Municipal Finance Support Services

This service is an outsourced solution in which some of your accounting and finance function is performed by a third-party firm. It typically includes daily, weekly and monthly accounting work like general ledger maintenance, accounts receivable and payable, month-end adjustments and more. It could also encompass more occasional or long-term duties like audit preparation, lease activity summarization and serving as a go-between for you and your external auditor.  

Municipal finance support services can cover just a few areas or a wide range of your fiscal operations. However, they generally work in tandem with your in-house finance team (hence the “support” in the name).  

While some accounting principles are the same across the board, the business of government work is unique — from the use of fund accounting and reporting requirements to the long-term focus on service objectives and policy priorities.    

If you choose a provider that doesn’t specifically serve governmental clients, chances are they won’t know the nuances required to properly handle your needs.  

When you outsource accounting and finance services, you don’t get just one person for the work. You have an entire team at your disposal with a broad range of knowledge informing the strategic decisions to be made.  

Hiring a team also means bench strength. If an in-house accountant or finance professional is on vacation or suddenly leaves your organization, who will do their work? With outsourced services, there’s always someone ready to jump in if a team member is unavailable; you experience no interruption of service.  

Finally, outsourced providers work with a wide range of governments, from small towns to bustling cities and counties. They see a variety of scenarios, challenges and goals and provide solutions for all of them. This means they can bring more ideas to the table when helping you.  

In addition to the fiscal expertise needed for both day-to-day accounting and long-term planning work, James Moore has a team of financial professionals dedicated to government clients. We work with entities like yours every day and maintain memberships in industry organizations like the Florida Government Finance Officers Association and the Florida League of Cities.  

This gives us a unique combination of high-level financial knowledge and crucial industry understanding. We know how volatile and uncertain the business of government can be. We know the challenges of an evolving community, changing budget priorities and fluctuating public opinion. And we know how confusing compliance can be with the reporting requirements you face.  

These factors all need to be considered when performing your accounting and financial work; hiring any old firm won’t do the trick.  

We start with our integration phase. During this period we’ll perform an assessment of your current situation by reviewing your financial statements, budgeting, business processes and operations. We’ll also migrate your data to our system and educate you on new technology being used, offering our support every step of the way.  

After that, we’ll perform our responsibilities as outlined in your engagement’s scope of services and provide continuous assistance for your staff as needed. If issues crop up, we’ll troubleshoot and resolve them promptly. Your staff will keep some financial responsibilities and remain active in writing checks, managing payroll and (if applicable) utility billing.  

The bottom line: We work with your team, not in lieu of it, to help you fulfill your mission.  

No problem! Our work can be done remotely. We do like to visit you on a regular basis to touch base, see how things are going and better detect trends that need addressing. But the day-to-day (and even monthly) work can easily be performed from our respective locations.