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Editor’s note: Please read this if you are a not-for-profit board member, CFO, or any other decision maker within a not-for-profit.

In a time where not-for-profit (NFP) organizations struggle with limited resources and a small back office, it is important not to overlook internal audit procedures. Over the years, internal audit departments have been one of the first to be cut when budgets are tight. However, limited resources make these procedures all the more important in safeguarding the organization’s assets. Taking the time to perform strategic internal audit procedures can identify fraud, promote ethical behavior, help to monitor compliance, and identify inefficiencies. All of these lead to a more sustainable, ethical, and efficient organization. 

Internal audit approaches

The internal audit function can take on many different forms, depending on the size of the organization. There are options between the dedicated internal audit department and doing nothing whatsoever. For example:

• A hybrid approach, where specific procedures are performed by an internal team, with other procedures outsourced. 
• An ad hoc approach, where the board or management directs the work of a staff member.

The hybrid approach will allow the organization to hire specialists for more technical tasks, such as an in-depth financial analysis or IT risk assessment. It also recognizes internal staff may be best suited to handle certain internal audit functions within their scope of work or breadth of knowledge. This may add costs but allows you to perform these functions otherwise outside of your capacity without adding significant burden to staff. 

The ad hoc approach allows you to begin the work of internal audit, even on a small scale, without the startup time required in outsourcing the work. This approach utilizes internal staff for all functions directed by the board or management. This leads to the ad-hoc approach being more budget friendly as external consultants don’t need to be hired, though you will have to be wary of over burdening your staff.

With proper objectivity and oversight, you can perform these functions internally. To bring the process to your organization, first find a champion for the project (CFO, controller, compliance officer, etc.) to free up staff time and resources in order to perform these tasks and to see the work through to the end. Other steps to take include:

1. Get the audit/finance committee on board to help communicate the value of the internal audit and review results of the work
2. Identify specific times of year when these processes are less intrusive and won’t tax staff 
3. Get involved in the risk management process to help identify where internal audit can best address the most significant risks at the organization
4. Leverage others who have had success with these processes to improve process and implementation
5. Create a timeline and maintain accountability for reporting and follow up of corrective actions

Once you have taken these steps, the next thing to look at (for your internal audit process) is a thoughtful and thorough risk assessment. This is key, as the risk assessment will help guide and focus the internal audit work of the organization in regard to what functions to prioritize. Even a targeted risk assessment can help, and an organization of any size can walk through a few transaction cycles (gift receipts or payroll, for example) and identify a step or two in the process that can be strengthened to prevent fraud, waste, and abuse.  

Here are a few examples of internal audit projects we have helped clients with:

• Payroll analysis—in-depth process mapping of the payroll cycle to identify areas for improvement
• Health and education facilities performance audit—analysis of various program policies and procedures to optimize for compliance
• Agreed upon procedures engagement—contract and invoice/timesheet information review to ensure proper contractor selection and compliant billing and invoicing procedures 

Internal audits for companies of all sizes

Regardless of size, your organization can benefit from internal audit functions. Embracing internal audit will help increase organizational resilience and the ability to adapt to change, whether your organization performs internal audit functions internally, outsources them, or a combination of the two. For more information about how your company can benefit from an internal audit, or if you have questions, contact us. 

More and more emphasis is being put on cybersecurity by companies of all sizes. Whether it’s the news headlines of notable IT incidents, greater emphasis on the value of data, or the monetization of certain types of attacks, an increasing amount of energy and money is going towards security. Security has the attention of leadership and the board and it is not going away. One of the biggest risks to and vulnerabilities of any organization’s security continues to be its people. Innovative approaches and new technology can reduce risk but they still don’t prevent the damage that can be inflicted by an employee simply opening an attachment or following a link. This is more likely to happen than you may think.

Technology also doesn’t prepare a management team for how to handle the IT response, communication effort, and workforce management required during and after an event. Technology doesn’t lessen the operational impact that your organization will feel when, not if, you experience an event.

So let’s examine the human and operational side of cybersecurity. Below are three factors you should address to reduce risk and prepare your organization for an event:

1. People: Create and maintain a vigilant workforce
   Ask yourself, “How prepared is our workforce when it comes to security threats and protecting our data? How likely would it be for one of our team members to click on a link or open an attachment that appear to be from our CFO? Would our team members look closely enough at the email address and notice that the organization name is different by one letter?”
    

