics to lay the foundation for the Agency’s
Cost Factor Manual (CFM) 4
A A1-1 Front-lineProgram-ServiceDelivery RiskAssessment 1Intelligenceintheregions
A A1-2 Front-lineProgram-ServiceDelivery RiskAssessment 2SecurityScreening
A A1-3 Front-lineProgram-ServiceDelivery RiskAssessment 3Targeting
A A2-1 Front-lineProgram-ServiceDelivery SecureandTrustedPartnership 1Trustedtraveller…intheregions
A A2-2 Front-lineProgram-ServiceDelivery SecureandTrustedPartnership 2Trustedtrader…intheregions
A A3-1 Front-lineProgram-ServiceDelivery Admissibilitydetermination 1Front-lineOps-Traveller
5. CBSA CFM Objectives
• Improve accuracy, reliability and quality of Agency financial data
• Link data to core program volumetrics to enable stepped variable
costing in accordance with TBS / OCG costing directions
• Comply with TBS / OCG Internal Services costing guidance
• Create foundational data set to determine unit cost standards across
all common functions
• Strengthen rigour and quality of financial advice into budget allocation
decision making
5
6. The CFM – What Precisely Is it?
• The CFM is a strategic resource management, costing, and management accounting
tool designed to support program analysis and resourcing decision-making
• It is essentially an off-line, enterprise data warehouse that links
– Financial expenditure data, to
– Program volumetric data,
– At the PoE level of analysis (in the regions), and
– At the Directorate level of analysis (at HQ).
• The scope of the database includes:
– Expenditure data, based on CAS, manually adjusted and validated by business owners
through multiple iterations since 2013
– Linkages to all financial data in the coding block, including Cost Centre data, Program Activity
data, Activity Type data, GL, Fund Code, etc
– Linkages to program volume data from core systems / data cubes, including ACROSS,
CRMS,G11, FOSS, ICES, etc..)
• As it contains manually adjusted financial data, it is not and should not be used for
system of record financial accounting requirements.
6
7. • The CFM architecture captures expenditures on multiple analytical levels,
through a series of data tags, including:
– “Tooth-to-Tail”, which captures
• Front-line Program Delivery, distinct from
• Direct Support to Front-line Program Delivery, distinct from
• Internal Services (in accordance with TBS guidance on coding for internal services)
– CBSA program architecture, specifically wrt
• The Agency’s current PAA, approved by TB Ministers in 2010, as distinct from
• The Agency’s new PAA, as approved by EC October 22, 2015
• The CFM is comprised of three main costing components:
– Regional Data
– Headquarters Data
– Costing by application
7
The CFM – What Precisely Is it?
8. Key Principles / Methodology
• CFM Key principles
– Account for 100% of expenditures
– No double counting
– Balance to public accounts / system of record
• To build / update the database, the data is pulled from source
systems and adjusted based on the attribution formulas that
have been validated over the past 2 years
– Mapped by POE/division to enable the alignment of resources and volumes
– Resources and volumes are attributed by function based on the CFM
architecture
– The data is then compared by “cluster” to further validate the allocation /
attributions by function at the most granular level (to identify anomolies /
variances and challenge the attributions and enable further refinement of
the quality of the data)
8
9. Using the CFM
The Agency is looking to use the CFM as a core analytical tool for
costing and resource allocation. Uses include:
•Costing for TB submissions
•Stepped-variable approach for budget allocations / resource management
decision-making
•Tool for targeted reviews (e.g. OT)
•Identification and assessment of variances in unit costs within a program and
between PoE
•Development of efficiency indicators for the new Agency
Performance Measurement framework
•X-walk for implementation of a new PAA
•Mapping of data pathways for the Agency Enterprise Data Warehouse
•Engaging the financial and program analyst user community to proto-type
business requirements and functionality for future reporting tools
9
10. 10
• However, unlike true variable costs that vary directly with the level of activity; the stepped-variable
approach incurs increases at certain discrete points that involve changes in the number of FTEs required at
the POE.
• Once we get to large POEs, the costs become truly variable depending on volumes.
Step-Variable Approach
Large
TotalCost($)
Small POEs
Small/Medium
Medium
Number of POEs :107
Travellers : 4,463,023
Commercial Releases: 319,065
Number of POEs: 28
Travellers: 18,276,980
Commercial Releases: 1,632,462
Number of POEs: 37
Travellers : 5,647,045
Commercial Releases: 2,009,161
Number of POEs: 20
Travellers: 68,250,348
Commercial Releases: 10,721,106
12. 12
Costing Centre of Expertise: Mandate
Vision:
•CBSA recognized as one of the best in costing in government
Mandate:
•Build and implement a fully integrated costing capability that strengthens the
Agency’s ability to deliver value-for-money across programs
Role / Position within Comptrollership:
•Centralized unit providing specialised cost estimation services
•Services to include:
– A core costing capability
– Capacity building, guidance and training to FMAs (targeting FI-02s and FI-03s)
– Costing tools for FMAs, to support their work
– Enterprise costing (I.e. CBSA costing template, IS costing model, SAF etc…)
12
14. Next Steps
• Confirm scope and limitations on use of CFM data
• Use CFM as an input factor in budget allocation decision-making
• Deploy visualization tool and directions and scope and limitations to
financial and program analyst community
• Use tool to support engagement and proto-typing of functionality desired
from user community in support of Enterprise Data Warehouse
• Continue to build a more accurate historical dataset by incorporating
periodic updates (until enterprise data warehouse is complete)
14
