Local governments

Staff from the Office of the Washington State Auditor are happy to (virtually) join our colleagues here to connect as we all navigate the COVID-19 pandemic. We have a lot to share with you.

Audit Connection Newsletter, special WFOA edition

School districts, like so many governments, continue to face challenging situations due to the COVID-19 pandemic. They have had to shutter schools, convert to remote learning quickly, and move to remote working all while continuing to provide essential services to their students. As school districts look to the start of school and beyond, they continue to face new challenges during these uncertain times.

Local governments looking for guidance on managing federal funding provided through the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act will find value in this new, in-depth article from the Municipal Research and Services Center (MRSC): MRSC Guidance for CARES Act Grants to Small Businesses

Processing documents such as vendor invoices and employee timesheets involves frequent approvals. It can be inefficient to pass around paper for these purposes, so electronic options are attractive to many. Some local governments moved to electronic approvals already, using features in their financial software systems, while the pandemic and teleworking has others exploring options now.

In late March, we told you about flexibility in the single audit reporting deadline offered by the U.S. Office of Management and Budget (OMB) to those entities affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. OMB's memorandum

We know that moving to paperless processes has been a goal for some local governments. If you were on the fence, the pandemic might be prompting you to explore your options now. Here is some information we frequently share when asked about going paperless.

Where to find guidance

Many of you are attempting to anticipate the length or depth of the financial impacts of the pandemic. This will be difficult to predict, which makes financial planning challenging. One important tool available to help you in these circumstances is scenario planning.

Scenario planning is the purposeful act of preparing forecasts based on different underlying assumptions. It might include a worst case, a best case, and maybe two more possibilities in between.

Why you should use scenario planning

With the Association of Washington Cities hosting its conference this week – via video conference – we curated this latest issue of our regular newsletter with an eye toward municipalities, aiming to address the questions and needs they might have.

Click on the image below to see articles regarding accounting and reporting changes caused by COVID-19, new resources for cities, online training and more!

The Center for Government Innovation, a service to local governments provided by the Washington State Auditor's Office, has been working hard to bring some new resources to local governments, including cities. We'd like to tell you about a few new items, plus what's on the near horizon to be published!

Just released: Cash Receipting Guide