   According to the 2016 Verizon Data Breach Report, 30% of phishing messages were opened by the target across all campaigns and 12% went on to click on the attachment or link.

   Phishing email attacks directed at your company through your team range from very obvious to extremely believable. Some attempts are sent widely and are looking for just one person to click, while others are extremely targeted and deliberate. In either case, it is vital that each employee takes enough time to realize that the email request is unusual. Perhaps there are strange typos in the request or it is odd the CFO is emailing while on vacation. That moment your employees take to pause and decide whether to click on the link/attachment could mean the difference between experiencing an event or not.
   
   So how do you create and cultivate this type of thought process in your workforce? Lots of education and awareness efforts. This goes beyond just an annual in-service training on HIPAA. It may include education sessions, emails with tips and tricks, posters describing the risk, and also exercises to test your workforce against phishing and security exploits. It also takes leadership embracing security as a strategic imperative and leading the organization to take it seriously. Once you have these efforts in place, you can create culture change to build and maintain an environment where an employee is not embarrassed to check with the CFO’s office to see if they really did send an email from Bora Bora.

2. Plan: Implement a disaster recovery and incident response plan 
   Through the years, disaster recovery plans have been the usual response. Mostly, the emphasis has been on recovering data after a non-security IT event, often discussed in context of a fire, power loss, or hardware failure. Increasingly, cyber-attacks are creeping into the forefront of planning efforts. The challenge with cyber-events is that they are murkier to understand – and harder for leadership – to assist with.
   
   It’s easier to understand the concept of a fire destroying your server room and the plan entailing acquiring new equipment, recovering data from backup, restoring operations, having good downtime procedures, and communicating the restoration efforts along the way. What is much more challenging is if the event begins with a suspicion by employees, customers, or vendors who believe their data has been stolen without any conclusive information that your company is the originating point of the data loss. How do you take action if you know very little about the situation? What do you communicate if you are not sure what to say? It is this level of uncertainty that makes it so difficult. Do you have a plan in place for how to respond to an incident? Here are some questions to consider:
    
   1. How will we communicate internally with our staff about the incident?
   2. How will we communicate with our clients? Our patients? Our community?
   3. When should we call our insurance company? Our attorney?
   4. Is reception prepared to describe what is going on if someone visits our office?
   5. Do we have the technical expertise to diagnose the issue?
   6. Do we have set protocols in place for when to bring our systems off-line and are our downtime procedures ready to use?
   7. When the press gets wind of the situation, who will communicate with them and what will we share?
   8. If our telephone system and network is taken offline, how we will we communicate with our leadership team and workforce?

By starting to ask these questions, you can ascertain how ready you may, or may not be, for a cyber-attack when it comes.

3. Practice: Prepare your team with table top exercises  
   Given the complexity and diversity of the threats people are encountering today, no single written plan can account for all of the possible combinations of cyber-attacks. A plan can give guidance, set communication protocols, and structure your approach to your response. But by conducting exercises against hypothetical situations, you can test your plan, identify weaknesses in the plan, and also provide your leadership team with insight and experience – before it counts.
   
   A table top exercise entails one team member (perhaps from IT or from an outside firm) coming up with a hypothetical situation and a series of facts and clues about the situation that are given to your leadership team over time. Your team then implements the existing plans to respond to the incident and make decisions. There are no right or wrong answers in this scenario. Rather, the goal is to practice the decision-making and response process to determine where improvements are needed.
   
   Maybe you run an exercise and realize that you have not communicated to your staff that no mention of the event should be shared by employees on social media. Maybe the exercise makes you realize that the network administrator who is on vacation at the time is the only one who knows how to log onto the firewall. You might identify specific gaps that are lacking in your cybersecurity coverage. There is much to learn that can help you prepare for the real thing.

As you know, there are many different threats and risks facing organizations. Some are from inside an organization while others come from outside. Simply throwing additional technology at the problem will not sufficiently address the risks. While your people continue to be one of the biggest threats, they can also be one of your biggest assets, in both preventing issues from occurring and then responding quickly and appropriately when they do. Remember focus on your People, Your Plan, and Your Practice.

Editor's note: read this blog if you are a state liquor administrator or at the C-level in state government. 

