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Town of Bedford, MA Praises Upgrade to KVS Enterprise Edition Software

The Town of Bedford, MA, located in Middlesex County, about 15 miles northwest of Boston, has a population of about 12,500 residents, with about 2,200 students enrolled in schools.  The majority of town departments and the school system currently utilize the KVS Enterprise Edition software, totaling 71 users.

Bedford had been using KVS software since 1996 when they purchased General Ledger, Accounts Payable, Collection, Purchasing and Utility Billing systems.  Since then, they added Budget Preparation, Payroll, Fixed Assets, Accounts Receivable and Workflow modules, as well as the Remote Backup Service.  In 2006, Bedford upgraded to the Enterprise Edition, which uses browser-based technology and the Oracle relational database platform as a means of providing state-of-the-art systems.

"I believe we first saw the Enterprise Edition at the 2003 KVS User Conference," said Peter Naum, Bedford Finance Director.  "We were excited about the product's potential and continued to watch its development and evolution with enthusiasm," he said.  "We were anxious to get this Oracle-based product, as we saw it to be progressive, functionally enriched, and very user friendly."

With 71 users, an upgrade like this could be a harrowing endeavor, especially since the staff had been comfortable with using the Standard version for so long.  But according to Naum, the Enterprise Edition was very favorably received for its functionality and appearance.

"The system provides the functionality and ease of use of Windows-based software, so that even our most 'entrenched' users of the Standard Edition came on board," said Bedford Information Systems Manager Sherwood Ives.  Examples he gave of particularly useful functionality include the ability to drill down for information in the Purchasing system, the various search and sort options, and PDF report generation.  "It has allowed departments to independently do inquiries and reporting on budgetary information, and also facilitated the distributed creation of requisitions in the purchasing process and the input of departmental requests in the budget preparation process," Ives added.

During the conversion, Naum said, there were some issues that arose primarily due to the timing - the month of June being a late point in the town's fiscal year.  "Our implementation situation," Ives explained, "was complicated by the fact that two Bedford entities, Town and School departments, were participating, and we opted to implement a new combined purchasing approach for Accounts Payable."  Both men agreed that KVS worked quite closely with them to ensure a successful implementation. 

Interaction with KVS employees over the years and in each stage of the upgrade process has been a good experience, Naum noted.  "The training we received was both necessary and quite comprehensive," he said.

Users were rotated to attend the relevant training sessions for the modules they would eventually utilize.  "Our trainers were professional and obliging, almost to a fault, in engaging the trainees in discussions of what was needed and how to use the software," Ives remarked.

The relationship with the KVS software support representatives post training, Naum said, has been nothing but good as well.  "We feel we get comprehensive and timely responses to our questions," he said.  "One critical factor for me has always been the responsiveness of support; my perception of their ability to meet my expectations was one of the important reasons I chose KVS in the mid '90s."

The town's interaction with the technical staff has always been a pleasure, Ives said, noting that the staff is consistently friendly and responsive.  "By and large, we are exceptionally pleased with their efforts directed to our problems," he stated.  "Equally important, there are systems in place to monitor progress, such as call logs and system reviews.

"We like the fact that, as an Oracle product, the Enterprise system is built on a dependable and enduring database system," Ives continued.  "Another beneficial feature of the software is that it resides on the server and, in our particular configuration, is access by Remote Desktop, so that clients do not have to be individually configured."

KVS recently added new functionality to some Enterprise reports at Bedford's request, and created the Budget Publication Report specifically for use by the Town Manager, Selectmen, and the Finance Committee.  "We have received compliments for this product, and it certainly demonstrates that KVS works with us as a partner in sculpting software to our needs and expectations," Naum asserted.  "Easy, tailored and flexible reporting is an important aspect of a good financial system," he added.  "In providing a wider range of sorting and selection options and generating reports in consistent PDF formats, KVS demonstrates its commitment to this philosophy."

Over the years, Bedford has hosted many all-day demonstrations of KVS software for the benefit of other Massachusetts municipalities and schools who have inquired about its capabilities.  "I am most pleased to state that, in many instances, they then chose to purchase the KVS system, causing the Massachusetts client base to grow significantly," Naum observed.

"We continue to recommend KVS Enterprise software to other communities because, as an Oracle-based product, it offers security, functionality, and reliability," Ives stated.

