26GEN017G Financial ERP Software RFP.pdf

Town Manager Needham Town Hall

1471 Highland Avenue Needham, Massachusetts 02492

Telephone 781-455-7500

Acknowledgement of Receipt

Release Date Thursday, July 17, 2025

Bid Title Financial ERP Software

Bid Number 26GEN017G

Number of Documents The Bid Package consists of one (1) PDF document. The specimen contract is a separate document.

Informational Session None

Questions Due 4:00 p.m., Wednesday, August 6, 2025

Proposals Due 4:00 p.m., Thursday, August 21, 2025 to Katie King, Town Manager, Town Hall, 1471 Highland Avenue, Needham, Massachusetts 02492

Please provide the requested information below as acknowledgment that you have received our bid package noted above and your intention is to submit a bid. It is recommended that interested bidders complete this acknowledgment and return via email to pcentral@needhamma.gov. Only by doing this will the Town be able to provide notification of addenda* or answered questions relating to this Bid. Only those companies or individuals shown on the Distribution Register will be sent addenda to this Bid and whose written questions will be addressed. By completing and returning this acknowledgement will ensure you are recorded on the Distribution Register. Proposals from companies or individuals not acknowledging the addenda may be rejected as not responsive.

Name of Company or Individual (Print)

Name / Title of Contact (Print)

Address (line 1) (Print)

Address (line 2) (Print)

Telephone Number

E-mail Address (Print)

Signature

Date

* Addenda will be posted to the Town’s website. Please check the website for addenda before submitting your bid to the Town. Bidders are responsible for checking the website periodically for any addenda that may be issued by the Town.

mailto:pcentral@needhamma.gov

Intentionally Blank

(Advertised in the Hometown Weekly issue of Thursday, July 17, 2025) (Advertised in the Goods & Services Monday, July 14, 2025)

(Advertised in COMMBUYS Thursday, July 17, 2025)

Town of Needham Request for Proposals

Financial ERP Software

26GEN017G

The Town of Needham is accepting sealed proposals to provide a financial ERP software. The Request for Proposals (RFP) information package will be available beginning Thursday, July 17, 2025 online at the Town’s web site www.needhamma.gov/bids.aspx and will be available until submission deadline. Please refer to the RFP for additional information. Sealed proposals must be submitted no later than 4:00 p.m. Thursday, August 21, 2025 to Katie King, Town Manager, Town of Needham, Town Hall, 1471 Highland Avenue, Needham, Massachusetts 02492.

LATE BIDS WILL NOT BE CONSIDERED. This legal notice is also posted on the Massachusetts Newspaper Publishers Association’s (MNPA) website at http:// masspublicnotices.org/. The Town reserves the right to reject any and all bids as determined to be in the best interests of the Town and to waive minor informalities.

Katie King Town Manager

July 17, 2025 http://www.needhamma.gov/bids.aspx

ABOUT NEEDHAM

The Town of Needham is located in Norfolk County, 10 miles southwest of Boston. It is bordered on the west and northwest by the Town of Wellesley, on the north and northeast by the City of Newton, on the east by the West Roxbury section of the City of Boston, on the southeast by the Town of Dedham, and on the south by the Towns of Westwood and Dover. Needham has a population of 32,091 (2020 U.S. Census) and occupies a land area of approximately 12.75 square miles. Established as a town in 1711, Needham is governed by a representative form of town meeting and a five member Select Board. The day-to-day management is under the direction of the Town Manager. School affairs are administered by a seven-member School Committee and the Superintendent of Schools.

The Town is classified as an economically developed suburb with above average wealth levels and higher education attainment. The Town has an “AAA” credit rating from Standard and Poor’s.

The Town provides a full range of governmental services including police and fire protection; emergency medical services; collection, disposal, and recycling of solid waste; sewers; streets; water services; health and human services;

town library; and recreation. The Town also provides public education in grades kindergarten through twelve. The Town operates 1 pre-school, 5 elementary schools (K – 5), 1 sixth-grade center, 1 middle school (7 – 8), and a senior high school (9 – 12). Technical education is offered to grades nine through twelve by the Minuteman Regional Vocational Technical School District. The total expenditure in the most recent fiscal year exceeded $220 million.

DECISION TO USE COMPETITIVE SEALED PROPOSALS

The Chief Procurement Officer (CPO) has determined that in order to select the most advantageous proposal to provide a financial ERP software requires comparative judgment of non-price technical factors. The Town believes that the choice of a consultant requires an evaluation of bidder’s ability, experience, and past work product. The bidder must have experience providing comprehensive financial ERP software to Massachusetts municipalities. The contract will be awarded in accordance with Massachusetts General Laws, Chapter 30B using the request for proposals procedure.

