Upgrade to the Finance Management System (FMS)

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1. At a glance

2. Scope of Work

This tender seeks an upgrade to Bord Iascaigh Mhara's (BIM) Finance Management System (FMS). The core requirement is to implement a solution, specifically Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central, that supports BIM's operational needs for processing financial and logistics transactions. The system must be scalable and handle a consistent volume of transactions.

Key functional areas to be addressed include:

• Core Finance:

• Flexible chart of accounts and dimension structure (at least five levels).

• Multi-currency functionality.

• Import/export capabilities (Excel, common file formats).

• Management of accounting periods, including period close.

• Retention of General Ledger data with drill-down capabilities.

• Budgeting by GL account, department, project, and other dimensions.

• Full integration between General Ledger, Accounts Payable, Accounts Receivable, and Cash Management.

• Accrual-based accounting.

• Standard financial statements (Balance Sheet, Profit & Loss).

• Reporting and analysis (Actual vs Budget, Year-on-Year, etc.) with drill-down.

• Manual journal processing with workflow approvals and audit trails.

• API-based integration for future Payroll system integration.

• Purchase Requisition, Orders, Contract and Procurement Management:

• Configurable workflow-driven approval process for purchase requisitions to purchase orders.

• Integration with GL accounts, budget/project codes, VAT codes.

• Uploading, storing, and routing procurement supporting documentation.

• Online goods and service receipt functionality with three-way matching.

• Real-time visibility of requisitions and purchase orders.

• Conversion of approved requisitions to purchase orders with validation against approvals, budgets, and contract values.

• Automated generation and distribution of PDF purchase orders.

• Procurement Approval solution integrated with Contract Management, maintaining unique approval references and lifecycle records.

• Comprehensive contract register with RFT details, supplier information, values, balances, dates, and supporting documentation.

• Support for various procurement methods (RFQ, open tender, etc.).

• Maintenance of insurance records and automated notifications for renewals.

• Configurable alerts for contract expiries, renewals, and insurance expiries.

• Invoices and Accounts Payable:

• Integration between AP, Purchase Orders, Goods Receipts, and GL with invoice matching.

• Configurable payment controls, segregation of duties, and audit trails.

• Standard creditor management functionality.

• Support for electronic invoicing compliant with EU Directives and Irish Government requirements.

• Support for Irish public sector tax requirements (VAT, RCT, PSWT, ROS).

• Configurable tax validation controls.

• Supplier master file maintenance with comprehensive details and compliance information.

• Compliant supplier onboarding and maintenance workflows.

• Verification of Payee (VoP) requirements.

• Invoice and credit note capture using OCR and AI technologies.

• Automated and manual matching of invoices to purchase orders and goods receipts.

• Duplicate transaction and invoice processing prevention.

• Integration with ROS for Tax Clearance verification.

• Generation of compliant validation files for VoP.

• Generation of payment files compliant with ISO 20022 requirements.

• Calculation and reporting of Prompt Payment Interest and Compensation.

• Reporting and analysis including creditor history, aged creditor reporting, and expenditure analysis.

• Tax:

• VAT recording, classification, calculation, and reporting for all applicable Irish VAT treatments.

• Automated VAT determination and calculation.

• Generation of statutory VAT reporting (VAT returns, RTD, VIES, Intrastat).

• ViDA-ready support for EN16931 structured e-invoicing and PEPPOL compatibility.

• Integration with ROS for Electronic Tax Clearance Certificate (eTCC) verification.

• Generation of annual Section 891 report.

• PSWT compliance.

• Generation of Revenue-compliant RCT reports.

• Reporting & Business Intelligence:

• Standard integration with Business Intelligence tools (e.g., Microsoft Power BI) or native BI capability.

• Generation of statutory and management financial reports.

• Report generation across multiple filters and dimensions with drill-down capability.

• Payment reporting.

• Role-based report security.

• Automated scheduling, generation, and distribution of reports.

• Support for ad hoc and customised reports.

• Fixed Assets:

• Maintenance of a Fixed Asset Register (FAR) with comprehensive asset attributes.

• Asset categorisation, grouping, and hierarchy management.

• Multiple depreciation methods and rates.

• Automated depreciation processing and posting.

