Finance department asks board for three hires, p‑card audit and proposes bringing treasuries in-house to save advisor fees

The Fort Lauderdale Finance Department told the Budget Advisory Board it needs staffing additions to process a dramatic increase in transaction volume after a recent enterprise-resource-planning rollout and proposed a third-party p‑card audit and converting an outsourced short-term treasury portfolio to in-house management.

Finance said the ERP implementation moved the city from summary postings to recording each transaction live, increasing workload and delaying financial reporting; the department reported it currently remains roughly six months behind month-end reporting and would seek one accountant, one accounts-payable clerical hire and funds for a third-party p‑card review to improve timeliness and internal controls.

“Every bank hit, every credit card hit are all individual transactions,” the finance presenter Linda (Finance department presenter) said. She told the board the accounting and financial reporting unit must reconcile a heavier volume of transactions—especially capital-project activity—and that adding an accountant would create redundancies and speed reporting.

On accounts-payable, the department explained it processes vendor payments under the Florida Prompt Payment Act but cannot control the time departments take to review invoices; once department approval arrives, Finance said it pays within seven to ten days. Finance reported an average vendor-payment lag of about 43–44 days and said an additional clerical position would improve follow-up with departments and target a 30-day benchmark.

Finance also asked for a contracted p‑card audit. The department said its p‑card program processes over $70,000,000 in transactions and currently audits roughly 10 percent of transactions internally; Finance requested a third-party review (proposed quarterly scope) to supplement internal checks and guard against fraud. The presenter said the $40,000 quote on file was an older estimate and would be updated.

On investments, Finance reported a short-term treasury balance in excess of $200,000,000 and proposed bringing the short-term portfolio management back in-house to save approximately $110,000 a year in advisor fees. The department said the custodial account is already available for in-house laddering of treasuries and that the city currently has a contract with PFM Asset Management that would be re-evaluated at renewal.

Board members pressed on fraud risk, the scope of the p‑card audit, and whether credit-card convenience fees have reduced card use. Finance said credit card usage has not fallen materially; the city stopped paying about $1.8 million in annual card-processing fees citywide when customers began paying convenience fees through the provider, producing fund-level savings though not a direct revenue stream to the city.

The department did not seek a board vote at the workshop; requested positions and the investment recommendation will be part of the formal budget submittal and any future procurement or contract decisions.