COLBI has developed software tools built specifically for school districts, cities, colleges, and other public agencies to track, manage, and report the entirety of their capital building programs in one place.
Nonprofit
COLBI customize our tools to each client’s needs so your financials will easily reconcile with your annualized fiscal system and its coding. Their tools are designed specifically to meet the complex challenges our clients face operating with public funds.
About COLBI
COLBI’s ‘Account-Ability’ software is a web-delivered solution that filters every decision-making situation related to your capital building program. It produces tighter internal controls than your existing fiscal system because your existing system is designed for your fiscal-year operational budget...not for a multi-year capital building program. Account-Ability is specifically designed for the financial accounting of your capital projects, providing multi-year, multi-funding-source capital program management, that completely aligns with your existing fiscal system to avoid duplication of tasks. And critically important to the success of your project, Account-Ability creates greater public transparency, because financial transactions are meticulously accounted for, and reports are easily generated with the click of a mouse. Having reports immediately available and geared to each specific audience (Superintendent, Oversight Committee, School Board, etc.) reinforces the trust between you and your community and other stakeholders. Your community (aka your funding source for Bond Revenue) wants to know that you are wisely handling the bond money with the utmost care. With Account-Ability, you can easily demonstrate to your constituents that you are doing exactly that.
The success of Account-Ability is built upon three critical components found in every capital building project…Budgets, Transactions, and Reports.
Budgets
One of the major differences between Account-Ability and other financial software packages is its robust Budget development module. In Account-Ability, the budget is more than just a set of numbers. It is an essential planning framework, and it builds a comprehensive record of how the project plan (“the budget”) evolved from concept through close-out. Each project is developed and managed multi-year and multi-fund using your unique coding system. Each project budget is available for compiling full program reporting. The annual portion of the budget can be used to coordinate with the fiscal budget process, and the Budgets are integrated throughout Account-Ability, providing warning flags when budget and expenditures are not in alignment.
Transactions
Account‑Ability offers three primary transmittal reports to maintain tight controls. These reports offer a complete history to ensure there’s money budgeted and authorized before a payment is made.
- the Budget Adjustment Request report to approve changes in the budget
- the Purchase Order Request Transmittal report to request purchase orders
- the Warrant Transmittal report to approve payments
Using these reports as a front-end system — to request and approve budgets, authorizations, and payments — keeps all data synchronized, and keeps you in control of your projects. This also completely eliminates the need for individual spreadsheets being maintained in different departments…that’s a guaranteed recipe for discrepancies small and large...and with Account-Ability, you’ll eliminate the spreadsheets, and track all of the information at every stage of the process, not merely after it is entered. You will know the status of every contract, invoice, and payment…ALL THE TIME.
Reports
Quality reporting is essential! Account-Ability comes with nearly 50 standard reports designed to clearly convey essential information about project status or program status. Specific reports are designed for managing the project in real time and provide clarity in knowing the status, even before payment has been finalized. Several reports are designed for a specific audience; the Governing Board, Oversight Committee, the general public, fiscal leadership, and of course the facilities team. Custom reports are available for unique district reporting needs, and over the past two decades, Colbi has created hundreds of custom reports in Account-Ability. (a few of these eventually became standard reports).
- Internal Control reports provide for tight controls for a capital project
- Management reports help with decision-making
- Board/Oversight reports are geared to governing boards and independent oversight committees
- Auditor reports are designed specifically for whoever will be auditing your finances
- Utility reports keep the money straight (helpful when reconciling your accounting system)
