Sumner County committee presses transition plan, flags internal-control risks during finance director handoff

Sumner County's Financial Management Committee on Oct. 16 reviewed a transition plan for the county finance director and raised repeated concerns about internal controls, budget automation and staff capacity while the county recruits a permanent replacement.

Committee members said they want measurable progress on automating budgeting and on safeguards that prevent vendor-setup and payment fraud during the handoff. Serena Allwell, a member of the public who spoke during recognition of public comment, asked whether the county's controls would prevent "the next financial director from directing an employee to set up a vendor that goes to an address where the check would go to them or a bank account that they're in control of" and whether the committee could get more detail on those controls.

The issue matters because the committee is charged with overseeing county finances and ensuring continuity while the current finance director departs. Committee members repeatedly pressed staff about what automated controls exist, how vendor setup and purchase-order workflows are restricted now, and what will be available to an interim director and to the incoming permanent director.

David (finance director) told the committee that he does not write checks and that the county's system currently prevents him from doing so: "I write no checks, and the system doesn't allow me to write any checks. I do not have vendors to the system because of that reason." He said the county maintains Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) and many internal controls but that some departments resisted fuller automation. David also said the county had deferred a full budgeting module in the county's ERP because of cost; the budgeting software was cited as roughly $80,000 per year and therefore had not been implemented, while the county has prioritized other modules such as Kronos.

Committee members and staff outlined immediate transition steps. Beth (interim finance lead) said she will step in during the recruitment and that some duties will be handed off while she retains responsibility for core systems. Commissioners recommended short-term, focused meetings to monitor the transition and offered to participate: one committee member volunteered to "shepherd that process" with Beth to ensure continuity and to keep the finance work apolitical and on schedule.

The committee discussed practical limits during the handoff: year-end and audit work, budget season, and calendar-year closing are the most time-consuming periods. Staff said they plan to prioritize revenue monitoring and a list of high-priority tasks so that key reporting and audit deliverables are met while recruitment continues. Members also discussed creating role-based permissions in the county systems so newly arriving staff can be given appropriate, documented access rather than blanket permissions.

Next steps emerging from the meeting included adding regular transition-status meetings between finance staff and volunteer committee members, continuing the recruiter search for a permanent finance director, and producing more detailed documentation of the county's automated controls and SOPs for the committee's review.