INDEX

Description Page Legal Notice 3 About Needham 4 Decision to Use Competitive Sealed Proposals 4 Index 5 Procurement In Brief 7 Part 1 General Information

1.01 Quantities 9

1.02 Questions Regarding the Bid 9

1.03 Information about Changes to the RFP (Addenda) 9

1.04 Bonds, Insurance, and Indemnification 9

1.05 Execution of the Contract 10

1.06 Payment and Discount Terms, Adjustments for Incomplete or Unacceptable Work

1.07 Bid Modifications or Withdrawals 11

1.08 Premature Opening of a Bid 11

1.09 Unexpected Closure or Delays 11

1.10 Late Submissions 11

1.11 Rejection of Bids 11

1.12 Taxes 11

1.13 Public Records 11

1.14 Conflict of Interest 12

1.15 Tie Bids 12

1.16 Contract Award 12

1.17 Other Notices 13

1.18 Clarification of Terminology 13

Part 2 Scope of Services

2.01 Overview 14

2.02 Current Software 15

2.03 System Requirements 15

2.04 Implementation 17

2.05 Conversion of Data 18

2.06 Requirements for All Modules 19

2.07 Modules 20

2.07.01 Accounts Payable 20

2.07.02 Applicant Tracking 22

2.07.03 Budgeting 24

2.07.04 Budget Book Publisher 25

2.07.05 Document Manager 26

2.07.06 Employee Access Portal 26

2.07.07 Fixed Assets 27

2.07.08 General Ledger 27

2.07.09 Human Resources 29

2.07.10 Miscellaneous/General Billing 31

2.07.11 Motor Vehicle Excise Tax 34

2.07.12 Over the Counter/Cash Receipts 37

Description Page

2.07.13 Payroll 39

2.07.14 Payroll Time & Attendance 43

2.07.15 Position Control 44

2.07.16 Purchasing 44

2.07.17 Report Writer 45

2.07.18 Real Estate and Personal Property Tax 45

2.07.19 Treasurer Cash Book and Bank Reconciliation 50

2.07.20 Utility Billing 51

2.08 Training and Support Services 54

2.09 Quality Requirements 55

2.10 Project Narrative 55

2.11 Project Schedule 57

Part 3 Selection Process

3.01 Selection Process Overview

3.02 Comparative Criteria

3.03 Bidder Presentation

3.04 Price Proposal

3.05 Recommendation

Part 4 Requirements

4.01 Technical Proposal Requirements

4.02 Technical Proposal Submission Requirements

4.03 Price Proposal Submission Requirements

4.04 Other Requirements and Notices

Part 5 Checklist and Forms for Submission Checklist Bidder Information Response (2 pages) Certificate of Good Faith Certificate of Compliance with Massachusetts Tax Laws Promise to Execute Contract Professional References Certificate of Authority Bid Price Proposal (25 pages) Non-Submittal Response Form

Appendix A Appendix B Specimen Contract

Procurement in Brief

Primary Procurement Contact Cecilia Simchak, Assistant Director of Finance email: Pcentral@needhamma.gov

Event Details

Bid Title Financial ERP Software

Contract Number 26GEN017G

Request for Proposal Available

Information and details of bidding requirements may be obtained at Office of the Town Manager, Needham Town Hall, 1471 Highland Avenue, Needham, Massachusetts 02492, or on-line at the Town’s website http://www.needhamma.gov/bids.aspx

Informational Session None

Written Questions*

Deadline: Wednesday, August 6, 2025 at 4:00 p.m.

By Delivery: Office of the Town Manager, Needham Town Hall, 1471 Highland Avenue, Needham, Massachusetts 02492

By Email: Pcentral@needhamma.gov

Questions are to be clearly labeled as: Financial ERP Software– 26GEN017G – Questions

Answers to questions will be posted to the website in a form of an Addendum and/or Response.

Exceptions

The bidder must disclose in detail any exceptions to the specimen contract and such exceptions must be specific. The bidder must state a reason for each exception and propose alternative language. The purpose of the exception process is to permit the Town to correct, prior to the opening of the bids, any technical or contractual requirement, provision, ambiguity, or conflict in the bid package. Exceptions must be submitted by the deadline for written questions stated above. Unless timely submitted as an exception, any such ambiguity, conflict or problem shall be resolved in favor of the Town of Needham.

Addenda

If any changes are made to this bid, an addendum will be issued. Addenda will be emailed to all bidders on record as having received the bid package and provided an email address to the Town to notify the bidder. Each bidder is responsible for checking the Town’s website to determine if the Town issued any addenda.

When and Where Bids are Due*

Thursday, August 21, 2025 at 4:00 p.m.

Office of the Town Manager Town Hall 1471 Highland Avenue Needham, Massachusetts 02492 LATE SUBMISSIONS WILL NOT BE CONSIDERED (Per State Law)

Number of Required Copies

One (1) original signed paper copy of the Technical and One (1) original signed paper copy of the Price Proposal each in a separately sealed envelope. The Technical Proposal must also be provided electronically on a thumb drive. Please note the Town will return the thumb drive, if asked, provided the bidder included a self-addressed prepaid mailing/shipping package suitable for returning the thumb drive. Thumb drives will be returned after a contract has been executed.

Bid Opening Bids will NOT be publicly opened. A list of submitters will be made available after the submission deadline.

Evaluation of Bids Evaluation Committee members will independently review the technical proposals.

