The City of Galt Is Looking in to New Budgeting Software

The City of Galt is looking in to new budgeting software. I thought that there was a previous survey on this, but was not able to find it, so please forgive me if this is repetitive. We would like to compile a list of what other cities are using for the budget process. Could you please send me the name of the software you use be it budget software, or an Excel spreadsheet?

The City of Lakewood uses MUNIS ERP System.

City of Patterson starts the progress by down loading the General ledger revenue and expense accounts from our Springbrook software to Excel. Then we use our excel sheets to create work papers for the departments. One the final budget is adopted, the numbers are imported from Excel back to Springbrook.

We previously used Hyperion software for our budget and position control functions. The budget was then uploaded into our JD Edwards Financial system. We have since done away with Hyperion software and will input our biennial budget directly into the JD Edwards budget module. An Access database was created for position control which will double as a salary projection resource for the budget. Templates were created in Excel to cut and paste the access database queries and calculate salary and fringe for future years. This feature will also assist us in our long financial projections.

City of Oceanside

The City of Encinitas uses H.T.E. software for budgeting. Summaries of the budget reports are transferred to Excel spreadsheets for Council presentation and the published document.

The City of Pasadena is also looking for a new budget system. Please send me the results of your query. If you have a sample RFP I would be interested as well.

We have seen the following software demonstrated and I think either will work for us:

City Vision by PowerPlan

Questica

We use a combination of our Accounting software and Lotus 1-2-3. The Accounting Software is called Blackbaud and does A/P, A/R, Payroll, Budgets, Purchasing, and General Ledgers. It can also do most of our reports. You can find the company on the internet.

We use Questica TeamBudget for our Operating software and Questica for our CIP budget as well. I absolutely love it! It is very flexible, easy to use, and the people at Questica are great! --- tlc

Last year we used Excel for the Budget. Going forward we will use the Budget Module in Eden.

City of Lynnwood

The City of Encinitas uses H.T.E. software for budgeting. Summaries of the budget reports are transferred to Excel spreadsheets for Council presentation and the published document.

We use an excel spreadsheet. (a very large excel spreadsheet!)

Gridley

The City of Burbank uses Excel spreadsheets.

The City of Morro Bay uses New World Systems Logos product. It has a budgeting module that works very well.

Operating Budget--We used Analytix TM1 last year, but are going with Access this year in transition to Tyler MUNIS budget module as part of our new ERP implementation.

CIP—We utilize CIPlanner

Richmond

The City of Woodland uses a budget module within our financial system - Pentamation. The system is very limited; I would not recommend this software.

The City of Carmel-by-the-Sea uses Excel but I would sure love to have budgeting software!

The City of Santa Clara uses Hyperion Planning for its budgeting.

The City of Rancho Cordova is using Excel Spreadsheets for our budgets.

We are using Fund Balance, which is a division of Tyler Technologies (they also now own Eden I believe).

While it is incredibly inexpensive, we would not recommend it. It has not been upgraded since installation 7 years ago. Our sense is that they are just waiting for those of us on it to move away through attrition.

It has serious limitations, such as, when you void a check, it voids it in the period written, which, if you wrote the check in a prior year or period, then changes your “closed” financials. Isn’t that just so grand?! (Quickbooks does the same thing by the way.)

I would definitely ask whatever vendor you decide on, how they handle voided transactions (like checks). It is really gnarly when staff starts “accidentally” altering audited closed financial statements through simple transactions like the check voiding process.

We are struggling with getting a decent report writer that is NOT Crystal based as well as a decent fixed asset and depreciation module (that will give a line report instead of 1 asset per page…could be 1000’s of pages long otherwise)

We would also like a decent purchase order module. Fund Balance defaults to the total amount remaining un-encumbered when working in the AP module as the amount to un-encumber, even when you put a different amount to pay; so you have to know to manually override each time. Once you are past this screen, you can’t correct it. The module should default to whatever is entered to be paid as to what is relieved from the encumbrance…you’d think that would be an obvious one too, eh?).

Lastly payroll module should have infinite accrual possibilities (we have swing and grave differentials, swing OT and grave OT, EIB, PTO, PTO OT, Jury Duty, Holiday, Holiday OT, etc, etc, etc).

San Mateo County Harbor District

The City of Pasadena is also looking for a new budget system. Please send me the results of your query. If you have a sample RFP I would be interested as well.

We have seen the following software demonstrated and I think either will work for us:

City Vision by PowerPlan

Questica

Hi Michelle - I was about ready to ask the same kind of question. Right now, we prepare out budget in Excel and then have to manually enter the budget amounts into our G.L. accounts. We’ve put up with that piece of extra work but the biggie for is that we must also take the budget Excel worksheets and import them into a better graphic presentation to print the budget. This takes us a long time. Thus, we are interested in what other cities do. We looked at one budget preparation software but it cost $150,000. So be sure and let me know what others tell you they are doing.

Zane Johnston, Tracy

We are in the process of negotiating a contract with GEMS Harris. We had been using MMI for

20 years. San Juan Capistrano

We use Excel spreadsheets for Budget process. I am attaching one department files for your review. There is a duplicate file for each department and then summary spreadsheets for or Dinuba

City of Covina uses Bi-Tech IFAS budgetary software application which utilizes a report generator to create spreadsheet like reports that can be down loaded to excel for the final document.

Excel.

Palmdale Water District

King City uses a combination of the budget software embedded in the Fund Balance GL module and Excel spreadsheets.

The City of Wasco uses several Excel spreadsheets

Excel spreadsheets

City of Rancho Cordova

We are using a combination of our own Financial S/W and a Excel Template developed by a company called Municast.

Its customizable and very inexpensive. Jim Winegardner

City of Ridgecrest

La Mirada uses MUNIS

City of Cotati response:

We are still using Excel...

We use excel spreadsheets (lots of them) for our budget preparation.

City of Costa Mesa

We utilize the budgeting module within our accounting software (HTE) and use Excel.

Elk Grove

Our Eden Software has a budget preparation in the GL module and position budgeting in the Payroll module.

City of San Rafael

Currently we use excel spreadsheets to prepare our budget. We have purchased new financial software from Tyler Technologies which we have not yet installed. Once that is implemented, we will be using that software to prepare our budgets.

Montecito Water District

We use PeopleSoft Oracle ERP Budgets V8.9 software. We like it. Empower Solutions was our implementer.

San Diego County Water Authority