Operational Assessment Services Update
City of San Pablo Budget, Fiscal, and Legislative Standing Committee – June 10, 2026 1 Our Team is a Proven
Leader in the Industry
70+
years of experience
1.2k+
industry clients
300+
dedicated professionals
2 • One firmwide team
• 45 staff
• Local and national presence
• Core services include:
• Finance staff augmentation and outsourcing
• Year-end close and financial statement
preparation
• GASB standards implementation
• Long-term financial planning
• Financial condition, staffing, and operational
assessments
• Policy and procedures development
• Technology consulting
• Internal audit
• Grant administration
• Arbitrage calculations and debt
administration
A Leader in Government Advisory Services
Eide Bailly Offices
Government Advisory Services Staff
3 Project
Team
and
Years of experience
in California local
government
financial
management and
accounting
Dr. Bradford Rockabrand,
CPA, CIA, MBA
National Partner in Charge
21 Years
Scott Catlett, MPA
Managing Director
26 Years
Nancy Brambila, CPA
Senior Manager
25 Years
Amber Haston
Manager
12 Years
Michael Gomez, MPA
Senior Technology Advisor
26 Years
4 Engagement Team Roles
Bradford Rockabrand – Client relations
Scott Catlett – Operational assessment, financial management, and budget management Nancy Brambila – Accounting operations / systems and financial reporting Michael Gomez – Technology assessment / technology utilization / automation Amber Haston – Operational assessment, policy assessment, and policy development 5 Assessment Scope of Services and Methodology
Initial discussions, data gathering, and
benchmarking department staffing levels against
peer cities
Review of existing City policies, procedures,
practices, financial reports, and ERP utilization /
implementation
Staff questionnaire and interviews
Preparation of draft report containing
preliminary observations
Discussions with City Management regarding
preliminary observations
Issuance of final report containing detailed
recommendations and an implementation plan
6 Summary of 23 Eide Bailly Recommendations
Recommendations were categorized as follows:
Qualitatively Assessed Risk Level
Very low risk – Address as time permits
Low risk – Address as time permits
Medium risk – Address as soon as possible
High risk – Address immediately
Difficulty to Implement
Can be implemented quickly
Can be implemented with some planning
Will likely require significant work
Will likely require very significant work
Assessment High Medium Low Very Low
Risk Level 5 6 4 8
Difficulty To Implement 2 8 10 3
• Over half of the recommendations should be relatively easy to implement in the near future • However, 10 recommendations will require a significant amount of work and outside assistance from Eide Bailly or others 7 Accounting Recommendations
Summary Recommendation Risk
Level Difficulty
Evaluate opportunities to modernize accounts payable
check approval processes in coordination with banking
partners.
Increase efforts to enroll vendors in automatic clearing house payment processing and strengthen vendor database maintenance.
The Accounting Manager and the Accountant’s tasks should be realigned to address workload imbalances and improve operational efficiency.
Implement process improvements to reduce the frequency
and complexity of manual retroactive payroll adjustments, particularly for the Police Department.
Evaluate the feasibility and sensitivity of executing a side letter with the Police Employees’ Association and Police Employees’ Association Management Unit to allow holiday pay to be processed each payroll cycle rather than semi- annually.
Consider implementing an armored car service for cash
deposits to strengthen internal controls and security.
Summary Recommendation Risk
Level Difficulty
Evaluate the purpose of, and benefit to, logging all
Citywide checks received and consider streamlining this process by limiting the scope to miscellaneous accounts receivable billing.
The City should strengthen segregation of duties for cash handling and bank reconciliation.
(Completed)
The City should conduct a cost-benefit analysis of scanning versus retaining paper records for each process area and develop clear, risk-based guidelines to reduce redundant work and prioritize digitization where it adds value.
The City should maximize the use of existing resources by realigning staff responsibilities and leveraging capacity from employees with adjusted workload levels as process improvements and system optimizations reduce manual
tasks and free up staff time.