Proposal Presentation Month of September 2025 Bidders deemed qualified based on the evaluation of the written technical proposals WILL be required to make a presentation before the Evaluation Committee.

mailto:Pcentral@needhamma.gov http://www.needhamma.gov/bids.aspx mailto:Pcentral@needhamma.gov

Procurement in Brief

Primary Procurement Contact Cecilia Simchak, Assistant Director of Finance email: Pcentral@needhamma.gov

Event Details Bid Surety (bond) Requirements A Bid bond is NOT required

Contract Length Initial contract will be three years from when the software is operational with an additional seven one-year extensions at the sole option of the Town.

Contract Award** The target date for the award is November 1, 2025.

Approval of Town Manager and Town Counsel are REQUIRED

Upon Award of Contract

Payment Bond Will NOT be Required

Performance Bond Will NOT be Required

Insurance

Before commencing performance of the contract, the awarded bidder will be responsible for providing and maintaining insurance coverage in force for the life of the contract in adequate amounts to secure all of the obligations under the contract and with insurance companies licensed to write insurance in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. All policies issued shall indemnify and hold harmless the Town of Needham, its agents, and employees from any and all claims for damages to persons or property as may arise out of the performance of this contract.

Honesty Bond Will NOT be Required

Payment Terms

The Town is open to a payment structure under the contract awarded from this RFP that will be based on milestones tied to outcomes. However, the Town will consider proposals to structure payments in a different manner and reserves the right to select any payment structure that is in the Town’s best interest.

* Written inquiries must be sent prior to the above date and time deadlines. The Town will respond to written questions submitted by individuals/companies who intend to submit a bid. Individuals/companies will demonstrate their intention to bid by completing and returning the Acknowledgement of Receipt form. The time/date stamp machine located in the Town Manager’s Office will govern the date and time requirements mentioned in the table above and throughout this document.

Please allow enough time for hand delivery.

** The Bidder agrees that the offer is effective for (a) at least 180 calendar days from the opening date of the bids (b) a contract is executed, or (c) this bid is cancelled, whichever of (a), (b), or (c) occurs first. The time for award may be extended by the Town. The Town reserves the right to change, delay, cancel, or expedite the contract award date. The Town reserves the right to reject any and all bids as determined to be in the best interests of the Town and to waive minor informalities.

mailto:Pcentral@needhamma.gov

PART 1

GENERAL INFORMATION

1.01 Quantities

Unless otherwise stated, the quantities set forth herein are ESTIMATES ONLY. Any quantities indicated on the Bid Form or elsewhere in the bid package are estimates only and are given solely as a basis for the comparison of bids.

The bidder shall have no claim for additional compensation, or refuse to do the work called for, or provide the requested items, by reason of the actual quantities involved being greater or lesser by any amount than those called for in the bid.

1.02 Questions Regarding the Bid

The bidder shall be satisfied as to the requirements to enable intelligent preparation of your bid. The bidder shall be familiar with all the bid material requirements and documents before submitting the bid to avoid any misunderstanding. Bidders shall promptly raise the issue of any ambiguity, inconsistency, or error, which they may discover upon examination of the bid documents, specifications, services, worksite, or any other conditions which may apply. No allowance will be made for any claim that the bid is based on incomplete information.

The Town will respond to written questions submitted by individuals/companies who intend to submit a bid.

Individuals/companies will demonstrate their intention to bid by completing and returning the Acknowledgement of Receipt form.

Inquiries concerning any part of this bid shall be directed to the individual(s) listed under the Procurement in Brief.

Bidders should note that oral communications are not binding on the Town and only written responses by the Town will be considered. All requests/questions must be submitted in writing. Questions may be delivered by hand or email as referenced under the Procurement in Brief by the deadline. Questions that may be asked during any pre-bid conference should also be sent in writing in order to receive an official response. Requests properly presented that in the opinion of the Town require interpretation, correction, or change in the bid documents will result in an issuance of an addendum to the bid documents. The Town will forward responses to all persons who are on record as receiving the bid package. Questions received after the due date will not be responded to unless the Town determines it is necessary. Bidders, please allow enough time for hand delivery.

1.03 Information about Changes to the Bid

In the event that changes/additions are made to this bid, an addendum will be issued. Addenda will be emailed if an email address was provided. Addenda will also be posted to the Town’s website where the bid package was made available. Please check back on the website for addendums before submitting your bid to the Town. Bidders may not be notified individually of Addendums.

1.04 Bonds, Insurance, and Indemnification

Bonds Bidders should refer to the Procurement in Brief for any bond (Bid (surety) Bond, Honesty Bond, Payment Bond, and/or Performance Bond) requirements.

Insurance Bidder awarded a contract under this bid must provide proof of insurances in at least the minimum amounts required in the contract and when requested shall name the Town of Needham as an additional insured for the amounts written.

The Bidder awarded a contract shall deposit with the Town Certificates of Insurance for the coverage required, in form and substance satisfactory to the Town, and shall deliver to the Town new policies and certificates thereof for any insurance about to expire at least ten (10) days before such expiration. All such insurance policies shall contain an endorsement requiring thirty (30) days written notice to the Town prior to cancellation of change in coverage, scope, or amount of any such policy or policies. Compliance by the bidder with the insurance requirement, however, shall not relieve the Bidder from liability under the indemnity provisions.

The Certificate Holder shall read as follows:

26GEN017G Financial ERP Software Town of Needham 1471 Highland Avenue Needham, Massachusetts 02492

No Town Division, Department, or individual name should appear on the Certificate. No other format will be acceptable.