Surprisingly, the keynote address to this year’s annual meeting of the National Alcohol Beverage Control Association (NABCA) featured few comments on, well, alcohol. 

Why? Because cannabis is now the hot topic in state government, as consumers await its legalization. While the thought of selling cannabis may seem foreign to some state administrators, many liquor agencies are―and should be―watching. The fact is, state liquor agencies are already equipped with expertise and the technology infrastructure needed to lawfully sell a controlled substance. This puts them in a unique position to benefit from the industry’s continued growth. Common technology includes enterprise resource planning (ERP) and point-of-sale (POS) systems.

ERP

State liquor agencies typically use an ERP system to integrate core business functions, including finance, human resources, and supply chain management. Whether the system is handling bottles of wine, cases of spirits, or bags of cannabis, it is capable of achieving the same business goals. 

The existing checks and balances on controlled substances like alcohol in their current ERP system translate well to cannabis products. This leads to an important point: state governments do not need to procure a new IT system solely for regulating cannabis.

By leveraging existing ERP systems, state liquor agencies can sidestep much of the time, effort, and expense of selecting, procuring, and implementing a new system solely for cannabis sales and management. In control states, where the state has exclusively control of alcohol sales, liquor agencies are often involved in every stage of product lifecycle, from procurement to distribution to retailing.

With a few modifications, the spectrum of business functions that control states require for liquor—procuring new product, communicating with vendors and brokers, tracking inventory, and analyzing sales—can work just as well for cannabis.

POS

POS systems are necessary for most retail stores. If a state liquor agency decides to sell cannabis products in stores, they can use a POS system to integrate with the agency’s ERP system, though store personnel may require training to help ensure compliance with related regulations.

Cannabis is cash only (for now)

There is one major difference in conducting liquor versus cannabis sales at any level: currently states conduct all cannabis sales in cash. With cannabis illegal on the federal level, major banks have opted to decline any deposit of funds earned from cannabis-related sales. While some community banks are conducting cannabis-related banking, many retailers selling recreational cannabis in places like Colorado and California still deal in cash. While risky and not without challenges, these transactions are possible and less onerous to federal regulators. 

Taxes 

As markets develop, monthly tax revenue collections from cannabis continue to grow. Colorado and California have found cannabis-related tax revenue a powerful tool in hedging against uncertainty in year-over-year cash flows. Similar to beer sold wholesale, which liquor agencies tax even in control states, cannabis can be taxed at multiple levels depending on the state’s business model.

E-commerce

Even with liquor, few state agencies have adopted direct-to-consumer online sales. However, as other industries continue shifting toward e-commerce and away from brick and mortar retailing, private sector competition will likely feed increased consumer demand for online sales. Similar to ERP and POS systems, states can increase revenue by selling cannabis through e-commerce sales channels. In today’s online retail world, many prefer to buy products from their computer or smart phone instead of shopping in stores. State agencies should consider selling cannabis via the web to maximize this revenue opportunity. 

Applying expertise in the systems and processes of alcoholic beverage control can translate into the sale and regulation of cannabis, easing the transition states face to this burgeoning industry. If your agency is considering bringing in cannabis under management, you should consider strategic planning sessions and even begin a change management approach to ensure your agency adapts successfully. 

Editor’s note: If you are a state government CFO, CIO, project or program manager, this blog is for you. 

This is the second blog post in the blog series: “Procuring Agile vs. Non-Agile Service”. Read the first blog. This blog post demonstrates the differences in Stage 1: Plan Project in the five stages of procuring agile vs. non-agile services.

Overview of Procurement Process for Agile vs. Non-Agile IT Services

What is important to consider in agile procurement?

Here are some questions that can help focus the planning for procurement of IT services for agile vs. non-agile projects.

Plan Project Considerations for Agile vs. Non-Agile IT Services

Why are these considerations important?

When you procure agile IT services, you can define the scope of your procurement around a vision of what your organization intends to become, as opposed to being restricted to an end-date for a final delivery.

In an agile project, you get results iteratively; this allows you to constantly reassess requirements throughout the project, including the project plan, the guiding principles, and the project schedule. Your planning is not restricted to considering the effect of one big result at the end of the project schedule. Instead, your plan allows for sequencing of changes and improvements that best reflect the outcomes and priorities your organization needs. 