• Asset accounting transactions (depreciation, revaluations, disposals).

• Integration with GL and Purchase Ledger.

• Creation of multiple fixed assets from a single supplier invoice.

• Disposal workflows for fixed assets.

• Physical asset verification integration.

• Dedicated ICT Asset Register.

• Role-based access to ICT asset records.

• ICT asset reporting.

• Audit trail of asset record changes.

• Attachment and storage of supporting documentation.

• Banking and Reconciliation:

• Automated bank transaction imports and live bank feeds.

• Creation, approval, generation, and secure transmission of EFT and SEPA payment files.

• Workflow-based payment approvals.

• End-to-end payment processing.

• Automated bank reconciliation.

• Reconciliation reporting.

• Maintenance of multiple bank accounts.

• Payment control and audit reports.

• Credit card reconciliation support.

• Real-time cash flow forecasting updates.

• Recording and processing of non-supplier payments and non-customer receipts.

• Budgeting and Forecasting:

• Budget entry and maintenance at GL account level.

• Budget creation from existing budgets or prior-year data.

• Excel-based templates for budget and forecast preparation.

• Budget submission and reforecast workflows.

• Budget reallocation across dimensions.

• Budget reporting and analysis.

• Cash flow budgeting and forecasting.

• Debtors Ledger:

• Customer master records with comprehensive details.

• Configuration, enforcement, and monitoring of customer credit limits.

The current average transaction volumes are: 2,000 active vendors, 152 active customers, 3 payment runs/week, 357 average vendor transactions/month, 159 average grantee transactions/month, 100 sales invoices/month, 500 purchase invoices/month, and 217 purchase orders/month.

3. Background & buyer context

Bord Iascaigh Mhara (BIM), the Irish Sea Fisheries Board, is procuring an upgrade to its Finance Management System (FMS). The tender document references "BIM 2026-09", suggesting a strategic initiative or project timeline. The procurement aligns with the broader digital transformation efforts within public sector organisations in Ireland, aiming to enhance financial management, operational efficiency, and reporting capabilities. The specific functional requirements detailed in the appendices indicate a need for a modern, integrated system that can support current and future regulatory compliance, including e-invoicing standards (ViDA-ready) and real-time VAT reporting. The incumbent system is not explicitly named but is being replaced or significantly upgraded.

4. Eligibility & selection criteria

• Turnover requirement: Tenderers must meet a minimum average annual turnover of €950,000 over each of the last three financial years. Evidence must be provided from accountants or auditors. This requirement can be met on a solo or cumulative basis.
• Insurance: The successful Tenderer shall be required to hold the following insurances for the term of the Services Contract:
• Employer's Liability: €13,000,000 per claim or series of claims arising out of a single occurrence.
• Public Liability: €6,500,000 per claim or series of claims arising out of a single occurrence.
• Product Liability: €6,500,000 per claim or series of claims arising out of a single occurrence.
• Professional Indemnity: €1,300,000 per claim, excluding defence costs.
• Cyber Liability: €5,000,000 per claim or series of claims arising out of a single occurrence.
• Certifications: The service provider shall hold ISO 27001 and align with Microsoft compliance frameworks. Adherence to recognised ethical AI principles and ISO 42001 certification or equivalent is also required.
• Past experience: Not specified for this tender.
• Personnel: Not specified for this tender.
• Geographic / facility constraints: It is a minimum requirement that data should be stored in the EU/EEA. Any data sub-processors appointed by the Contractor must also be located within the EU/EEA. The EEA does not include the United Kingdom, including Northern Ireland.

5. Award criteria & scoring

The evaluation of supplier responses will use a structured methodology combining qualitative and quantitative measures. Responses will be categorised by type: Standard Business Central (SBS), Standard Partner Developed Application (SPDA), Customisation (C), Workaround (W), Development (D), or Not Available (N). Each type has a weight factor (e.g., S = 5.0, C = 4). A qualitative score from 0 to 5 is assigned based on clarity, completeness, and relevance. SBS responses automatically receive the maximum score (5). The final weighted score is calculated by multiplying the qualitative score by the response type factor. The price/quality split is not explicitly stated, but the detailed functional requirements suggest a strong emphasis on quality and technical fit.

Criterion Weight (%) Sub-criteria