Why was this website created?

Treasurer Caprio made a campaign pledge to make state spending more transparent, and government operations more accountable.  This project is a satisfaction of that pledge.  The project has taken on special relevance in a year of fiscal crises, when Rhode Islanders need confidence in state government on the whole.  The Office of the General Treasurer created this pilot program as an innovative yet inexpensive solution, with intentions for other state departments and agencies to follow suit.

Who do I call if I have a question about the data on this website?

We recommend using our convenient contact form for a prompt response to any and all questions about the site, from user issues to data inquiries.  We welcome all feedback, and endeavor to respond as quickly and thoroughly as possible.  If  you prefer contacting us by phone, please leave a message with constituent services at the Office of the General Treasurer (222-2397) and your call will be returned as soon as possible.

Where did this data come from?

The figures presented on this website come directly from Treasury “Accounts Payable” expenditures recorded in RIFANS, the state accounting system.  All state departments and agencies use this system.  Once per week the data is pulled automatically from RIFANS and reported directly on this site with no manual interference.  If Treasury has expended funds, it will appear on this website. However, the data does not include General Ledger adjustments which modify final expenditure amounts.

Additionally, payroll data is recorded in the accounting system as an aggregate amount for each pay period. Because we are unable to include individual employee payroll expenditures, we have chosen to provide separate links to budgeted, fiscal year data for each Treasury employee.  You may access this information here.

Who Worked on the Project?

The Office of the General Treasurer has a strategic plan on our website that outlines our goals in Treasury: http://www.treasury.ri.gov/strategicplan/

This Treasury Online Checkbook was an assigned project that our internal team had been scheduled to work on, one of Treasurer Caprio’s most important goals when he came into office. The project did not utilize outside programmers or consultants.It was a collaborative effort among Treasury personnel, RI.gov, and DOIT (the information technology division within the Department of Administration, or DOA). 

While similar projects have been completed by other states with external price tags in excess of $300,000, we were committed to creative solutions that utilized our internal team and thus saved the taxpayers of Rhode Island a great deal of money.

What is this data?  

The figures you see on this website are all of Treasury’s Accounts Payable expenditures, which are like outgoing items in a personal checkbook.  The data is updated on a weekly basis and is cumulative.  The “payees” are sorted by expenditure category, reflecting the way that the state keeps track of expenditures in its accounting system. 

How often is the data updated? 

Data is extracted from RIFANS once weekly, and the website is updated to reflect cumulative figures. 

Do other Rhode Island agencies have similar websites?

Not yet.  We firmly believe that transparency and accountability are necessary to good government in Rhode Island, and we've designed this site with other agencies in mind.  The program we created can easily be used by other organizations, and modified to fit their specific operations and needs.  We have been in conversation with other agencies to join our project, and hope to see a full roster of other state departments and agencies in this project.

What are other states doing?

Not much—yet.  We expect that may change soon due to recently introduced federal legislation, as well as general constituent interest.  There are a handful of states that have created similar projects, many of them by legislative mandate; you can access a helpful overview of these efforts here.

Why do these numbers look different than the budget figures?

The data reported here are actual, unaudited expenditures, which are like outgoing items in a checkbook.  At the end of each fiscal year, the numbers may change due to standard accounting procedures.   For more information, please see explanations for accounting variances here.

Is there a way to compare this data against budget figures?

Not yet.  The accounts payable data that we are using does not reflect all adjustments and accruals. This is our best effort to make state spending transparent, and we hope to expand or enhance features as we continue project developments.