Since planning impacts the people-aspect of your strategy, it is important to consider how various teams and stakeholders will provide input, and how you will make ongoing communication updates throughout the project. With an agile procurement project, your culture will shift, and you will need a different approach to planning, scheduling, communicating, and risk management. You need to communicate daily, allowing for reviewing and adjusting priorities and plans to meet project needs. 

How do you act on these considerations?

A successful procurement plan of agile IT services should include the following steps:

1. Develop a project charter and guiding principles for the procurement that reflect a vision of how your organization’s teams will work together in the future
2. Create a communication plan that includes the definition of project success and communicates project approach
3. Be transparent about the development strategy, and outline how iterations are based on user needs, that features will be re-prioritized on an ongoing basis, and that users, customers, and stakeholders are needed to help define requirements and expected outcomes
4. Provide agile training to your management, procurement, and program operation teams to help them accept and understand the project will present deliverables in iterations, to include needed features, functionality and working products
5. Develop requirements for the scope of work that align with services and outcomes you want, rather than documented statements that merely map to your current processes 

What’s next? 

Now that you have gained insight into the approach to planning an agile project, consider how you may put this first stage into practice in your organization. Stay tuned for guidance on how to execute the second stage of the procurement process—how to draft the RFP. Our intention is that, following this series, your organization will better understand how to successfully procure and implement agile services. If you have questions or comments, please contact our team.
 

Read this if you are a City/County Administrator, Building Official, Community Development Director, Planning Director, Development Services Manager or work with customers providing a service for a fee.

Planning and development service fees are, for many municipalities, often discussed but rarely changed. There are a number of reasons you might need to consider or defend your fee structure―complaints from developers, rising costs of operation, and changes in code or process are just a few. 

But when is the right time for a formal review of your service fees? There are several key organizational factors that should prompt an in-depth study of your fees, either internally or with the assistance of an objective advisor. It may be time for an update if:

• You’re considering a new permitting system. New technology may streamline your workflows, simplify processes for your customers, or necessitate changes in your staffing. All of these secondary changes can impact the cost of your services. In addition, if you’re anticipating significant changes to your fee structure or methodology (e.g., moving to full cost recovery), you’ll want to configure your new system to support that going forward.
• You have an enterprise development fund. Development fees are collected to cover the cost of providing a service. The methodology you use to charge fees should be based on defensible formulas that can withstand the scrutiny of your customers and cover the cost to provide the service. In addition, reserve funds should be adequate to ensure your development service is funded through the completion of the project. 
• The regulations in your municipality are changing. Perhaps your organization is moving to a unified or form-based code or making changes to the International Building or Fire Codes. Changes in the process and requirements for development may require a reevaluated fee structure.
• It’s been a while. Even if your organization is not experiencing any significant or sweeping change, small shifts can accumulate over the years, resulting in significant fee adjustments that may be tough for you to implement and for your customers to understand. Periodically reviewing service demand and benchmarking your individual fees against those of neighboring communities can help to avoid sticker shock.

If any of these scenarios sound familiar, you may want to consider a fee review, which may consist of benchmarking against similar jurisdictions. Not sure what level of review your organization needs? Our dedicated government consultants include former planners and community development leaders who have walked in your shoes and can talk through the considerations with you.
 

Editor’s note: If you are a state government CFO, CIO, project or program manager, this blog is for you.

What is the difference in how government organizations procure agile vs. non-agile information technology (IT) services? (Learn more about agile here).

In each case, they typically follow five stages through the process as shown in Figure A:
 

Figure A: Overview of Procurement Process for Agile vs. Non-Agile IT Services

However, there are differences in how these stages are carried out if procuring agile vs. non-agile IT services. 

Unfortunately, most government organizations are unaware of these differences, which could result in unsuccessful procurements and ultimately not meeting your project’s needs and expectations. 
This blog series will illustrate how to strategically adjust the standard stages outlined in Figure A to successfully procure agile IT services.

Stage 1: Plan project
In Stage 1, you define the scope of the project by identifying what your organization wants, needs, and can achieve within the available timeframe and budget. You then determine the project’s objectives while strategically considering their impact on your organization before developing the RFP. Figure B summarizes the key differences between the impacts of agile vs. non-agile services to consider in this stage.

