Water Replenishment District: MIP Accounting Success Story

Right before pen went to paper, a pivotal moment in a meeting 20 years ago set Lakewood, California-based Water Replenishment District up for sustained, consistent success and a future intertwined with MIP Accounting®.

Senior Accountant Binhyen Bui had just joined the organization in May 2002, and although Water Replenishment District was an early adopter of MIP and first contracted with the company in 1991, they were at a crossroads after Bui finished onboarding.

Challenge & Solution

The Problem Bui’s manager had begun the process of recommending the organization move to a national payroll processing company instead of using MIP’s payroll capabilities with the goal of having the organization’s payroll process seamlessly continue after her departure.

Water Replenishment District contacted the payroll processing company and began working on a contract to take over payroll processing. As a government organization, Water Replenishment District has specific payroll requirements around labor allocation, cost, benefits, taxes, and other similar elements to remain compliant.

“We explained how we wanted to split the different programs because, as a government organization, we have to make sure we distribute and allocate our labor and related costs accurately to the different programs we’re working on,” Bui said.

Results

Just as Water Replenishment District leadership was ready to sign the contract at the final meeting, the payroll processing company pivoted and recommended the district continue with MIP.

“They said, ‘You guys have the best software right now for you,’” Bui said. “You need to keep what you have right now.”

MIP’s payroll module would allow Water Replenishment District to have more control of its financial data. By keeping payroll in-house, they could react to changes quicker, and have complete control of their data.

For example, Water Replenishment District could easily account for payroll cost elements like employee benefits and labor allocation in lieu of having to communicate with an outside party. By keeping payroll in-house, it allowed the Water Replenishment District to minimize the potential for errors and ensured payroll cost elements such as labor allocations and related costs were allocated correctly.

Using one multi-purposed accounting system would reduce redundancies and allow the team to be more efficient, instead of relying on multiple systems to perform individual, siloed tasks.

Water Replenishment District took their advice and decided to stick with MIP. Bui got up to speed on payroll processing and was able to take over payroll processing for the organization seamlessly. It was a massive success.

Twenty years since that meeting, Bui and Water Replenishment District are still using MIP with fantastic results.

“MIP is a great fit for our government sector accounting because we are able to track and drill down on specific costs and develop customized reports,” Bui said.

As the senior accountant, Bui oversees the Water Replenishment District’s finances and has even got involved with training.

“It’s really user-friendly,” Bui said. “When we set it up and we train someone, it doesn’t take long for that person to learn, even if they’re a first-time user.”

As Water Replenishment District has grown and evolved, the finance department has evolved too, and as more people join the finance team and get involved with MIP, Bui and MIP are at the center of it all.

“When they learn [MIP], they no longer compare it to anything else,” Bui said. “…They learn it quickly and pick it up right away. … For example, when I’m training someone, if they have a question or don’t know something, it’s easy to go into [MIP] and play around with the system. … It doesn’t take long for me to train them, and it doesn’t take long for them to understand and get through the process.”

Through several leadership changes, Bui has always defended MIP and said it was the best solution for their organization. Even when someone wonders, “can MIP do that or do we need a different solution?” Bui reassures them that, yes, MIP can do that.

When it comes to accounting solutions for government entities, Bui said MIP is unmatched.

“For government solutions with their accounting and resource needs, MIP should be something to look at, because for us, over the years we’ve grown, we have liked it more and more,” Bui said.

About Momentive Software

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