"KVS has been focused on turnkey municipal financial software applications for decades, demonstration both experience and expertise," Naum said.  "These factors, combined with responsive support, allow KVS to concentrate on the most important things:  the customer and the product."

Carrollton, KY, Endorses KVS Enterprise for Advanced Technology and Ease of Use

“Citizens expect more technology from city government," said Becky Pyles, Clerk/Treasurer of Carrollton, KY.  In an effort to keep up with technology, the City of Carrollton, located in northwest Kentucky, made the switch to the KVS Enterprise Edition software in September 2006.  Having utilized KVS Standard version financial modules since 2001, the city decided to upgrade in order to move to a Windows environment and to have more flexibility with reporting.

The population of Carrollton is slightly over 3,800.  "It's a small town atmosphere with a very large industrial base," Pyles explained.  Citizens in small towns expect government services to be just as efficient as in large cities, if not more so, she stated, and the advanced technology of KVS's Enterprise Edition was just what Carrollton officials were looking for.

"We think the software is easy to learn and use," Pyles said.  While admitting that the new screens and processes take some getting used to after upgrading, Pyles said she is very pleased with the change.  "Running off accounts payables checks seems to be a lot simpler and quicker.  Also, if for some reason you need to correct something, it's easier to reverse entries," she noted.

Currently the city's Administrative Office uses the KVS General Ledger, Budget Preparation, Payroll, and Purchasing modules, with other departments granted read-only access to their respective budgets.

At various city clerk meetings, Pyles said she has often recommended Enterprise and KVS.  "I recommended KVS because they are truly a municipal accounting system:  fund accounting," she explained.  "Everything interfaces so well."

"I also told them the support team is really great," she continued.  "We had a very easy training and switch over live with the KVS support staff.  They know the Enterprise system, could answer all of our questions, and are able to help us if we call in for support."

Even with the distance from KVS headquarters in New York State, Pyles said the staff at Carrollton feels they always get an answer from KVS within a day of asking a question or the next morning.  She said they feel that KVS is committed to Kentucky.  "And I hope they are for a long time," she added.

The Town of Clarence, NY Offers Observations as the First Client to Go Live on the KVS Enterprise Edition

“You’ve got to see it to believe it,” said Pam Smith, Director of Finance for the Town of Clarence, NY, speaking about using the new KVS Enterprise Edition Financial Management software package. In early October 2004, the town went live on the system and became the first KVS client to do so. “It’s much more user friendly,” she stated.

About nine people on the Clarence staff had been using KVS’s Cobol financial software since the town became a client in 1999. After learning about the new Enterprise version using Oracle technology, Pam volunteered the town to be a test site for the software. “I’m not someone who is afraid of change,” she said. “I look forward to it, especially when it comes to technology.”

Everyone was very receptive to the new system and after having tested it out as a BETA site for several months, they were more excited than nervous about going live. “It has really made things much easier for them,” Pam said. The staff members in her office spend much of their time entering vouchers into the system, she explained, and for them there is one feature in particular that they are fond of – no more lost voucher numbers. The system assigns a number to the voucher at the end of the entry rather than at the beginning as it did before. Now if there is a distraction or if the power goes out, which has been known to happen on occasion she said, the voucher number is not assigned until the data is saved. Other nice features, Pam noted, are the current year default and multiple year history in General Ledger. The years are identified by the actual numbers rather than a “<C>urrent or <N>ext Year” prompt which prevents confusion, she said, and the multiple year history provides easy query and reporting capabilities.

“I have nothing but good things to say about the conversion and the top notch training that we received from both Carol and Cheryl,” Pam said, referring to KVS’ Carol Abato and Cheryl Weimer. Both women spent a couple days training at the finance office and then spent another day at the town’s other offices. Because of Clarence’s decentralized environment with nine users spread out in various departments, such as Parks and Engineering for example, there were some minor incidents at first. “There were some initial things that came up, but it's because everyone has their own way of doing things and different issues,” she asserted. The issues that did pop up, Pam explained, were always fixed very quickly after a simple phone call. “There hasn’t been anything that I’ve had to wait on,” she recalled. “Dennis Ching would program something and then tell us ‘it’s OK now’ and it was amazing how quickly the issue was resolved.”

When asked to compare the Enterprise financial suite to the old financial package, Pam said she thinks it is 1,000 percent better. “It’s like night and day,” she said. “Anyone feeling a little apprehensive about the change over, I think will soon realize that it is so much easier. It really is a wonderful package.”

