‘DOF has minimal knowledge of Munis’

Despite the Munis system being implemented to modernize processes in the CNMI government, many tasks are still being carried out using paper-based methods—even if Munis already offers digital alternatives—and moves to improve the system is being hindered by the lack of support from Finance Secretary Tracy B. Norita and her staff.

This was the gist of the observations Shalee M. Davis made during her consulting work for the Munis system with the CNMI government over the past year. Davis, who is consultant/owner of Davis ERP Consulting, said there appears to be a trend of reverting back to paper-based methods such as employment contracts, travel vouchers, and travel requisitions.

Munis integrates finances, payroll, human resources, purchasing, fixed assets, revenue streams, and other things. Davis said Munis is a powerful system that can greatly improve operations when utilized effectively.

But in a letter to Gov. Arnold I. Palacios on Thursday, she said she encountered challenges in achieving this goal, particularly due to the lack of support from Norita and her staff at the Department of Finance.

Davis said Norita and her current staff have minimal knowledge of Munis, rendering them incapable of generating the reports necessary for the governor’s office or the Legislature.

When asked for comments yesterday, Norita said a response is forthcoming.

Davis, along with other Tyler Consultants, has provided training and resources for Munis, which is an enterprise resource planning solution to help the government transition to more efficient practices.

Davis noted that her primary goal in assisting the CNMI has always been to ensure that the staff of all departments and branches of the government are proficient in using the Munis system as was intended.

Davis said she believes if there had been a contract under the Office of the Governor for her to oversee Munis, they could have achieved a lot. Unfortunately, she said, the Finance secretary’s office didn’t want to work with her and even took away her access to Munis.

“Without this access, I was not able to effectively do my job with the government, so I am forced to accept the realization that my services in the CNMI are not needed,” she pointed out.

Davis recommends providing ongoing training for the Department of Finance staff to ensure they are proficient in using Munis; offering training programs for departments and divisions to improve their use of Munis; and implementing a new-hire training program for Munis users to onboard new employees effectively.

She recommends maintaining centralized control over federal drawdowns to ensure proper oversight and compliance with regulations; and ensuring that all cash transactions are processed for bank reconciliation within 30 days to maintain accurate financial records.

Davis also recommends creating a deputy secretary of Finance position that requires a financial background and comprehensive knowledge of Munis; that the deputy secretary should be capable of running all Munis reports and interpreting them effectively; and implementing a six-month probationary period for Cabinet members before their final appointment to evaluate their performance and suitability for the role.

She said she was optimistic when they discussed creating reports that the Finance secretary’s office was not providing and she had hoped to be part of a team that could make a difference. However, she said, she only met with a certain Finance staff twice to create Accounts Payable Aging reports, and nothing significant came of it.

The consultant said she believes there was a missed opportunity to do something impactful.

Davis is hopeful that the government finds a partner to work with, as she believes Munis is a valuable product that can bring benefits if embraced.

“My best wishes go out to the CNMI government for success in the future. I will always be thankful for the opportunity to have lived on this stunning island,” said the consultant who is departing from the CNMI on March 22.

Among the issues she raised to the governor is that invoices cannot be emailed currently and must be physically brought to Financial Services for processing.

On financial statements, Davis said the staff lacks the knowledge required to run reports effectively.

She said personality conflicts within the Secretary of Finance office are hindering the training of staff by Munis experts on report generation.

Davis said that, despite being approached for training during her tenure as a government employee, the staff’s ability to produce reports remains limited.

She said the staff’s lack of proficiency in Munis results in improper translation of data, affecting their ability to interpret data in reports accurately.

On federal drawdowns being decentralized, the consultant said she has never encountered this practice in any of her other clients’ operations in her 11 years of working with this Munis software.

Davis said the Office of Grants Management has poor communication and management practices regarding grants. She recommends limiting the OGM to only submitting grants and transferring the drawdown function to Financial Services to ensure grant management is handled effectively.

On bank reconciliation issues, the consultant noted, among other things, that during her bank reconciliation training, a significant number of unrecorded cash transactions, some over a year old and up to two years old prior to Munis implementation, were identified. Without these transactions recorded in Munis, an accurate cash balance cannot be achieved.

“This could potentially lead to issues in a single audit,” Davis said.

She said she has previously managed bank reconciliation and has never encountered unrecorded transactions, as this would be considered unacceptable.

The consultant said the Finance secretary moved the cash account to a new general ledger account without understanding the implications of this change. After training the bank reconciliation team, numerous issues were discovered with this change, and it is unclear how these will be addressed, Davis said.

In order to be an effective software consultant for the NMI, she said she had expected to be notified and consulted before significant changes were made. However, Davis said, that did not happen before this change was implemented.

She said she advised the Department of Finance team to consult Tyler at this point as it is uncertain if they will be able to use the bank reconciliation program in Munis due to this change.

With respect to human management capital, Davis said it was never completed in Munis. She said Munis was set up, but the workflow is not being utilized.

While new employees are entered into the Munis system, all changes, including contracts, are still processed using paper methods, she said. She pointed out that these processes could be streamlined through the Munis workflow.

Davis said she has successfully implemented this with numerous other clients, and electronic signatures within Munis are considered acceptable.

While all employees are listed in Munis with their salaries, departments are unable to view their own staff in Munis, which she deems unacceptable, as each department or division director should be able to look up their employees and run reports on their salaries and benefits.

She said employment contracts and changes are prepared using paper, which is highly inefficient.

Tracy B. Norita