Finance Director Greg Harrison updated the Cleveland Heights Finance Committee on June 3 about audit timing, monthly and quarterly reporting options, staffing constraints, and a vendor search for a new financial management system.

Harrison said the city has submitted unaudited 2023 financial statements to the state and expects the auditors’ opinion in “probably 90 to a hundred and 20 days.” He told committee members the next steps are to begin the 2024 financial work immediately and to pursue an audited set of financial statements for 2024 more quickly than 2023. He said the finance team had obtained an initial 30-day extension for the 2023 work and likely will request another 30-day extension to complete the engagement.

Harrison also discussed transparency and reporting cadence. He circulated the first-quarter report and bank reconciliations for January–March and said he would supply PDFs to council. The committee debated whether to keep monthly cross-fund reports or move to quarterly reporting. Harrison agreed to try to continue producing the key cross-fund report monthly and to provide the broader seven-report package on a cadence that balances timeliness with finance’s capacity. Several council members said they would prefer quarterly reporting if it helps the finance team finish audited financial statements on schedule, while others asked for monthly cross-fund reports so unusual transactions can be spotted sooner.

On staffing and resourcing, Harrison said much staff time is consumed by day-to-day operations — payroll and vendor payments — and that he is exploring temporary, short-term help (8–10 weeks) to complete reporting and audit deliverables. Committee members suggested the council could consider using funds from open, unfilled positions as a potential source for one-off needs; one council member asked for an open-positions report to evaluate available savings.

Harrison described a vendor outreach and product demonstration plan for a new accounting package. He said the department met with Brandon Easterling of Software Solutions about a product called VIP (Visual Intelligence Portfolio), noting the system is used by several Ohio municipalities including Euclid, South Euclid, Independence, Highland Heights, University Heights and Richmond Heights; he said the vendor indicated the product supports on-site implementation and historical data conversion. Committee members advised checking payroll conversion and reference implementations during demonstrations.

On internal controls and transfers, the committee discussed how moves within and between budget accounts are documented. Harrison said the New World system maintains an audit trail for moves within a fund and that transfers might occur “maybe twice a month,” with increased activity later in the fiscal year. Council members asked whether legislation is needed to require council notification or pre-authorization for inter-account transfers; members asked staff to examine a transfer-reporting option and to return with a proposed mechanism that increases transparency without creating unnecessary administrative burden.

The committee requested the finance director: (1) to provide the Committee of the Whole on June 16 with a funding-source recommendation for the Students of Promise request; (2) to circulate the unaudited 2023 submission and bank reconciliations to council as PDFs; (3) to produce the monthly cross-fund report going forward and a regular quarterly package of the full seven reports; and (4) to explore short-term staffing or contract help to clear audit and reporting backlogs.