8 Technology Recommendations
Summary Recommendation Risk
Level Difficulty
Improve integration and account mapping between Track-It and Springbrook to reduce or potentially eliminate daily manual accounts receivable reconciliation.
The City’s process for capital project and grant accounting, including quarterly reconciliations to true-up the general ledger, should be reviewed against best practices and
aligned with the planned implementation of the
Springbrook project management module.
(Planning in Progress)
The City should consider investing time and resources to optimize Springbrook utilization by reviewing system
configuration and validating all modules to ensure proper setup and identify any unused capabilities, such as
workflow automation across key finance processes.
(Work in Progress)
Summary Recommendation Risk
Level Difficulty
The City should conduct a comprehensive review of its
Chart of Accounts to realign segment structure with
organizational needs, ensuring financial data can roll up accurately by operational departments, divisions within those departments, and/or other meaningful groupings
and support more robust data aggregation for reporting
and analysis.
The City should implement structured Springbrook training for staff and formalize onboarding protocols to ensure
appropriate system access levels.
9 Financial Management Recommendations
Summary Recommendation Risk
Level Difficulty
Adopt a Stale Checks Policy and an Unclaimed Funds Policy and establish a reasonable tracking system that complies with the State of California requirements for a self-
administered program.
The City should implement a recurring citywide financial training program to address knowledge gaps and promote
consistent application of key finance processes.
The City’s Purchasing Policy and related procedures should be reviewed in the context of best practices.
(Work in Progress)
The City should undertake a comprehensive review of the dollar thresholds associated with determining the
appropriate purchasing method for procurements and
delegating signing authority to the City Manager and other City staff to determine whether existing thresholds are comparable to other similar agencies, appropriate for an agency of the City’s size and complexity, and continue to support effective and efficient operations.
Summary Recommendation Risk
Level Difficulty
Procurement card-related processes should be evaluated
to strengthen internal controls and leverage available
software to improve transaction review, monitor purchase frequency, and mitigate the risk of City staff circumventing procurement card policies and procedures.
(Planning in Progress)
The City should consider involving the Administrative
Services Department in reviewing citywide contract
execution and management to strengthen compliance and
enhance oversight.
The City should continue integrating and regularly updating its long-term financial plan within the budget process to support early Council collaboration on addressing current and potential future fiscal challenges.
The City should strengthen its budget process by
conducting an evaluation of the process to ensure
alignment with best practices, and implementing routine budget monitoring and timely interfund reconciliations, supported by better alignment between its budgeting tools and financial system.
10 Financial Policies Gap Analysis
• Building upon high-level financial policy observations and recommendations outlined in the operational assessment report, Eide Bailly prepared a more detailed policy gap analysis to highlight financial policies in need of update as well as new policies for the City’s consideration
• Each financial policy was categorized by qualitatively assessed risk level, as follows:
Adequate – The City’s existing policy is, in our assessment, adequate as currently written.
Low risk – Optional policy or minor updates needed - address as time permits, if appropriate.
Medium risk – Address as soon as possible.
High risk – Address immediately.
