ClearGov Adds 50+ Digital Budget Book Customers in the First Month Post-Launch New software saves governments time and money, transforms budget books into dynamic online presentations that detail and demystify financial data for residents and councils alike.Maynard, Mass. – Local governments across the country are turning to ClearGov’s Digital Budget Book software to put the time-consuming, error-prone task of manually creating their annual budget books behind. Since launching Digital Budget Book at the beginning of June, more than 50 municipalities have already chosen the solution to create their annual budget books more easily and to tell their stories more effectively. “We used ClearGov’s Digital Budget Book software to turn an ordinary, plain-text budget document into a dynamic online budget presentation. Our City Council was extremely pleased with the result. ClearGov’s staff did an outstanding job helping us deliver the budget book on time and in great, user-friendly form,” said Steven Leonardis, city manager of Monte Sereno, California. The city created its digital budget book in just two weeks. Traditionally, a local government’s annual budget book is an extensive printed document pieced together from spreadsheets and written content. These disparate information sources require constant updating, reconciling and validating. ClearGov’s Digital Budget Book streamlines the process and allows cities and towns to produce eye-catching, interactive online experiences in a single click. “I am impressed with ClearGov’s Digital Budget Book software. In these uncertain times, we’re figuring out the best way to serve our city as effectively as possible. With Digital Budget Book, we are able to build and share our annual budget book much more easily than before,” said Lori Bartell, finance director of the City of St. Joseph, Minnesota. “The immediate popularity of ClearGov’s Digital Budget Book is proof that local governments are looking for modern solutions to help them improve efficiency and engage more effectively with their residents. They trust ClearGov to help them accomplish that,” ClearGov CEO and co-founder Chris Bullock said. Like all ClearGov software, Digital Budget Book is accessible for local governments of every size. The software connects to a government’s raw budget data, and uses it to create a web-based, mobile-friendly budget presentation pre-populated with charts, graphs and tables that automatically update as a government’s budget data inevitably evolves. The software allows finance directors to collaborate with department heads more efficiently and helps streamline the capital improvement request submission and collection process. Finance directors can even customize the report with narratives, graphics and style elements. Interactive experiences created with Digital Budget Book are automatically optimized for accessibility according to standards set by the Americans with Disabilities Act. And should governments need to provide a hard copy, Digital Budget Book gives them the option to download the entire budget book or particular sections as a print-friendly PDF. The software also gives finance directors an edge toward winning a Distinguished Budget Presentation Award from the Government Finance Officers Association (GFOA). Digital Budget Book software provides GFOA-driven suggestions on what to include on each page. By following the simple suggestions, finance directors meet award criteria. Digital Budget Book can be used as a standalone solution, alongside any of the leading government accounting platforms, and is fully integrated with ClearGov’s budgeting and forecasting software for local governments, ClearGov Budgets.  |
