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Sanford Hess: ERP rollout behind schedule; payroll go-live moved to Oct. 1 as fiscal 2025 remains unclosed
Summary
ERP project manager Sanford Hess told the McLean County executive committee that the finance component remains incomplete because fiscal 2025 has not been closed in the new system, delaying visibility into 2026 and pushing payroll go-live to Oct. 1; Hess warned asset conversion and month-closing backlogs must be addressed soon.
Sanford Hess, the county's ERP project manager, told the McLean County Executive Committee on July 14 that the county's new enterprise resource planning system remains live for finance but is behind on critical back-office tasks, including the fiscal 2025 close.
"We've been live with the finance component since mid February," Hess said, and added that "the main issues right now are caused by delays in not closing the fiscal year '25 in the software." He said the system is not designed to have two years open for an extended period, producing screens that omit 2026 status and complicating budgeting for 2027.
The committee was told the payroll go-live date was moved from July 1 to Oct. 1 to allow parallel runs and ensure the treasurer's office can support verification. "We pushed it back ... primarily based on availability of the treasurer's office staff," Hess said, noting the team plans focused payroll test runs in July and August.
Hess highlighted a separate but related problem: capital-asset conversion. "We still have not brought forward the list of assets the county has on its financial books," he said, explaining that auditors must identify and record purchases that meet the county's capitalization threshold. The committee confirmed the county generally capitalizes items at or above $10,000.
Members repeatedly pressed who bears responsibility for the backlog. Several said the auditor's office has primary duties for month and year closes; Hess and administration said they have offered vendor assistance and that some tasks have been taken on by administration and the treasurer's office, but that many items technically fall within the auditor's purview. "The offers have been made" to bring vendor experts to assist, Hess said.
Committee members warned about a single-person bottleneck in the auditor's office and discussed cross-training and other contingency staffing. Hess estimated that an intensified effort could require months to catch up: "it might take the next 6 months to catch up on it," with a goal to be largely current by the end of December.
The committee did not take formal action on the ERP status report but heard that the county is working on asset conversion, month closes and additional parallel payroll testing ahead of the October go-live.
Next steps: staff will continue vendor-assisted validation, run additional payroll comparisons and report back on progress; the county will also evaluate cross-training and staffing options to reduce the single-point-of-failure risk in the auditor's office.
