Every captain needs a lookout to spot trouble ahead…and then help to find ways to avoid it.
There are times when having experts at your side can be incredibly reassuring. You feel confident in the knowledge that there is an experienced team of professionals keeping a watch on the horizon and standing ready to help you navigate troubled waters or any uncharted territory you may be facing. It’s even better if those experts are professionals with whom you have already developed a bond of confidence and trust. Much like how telescopes have evolved into modern radar and sonar, the tools we now use to see financial trouble ahead have evolved as well.
A ship’s captain must be able to rely on his crew and on the latest technology to warn of danger ahead. We can’t always predict when we will need professional advice and support, but when we do, there’s nothing quite like that feeling of real confidence that comes from knowing that the team at your side has the expertise and experience necessary to guide you through the challenges ahead.
You are right to rely on your most trusted experts to provide you with advance knowledge of potential storm clouds on the horizon. After all, being proactive and avoiding problems before they have a chance to develop is a much better strategy than being forced to react during a crisis.
Here at three+one®, we are all about being proactive. With that in mind, we feel it is only prudent to inform public officials that some areas of the country are now seeing auditors focusing in on whether municipalities are maximizing interest earnings, or more specifically, looking at whether they may have missed opportunities to maximize interest earnings. As evidence of this trend, the New York State Comptroller has, just within the past 12 months, issued no less than eight adverse audit reports of local governments that zero in on three key recommendations:
(1) Local governments are being told to solicit interest-rate quotes from multiple financial institutions for the cash that they have on deposit;
(2) Public finance officials are being told to prepare monthly cash-flow forecasts that estimate precisely how much cash they have available for investment, and then to determine the maximum time period those funds can be invested; and,
(3) Municipalities and public officials are being told to use the data that they ascertain through the first and second recommendations to then maximize interest earnings.
The audit reports are available online at: osc.state.ny.us/local-government/audits
We live in an era when public officials are expected to make the most of every taxpayer dollar entrusted to them. It would therefore be prudent to assume that additional cash-management audits of local governments are presently underway across the country. Likewise, it would be prudent for all local-government levels to prepare for the possibility that they may be next on the list of public entities that could face this kind of scrutiny. The days of public entities being allowed to have cash sitting in one local bank—or of letting their funds remain dormant in low-interest accounts without regularly searching out better opportunities—are clearly over.
Here at three+one®, we are experts in liquidity maximization and cash management. While we are based in New York State, our many satisfied clients span all regions of the country. We are confident that any auditor would find our clients’ cash-management and liquidity-investment practices to be second to none, and we have the results that prove it. We would welcome the opportunity to be your trusted advisor as well.
Our team of professionals can help you spot potential storm clouds on the horizon long before they become a problem. And we have the latest financial technology at our fingertips with which to help you navigate the safest course forward. When you are the captain of a ship, it’s comforting to know that you have trusted professionals standing beside you at the helm, and that your team of experts has the latest technology and tools at their disposal.
The author served for a total of 38 years in local government at the village, town, and county levels, including 24 years as a County Treasurer/CFO responsible for investing public funds. He can be reached by phone at 585-484-0311 or through our website at https://threeplusone.us.
Fintech tools from three+one® include cashvest®, MC Forecast®, and rfpPrep®, all of which provide public entities with the kind of accurate, reliable cash-management data that they need in order to make the best financial decisions for the funds in their care.