Linked Account Info and Systems Are Key to Linking Borough Departments in Hanover, PA

In 2005, the Borough of Hanover, PA, was looking for a true financial system which met both GASB regulations and Accrual Accounting Standards. According to Barb Krebs, Assistant Borough Manager, when they reviewed KVS’s financial and billing systems they felt it was able to meet these standards. “The KVS system also seemed to be able to link accounts together by simply paging down through the information without going in and out of the program,” she said.

During the conversion process, the Borough continued using its old system alongside the KVS system, which helped to ensure that everyone felt comfortable. “This assured both staff and management that the process was working, and helped us look at the process from beginning to end, which was a big training tool for staff,” Krebs said.

After initial training on the KVS Utility Billing module which the Borough decided to use first, Krebs said she felt reassured that everything was going smoothly. “The Utility Billing went very well, which made it easier to tackle the next phase of our conversion,” she explained. Additional training soon followed when the Borough proceeded with the installation of the Collection, General Receipts, Accounts Receivable, Financial Management, Fixed Assets, BOLT (Business Occupational License & Tax), and Payroll modules. “As staff entered each phase, it was a big eye opener, but we felt more comfortable thanks to the KVS staff’s support and knowledge,” Krebs added.

Service to Borough customers has been made easier thanks to KVS software, mainly because everything is linked together, Krebs stated. “We have information on billing for our customers on one screen,” she noted. “To see the history, we simply page down, versus on our old system where we had to escape out of the billing screen and go to an entirely different section of the program.” The same applies for payroll programs which link all employee information together, invoicing/billing, and the taxes that are processed through the BOLT system, allowing for
financial reporting, she added.

The new Borough Treasurer Cindy Wyatt says she likes the whole program because it’s user friendly, Krebs reported. “This is the response I get from my staff as a whole,” she said. “One process I like that changed the way the Borough performs is the issuing of checks,” Krebs informed, referring to check writing software by AP Technology which partners with KVS. “The system prints our checks with the signatures on them so we no longer have to run each check through a check writing machine.” Reporting is another area improved by the software, she
noted. The built-in KVS reports have generally met the standards of reporting needed by Borough management. “Reports on the other system had to be written by the computer tech,” Krebs stated.

Making the transition from the old system was understandably worrisome. “It was very challenging for all of us but also very satisfying to see each new module of the financial package and how they all tied together to provide the end result,” she explained. She said she is pleased that the system is linked together to meet the accounting standards set for government entities and the needs of the Borough’s internal auditors.

“We added additional areas of the Borough to this package as we went along, like linking the Hanover Area Transfer Station invoicing into the Borough financial package with KVS,” Krebs remarked. “We have yet to add the Permits/Inspections which we hope to accomplish yet this year.”

Hanover recommended KVS to Penn Township which ultimately signed on as a KVS client as well. “We continue to express our satisfaction with the KVS product and professional staff to anyone we think is looking for a computer system and software package,” Krebs asserted. “The more clients using this package, the more support we have.”
 

Straight-Forward Value Wins Loyalty of Village of Mamaroneck, NY

A recent addition to the KVS family of clients is the Village of Mamaroneck, NY, located in Westchester County on Long Island Sound. According to Agostino A. Fusco, Clerk-Treasurer of the Village of Mamaroneck, the decision to change vendors was brought about due to growing concerns about its financial software use, efficiency, support and price.

So last fall, the Village made the switch to KVS for its financial and billing software. Thirty users in eight departments utilize everything from tax sale and lockbox to budget preparation and purchase order applications. “The KVS system is straight forward and simple to use, plus its half the price of the competitors and we always get a rep on the phone,” Fusco noted.

The transition to KVS was very seamless, he said. “I mean, there was definitely a learning curve involved,” he conceded, “but the transition went pretty smoothly.”

The Village is very happy with the new system, Fusco reported. “It works as they (KVS) said it would work, and everyone there is very polite,” he remarked. “The budget module is excellent -- it’s easy to use and it took only two hours to train personnel.”

Interaction with the KVS Technical staff has been excellent as well, Fusco stated, commenting that they were professional at all times.

Mamaroneck makes very few telephone calls to KVS for support, according to Fusco, because there is seldom a problem. “When we do call, the response is always prompt and accurate,” he stressed.

