Case Study: Local Government Centralized Receivables Services (CRS) Process Optimization

Executive Overview

This project involved a comprehensive process review and performance audit of the Centralized Receivables Services (CRS) Team within the Central Finance Division of a large Oregon municipality. As the short-term project manager hired by the City to conduct performance management services, I focused on identifying areas for efficiency and process enhancement within the CRS team. The review analyzed existing process maps, desk manuals, and staff workflows, yielding clear recommendations — accepted by management — that freed an estimated 468 staff hours annually and recovered approximately $15,000 in annual time loss.

Challenge

The primary challenge was a desire by management to assess the CRS team for potential efficiency and process enhancement. The analysis revealed several key inhibitors to efficiency:

Payment Processing Time Variability: The time required to process receivables varied widely, ranging from 5 minutes for "Clean and Easy" payments to 30 minutes for "Other" checks requiring research due to missing information.

Workflow Interruptions: Staff reported that constant interruptions from phone calls significantly reduced efficiency, leading to lost time from reorienting to the task at hand. One analysis showed that five interruptions could increase the time to process a batch of checks from 1.5 hours to 4.8 hours.

Capacity and Duty Allocation: The Management Analyst had absorbed coordinator duties beyond the original scope of the role, and recommended transferring specific work activities to the Accounting Clerk and Sr. Accounting Clerk to free up a minimum of 9 hours weekly.

Inefficient Information Flow: Critical workflow processes were hampered by poor data storage — the Telecom spreadsheet was stored on a desktop drive rather than a shared server — and slow communication with other departments for accounts receivable addendums.

Approach

The research was conducted by analyzing three process access points: process maps, desk manuals, and workflow discussions.

Process Mapping: Group process discussions were held with the CRS team to analyze current high-level process maps, leading to the creation of new, granular process maps for complex areas like Customer Creation and Open Item Payment Processing.

Receivables Buckets: Receivables were categorized into seven buckets — Clean & Easy, Telecom, ACH, Other, and additional categories — to estimate and track processing time variations across payment types.

Time Tracking & Comparison: Staff estimated the average time to process single payments. This was compared to weekly hour tracking conducted by staff and benchmarked against a prior year's study to identify significant shifts in workload.

Individual Interviews: One-on-one interviews were conducted to identify workflow pinch points and gain insights into challenges including training gaps, phone call disruptions, and staff capacity.

Impact

The project delivered actionable recommendations focused on reallocating workload, protecting focus time, and streamlining inter-departmental data transfer. Recommendations were accepted and implemented by leadership, creating measurable time and resource savings.

Workload Reduction: Transfer specific ARS and AR Account activities from the Management Analyst to the Accounting Clerk and Sr. Accounting Clerk, resulting in an estimated 9 hours freed weekly — 468 hours annually — and approximately $15,000 in annual time loss recovered.

Focus Time: Create a "quiet time" between 8 a.m. and 11 a.m. where staff do not answer or respond to phone calls, significantly increasing focus time on processing duties.

Process Streamlining: Create a shared server folder between the AR teams for addendums to streamline communication, and move the Telecom database onto the shared server drive — resulting in a documented increase in efficiency and staff satisfaction.

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Small process changes and smart workload reallocation can generate significant time and cost savings without major system overhauls or additional budget. If your organization is ready to find those opportunities, visit the Services page to learn more about how Local Efficiency Solutions can help.