11 Details of Financial Policies Gap Analysis
Topic Area Existing
Policy ¹
Risk
Level
Accounting and Financial Reporting Yes
Accounts Payable Yes
Accounts Receivable and Collections Yes
Budget Administration Yes
Budget Reserves and Fund Balance Yes
Capital Asset Accounting Yes
Capital Improvement Program Yes
Cash Management Yes
Credit Card Purchases Yes
Conflict of Interest Yes
Debt Management and Interfund Loans Yes
Topic Area Existing
Policy ¹
Risk
Level
Fraud Yes
Grant Management Yes
Investments Yes
Long-Term Financial Planning Yes
Payroll Yes
Pension and OPEB Liability No
Purchasing and Contract Management Yes
Risk Management Yes
Travel and Reimbursements Yes
Unclaimed Funds No
User Fees and Charges Yes
¹ Existing policies in most cases only covered limited areas as compared to our recommendations for those policies not assessed at the green or yellow risk level. 12 Current Engagement Status
• In addition to the assessment and policy gap analysis reports, the following tasks have been completed:
• Review of current workflow processes for purchasing and accounts payable to facilitate configuring Springbrook’s workflow and approval features
• Review of current security, access, and roles for staff in Springbrook to facilitate revisions that support workflow and approval features and provide template roles for more efficient management of security • Eide Bailly has developed a phased, two-year plan to address the majority of the recommendations contained in both of our reports
• Phased based on the assessed risk and difficulty, as well as available financial resources • Recognizes that staff’s time is limited and should be focused on the highest priorities first • Also includes hours to assist with complex recurring and year-end accounting tasks 13 Recommended Next Steps
Phase 1 – Tasks Beginning in Fiscal Year 2026/27
• Continued optimization of Springbrook and related
processes
• Modernization of accounts payable and accounts
receivable operations
• Purchasing policy and procedures update and related
improvements
• Accounting support for year-end close and interim tasks Phase 2 – Tasks Beginning in Fiscal Year 2027/28
• Long-term financial plan update and priority-based
budgeting implementation
• Development of and modifications to policies and
procedures in response to policy gap analysis
• Project and grant accounting optimization
• Modernization of payroll processes
• Accounting support for year-end close and interim tasks 14 Anticipated Hours and Costs
Major Task Director Senior Manager /
Tech Advisor Manager Senior
Associate Total Cost
Fiscal Year 2026/27
Continued Springbrook Optimization 3 99 30 – 132 $43,203 AP and AR Modernization 2 56 18 – 76 $24,844
Purchasing Policy and Related Tasks 13 – 83 – 96 $28,434 Accounting Support (Year End / Interim) – 78 – 124 202 $53,519 Total Fiscal Year 2026/27 18 233 131 124 506 $150,000
Fiscal Year 2027/28
LTFP and Priority-Based Budgeting 28 – 48 – 76 $24,104
Development of Policies and Procedures 15 1 46 – 62 $19,013 Project / Grant Accounting Optimization 1 56 23 – 80 $25,890 Payroll Processes Modernization – 50 – – 50 $16,950
Accounting Support (Year End / Interim) – 94 – 149 243 $63,901 Total Fiscal Year 2027/28 44 201 117 149 511 $150,000
Grand Total 62 434 248 273 1,017 $300,000
Other Future Tasks
Financial Training and Onboarding Assistance
Budget Process / Management Optimization
Chart of Accounts Structure Modifications
Accounting Support (Year End / Interim)
15 Ensuring Success
• The City has been provided with a roadmap for the next steps required to improve the City’s financial management and accounting policies, procedures, and practices • Recommendations have been tailored and will be revised, as appropriate, to be realistic and achievable
• Recommendations have been crafted and subsequently adjusted with the City’s feedback in mind
• The implementation plan has been structured with the risk associated with the status quo and the likely difficulty of implementing each recommendation in mind
• Success for the City will require
• Embracing our recommendations and working diligently toward addressing them, even when difficult to achieve or accept change
• Incrementally assessing success during and after execution and adjusting, as appropriate, based on lessons learned
16 Thank you
Government Advisory Services
eidebailly.com
17 S E C T I O N T W O
City of San Pablo
Staff Recommendations
Budget, Fiscal, and Legislative Standing Committee · June 10, 2026 The following items are presented by City of San Pablo staff and are separate from the Eide Bailly assessment presentation.
C I T Y O F S A N P A B L O · S T A F F R E C O M M E N D A T I O N Recommendations
Budget, Fiscal, and Legislative Standing Committee – June 10, 2026 1 Receive a presentation by Eide Bailly on the City of San Pablo's Finance Department assessment. 2 Recommend to the City Council that the City Manager's signing authority to be presented to the City Council July 6, 2026, City Council meeting.
3 Recommend to the City Council that the City's Finance Department enter into a new contract with Eide Bailly to establish and implement the Eide Bailly assessment recommendations at the July 6, 2026, City Council meeting.
City of San Pablo · Staff Recommendation (separate from the Eide Bailly assessment)20