ClearGov Reinvents the Outdated Budget Book as a Modern Web-Based Experience

Digital Budget Book will save governments time and money and allow them to communicate their budget more effectively to residents

Maynard, MA (06/01/2020) – ClearGov, a leader in helping local governments modernize their financial operations and communications, announced today that it has launched a new Digital Budget Book SaaS solution. ClearGov’s Digital Budget Book will revolutionize one of local government’s most challenging and tedious annual communication tasks by delivering a web-based budget book that can also be exported to a printed document.

Every year, local governments are required to produce a document that details the strategic budgetary decisions they’ve made and that serves as an official report on its financial priorities. Traditional budget books are extensive printed documents that are labor-intensive to produce and difficult for most residents to digest.

Local governments can now use ClearGov’s new Digital Budget Book software to present their budget book as an interactive online experience rather than a paper document, saving them time and money and resulting in a budget presentation that’s far easier and more engaging for every resident to consume.

Modernizing Budget Book Production

Using a government’s raw budget data, Digital Budget Book allows finance directors to create a completely structured budget book — pre-populated with interactive charts, graphs, and tables — in a single click. They can customize the web-based, mobile-friendly “book” with commentary, new pages, and the graphics or other styling elements needed to keep the budget book “on brand” for their government.

As the budget numbers change and evolve — as they inevitably do throughout the budgeting process — the software will automatically update the charts, graphs, and figures in the budget presentation.

In all, it’s a much faster and simpler process than the typical method of trying to manage, merge, and keep up-to-date a conglomeration of disparate Word and Excel documents.

Governments even save money by not having to invest in printing hard copies, and by not having to allocate as many resources to the project overall.

More Effective Budget Communication

A digital budget book is also easier than a traditional paper budget book for residents to navigate and engage with. And, if necessary, Digital Budget Book offers visitors the ability to download a printable .PDF version.

“ClearGov’s core expertise is in modernizing antiquated processes and making complex government data easy for residents to understand,” says CEO and co-founder Chris Bullock. “Leveraging that expertise is a big part of what makes Digital Budget Book so effective.”

And, like all ClearGov solutions, digital budget books are optimized for accessibility, according to standards set by the Americans with Disabilities Act.

Award-Worthy Results

Each year, the Government Finance Officers Association (GFOA) hands out Distinguished Budget Presentation Awards to local governments that have produced the most engaging and effective budget books.

To help guide budget book editors, ClearGov has integrated the GFOA’s awards criteria into the Digital Budget Book suite. There’s even a GFOA awards checklist built into the software’s interface, and the GFOA encourages digital submissions for the award.

For finance directors who aspire to win a GFOA award, ClearGov’s Digital Budget Book software provides a tremendous head start. And building a budget book based on GFOA criteria helps all local governments ensure they’re creating a budget presentation that’s valuable for their entire community.

—–

Digital Budget Book is fully integrated with ClearGov’s existing budget builder and citizen engagement suites.