Finance officer as business process analyst.

• Author: Zuniga, Maria
• Position: Management & Careers

Managers, elected officials, and citizens all require more information than ever. As the need for public-sector services grows, finance officers play a key role in helping the jurisdiction get the most from its limited resources. At Bernalillo County, California, any position that uses financial information, from the county manager to department staff positions, contains an aspect of the finance officer's role. This role is increasingly about providing timely, easily understood data that can be used to make decisions and improve performance.

This kind of informed decision making is increasingly important as organizations shift from individual departments using separate financial tools to well-integrated organizations that use enterprise resource planning systems for financial transactions and reporting throughout the jurisdiction. With this transformation, the role of the finance officer has evolved accordingly, establishing a crucial partnership with the business system analyst to provide the kind of oversight and communication that ERP requires, and to develop processes for prioritizing and implementing ongoing financial projects.

ERP EVOLVES INTO A BUSINESS TOOL

Implementing an enterprise-wide system is a major feat, and doing it correctly requires considerable time and resources. Bernalillo County spent two years conducting a needs analysis, gathering requirements, and selecting the system and vendors. A project team of the county's best and brightest experts in all related areas then spent another year on implementation, working on nothing but ensuring that requirements were met and business processes were mapped to the new system. The project team then stayed in place to support the system for a full year after it went live; after that, a long-term support organization within the IT department took over. A few years later, changing fiscal and executive climates led to ERP being moved into the finance division. A Budget and Business Improvement department was formed within the finance department to handle ERP and better meet the needs of the organization by combining business process improvements with the maximum use of technology.

Getting Started. Bernalillo County used a traditional project model during the implementation stage of its ERP system. This included functional leads, who represented departmental needs and business processes; technical leads, who were responsible for backend system support; and departmental subject matter experts, who participated in design sessions. There was also user acceptance testing and end-user training; a project management office, which included the project manager and business transformation consultants; and a project steering committee, with representatives from the departments that were heavily affected by the ERP system. This model was in place from the pre-project planning through post go-live support.

Stabilizing the System. Because the second stage of the project focused on stabilizing the ERP system, the...