Bidders should refer to the Procurement in Brief for additional insurance requirements.

Indemnification The bidder shall indemnify, defend, and save harmless the Town and all of the Town’s officers, agents and employees from and against all suits and claims of liability of every name and nature, including costs of defending any action, for or on account of any injuries to persons or damage to property of the Town or any person, consultant, corporation or association arising out of or resulting from any negligent act, omission, or negligence of the bidder, its subcontractors and its and their agents or employees in the performance of the work covered by the contract and/or failure to comply with terms and conditions of the contract, but only in respect to such injuries or damages sustained during the performance and prior to the completion and acceptance of the work covered by the contract and to the extent such injuries or damages are not covered by the Town’s insurance. The foregoing provisions shall not be deemed to be released, waived, or modified in any respect by reason of any surety or insurance provided by the bidder under the contract.

1.05 Execution of the Contract

The awarded bidder agrees and will execute the approved contract electronically. The Town will forward the contract to be executed via DocuSign.

1.06 Payment and Discount Terms, Adjustments for Incomplete Work

Payment Terms The unit bid price shall be the basis for payment for purchased items or services. Payment shall be based on the items or services purchased. Invoicing may be performed after delivery, work has been completed, or monthly, for items or services that have been fulfilled.

Invoices are to itemize charges for labor, equipment, supplies, and services. The Town will not be responsible for payment of any charges not itemized to the Town’s satisfaction. Pre-payment is NOT allowed. Invoices should include the Town’s purchase order number. The Purchase Order number may change with each fiscal year.

Invoices for additional services must include the date and times of the work, the type of services performed; the number of hours or units to be charged, and the name of the person who authorized the work. They are to be sent in duplicate directly to the Town’s designee for processing and are not to be included on the regular monthly invoice.

Invoices for additional supplies and/or materials must include the quantity, date and times of delivery, a description of the supplies or materials, unit price, shipping, and handling charges as applicable, and the name of the person who placed the order. They are to be sent in duplicate directly to the Town’s designee for processing and are not to be included on the regular monthly invoice.

Adjustments for Incomplete or Unacceptable Work The Town reserves the right to withhold payment for incomplete or unacceptable work. The Town shall provide notice of any work that is deemed to be incomplete or unacceptable. The vendor shall rectify that condition to the satisfaction of Town. The Town will also reduce the bill for any services deemed unsatisfactory. At no time will penalty assessment be recoverable by the vendor.

The vendor shall take all proper precautions to protect the Town and private property from damage and/or loss. Should any damage to, and/or loss of, property be caused by the vendor, the vendor will be required to make repairs and/or restitution immediately at its expense.

Refer to the Procurement in Brief for other payment term considerations.

1.07 Bid Modifications or Withdrawals

Bids may be corrected, modified, or withdrawn prior to the submission deadline. Requests to do so must be received in writing by the Town Manager. After the submission deadline, bids may not be changed. Minor mistakes may be waived by the Town.

1.08 Premature Opening of a Bid

The Town will not be responsible for the premature opening of any bid not properly identified. The Town may reject bids which are incomplete, not properly endorsed, not signed, or are otherwise contrary to these instructions.

1.09 Unexpected Closure or Delays

If, at the time of the scheduled bid submission deadline, the designated location for delivery of the bid is closed due to uncontrolled events such as fire, snow, ice, wind, building evacuation or other, the deadline will be postponed until 11:00 a.m. on the next normal business day (Monday through Friday, excluding Holidays). Bids will be accepted at the same location until that date and time.

1.10 Late Submissions

Late bids will not be considered. The Town assumes no responsibility for late submissions due to mail, courier, or delivery problems.

1.11 Rejection of Bids

The bid must satisfy all the submission requirements in order to be considered for award. Failure to complete the required forms, answer any questions, or provide the required documentation will be deemed NON-RESPONSIVE and result in rejection of the bid unless the Town determines that such failure constitutes a minor informality that can be corrected without prejudice to other bidders. A bid may be rejected if the Bidder:

Fails to adhere to one or more of the provisions established in the bid package.

Fails to submit its bid by the time or in the format specified herein or to supply the minimum information requested herein.

Fails to submit its bid to the required address on or before the specified submission deadline.

Misrepresents its service or provides demonstrably false information in its bid or fails to provide material information.

1.12 Taxes

Purchases made by the Town are exempt from the payment of all Federal excise tax and the payment of Commonwealth of Massachusetts sales tax and any such taxes must not be included in the bid prices. If requested, the Town will provide the awarded bidder with a copy of the Certificate of Exemption.

1.13 Public Records

Under the Massachusetts General Laws, the Town cannot assure the confidentiality of any materials or information that may be submitted by the bidder in response to this Bid. Thus, bidders who choose to submit confidential information do so at their own risk. All bids or other materials submitted by the bidder in response to this Bid will be open for inspection by any person and in accordance with M.G.L. c.66 (Public Records Law). Any statements reserving any confidentiality or privacy rights in the submitted responses or otherwise inconsistent with these statues will be void and disregarded.