Figure B: Plan Project for Agile vs. Non-Agile IT Services

The nuances of planning for agile services reflect an organization’s readiness for a culture shift to a continuous process of development and deployment of software and system updates. 

Stage 2: Draft RFP
In Stage 2, as part of RFP drafting, define the necessary enhancements and functionality needed to achieve the project objectives determined in Stage 1. You then translate these enhancements and functionalities into business requirements. Requirement types might include business needs as functionality, services, staffing, deliverables, technology, and performance standards. Figure C summarizes the key differences between drafting the RFP for a project procuring agile vs. non-agile services.

Figure C: Draft RFP for Agile vs. Non-Agile IT Services

In drafting the RFP, the scope of work emphasizes expectations for how your team and the vendor team will work together, the terms of how progress will be monitored, and the description of requirements for agile tools and methods.

Stage 3: Issue RFP
In Stage 3, issue the RFP to the vendor community, answer vendor questions, post amendments, and manage the procurement schedule. Since this stage of the process requires you to comply with your organization’s purchasing and procurement rules, Figure D illustrates very little difference between issuing an RFP for a project procuring agile or non-agile services.

Figure D: Issue RFP for Agile vs. Non-Agile IT Services 

Stage 4: Review proposals
In Stage 4, you evaluate vendor proposals against the RFP’s requirements and project objectives to determine the best proposal response. Figure E summarizes the key differences in reviewing proposals for a project that is procuring agile vs. non-agile services.

Figure E: Reviewing Proposals for Agile vs. Non-Agile IT Services 

Having appropriate evaluation priorities and scoring weights that align with how agile services are delivered should not be under-emphasized. 

Stage 5: Award and implement contract
In Stage 5, you award and implement the contract with the best vendor proposal identified during Stage 4. Figure F summarizes the key differences in awarding and implementing the contract for agile vs. non-agile services.

Figure F:  Award and Implement Contract for Agile vs. Non-Agile Services 

Due to the iterative and interactive requirements of agile, it is necessary to have robust and frequent collaboration among program teams, executives, sponsors, and the vendor to succeed in your agile project delivery.

What’s next?
The blog posts in this series will explain step-by-step how to procure agile services through the five stages, and at the series conclusion, your organization will better understand how to successfully procure and implement agile services. If you have questions or comments, please contact our team.  

Modernization means different things to different people—especially in the context of state government. For some, it is the cause of a messy chain reaction that ends (at best) in frustration and inefficiency. For others, it is the beneficial effect of a thoughtful and well-planned series of steps. The difference lies in the approach to transition - and states will soon discover this as they begin using the new Comprehensive Child Welfare Information System (CCWIS), a case management information system that helps them provide citizens with customized child welfare services.

The benefits of CCWIS are numerous and impressive, raising the bar for child welfare and providing opportunities to advance through innovative technology that promotes interoperability, flexibility, improved management, mobility, and integration. However, taking advantage of these benefits will also present challenges. Gone are the days of the cookie-cutter, “one-size-fits-all” approach. Here are five facts to consider as you transition toward an effective modernization.

1. There are advantages and challenges to buying a system versus building a system internally. CCWIS transition may involve either purchasing a complete commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) product that suits the state, or constructing a new system internally with the implementation of a few purchased modules. To decide which option is best, first assess your current systems and staff needs. Specifically, consider executing a cost-benefit analysis of options, taking into account internal resource capabilities, feasibility, flexibility, and time. This analysis will provide valuable data that help you assess the current environment and identify functional gaps. Equipped with this information, you should be ready to decide whether to invest in a COTS product, or an internally-built system that supports the state’s vision and complies with new CCWIS regulations.
    
2. Employ a modular approach to upgrading current systems or building new systems. The Children’s Bureau—an office of the Administration for Children & Families within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services—defines “modularity” as the breaking down of complex functions into separate, manageable, and independent components. Using this modular approach, CCWIS will feature components that function independently, simplifying future upgrades or procurements because they can be completed on singular modules rather than the entire system. Modular systems create flexibility, and enable you to break down complex functions such as “Assessment and Intake,” “Case Management,” and “Claims and Payment” into modules during CCWIS transition. This facilitates the development of a sustainable system that is customized to the unique needs of your state, and easily allows for future augmentation.
    
