Additional Finance Accounting Intern Hours Copyrig hted
February 1, 2021
City of Dubuque Consent Items # 6.
City Council Meeting
ITEM TITLE: Additional FinanceAccounting Intern Hours
SUM MARY: City Manager recommending approval to increase the hours of the
accounting interns by 543 hours annually.
SUGGESTED Suggested Disposition: Receive and File;Approve
DISPOSITION:
ATTACHMENTS:
Description Type
MVM Memo City Manager Memo
Staff Memo Staff Memo
Dubuque
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TO: The Honorable Mayor and City Council Members
FROM: Michael C. Van Milligen, City Manager
SUBJECT: Additional Finance Accounting Intern Hours
DATE: January 26, 2021
Director of Finance and Budget Jennifer Larson is recommending approval to increase
the hours of the accounting interns by 543 hours annually. This is an increase of 0.26
FTE and additional cost of$2,054 in Fiscal Year 2021. The additional cost in Fiscal
Year 2021 will be funded by investment manager fee savings in the Finance
Department. The additional cost in Fiscal Year 2022 of$8,480 will be funded through
the budget process.
The Finance Department will be starting the implementation of a new Enterprise
Resource Planning system in the Spring of 2021. It will be necessary to be able to
complete daily tasks (accounts payable, purchasing card audits, monthly journal entries,
monthly reporting, payroll, receipting, reconciliations, etc.) and undertake the additional
workload of implementing the new ERP system (new chart of accounts, data
conversion, creation of new processes, writing reports, training, etc.). The most cost-
effective solution to the issue of needing enough staff to complete daily tasks while
doing the ERP implementation is to increase the amount of accounting interns' full-time
equivalents.
I concur with the recommendation and respectfully request Mayor and City Council
approval.
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Michael C. Van Milligen
MCVM/jml
Attachment
cc: Crenna Brumwell, City Attorney
Cori Burbach, Assistant City Manager
Shelley Stickfort, Human Resources Director
Cassie Ross, Assistant Director of Finance
Dubuque
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TO: Michael C. Van Milligen, City Manager
FROM: Jennifer Larson, Director of Finance and Budget
SUBJECT: Additional Finance Intern Hours Recommendation
DATE: January 25, 2021
INTRODUCTION
The Finance Department is approved for 0.49 FTE or 1,023 hours annually for accounting
interns and 0.51 FTE or 1,065 hours annually for utility billing interns.
BACKGROUND
The Finance Department is fortunate to have the ability to recruit finance interns from three
local colleges. These high caliber candidates provide valuable service to the Finance
Department and allow the department to pursue a wide variety of projects throughout the year.
DISCUSSION
The Finance Department will be starting the implementation of a new Enterprise Resource
Planning system in the Spring of 2021. It will be necessary to be able to complete daily tasks
(accounts payable, purchasing card audits, monthly journal entries, monthly reporting, payroll,
receipting, reconciliations, etc.) and undertake the additional workload of implementing the
new ERP system (new chart of accounts, data conversion, creation of new processes, writing
reports, training, etc.). The most cost-effective solution to the issue of needing enough staff to
complete daily tasks while doing the ERP implementation is to increase the amount of
accounting interns' full-time equivalents from 0.49 FTE (1,023 hours) to 0.75 FTE (1,566). The
0.75 FTE of accounting intern hours will be split between multiple interns. On average, the
Finance Department typically has two accounting interns and one utility billing intern on staff at
one time. The two accounting interns work opposite hours based on their school schedules.
The additional hours would allow the accounting interns to work more hours during the
summer and school months. These additional hours will be needed to complete daily tasks
and assist with the ERP system implementation.
RECOMMENDATION
I respectfully recommend that the Finance Accounting Intern full-time equivalents are
increased from 0.49 FTE (1,023 hours annually) to 0.75 FTE (1,566 hours annually). These
hours will be split between multiple interns. The annual cost impact is $8,480. The
estimated fiscal year 2021 cost impact is $2,054. The additional cost in FY21 would be
covered by the Investment Manager contract savings.