1.14 Conflict of Interest

By execution of a contract with the Town of Needham, the Bidder acknowledges that the Town of Needham is a municipality for the purposes of M.G.L. c.268A (the Massachusetts conflict of interest statue), and agrees, as circumstances require, to take actions and to forbear from taking actions so as to be complying at all times with the obligations of the contractor based on said statute.

1.15 Tie Bids

In the event that there is a tie bid between two (2) responsive and responsible bidders, the award of the contract will be determined by a coin toss. The bidder’s whose submission was received earliest shall be assigned “Heads” in the coin toss. In the event that there is a tie bid with three (3) or more responsive and responsible bidders, the award shall be made by a draw by lot limited to those bidders. The coin toss/draw by lot shall be scheduled within two (2) business days from when it was determined by the Town to be a tie bid. The bidders involved shall be given an opportunity to attend. The coin toss/drawing shall be witnessed by at least three (3) Town officials. The tie breaker event shall be held at Needham Town Hall during regular business hours.

1.16 Contract Award

The Town reserves the right to reject any and all bids as determined to be in the best interests of the Town and to waive minor informalities.

A contract is anticipated to be executed by the date indicated under Procurement in Brief for this bid. However, the Town reserves the right to change, delay, cancel, or expedite the contract execution date. The selected bidder is required to furnish all bonds and certificate of insurance required under the contract, in a form acceptable to the Town prior to the execution date.

The award may be subject to further discussions with the bidder. The making of a preliminary award to a bidder does not provide the bidder with any rights and does not impose upon the Town any obligations. The Town is free to withdraw a preliminary award at any time and for any reason. A bidder has rights, and the Town has obligations, only if and when a contract is executed by the Town and the bidder.

Changes to the terms of the Town’s contract may be requested by the bidder in writing and submitted with the bid and if, in the opinion of the Town, the requested inclusion(s) and/or deletion(s) does not materially affect the bid, they may be allowed at the sole discretion of the Town. Bidders shall NOT be allowed to request any changes to the contract terms once award of contract has been announced.

The Town herein declares its express purpose not to award the contract to any bidder unable to furnish evidence, satisfactory to the Town, that it has sufficient ability, experience, and capital to execute and complete the work in accordance with the contract. If requested, any bidder may be required to demonstrate financial stability satisfactory to the Town.

The Town Manager is the awarding authority for the contract. Further, the contract will not be binding until it has been approved as to form by Town Counsel. Award, payment, and performance obligations shall depend on the availability and appropriation of funds.

The Town reserves a period up to 180 calendar days following the opening of the bids in which to evaluate and award the contract.

1.17 Other Notices

The consideration of all bids and subsequent selection of the successful applicant shall be made without regard to race, color, sex, age, handicap, religion, political affiliation, or national origin.

The bidder shall adhere to the provisions of the Fair Employment Practices Law of the Commonwealth (M.G.L.

c.151B).

The provisions relating to non-discrimination and affirmative action in employment shall flow through all contracts and subcontracts that the successful bidder may receive or award as a result of this contract.

Any services provided by the bidder shall be rendered through a professional services contract. The bidder will not be considered an employee of the Town and will not receive any benefits of an employee.

The bidder shall comply with M.G.L. c.66A if the bidder becomes a "holder" of "personal data". The bidder shall also protect the physical security and restrict any access to personal or other Town data in the bidder's possession or used by the bidder in the performance of the contract, which shall include, but is not limited to the Town's public records, documents, files, software, equipment, or systems.

1.18 Clarification of Terminology

All references in this Bid to features, functions, services, or deliverables that “should”, “must”, “will”, “has ability to”, etc. be provided by the bidder are to be construed as mandatory. Similarly, all references in this Bid to information that “should”, “must”, “will”, “has ability to”, etc. be provided in the bidder’s proposal are to be construed as mandatory.

Bidders may be referred to alternatively as “bidders”, “offerors”, “respondents”, “successful offerors”, “successful bidders”, “vendors”, etc. All such references (except for those explicitly defined otherwise) are to the primary contractor who submits a response to this bid and, if successful, who will be responsible for the successful completion of all required deliverables.

References to days are to workdays unless otherwise explicitly stated.

Reference to time as stated in this bid is based on local Eastern Standard Time.

End of Section

PART 2

SCOPE OF SERVICES

2.01 Overview

The Town of Needham is looking to convert to a new integrated ERP software. The proposed software must include modules for:

• Accounts Payable

• Applicant Tracking

• Budgeting

• Budget Book Publisher

• Content/ Document Management

• Employee Access

• Fixed Assets

• General Ledger

• Human Resources, including employee onboarding and electronic personnel action forms.

• Miscellaneous/General Billing

• Motor Vehicle Excise Tax

• Over the Counter/Cash Receipts

• Payroll

• Payroll Time and Attendance

• Purchasing

• Position Control

• Report Writer

• Real Estate and Personal Property Tax

• Treasurer Cash Book and Bank Reconciliation

• Utility Billing

This software will be utilized by all Town Departments, including the School Department. The Town is looking for a bidder who has the demonstrated ability and system that can accommodate the Town’s business needs for a decade or longer. It is the intent of this RFP to maximize efficiencies by procuring an integrated system that can function as an ‘off the shelf’ product which incorporates best practices and provides options for the Town to change the configuration of processes when future business and/or legal requirements demand. The system must allow all Town departments to be able to access information through a centralized integrated database. Users must be able to perform multiple functions simultaneously throughout the system.

