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Finance staff demos warrant and invoice workflow; read-only council access offered
Summary
Finance Department staff demonstrated the invoice-to-warrant workflow, explained purchase order thresholds and approval timing, and confirmed scanned invoices and read‑only online access can be made available to councilors for review before signatures are requested.
At a Finance Committee meeting, Nate from the finance department demonstrated the city’s invoice and warrant process and a flowchart intended to help new committee members and councilors follow the approval path from department coding through manager approval and final warrant signatures.
Nate explained the threshold that triggers a purchase order (anything over $1,000), described weekly windows for invoice release and approval (finance releases invoices to managers every Wednesday, managers review and the deadline is 9 a.m. Thursday, and approvals for items over $1,000 go to the city manager or deputy by Thursday at 11 a.m.), and showed the committee how managers view invoices in the city’s online system (referred to in the presentation as Cassell/Cassell Connect).
He said once required signatures are obtained (two committee members and the city manager or deputy city manager), checks are printed or ACH transfers are set up and released to vendors. If warrant signatures are missing, disbursement is delayed until the signatures are secured.
Nate confirmed the department can make scanned invoices and read-only online access available to council members so they can review materials before the warrant meeting. "I can confirm that the username and password... I will send that out to the new counsel," he said.
The committee expressed appreciation for the overview and asked that the flowchart and the demonstration be made available online for review ahead of future meetings. The finance department said it will post the flowchart and provide access credentials for councilors.
