Commission hires outside accounting help, discusses IT vendor transition; BT & Co engagement authorized
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Summary
The commission authorized engaging BT & Co., a Topeka CPA firm, to assist with payroll and accounts-payable cleanup and heard a presentation from a prospective IT vendor, Helix Technology Solutions, about taking over local IT services from the incumbent. Commissioners directed staff to plan a department-head meeting to gather feedback on IT needs.
Osage County commissioners voted on Oct. 28 to engage BT & Co., a certified public accounting firm, on an as‑needed hourly engagement to assist with payroll, accounts-payable, bank reconciliations and related cleanup ahead of year-end. Commissioners authorized the chair or vice chair to sign an engagement agreement after legal review.
Why it matters: County staff have reported difficulties and transition tasks related to moving payroll systems (ADP to Paycor) and with accounts-payable processing. Commissioners said outside accounting expertise is needed to ensure payroll liabilities, tax filings and bank reconciliations are correct before closing the county’s 2025 books.
BT & Co. proposal (summary from staff): staff described BT & Co.’s proposal as an hourly, time-and-materials engagement that would let the county scale help as needed. Meeting comments indicated BT & Co. offered multiple staffing options: senior and staff accountants to do data entry, reconciliation and bank work; a project manager and an engagement director for oversight. Meeting discussion referenced an approximate range of several hundred staff-hours for initial cleanup and a higher-tier project director hourly rate; the commission requested legal review of any engagement agreement and authorized county leadership to sign once counsel approves the contract.
IT services discussion — Helix Technology Solutions: the commission also heard a presentation from Sam (of Helix Technology Solutions), who outlined an IT transition plan from the incumbent Century vendor to his company. Helix proposed a structured monthly fee and weekly on-site visits, 24/7 remote support and a transition runbook that would collect system logins, configurations, and email/spam-filter ownership. Helix and county staff discussed email spam filtering and administrative access as high priorities to correct. No formal contract with Helix was approved at the meeting; commissioners directed staff to solicit department-head feedback and scheduled a follow-up department-head meeting for Nov. 18 to review IT options and report-back from BT & Co.
Follow-up and timing: commissioners asked staff to (1) finalize an engagement agreement with BT & Co. and obtain signatures after legal review, (2) circulate a short notice to department heads about the planned Nov. 18 meeting and request feedback on IT vendor experiences, and (3) have county IT/contract staff provide a runbook and system-access inventory to any successor vendor as part of transition planning.