There are 190 active workflow users, of which any or all may be logged into the system simultaneously performing various functions in multiple modules. During the 2025 fiscal year there were approximately 35,055 A/P invoices processed, 8,590 purchase orders created, 2,975 current employees occupying 12,830 active positions (including supplemental pays), 947 payroll checks, and 59,601 direct deposits created. During the 2024 fiscal year, there were 149 new fixed assets and 39 disposed assets.

The Town currently has 10,799 real estate parcels and 588 personal property accounts which are billed four times a year. The Town issues approximately 30,000 motor vehicle excise bills a year. The Town has 10,993 water and sewer utility accounts of which 10,511 are billed quarterly and 482 are billed monthly.

Billing and collection activities are conducted by over 30 departments, with over 250 employees involved in some part of the process.

The proposed ERP solution, including all modules, must be fully web-based and accessible via a modern browser interface. It is required that the system runs natively in the Google Chrome browser without the need for any additional plugins, extensions, or client-side software. The platform must be fully functional across all major operating systems, including Windows, macOS, and ChromeOS.

The proposed ERP solution should not be limited to any quantities of data fields provided in the specifications. Any limitations in field size, data size, number of users, concurrent users, etc. must be disclosed in the project submission.

The Town requires the bidder to perform, but is not limited to, the following functions: all required configuration and implementation work to enable the proposed system applications to function as required by the Town, database conversion scripting, supply management reports for tracking applications moving through the system, updated timelines and projected project implementation steps, and print any documents that are dictated by business processes.

2.02 Current Software

The Bidder will be required to migrate all of the Town’s business processes and data from current systems indicated with *. The system must be able to exchange data via import/export or API with all other systems. If bidders have modules that can replace additional systems, they can provide that information in their submission.

The Town currently uses the following applications:

*General Ledger and Financial Systems - Tyler Tech (Infinite Visions) Computer Aided Mass Appraisal - IAS CAMA software version Tyler Tech IAS World *Real Estate Tax Billing – Quality Data Services (QDS) *Personal Property Tax Billing - Quality Data Services (QDS) *Motor Vehicle Excise Tax Billing - Quality Data Services (QDS) *Tax Title – Quality Data Services (QDS) and Microsoft Excel *Municipal Lien Certificate Program - Quality Data Services (QDS) *Water and Sewer Billing - Quality Data Services (QDS) Water Meter Reading System - Neptune N_SIGHT Recycling and Disposal Fees – AMCS PC Scale Public Safety Details - Computer Aid Dispatch CentralSquare (previously TriTech) *General Billing – Quality Data Services (QDS) Over the Counter Receipts – OpenGov/ViewPointCloud, MyRec *Treasurer Cash Book – Zobrio Student Information System - PowerSchool Online Payment Systems (School Department) - Titan Linq; Heartland Payment Systems, LLC dba Heartland School Solutions; and Eleyo, Inc.

Point of Sale System (School Department) - Titan Linq

2.03 System Requirements

Platform

1. The proposed ERP solution, including all modules, must be fully web-based and accessible via a modern browser interface. It is required that the system runs natively in the Google Chrome browser without the need for any additional plugins, extensions, or client-side software. The platform must be fully functional across all major operating systems, including Windows, macOS, and ChromeOS. Bidders must disclose any exceptions.

2. The system must have secure, open architecture to allow data extraction and interaction with other systems and to facilitate reporting. System must allow for automated data import/export from or to a Town system or a third-party vendor. The bidder must describe their process in their proposal.

3. The system must have the ability to create a text delimited data file for data integration purposes.

4. Desired elements:

a. The system has existing functionality for dual federation Single Sign-On (SSO) for both Google and Microsoft 365. If this is not possible, the bidder must disclose.

b. The system can be customized to include the Town logo and/or other identifiers.

c. Proposer is a member of the PowerSchool Partner Program

d. The application should allow for API integrations with other systems.

System Security

1. The proposed solution must allow the system administrator to:

a. Define a minimum length of a password

b. Define a password expiration timeframe

c. Prohibit reusing of passwords

d. Require two factor authentication of credentials.

e. Configure control access to the application, modules, transactions, data and reports

f. Define access rights by user or functional role

g. Define functional access rights by user or functional role

h. Restrict access to sensitive data elements (e.g., social security numbers, banking data, individual’s email address, etc.) by security group or role.

i. Truncate or mask social security and banking account information.

2. The proposed solution must maintain audit logging to record access activity at a minimum:

a. Login/logout attempts by user and workstation

b. User submitted transactions

c. Initiated processes

d. System overrides

e. Additions, changes, or deletes to application-maintained data.

3. The Town retains ownership of all data entered into the software system.

4. The Vendor agrees not to disclose Town data to any person in any form, without prior written consent of the

Town.

5. The Vendor’s and/or implementation contractor personnel will have access to Town data for the purpose of supporting the Town’s use of its data.

