forest investment reporting system (firs) user manual · 2020. 9. 8. · forest investment...

www.pwc.com/ca

ForestInvestmentReporting System(FIRS)

User Manual

May 2017

Forest Investment Reporting System (FIRS) User Manual

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First time registration

1. Navigate to https://lbip.outcome-plus.com. Click ‘register’ on the top right of the screen.

2. Enter your email address and click ‘send verification code’.


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3. Use the verification code emailed to you to enter in the Verification code field and verify your

email address by clicking on the ‘Verify Code’ button.

4. When e-mail address is verified, enter a password twice and click ‘create’ button.


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5. You are taken to the ‘Create New Account’ page. Enter your first name and last name for your

User Account.

6. Enter your Recipient Contact Information. Enter your Recipient Organization. If your

organization is not in the drop down list, click on ‘click here to add new organization’ and

enter the details of your organization. Please do not enter a duplicate organization, or create a

separate record for a different division of your company. Once you have finished, click

‘submit’ at the bottom of the ‘Create New Account’ page.


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7. Once your User Account is successfully created you will be taken to the home page of the FIRSwebsite.

8. To edit your User Account information click on the proponent icon on the top right of the

home page screen.

9. Once finished with editing User Account information click on ‘Submit’ button at the bottom ofthe page.

Please notify PwC once you have created your user account. PwC will then assign your Investment Schedule and/orProject Plans to your user account so you will have access in the system.


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Creating a Project Plan underInvestment Schedule

1. Ensure you are logged in to the FIRS website. On the FIRS home page click on ‘InvestmentSchedule’ tab and select ‘Investment Schedule’ from the drop down menu. This opens theInvestment Schedule Listing page.

2. Click on the Investment Schedule number in order to open your Investment Schedule.

3. Click on ‘Create New Project Plan’ button to load a project plan template.


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4. Click on ‘Project Contact Information’ section and enter the required contact information.Click on ‘Save as Draft” button when finished entering the contact information.

5. Click on project plan section in order to open up the Milestone Table.


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6. Click on “Add Milestone” button to include the first milestone for your project. Milestonesshould represent the different work stages of your project. For example, a survey &prescription development project can be divided into several milestones: 1) project planningand contract tendering, 2) field surveys, 3) prescription development, and 4) reporting andResults submission. It is up to a Recipient to organize a project into milestones that representdistinct work stages of the project. Payment claims can only be made against completedmilestones and must be supported by invoices. Once the work in a given milestone iscomplete you will be required to complete the taks in FIRS and submit your request forpayment form PwC by completing a ‘Milestone & Task Completion Form’ and submitting apayment claim.

7. Enter milestone information:

• Provide a descriptive name for the milestone,• Provide expected start and end dates for the work activity• Select the correct output category for the work activity. PwC will review the output categories to

ensure they are capturing the performance information required by the Program. If in doubt,please contact your investment manager for clarification.

• Please note the Recipient will be expected to complete the work activity by the milestone enddata and report to PwC the completion of the milestone (i.e., actual outputs and expenses, and


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explanation for any variances). This is done by completing and submitting a ‘Milestone & TaskCompletion Form’ and a payment claim.

8. Complete the Requested Funds table in the milestone, providing amounts for each expense

category. The delivery allowance will calculate automatically based on the DA % defined for

the investment schedule. Once completed, click on ‘Insert Milestone’ button to save the

milestone information. (Please note you must click ‘Insert Milestone’ before submitting the

project or clicking ‘Save as Draft’ to avoid losing the Milestone information you have just

entered)

9. To add the second and all subsequent milestones click on ‘Add Milestone’ button and repeat

the process.


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10. To edit the information in an existing milestone, click on ‘Select’ button to re-open that

milestone.

11. Complete the ‘Detailed Project Information’ section of the project plan. Please follow the

instructions in the ‘tips’ boxes which appear when you hover over an input field. Mandatory

fields are marked with a red asterix.

12. Note recipients can request an advance payment under certain circumstances. If an advance

is required, please enter the advance amount and rationale for the advance in the ‘Other

Recipient Comments’ section.


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13. Continue filling out the ‘Detailed Project Information’ section. Please note that the website

allows you to upload approved prescriptions and treatment maps.

14. Review and select applicable FFT Work Standards for you project. FFT Activity Standards

can be located at the following URL:

http://www2.gov.bc.ca/gov/content/environment/natural-resource-stewardship/land-

based-investment/forests-for-tomorrow.

