Government users have limited capital for payments and document automation

By Mark Brousseau

If state, county and municipal government users are going to make improvements in their payments and document processing operations in 2010, they’ll likely have to do it without the benefit of additional capital, according the results of a new survey from The Association for Work Process Improvement (TAWPI) and International Accounts Payable Professionals (IAPP).

The survey was conducted in partnership with the Federation of Tax Administrators (FTA) and sponsored by J&B Software, Inc. (a 3i Infotech company), Fairfax Imaging, ibml, WAUSAU Financial Systems, Inc., Cash Management Solutions, Inc., and Eastman Kodak Company.

Complete results are available at: http://www.tawpi.org/research/government-processing-study.aspx.

Nearly half (46.4 percent) of all survey respondents indicated that their capital budgets for payments automation projects are unchanged for 2010. However, 17.9 percent of all respondents stated that their 2010 capital budgets for payments automation projects are slightly lower compared to 2009, and 28.6 percent said their capital budgets are significantly lower. This means that the majority of respondents (46.5 percent) have smaller capital budgets in 2010 for payments automation projects. Only 3.6 percent of respondents to the electronic survey from TAWPI and IAPP reported that their 2010 capital budgets are slightly higher, while 3.6 percent said they are significantly higher.

The outlook is only slightly better for state revenue agencies, with 6.3 percent of respondents indicating that their 2010 budgets for payments initiatives are slightly higher, and 6.3 percent reporting that their budgets are significantly higher. About a third (37.5 percent) of state revenue agencies indicated that their 2010 budgets for payments automation projects are unchanged, while 31.3 percent said they are significantly lower and 18.8 percent reported they are slightly lower.

Two-thirds of (non-revenue) state agencies reported that their 2010 capital budgets for payments automation projects are slightly lower, while 33.3 percent said that their budgets are unchanged.

Three-quarters (75 percent) of county government entities that responded to the question indicated that their 2010 capital budgets for payments automation projects are unchanged, while 25 percent said they are significantly lower compared to 2009. Among the city government entities that responded to the question, 60 percent said their 2010 budgets for payments automation projects are unchanged compared to 2009, while 40 percent stated their capital budgets are significantly lower.

It is important to note that none of the (non-revenue) state agencies, county government entities or city government entities that responded to the question said their budgets for payments automation projects are higher in 2010. Clearly, capital continues to be very tight for government operations.

The budget situation is almost identical for document automation projects. Almost half of all survey respondents (44.4 percent) indicated that their 2010 capital budgets for document automation projects are unchanged compared to 2009, while 14.8 percent of all respondents stated that their capital budgets are slightly lower, and 29.6 percent indicated that their budgets are significantly lower. Only 7.4 percent of all respondents indicated that their capital budgets for document automation projects are slightly higher in 2010, while a fortunate 3.7 percent stated that they were significantly higher.

The budget situation is a bit better for state revenue agencies, with 12.5 percent indicating that their 2010 capital budgets for document automation projects are slightly higher compared to 2009, and 6.3 percent reporting that they are significantly higher. Still, 37.5 percent of state revenue agencies said their 2010 capital budgets for document automation projects are unchanged, while 31.3 percent stated that their budgets are significantly lower compared to 2009, and 12.5 said they are slightly lower.

Two-thirds of (non-revenue) state agencies report that their 2010 capital budgets for document automation projects are slightly lower compared to 2009, while 33.3 percent said they are unchanged.

One-third (33.3 percent) of county government entities that responded to the question indicated that their 2010 capital budgets for document automation projects are significantly lower compared to 2009, while 66.7 percent stated that they are unchanged. Similarly, 40 percent of city government entities that responded to the question indicated that their 2010 capital budgets for document automation projects are significantly lower, while 60 percent stated that they are unchanged.

The federal government respondent to the survey indicated that its 2010 capital budget for document automation projects is significantly lower compared to 2009. It is worth noting again that none of the responding (non-revenue) state agencies, county government entities, city government entities, or federal government agencies stated that their 2010 budgets for document projects are higher.