6. The Vendor will not alter any Town data without prior consent of the Town. In the event that this contract is terminated for any reason, the Vendor agrees to work with the Town to provide the Town with its data in a format agreed to by the Town. Following provision of data to the Town, the Vendor agrees to destroy all copies of Town data.

7. The Vendor must disclose in their proposal where the data is stored. Data cannot be stored outside of the Continental United States. The Vendor provides for continuous backup of data and transactions such that the Town will not suffer data loss in the event of a disaster or catastrophic failure. The Vendor will perform at least daily backups of Town’s data by completing daily incremental backups for seven days, plus a full weekly backup.

8. The system availability must be 24 hours a day, 365 days a year (not including scheduled downtime).

9. For scheduled system unavailability, the Vendor must provide the Town with written notice of at least five

(5) business days in advance.

10. The Vendor’s system must strive for an uptime of at least 99.99%

11. The Vendor must specify the data center locations, compliance with relevant security standards (e.g. SOC 2, ISO 27001, CJIS if applicable), and details on data encryption at rest and in transit. Additionally, vendors must outline the security measures in place to protect municipal data, including access controls, incident response protocols, backup and disaster recovery procedures, and any third-party security audits or certifications.

12. The Bidder and its partners shall ensure the security and confidentiality of all financial information that the system obtains from payers. The Bidder, partners or other parties shall not use this information for any purpose other than processing and reporting of transactions to the Town of Needham.

13. The application must allow for multiple levels of user security, with roles and permissions to be assigned by the Town.

14. The application does not permit changes to records that are in use by another user.

15. The application tracks and maintain an audit trail for all deletions, changes and additions in all modules.

16. The Vendor will be responsible and must take corrective action for any data breach that resulted in the loss of personal information.

17. In the event of a disaster or catastrophic failure, the Vendor will inform the Town:

a. Within one hour.

b. The scale and quantity of the data loss.

c. What Vendor has done to recover the data and mitigate any effect of the data loss.

d. What corrective action the Vendor has taken to prevent future data loss.

Warranties & Service Level Agreement

1. At no time shall the Town be responsible for coordinating repairs among multiple Bidders.

2. The Bidder shall modify the System as required to meet all new and existing state and federal requirements, at no additional cost to the Town.

3. The Proposer will warrant the System to be free from defects in material and workmanship from the date of final acceptance by the Town as long as the contract is in force. In the event that the System proves defective or is unable to meet specified performance criteria, the Proposer shall modify the System to resolve the problem or meet the performance criteria at no cost to the Town. The Bidder shall assume responsibility for the performance of all equipment, materials, labor, software, and programs.

4. The bidder shall provide all updates to the system during the contract period at no cost to the Town.

5. Should the system require any type of planned maintenance, the Bidder shall supply a 72-hour notice to the

Town.

Implementation, Training, Customer & Technical Support

1. The Proposer must provide technical support for both users and staff on an as-needed basis, during mutually agreed upon regular business hours.

2. The Proposer shall provide a minimum of two separate trainings: one for Town staff, one for budget managers, and one for system users, prior to the ‘go-live’ date. These trainings may take place virtually or in-person, at the discretion of the Proposer.

2.04 Implementation

1. The implementation will be completed in multiple overlapping phases, with the first phase anticipated to begin December 1, 2025. The entire project shall be completed and operational by December 31, 2028. By implication the bidder also agrees to configure, set up, train, and test system for a seamless implementation within the thirty-six month proposed implementation period.

2. The proposed implementation schedule is below:

a. December 2025 – December 2027: Accounts Payable, Content/Document Management, Fixed Assets, General Ledger, Miscellaneous/General Billing, Motor Vehicle Excise Tax, Over the Counter/Cash Receipts, Purchasing, Report Writer, Real Estate and Personal Property Tax, Treasurer Cash Book and Bank Reconciliation, Utility Billing modules.

ii. Utility billing must go live at the start of a new billing quarter.

iii. Motor vehicle excise tax must go live upon the first commitment issued by the Registry of Motor

Vehicles.

iv. Report writer must go live with the first module.

v. All other modules must go live at the start of a new fiscal year.

b. September 2027 – December 2028: Applicant Tracking, Human Resources, Payroll, Payroll Time and Attendance, Position Control

i. Payroll must be live January 1, 2028.

ii. All other modules can go live at any other time.

c. July 2028 – December 2028: Budgeting, Budget Book Publisher, Employee Access

i. Budgeting must go live September 2028.

3. Bidder must provide an implementation timeline and agree to a “go live date” within 3 months of a fully executed contract and receiving data.

4. Full implementation of the software system must include:

• Installation

• Conversion of existing Town selected data to the new system

• Training and initial support

• Interface with existing applications

• Ongoing technical support

• Secure remote access to system to provide support

• Maintenance and regular software system upgrades

• Uniform policies and procedures that allow for various security levels by user, user class, and/or group.

Security must be fully tested and staff trained prior to rollout.