3. Use Organizational Change Management (OCM) techniques to mitigate stakeholder resistance to change. People are notoriously resistant to change. This is especially true during a disruptive project that impacts day-to-day operations—such as building a new or transitional CCWIS system. Having a comprehensive OCM plan in place before your CCWIS implementation can help ensure that you assign an effective project sponsor, develop thorough project communications, and enact strong training methods. A clear OCM strategy should help mitigate employee resistance to change and can also support your organization in reaching CCWIS goals, due to early buy-in from stakeholders who are key to the project’s success.
    
4. Data governance policies can help ensure you standardize mandatory data sharing. For example, the Children’s Bureau notes that a Title IV-E agency with a CCWIS must support collaboration, interoperability, and data sharing by exchanging data with Child Support Systems?Title IV-D, Child Abuse/Neglect Systems, Medicaid Management Information Systems (MMIS), and many others as described by the Children’s Bureau.
   
   Security is a concern due to the large amount of data sharing involved with CCWIS systems. Specifically, if a Title IV-E agency with a CCWIS does not implement foundational data security measures across all jurisdictions, data could become vulnerable, rendering the system non-compliant. However, a data governance framework with standardized policies in place can protect data and surrounding processes.
    
5. Continuously refer to federal regulations and resources. With the change of systems comes changes in federal regulations. Fortunately, the Children’s Bureau provides guidance and toolkits to assist you in the planning, development, and implementation of CCWIS. Particularly useful documents include the “Child Welfare Policy Manual,” “Data Sharing for Courts and Child Welfare Agencies Toolkit,” and the “CCWIS Final Rule”. A comprehensive list of federal regulations and resources is located on the Children’s Bureau website.
   
   Additionally, the Children’s Bureau will assign an analyst to each state who can provide direction and counsel during the CCWIS transition. Continual use of these resources will help you reduce confusion, avoid obstacles, and ultimately achieve an efficient modernization program.

Modernization doesn’t have to be messy. Learn more about how OCM and data governance can benefit your agency or organization.

Because we’ve been through this process many times, we’ve learned a few lessons and determined some best practices. Here are some tips to help you promote a positive post go-live experience.

The road to go-live is paved with good intentions. When an organization identifies a need to procure a new or upgraded system, that road can be long. It requires extensive planning, building a business case, defining requirements, procuring the system, testing it, and implementing it. Not to mention preparing your team to start using it. You’ve worked really hard to get to this point, and it feels like you’re about to cross the finish line. Well, grab some Gatorade because you’re not quite there yet. Post go-live is your cool-down, and it’s an important part of the race.

Preparation is key.
If you haven’t built a go-live plan into your overall implementation plan, you may see stress levels rise significantly in the days and weeks leading up to go-live. Like a runner prepares for a big race, a project lead must adequately prepare the team to begin using the new system, while still handling unexpected obstacles.  While there are many questions you should ask as you prepare to go live, you need to gain buy-in on the plan from the beginning and manage it to ensure follow-through.

Have your contract and deliverables handy.
Your system vendor implementation team will look to hand you off to their support team soon after go-live. It is crucial that you review all of the deliverables outlined in your contract to ensure all of the agreed-upon functionality is up and running, and all contracted deliverables have been provided and approved. Don’t transition to support until you’ve had enough time to see the system through significant processes (e.g. payroll, month-end close). In the period immediately after go-live, the vendor implementation team is your best resource to help address these issues, so it’s a good idea to have easy access to them.

Encourage use and feedback.
Functional leads and project champions need to continue communications past go-live to encourage use and provide a mechanism for addressing feedback. Employing change management best practices will go a long way in ensuring you use the system properly — and to its best capabilities.

Plan ahead for expanded use and future issues. 
Because a system implementation can be extremely resource-intensive, it is common to suppress or forgo functionality to implement at a later date (e.g., citizen and vendor self-service). In addition, we sometimes see issues arise during significant operational milestones (e.g., renewal processing, year-end close). Have a plan in place to decide how you will address known and unknown issues that arise.

While there is no silver bullet to solve all of the potential go-live woes, you can promote a smooth transition from a legacy system to a new system by implementing these tips. The time you spend up front will help offset many headaches down the road, promote end-user engagement, and ensure you’re getting the most from your investment.