TEA Winner: Connecting Finance and Workforce Management Data

Industry: School District
Location: Crete, Nebraska
Number of Employees: 430
Tyler Client Since: 2022
Tyler Solutions Used: School ERP Pro, Absence & Substitute, Time & Attendance, Student Transportation
Website: www.creteschools.org

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Challenge

Integrated and accurate information, from the finance department to the human resources department, helps school districts run at peak efficiency. Without these connections, data is siloed between departments and workflows are slowed by manual processes. The staff at Crete Public Schools in Nebraska was experiencing this firsthand.

With a paper-based system for purchase orders, it was difficult for the district to have an accurate, real-time view of their finances. Chief Financial Officer Meagan Kershner said, “This made it very hard to report to our superintendent and Board of Education on our financial position.” Kershner explained that bank statements could not be reconciled in Crete’s old system: “I couldn’t know if what was in the bank matched the fund balances shown in our system.”

Ensuring accurate finances was complicated further by manual payroll and timekeeping processes. Kershner said, “Clocking in and out was done on a hand-scan machine, and if an employee missed a clock in or out, they noted that on a piece of paper.” With no online access to timecards, corrections to the paper copies were made by hand. “They sent the corrected timecards back to the payroll department to update, and then there was a lot of manual entry for payroll.”

Scheduling substitutes for employee absences also relied on time-consuming processes, such as calling each prospective substitute individually. “Lots of manual entry and a lot of paper were used for substitutes,” said Kershner. These forms required multiple touchpoints — including with the absent employee, substitute coordinator, substitute, and payroll office — creating too much room for error in the information submitted. The district needed to connect their systems and reduce their manual, paper-based workflows.

Solution

Crete Public Schools began searching for software to manage and report on their financial data more effectively. They chose School ERP Pro to modernize their finance processes with accurate purchase order tracking, approval chains, and budget transparency. “The biggest things that stood out for us were School ERP Pro being user-friendly and its reporting capabilities,” said Kershner.

After experiencing the benefits of advanced reporting and real-time access to accurate finance information, the district added Time & Attendance and Absence & Substitute to integrate their financial and workforce management data. Kershner said, “The strong integrations between Tyler solutions played into our decision to add [these tools]. The platforms and the way they looked and operated were user-friendly and easy for our staff to understand.”

Results

Since switching to School ERP Pro, the district has a full view of their finances, from purchasing and reporting to budgets and payroll. The finance office has instituted approval chains for purchasing and budget control groups to track finances. “It has created more awareness of budgets,” said Kershner, adding, “Each building has a certain amount that they can spend within our fiscal year, and with budget control groups, they can easily track where they are in their budget at any time. The approval chains and being able to delegate made it so much easier for us to be accountable.”

Integrated payroll and substitute management has cut back on processing time and ensures accurate information flow between departments. Employee absences and substitute pay rates from Absence & Substitute transfer automatically to Time & Attendance, ensuring correct pay for all employees with no manual data entry or paper forms. “When running our payroll, we’re able to pull in the substitute jobs from Absence & Substitute and the hours from Time & Attendance with just a few minor clicks,” Kershner explained. “Each night, leave amounts are integrated between the systems for our hourly employees and their time is automatically entered, so we can make sure they get paid for that leave time.”

Beyond creating efficiencies in payroll, Absence & Substitute has also aided the district in filling open positions. Automated, personalized notifications are sent out to prospective substitutes when a job is posted, eliminating the need for the HR department to call the subs individually. “It streamlined the process for finding substitutes, whether it’s a teacher covering a class or a substitute working half a day,” Kershner said.

Integration between finance and personnel departments has given Crete Public Schools enhanced, accurate information for data-driven decisions. The district can see the full picture of their finances and drill down into personnel and purchasing details with in-depth reports, increasing the clarity and credibility of their budgets. “The biggest thing for me is that School ERP Pro added more transparency for our stakeholders,” said Kershner. “It has been an invaluable experience for us.”