Homewood finance director asks finance committee to recommend Synovus Bank as depository ahead of accounting software upgrade

Lester Smith, Homewood’s finance director, asked the city’s finance committee to recommend that the City Council approve Synovus Bank as a depository, saying the change is timed to support a scheduled upgrade to the city’s accounting software. “We’re asking the finance committee to recommend the city council the approval of Synovus Bank as a depository,” Smith said during a presentation to council members and Synovus representatives.

Smith said the accounting upgrade from Encode 9 to Encode 10 is scheduled to kick off Jan. 20 and is due to go live May 1; he told the committee that delaying the project would push the go-live date into the next calendar year. He said the finance department is prioritizing internal controls, with the treasury function and payroll identified as the highest risks.

Synovus Bank representatives presented services they said would…