Page 86 - 2016 FGM Annual Report

T H E Y E A R A H E A D

Last year’s Treasurer’s report ended with mention that fiscal 2015 was a transitional
year for the FGM Accounting Team. Fiscal 2017 will also carry the same theme.
In January, it was announced our current operations do not require the additional
layer of responsibility traditionally carried by a Chief Financial Officer.
Accordingly, Diane Gilmartin, assumed the new position of Director of Finance.

In addition to protecting the assets of the firm and providing accurate financial
information, the goals for accounting and business operations parallel the topics
discussed earlier:

• Support the strategic initiatives of the organization,
• Assist with development of the next generation of leadership, and
• Enhance the PMs understanding of the business side of our practice.

Focusing on PMs, we have been working to move to the next generation of our
accounting software, Deltek Vision, looking to upgrade to version 7.6. With this
version, we will use the product Deltek is investing in heavily, iAccess. iAccess is a
different interface specifically designed to be streamlined and easy to use,
improving efficiency and making data more accessible. As we learn what this
means for project planning and management, plus timesheet and expense
reports, we will be looking to streamline the monthly review process, reducing the
effort currently needed to properly calculate earnings and billings. By the end of
the year, we not only hope to have all PMs using iAccess, but also have an
increased understanding of the relationship between project plans, staffing,
monthly earnings, and project profitability.

We don’t want to end the Treasurer’s report without recognizing the contributions
from Maria Carrasco and Elba Villalobos. In addition to carrying a heavy monthly
workload as the Accounting Team continues to be lean, they did an excellent job
rolling out changes to our health insurance plans and making sure open
enrollment ran smoothly.

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