15. When finished with entering all required information into ‘Detailed Project Information’section, click on ‘Save as Draft’ button to save the entered information.


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16. ‘External Partnership’ section offers opportunity to include any information related tocontributions from other funding sources and coordination with other funding organizationssuch as the Forest Enhancement Society of British Columbia (FESBC). If not applicable toyour project please enter N/A in both boxes, and click ‘Save as Draft’ button.

17. Once you complete all sections of the project plan, click on ‘Validate’ button to check if allrequired information is entered in the project plan template.


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18. If validation has failed a warning appears that indicates sections that are missing requiredinformation. Please revisit those sections and fill in the required information.

19. You can either save the project as draft (‘Save as Draft’ button) for future project plan edits, orif you are ready to submit project plan for approval, click ‘Submit’ button. The ‘Cancel’ button(immediately to the right of the Submit button) will close your project plan and return youback to your Investment Schedule page.


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20. Once your project plan is submitted an automatic e-mail notification is sent to PwC. We willreview your project plan submission, and contact you if we need further information aboutyour project. PwC can either decline your project for your further updates, or approve yourproject plan. You will receive an e-mail notification informing you about PwC review decision.


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Completing a Milestone andSubmitting a Payment Claim

1. To complete a milestone open your approved project plan and click on ‘Planned Task’ tab.

Click on ‘Go to Milestone & Task Completion Forms’ button.

2. Select a milestone you want to complete by clicking on ‘select’.


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3. Fill out ‘Milestone & Tasks Completion Form’ by entering actual start and end dates. Provide

actual outputs for the project. Provide actual project expenses.


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4. Attach any deliverables in the ‘proof of Milestone completion’ field (optional) and attached

any invoices associated with the Milestone (mandatory).

5. Once complete click on ‘Save as Draft’ button. Once you are ready to submit a milesone

completion click on ‘Complete’ button.

6. When you complete a milestone by clicking on ‘Complete’ button you will be taken to ‘Claim

Funds’ form.

7. In the comments fields, provide rational for any variances between planned and actualoutputs, funds and milestone completion dates. These will be considered by PwC in approvingyour claim.


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8. Once the required information has been entered, click on ‘Save as Draft’ button. If ready tosubmit a claim click on ‘Submit Claim’ button.

9. When a claim is submitted an automatic e-mail notification is sent to PwC. We will reviewyour milestone completion and claim submission and contact you if we need furtherinformation. PwC can either decline your milestone completion/claim submission foradditional information, or approve it. You will receive an e-mail notification informing youabout PwC review decision. Once approved PwC will process your fund claim request andissue a payment either by Cheque or Electronic Funds Transfer.

10. As per the Recipient Agreement, please note that a 20% holdback will be applied to all claims.Once the project has been completed and all deliverables received or deposited in the correctrepository, the holdback will be released and a final payment will be made.

11. Once all milestones are completed, approved and paid, your project will transition toCompletion Approved and no further editing will be allowed.


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Amending Approved Project Plan

1. To amend an approved project plan open up your project plan. Under ‘Project Information’ tab,in the right bottom corner of the page, you will find ‘Amend PP’ button.

2. Confirm that you intend to submit an amendment. Clicking the Amend PP button will change thestatus of your project to ‘PP Amend Pending’. At this point an archived version of the previouslyapproved Project Plan is saved in the system, and you can then make edits to the Amendedproject plan.

3. You will then be able to open the project plan and make any edits to the various sections you wantto amend. You can either save the project amendment as draft (‘Save as Draft’ button) for futureproject plan edits, or if you are ready to submit the amendment for approval, click the ‘Submit’button.


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4. When amendment is submitted to PwC, your project plan status changes to ‘PP AmendSubmitted’.

5. An amendment submission triggers an automatic e-mail notification that is sent to PwC. We willreview your amendment submission and contact you if we need further information. PwC caneither decline your project plan amendment for your further updates, or approve it. You willreceive an e-mail notification informing you about PwC review decision.


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Contact details for further queries:

Email: [email protected]

Phone: 604-484-3490

Additionally you can contact individual PwC team members:

Colin Campbell


Phone: 604 484 3475

Goran Vajistanac


Phone: 604 484 3482

Laura Wilimovsky


Phone: 604 806 7780 ext. 4313

forest investment reporting system (firs) user manual · 2020. 9. 8. · forest investment...

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