Olmsted Falls updates finance department with purchase of 21st-century software

OLMSTED FALLS, Ohio — Finance Director Cory Swaisgood is promising new computer software operations will provide his department into the 21st century.

Olmsted Falls City Council recently accredited a offer with Computer software Alternatives to improve the finance department’s accounting software program for $37,950 alongside with $16,013 in once-a-year computer software servicing updates.

“The accounting software package was past upgraded far more than 20 decades ago,” Swaisgood reported. “The application we’re employing now is antiquated and outdated. The cause for the invest in of the new computer software is definitely just to modernize our accounting procedures and help conserve a great deal of time on our close.

“This is truly just to automate a great deal of our processes and improve efficiencies in the department of finance in the course of the city connected to accounting transactions and getting requisitions and acquire orders.”

Apart from getting rid of paper use, the new computer software improves economical reporting via the department heads and council.

“A ton of the experiences in the new application we can create electronically,” Swaisgood explained. “A large amount of the studies we at present give to division heads and council now are completed manually.

“Obviously there is area for mistake.”

The updating of the finance department’s operation will also generate an estimated $1,000 to $2,000 discounts in yearly paper expenses.

“While there is a $16,000 yearly upkeep cost likely forward, ideal now we pay back about $13,000 to $14,000 a year for our present-day computer software,” Swaisgood mentioned. “So it is genuinely only a $2,000 to $3,000 new value to us.”

In a relevant transfer and at a $5,000 cost every, town council also accredited a three-yr arrangement with GovInvest for labor value and money forecasting modules.

“I like to describe GovInvest as getting fiscal projection modules that will support tremendously all through the budgeting period, which we are starting up now,” Swaisgood said. “It will enable us now not only to more precisely undertaking out the labor and money costs of the metropolis likely ahead but it will also aid the presentation to council and to the public alternatively than just utilizing paper like we presently do and Excel spreadsheets.

“This will greatly also aid as we go by means of different scenarios with the unions, so there is a large amount of upside for this.”

As component of the 3-calendar year offer with GovInvest, the enterprise is waiving its just one-time $10,000 implementation fee. Even so, there will be a mixed once-a-year $10,000 membership cost.

“In my expertise, $10,000 is really affordable for these kinds of modules for the subsequent a few yrs,” Swaisgood stated. “We took benefit of a fantastic price early on. We’ll see how it goes and ideally it performs out and can hold relocating forward with this. The system is to begin employing it for our 2023 funds preparations with union negotiations starting up upcoming calendar year.”

As much as the new accounting software, Swaisgood claimed that adjust is anticipated to go dwell on Jan. 1.

“This is likely to be a massive benefit for the administration, council and the group to enable the finance section to focus on spots that are far more important to inhabitants instead than have to offer with antiquated methods and manual processes,” Swaisgood claimed.

Olmsted Falls Mayor James Graven included, “My target is to modernize our economical packages. We’ll preserve income about the training course of the subsequent number of a long time. It also assists with fiscal transparency to the inhabitants.”

Read through additional information from the Sun Put up Herald in this article.