“KVS is a great product and it’s well worth the price,” Fusco concluded.

Town of New Castle, NY, Gives High Praise to KVS In Recent Newsletter

(article republished from the Town of New Castle, NY, newsletter)

Knowledge, Value and Service (KVS) Makes the Town’s Financial Reporting Accurate

Town Hall’s accounting system, New World, has become old news. Training has almost been completed for the new system, KVS, which stands for Knowledge, Value, and Service.

Steven Sweet, IT Manager for the Town, said that the decision to upgrade was based on many factors, such as the fact that KVS has been on the Windows platform for years, and will better integrate with the software the Town is using. “In addition, we wanted to use software that other communities use, creating a vibrant user group,” Sweet said.

KVS is based in Buffalo, NY, and was designed to correspond with NYS reporting guidelines. KVS will also save the Town money, as the price for support is lower than the prior system. KVS specializes in municipal government software.

“It’s user friendly,” said Comptroller Leonie Douglas of the KVS system. Douglas and Controller’s Department staff members Diana Cafarelli and Patricia Hochron have 42 years of KVS experience between them. Town Hall employees received extensive training before the system went live.

The KVS system is much more flexible than New World, said Douglas. “Any small change had to be custom made,” he said of the outdated system. “The internal controls are excellent, and when applied appropriately, should assist tremendously in fraud prevention.”

Deputy Administrator Penny Paderewski cited Sweet’s leadership in the system installation as integral to the success of the project. “His insights and knowledge were invaluable, and we couldn’t have done this without him,” she said.

Affordability and Ease of Use Move Newport, KY in Right Direction

The city of Newport, KY, has been a KVS client since 1995. Located in the northern part of the state across the Ohio River from Cincinnati, OH, the city utilizes nearly all of KVS’s larger software modules. In 2006, Newport made the decision to upgrade to the KVS Enterprise version.

Considered part of the greater Cincinnati Metro area, Newport has evolved into an entertainment/tourist destination in recent years. Part of this evolution can be attributed to the addition of three attractions: the Newport Aquarium, named the number one aquarium in the Midwest in 2004; Newport on the Levee, a large shopping/entertainment complex; and the World Peace Bell, the largest swinging bell in the world. The city is moving forward, said Newport Financial Officer Debbie Vinson, with plans for major retail developments and high-rise office buildings, condominiums and apartments in the immediate future.

Over the past few years, Vinson said, all City departments have operated with a lean staff. “In order for us to remain productive, efficient and provide an expected high level and quality of service to the citizens, we need to be capable of easily assessing our financial information as well as having the capabilities of creating quick customized reports,” she explained. So a few years ago, the city’s Finance and Administration Department began re-assessing its accounting software. They researched other available systems and studied how the KVS Enterprise upgrade compared. “After much consideration, the two reasons we chose to upgrade to Enterprise were affordability and the value of maintaining our detail financial history back to 1996,” Vinson stated.

“Greg Engelman (Chief Financial Officer), Lenny Kuntz (Senior Accountant), and I have seen several demonstrations on Enterprise,” she recounted. “From what we have seen, it is definitely more up to date and comparable to other systems that are in the market. We especially liked the drill down features, the search capabilities, the attachment capabilities and easily being able to access and/or report on prior year financial history,” Vinson noted. “By upgrading to Enterprise,” she continued, “Greg Engelman and I hope to achieve more efficiency, streamline processes, produce better reporting and to adapt to changes as the demand for information continues to grow.”

Once the Finance and Administration staff becomes operational in the system, Vinson said they hope to begin a decentralization process to include other departments. “The first phase would be to familiarize them with the system by allowing them access to view their own accounts and run their own reports,” she explained. “The second phase would be for all seven departments to submit their budgets, enter requisitions, and submit bi-weekly payroll sheets.”

With Enterprise, the city will be able to use the KVS Budget Preparation system to alleviate repetitive steps and maintain detail information that will save time in the budget process, Vinson said. They also are very interested in the Enterprise attachment capabilities. “As the cost of storing paper files continues to increase, we feel it is in our best interest to move toward a paperless office environment as much as possible,” she added. “Upgrading to Enterprise is definitely a move in the right direction.”

KVS Information Systems, Inc.
821 Maple Road ◊ Williamsville, NY  14221
Phone: 800-999-9KVS Local: 716-626-1976 Fax: 716-626-1973