• Data backups

2.05 Conversion of Data

Conversion of Data Files for All Modules

1. The selected vendor must be able to convert existing CentralSquare and QDS files of real estate tax, personal property tax, motor vehicle excise tax, utility, and general revenue to its proposed solution(s) and be able to convert existing Infinite Visions files of accounting, payroll, human resources, purchasing, fixed assets, and budgeting to its proposed solution(s). At a minimum, the vendor must convert the current year data for all records and prior year activity for the immediate past three fiscal years for all real and personal property tax records, the current year and the immediate past three calendar years for motor vehicle excise, and the immediate past four calendar years for water and sewer billing, and the immediate past two fiscal years of general billing. The vendor will also be required to convert all accounts, regardless of age, that remain unpaid as of the date of conversion.

2. The selected vendor must convert the existing active customer files with all billing, collection, abatement, reversals, and credits in detail. The vendor will verify all totals for each year converted and provide proof to the Town before the Town shall accept the new software.

2.06 Requirements for All Modules

Required Functionality for All Modules

1. The vendor is responsible to ensure that the Town has all licenses required to use any software that may be supplied by the Vendor.

2. The application must allow the download of data that is readable by Microsoft Office applications (Word and Excel), Google Suite applications (Docs and Sheets), .txt files, .csv files, and PDFs.

3. The application must provide embedded ad hoc report creation and distribution.

4. The application must provide multiple field query capabilities.

5. The application must create reports in PDF and Microsoft Excel format for seamless electronic distribution.

6. The application must provide complete security functionality that allows for multiple levels of users and groups, with roles and permissions to be assigned by the Town.

7. The application should have a workflow engine, that can route transactions through their respective approval processes. Workflows should have user-customizable elements, including approvers, approver accounts, and approval thresholds. Workflows should have email capabilities.

8. The application should provide a common customer ID so that when the same individual is billed for taxes, utilities, excise, and other services, all the accounts can be pulled together in a single inquiry screen “dashboard” and printable record to respond to customer inquiries about amounts adjusted, billed, due, and paid.

9. The application must allow useable data formats for exporting to and importing from third party vendors.

This includes reports, printing and distribution of notices and bills, collection of receivables, updating customer records for better communications with the public, and formattable and editable collection notices.

10. The application must be able to interface data between the G/L module and the billing and collections module.

11. The application should provide a portal for the Town’s customers and taxpayers to access specific information in order to look up and/or pay their bill remotely that is updated in real time.

12. The application should provide the ability to email a bill to a customer, in addition to printing and mailing a bill via the traditional method U.S.P.S in the format it is received in the mail with updated information

13. The application should be intuitive and keep to a minimum the amount of manual assistance necessary to process data transfers to and from third party applications.

14. The application must provide the ability to accept payments (manual and electronic), report, and post cash receipts daily to the Treasurer’s cash book (by individual bank accounts). The Treasurer’s cash book is currently maintained in Zobrio. This allows for a centralized accounting of all collection activity (regardless of the module in which the financial transaction occurred) for a specific day that is entered, edited, reviewed, and reconciled by each cashier, and then updated at the end of each day to create the files needed to transfer to the General Ledger. The application should allow for electronic integration with the Town’s bank account information for importing payment information.

15. All billing modules must communicate with one another: real estate and personal property tax, motor vehicle excise tax, water and sewer utility billing, general billing, and also with the any other “over-the-counter” receipts processing systems that the Town currently uses (e.g. View Point Cloud), utilizing an identifying code which represents the appropriate G/L account numbers to which the transactions are to be posted and the bank account(s) to which the funds were deposited. This integration will also allow incorrectly applied payments to be transferred regardless of the bill type.

16. The application must allow easy research of bills, receipts, history, customers, payments, address, changes, etc. between every applicable module.

17. The application must provide file maintenance access for each module, preferably centralized. File maintenance includes, but not be limited to: application security, batch type codes (departmental revenue, over-the-counter, mail, credit card, lockbox, etc.), endorsement codes for checks, merchant id codes for credit cards, payment type codes, reason codes, tender method codes (cash, check, credit card, lockbox, etc.), system control (system user definitions maintenance, application interface options maintenance, validation maintenance, endorsement maintenance, receipt maintenance, tender authorization maintenance, receipt printer maintenance, etc.) Furthermore, any field which data can be entered must be accessible, searchable, exportable.

18. The application must provide a transactional receipt in real time

19. The application must provide the ability to validate a check.

20. The application should be modular in design in order to integrate new application components as they become available to fully utilize new technological advances. The application must be easily expandable/contractable to include new capabilities without negatively impacting previously implemented functionality.

21. The application should accommodate “wildcard” lookups.

22. Other Desired Functionality

a. Ability to schedule a meeting from the system or communicate with an employee via email.

b. Enterprise forms template configuration, which are user customizable and creatable, accessible from different modules and available for use in a workflow configuration.

c. System help is contextual and can be accessed by a user hovering over a field, in any module.

d. Stored documents can be referenced by multiple transactions across modules.

e. Documents can be faxed or emailed to recipients within the system.

f. Documents containing sensitive information can be redacted from within the system.

g. An integrated report writer can create custom reports using data from different modules.

h. A data dashboard is available with quick links to budget, open positions, spending trends, and analytical tiles, etc. Links allow the user to drill to action items. The dashboard should have preconfigured and user-defined elements.

2.07 Modules

2.07.01 Accounts Payable

Accounts Payable Module Required…