By Stephanie Elsen

Red Wing Software provides software to help cities/municipalities be in complete control of their own finances. CenterPoint Fund Accounting Software for Municipals is Red Wing Software’s accounting application that is a great fit for small to medium-size towns and cities that are outgrowing their basic systems and need more functionality.

Red Wing Software customers understand the benefits of using CenterPoint Fund Accounting to manage their city’s finances, rather than using a basic program. Because of their wide-appeal, basic, mass-marketed accounting systems get a lot of press and have a massive number of users. These products are top-of-mind for many people in search of accounting software. Many people ask us to compare CenterPoint against those products. CenterPoint Fund Accounting includes the basics you need plus specific features for municipals. Here are some of the main differences between CenterPoint Fund Accounting for Municipals and basic accounting programs. To summarize the reason: many CenterPoint users come from basic programs and are seeking specific features that can help them manage their city better.

• Track by Funding Source

  Track income and expense by fund, department, and/or locations. With basic systems, tracking options are limited.

• Track Operational Results

  Tracking financial operational results can be done by fiscal year or calendar period. Many basic systems limit this information to yearly.

• Six-month Financial Report

  CenterPoint has the ability to produce a customizable six-month financial report for local or state reporting. Basic systems do not typically offer this report.

• Cost Analysis

  Track repair and maintenance costs to assets for easy reporting and analysis of total costs. Most basic systems do not track specific asset and equipment maintenance costs.

• Financial Analysis

  CenterPoint offers a financial analysis tool to easily cross-section your results by fund, department, and location. Basic systems offer generic financial tools that are not easily customizable.

• Labor Allocation

  Allocate labor across multiple funds and departments with CenterPoint. Basic systems allow tracking by company only.

• Setup Wizard

  A setup wizard will guide you through the process of setting up items to track and manage your city. Many basic programs only guide you through the setup of only basic information.

Expand Limited to Unlimited.

Some programs limit the amount of data you can have in your system. When you reach these limits, which you were likely unaware of at the start, you will need to move on to something new. Here are some of the ways CenterPoint compares to typical basic systems when it comes to limits:

Beef Up Security

One person might start out running the whole accounting system, but eventually tasks will be divided up. At that point, you will likely want to limit what employees can do and see in the accounting system, based on their job. CenterPoint has menu level security, so users can see only the screens they are given access to within the system.

Not all programs are created equal. Any accounting system has its positive and negative points. Just because something is used and known by the masses does not mean it’s the best product available. Basic programs do a great job for many municipals, for many years. But when your city starts to outgrow its accounting software feature set, it might just be time to contact Red Wing Software. 800-732-9464, info@redwingsoftware.com.

A Purchase Order module is now available for CenterPoint Fund Accounting Software. This feature can be a great help in managing purchases and requisitions! Read the full news release by clicking on this link.

Since we are a software company, we work with customers nearly every day who are moving to a new system, and are often bringing some information over from their old system to the new one. (This is referred to as ‘migrating’.) Of course, we all have our own opinion when it comes to migrating. Your company may have migrated with great success and had no issues, and another may have run into some problems along the way that left a bad taste in their mouth. There are so many variables involved in migrating your software, all of which can affect the success of your migration. Here are some statistics from a survey taken by real customers of Red Wing Software and customers of other software products. Understanding the experiences of others who have been there can help you make your own migration successful.

The most important factor for a smooth migration is the support team. This answer got 59% of the responses - more than double that of any other choice selection! There are many things that can help with your software migration: training, help documents, videos, and more. But the support team is probably your most helpful resource during a migration. Anytime you have an issue or question, or need to know how to do something, you can just pick up the phone and give them a call. That’s why using support should be a big part of your plan to get the software up and running. You may feel like you are calling too often or bothering the support team, but that is their job, and they deal with the exact things you are dealing with every single day. Every call you make is an investment in your future with your new software.

36% of respondents said training was the number one thing they could have done to improve their migration experience. If you are thinking of getting training prior to migrating, you might want to consider this number! Once you start the wheels moving in the process of your migration, it’s hard to stop it and get training at that point. So think ahead when it comes to training. If you or your staff don’t know anything about the software and need to familiarize yourselves, plan to either attend training, or at least do some online tutorials, well before the actual migration process begins. Then you can get all of your questions answered and understand processes, which will greatly reduce your stress level once you start using the software.

Only 9% of people said they had a plan to help them stay organized. You might think you are far too busy with everything else involved in your software migration to come up with a migration plan. But just think about it, how lost would you be in your daily life without a calendar to keep track of what there is to do. Even if you just jot down some notes on paper, it’s a good idea to put a plan together for your migration. Key components to include are: who will do what, how long each step will take, and what will happen if one of the steps falls through or is completed late. When you are prepared for whatever happens, the migration process will go much more smoothly.

You know you have to make the switch from your old program to something newer! In the end, your company will reap the benefits of newer technology. Why not make your migration a successful one by heeding the comments of those who have been there and done that?

Most organizations use past history and trends to determine their budget. With a limited number of funds that are predetermined, the goal of the budget is to cover operational costs as well as plan for future capital expenditures. Without comprehensive fund accounting and payroll tools, it can be difficult to organize and manage the budget efficiently. Here are five tips on maintaining a better budget.

1. Manage budget by department and by fund. Some programs only allow budget management by fund. However, the ability to also manage by department gives quick access to a wealth of information about each department. Being able to see budget data by department and by fund can give department heads or managers the information they need to quickly compare their actual spending to the budget.
2. Unlimited funds. Be sure whatever system you are using allows for an unlimited number of fund accounts, ensuring that the system can still handle all of your organization’s budgeting needs. Each organization is different and you may want to add additional funds down the line.
3. Customizable reporting. Your organization clearly wants to see your data in a way that is most useful to you - complete and accurate. With a system that you can customize, you will be able to view reports with information specific to your reporting needs.
4. Integrated payroll. If your pay data is not integrated with your accounting data, you may not easily be able to get a clear view of your budget and where it stands. By integrating the two, you will streamline your payroll processes and pay information can accurately be viewed within financial reports.
5. Copy budget from previous year(s). With the ability to copy and edit a budget from a previous year, you can save significant time setting up your budgets each year. You will also be more confident in your budget, knowing it was based on a budget system that had already been in place the prior year.

With the above budgeting tips, you will find the budgeting process much simpler to set up and manage!