TEA Winner: Workflow Automation Enhances Productivity

• Industry: Municipal
• Location: Grovetown, Georgia
• Employees: 152
• Population: 16,885
• Tyler Client Since: 2020
• Tyler Products Used: ERP Pro, My Civic

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Challenges

For years, the city of Grovetown, Georgia, used legacy software to manage its accounting and financial transactions, but in 2019 the system provider ceased releasing software updates. Using an outdated solution resulted in a reliance on inefficient and manual processes. “Modules for different departments were not connected to the general ledger, making it necessary to manually duplicate data entry to prepare financial statements,” said Kristal Singletary, staff accountant for the city. “Due to the potential for error, omissions, and lost documentation in manual entry, the financial information wasn’t always reliable.”

The system hindered Grovetown’s ability to provide its community with the level of service they strive to offer. For example, it could not interface with their utility billing payments website, which resulted in paper-based processing and redundant data entry. “A report was printed from the website and then manually entered into the customer’s account,” Singletary said. “This not only pulled a clerk from providing customer service but increased the risk of misapplied payments due to human error.”

Additionally, the legacy application lacked the transparency residents, taxpayers, and businesses were demanding. Customers could not view, modify, or pay their bills in real time. Singletary explained, “Payments didn’t post to a customer’s account until the next day, and often up to 48 hours after payment. This delay caused issues when the customer inquired about their account before the payment posted. It also resulted in some customers being penalized for late payments or having their service disconnected.”

The city’s legacy software was already outdated and clearly could not support the city’s future. “The city saw a significant growth in population and service needs to its citizenry,” said Singletary. “This resulted in a need for technology to provide opportunities for improved management decisions, reporting, and process efficiencies.”

Solution

Grovetown found the technology they needed in Tyler’s cloud-enabled ERP Pro solution. “The biggest thing that stood out to us about ERP Pro was that it was real-time capable,” Singletary explained. “As soon as a transaction was entered anywhere in the system, it could be pulled up anywhere else.”

The benefits of cloud technology quickly proved their value to the Grovetown team. “With Tyler’s transition of applications to the cloud, employees have the ability to access data anytime from anywhere with an internet connection,” explained Singletary. “Working in the cloud not only fosters better collaboration and facilitates access to critical business applications, but it also allows businesses to easily and quickly scale up or down as their operational or data storage needs change.”

Results

Grovetown continuously aims to enhance public services, facilities, and infrastructure while promoting fiscal responsibility. The implementation of Tyler’s ERP Pro software has allowed the city to do just that by streamlining manual, paper-heavy processes. “By moving to a fully digital ERP system, the city achieved more organized and accessible records as well as utility billing management,” said Singletary. “Transparency and real-time access for residents has improved customer satisfaction by allowing them more control over accounts, billing, and payment methods.”

The city also chose to implement Tyler’s My Civic application, a comprehensive mobile app designed to promote civic engagement and enhance the quality of life within a community, which integrates directly with ERP Pro. “My Civic has allowed us to be more transparent in what we do and what we offer,” Singletary said. “Citizens can access the app anytime, anywhere. If someone runs into an issue, for example, a pothole on their street, they can enter the info into the app, and it gets submitted to everybody that needs to receive it.”

Singletary elaborated on how important citizen involvement is for their city, “A connected community for us is, we’re not just the city government, we are Grovetown. Our city mayor uses that sort of as a motto for our city. We are Grovetown. We need to be involved in our community, and we need to know what our community needs.”

Now, Grovetown’s technology can support the city today and into the future. “ERP Pro has proven to be key,” Singletary explained. “Tools that empower the government’s employees to deliver better, faster customer service and higher quality services are crucial to any technology purchase. This solution not only improves customer satisfaction and transparency but also aligns with our specific vision and goals as we continue to move into the 21st century.”