Currency of change for councils*

Local government is at the apex of change. Councils must move forward technologically to be able to deliver the services their ratepayers now demand and must do so efficiently and cost-effectively on all levels.

Legacy systems are old, expensive, inefficient systems. It’s that simple.

Ironically though, council financial managers are still finding it difficult to convince some elected members and the community at large that an investment in technology is key to long-term efficiencies. That is despite the growing number of stories of highly successful transformations that have changed the way a council operates for the better.

There are many benefits associated with moving to a contemporary enterprise system that delivers a real-time view of council finances, according to TechnologyOne Local Government Industry Director, Peter Suchting

Its fully integrated enterprise software solution, OneCouncil, enables councils to better connect with their communities on any device, anywhere, anytime.

TechnologyOne's Suchting says the benefits of having a fully integrated enterprise solution with powerful financial capabilities include the ability to draw upon reliable, real-time data to develop accurate reports and forecasts and make well-informed, strategic management decisions.

Access to good data is something that the elected officials – the councillors charged with ensuring local government authorities meet the needs of the community and spend its money wisely – understand.

Brendon Roberts, for instance, is now  a councillor on the Randwick City Council in Sydney and is also its former deputy mayor.

He describes Randwick as one of the more professional councils in Sydney, and says he and his colleagues rely on council staff to keep them up to date with the latest information.

"When a matter comes up in a monthly meeting that involves expenditure it is put on the agenda for approval. In the report the staff produce for us there is a financial impact section so we know the impact of the decision we are about to make.

"It is the primary source for councillors and we are basically beholden to that advice."

Those council staff, in return, are beholden to the quality of data they can get from the system.

"In my experience, the staff are always available and open to answering any questions," Roberts said.

The director of governance and his staff are able to provide very detailed answers.

"When the new accounting system came in I had a one-on-one briefing with the director of governance who took me through the accounting system. It's pretty granular accounting."

Single source of truth

Suchting said councils such as Randwick want to draw on a single source of truth.

"That means they don’t have to find, collate and process information from disparate finance systems. This saves time, streamlines the entire process and reduces the manual work required from staff.

“As a result, the local community benefits from better, more rapid and relevant decision making, more effective use of scarce resources and ultimately, enhanced service delivery.

”One of the major differences between the corporate world and local government is that council budgets focus on delivering services, and the most efficient and equitable distribution of scarce resources to deliver those services. With businesses, the focus is on profit, return to shareholders and how best to achieve those goals.”

According to Suchting, the need for councils to become more efficient is being driven by rising costs associated with service delivery – such as wages and materials – and a decrease in funds from rates capping and reduced government backing. As such financial management is incredibly important, particularly over the long term when maintaining quality of assets and service within the constraints of a limited budget.

“Financial management is not all about profitability. It is about managing long term sustainability, and about managing risk,” he said. “For example, it is not acceptable for a bridge to collapse because the council decided to defer spending on maintenance or capital expenditure. Residents also expect their ratepayer dollars to be spent wisely, so it’s vital councils have robust financial management processes to manage the assets, people and property information they’re responsible for.”

Although it has been repeatedly stressed in the digital transformation narrative, it is important to understand why it is important to move to contemporary enterprise architecture.

Legacy systems generally lack integration and provide a very poor user experience making reporting and information visibility difficult due to lacklustre reporting tools and the fact information needs to be manually collated from many disparate systems.

“They are also difficult to use. As a result, end users are not engaged and that translates to a higher, often menial, workload for back office staff. A contemporary system with a consumer grade interface better engages users who are happy to get the job done. For instance, it can be as simple as capturing expenses on a phone by taking a photo of the receipt. By streamlining invoice capture and moving to a model of intelligent transaction processing, back office users don’t have to spend their spending their days entering invoices.”

Another major benefit to financial managers is the data analysis and the transparency of a contemporary enterprise solution. TechnologyOne provides direct customer facing functionality around a council’s day-to-day work. An ERP will normally cover functions such as procure to pay, human capital management, asset lifecycle management and corporate performance management.

“Our solution is purpose built for local government, with specific functionality such as prediction modelling of optimised renewal and upgrade treatments for assets. This links directly to long-term financial plans.

“Being a contemporary enterprise software provider, we facilitate more accurate and devolved data capture through an accessible, modern system that is available on any device anywhere anytime and is, therefore, more accessible to the end user and, in our case, also to customers.”

Greater knowledge through data analysis, efficiency, cost savings, better customer service, a happier workforce – the list of benefits from digital transformation is as endless as it is exciting.

If you’re looking for better business intelligence to help deliver improved services – or simply need an enterprise solution that adapts and evolves as you do – speak to TechnologyOne’s Local Government team about our OneCouncil SaaS solution today. To learn more search OneCouncil Effect.

*Copy supplied by TechnologyOne

Charges deferred on Emergency Services Levy

The New South Wales (NSW) Government has announced it will reverse its decision to pass on to councils this year’s sharp rise in the Emergency Services Levy.

The policy reversal – announced last week by Acting Premier, John Barilaro, and Local Government Minister, Shelley Hancock, – will see the State Government cover an initial increase of almost $14 million invoiced to councils.

Local Government NSW President, Linda Scott, said the announcement followed months of intense work by the peak body and NSW local governments across the state.

“I welcome the Deputy Premier and Local Government Minister’s recognition that this additional, unexpected cost to councils, particularly those in rural and regional areas affected by the drought, would cost communities.”

Councils currently contribute 11.7 percent of the Emergency Services budget in NSW, with the cost embedded in council rates and further costs recovered through insurance premiums.

Council contributions were unexpectedly sent soaring to cover the cost of extending workers’ compensation coverage for volunteer and career firefighters diagnosed with one of 12 specific work-related cancers.

“I look forward to having a real opportunity for both tiers of government to sit down together to develop a constructive way forward that involves a fair and realistic transition process towards a better, fully funded workers’ compensation scheme for NSW firefighters and their families.

“By working together we can ensure the way forward that doesn’t penalise communities across NSW in need of council services such as childcare, and infrastructure such as parks, roads and footpaths.”

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