Choosing The Right Software For Local Government Accounting

Running a local government is like operating a business, and its accounting department must always be on top of the latest technologies to help the money flow run smoothly and efficiently. Government accounting has a different set of standards than a regular business does, however, and therefore has special needs. Here's what to look for when choosing payroll accounting software for local government.
-- The software should be capable of handling the intricacies of reporting and tracking information that are essential to meeting accountability standards.

There are reporting requirements in place for federal, state, and local governments, and the software should be able to easily plug in the required information on the proper forms. Some of these reports include employee retirement and employee W2 info along with other forms of employee tracking: the software should be simple and user-friendly to help accountants get it right in the least amount of time.

-- Accountants should not have to switch back and forth between programs in order to take care of payroll and compute benefit costs for each employee: the process should be seamless and all on one system. The software should also be able to issue vendor checks and invoices and generate single payout checks if necessary.

-- Pay code calculations are always complex: there are adjustable pay time accrual rates to figure out and other calculations that must be made. The software should be flexible enough to cover a broad spectrum of jobs and difficult tasks while retaining a basic ease of use and clearly defined navigability.

-- The software must be powerful enough to provide user-defined fields when required, provide the option of custom reporting, and give search options that are useful and right at the accountant's fingertips at all times. Accountants should be able to electronically attach documents and images to any report as needed. Of course, employees should be able to easily print, save, and export all their reports as well.

-- Security is essential in any business, but never more so than in government situations where sensitive financial documents need to be protected. A good software program specifically designed for government accounting use should make this element a priority, guaranteeing a high degree of application, task, and field level security.

-- Because the accounting department doesn't work in a vacuum within the government, its software should be able to easily interface with that used by those responsible for human resources, document management, project management, and time keeping.