“I appreciate that Questica is always trying to improve the product. Every upgrade we've gotten, we've seen benefits from either our standpoint or from the department standpoint. I think Questica is more city budget-focused than some of the other systems we've seen.”
Jon Decker, Budgeting and Evaluation Director – Interim, City of Greensboro
Case Study: City of Greensboro
With a population of over 290,000 citizens, the City of Greensboro is the third most populous city in North Carolina. The City’s economy, as well as the surrounding Piedmont Triad area, traditionally has been centered on textiles and furniture. As such, Greensboro has a long history of industry going back to the 1800s with the cotton trade. The City has been the location where items such as Vicks Vaporub and bib overalls were created and manufactured. Known at the Gate City for being a gateway to the West and South, Greenboro is pleased to be a community that is fun, affordable and safe for all.
Financial System
Infor Lawson
Annual Operating Budget
Over $566 million
Population
290,000
Business Need
Greensboro searched for a budgeting solution with the functionality for better budget preparation.
Questica Budget
Questica Budget suite’s Operating, Capital, and Salaries modules
Organizational Benefits
Web-based system with easy access and navigation for users
Ability to see all of the budget data in one place and gain important insights
Questica’s exceptional customer service and expertise in public sector budgeting
Sharing the budget with citizens using the Balancing Act budget simulator tool
Business Challenge
Greensboro was using Hyperion Pillar for their budgeting, a system that was limited in capability for generating reports and fulfilling other department requests, as well as difficult for non-financial staff to navigate. A lot of the budget had to be worked on outside of the system before being manually transferred into the budget. When Hyperion Pillar was no longer going to be supported, the City searched for a solution that would work with their various budget development processes, including their service enhancement process.
Solution
Greensboro looks forward to incorporating more of their budget process into Questica Budget’s full-featured system. In Questica, they plan to take advantage of automated workflows, robust reporting and forecasting features, add variables and build formulas, and use the capital planning module to prepare their capital budget.
Business Benefits
Web-based system with easy access and navigation for users
Questica Budget is a web-based system that will provide Greensboro users access to their data to work on the budget anywhere and in real-time. For security, users are assigned role-based access to the system and can only see their own department data.
Ability to see all of the budget data in one place and gain important insights
Greensboro benefits from seeing all of their budget data in one place and seeing transitions during the budget process. The ability to view data in real-time makes it easier for City departments to collaborate on the budget and see the immediate impact of changes. Questica Budget also allows the City to create reports and dashboards with actionable data at any time.
Questica’s exceptional customer service and expertise in public sector budgeting
Greensboro has established a good partnership with Questica and appreciates the support they have received to get the most value out of Questica Budget. The City has experienced the advantages of using a budgeting system specifically designed for the public sector and seen the benefits of the continuous upgrades made to Questica Budget to improve the budgeting experience for users.
Sharing the budget with citizens using the Balancing Act budget simulator
The Balancing Act budget simulator tool provides a high-level look at the City’s operations and highlights the services that have the most impact on Greensboro citizens. Questica Budget integrates directly into Balancing Act to provide citizens with a hands-on opportunity to experience the decision-making required to balance the City’s budget.
“Every system has to be customized for your city’s particular needs. But it seems like Questica Budget comes out of the box pretty good.”
— Jon Decker, Budgeting and Evaluation Director – Interim, City of Greensboro
Discover how Greensboro improves its budgeting process and remains agile during the pandemic by using Questica Budget.
