Running a small Ohio village isn't easy work.

You're making sure Mrs. Henderson's water bill is correct, that the new hire's paycheck clears on time, and that the street department doesn't blow through their salt budget in January.

The Village of Monroeville gets it.

They're tucked into Huron County with about 1,400 residents depending on them. Small team. Big responsibilities. And until recently, they were drowning in paper, spreadsheets, and processes that belonged in 1995.

Sound familiar?

When "Good Enough" Stops Being Good Enough

Here's what life looked like in Monroeville before the switch:

• Their utility billing clerk was manually tracking industrial electric accounts and Large Power Users in spreadsheets.

• Two accounts had special meter deductions that affected sewer calculations—so every single month, someone had to pull up those files, check the math, make the adjustments, and pray nothing got missed.

• Payroll was paper-driven chaos. Timesheets came in on paper. Paystubs went out on paper. Everything that should've been automated... wasn't.

• The finance team was reconciling bank accounts in an external system because their accounting software couldn't handle it internally.

• Department heads called constantly, asking if they had budget available because they couldn't see their own funds. And the purchasing process was a paper nightmare—every PO was printed, signed, routed, filed, and inevitably lost at least once.

Oh, and when something broke? Good luck getting support that actually helped. This wasn't sustainable. And Monroeville knew it.

What Does a "Good Process" Even Look Like?

Before we get to how Monroeville fixed things, let's talk about what "good process" actually means. 

A good process isn't about fancy software or buzzwords. It's about making your job easier so you can focus on serving your community.

A good process is efficient. It doesn't waste time on tasks a computer should handle (like manually calculating meter deductions for the 87th month in a row).

A good process is transparent. Your department heads can see their budgets. You can pull reports without excavating through file cabinets like you're on an archaeological dig.

A good process is reliable. It works the same way every time. No manual calculations means fewer "wait, did I carry the one?" moments.

A good process is accessible. Your team can work from anywhere. Snow days happen. Emergencies happen. Life happens.

And most importantly: A good process lets you spend your energy on the work that actually matters instead of chasing paper around your office.

How Monroeville Made It Happen

Monroeville didn't just wake up one day and decide to overhaul everything. They recognized their processes were holding them back. So they started looking for something better.

• They needed utility billing software that could handle those tricky industrial accounts and meter deductions without manual intervention.

• They needed integrated payroll that would eliminate the paper trail.

• They needed real-time budget visibility so departments would stop calling every five minutes.

• They needed cloud access so their team wasn't chained to their desks.

• And they needed support they could actually count on when things went sideways.

That's when they found us.

Now, Monroeville uses VIP Accounting for their financials—with bank reconciliation built right in (imagine that).

VIP Utility Billing handles those industrial accounts and meter deductions automatically, no spreadsheets required.

VIP Payroll & HR eliminated their paper-driven process entirely.

VIP AP Automation digitized purchase orders so departments can finally see their available funds in real time.

And because it's all on VIP Cloud, their team can access what they need from anywhere. And they got support that picks up the phone.

You Don't Need Software to Start Improving (But Eventually, You Probably Will)

Maybe you're not ready to switch systems tomorrow. That's fine. You can still improve your processes today.

Start by identifying your biggest pain point. Is it utility billing? Payroll? Budget visibility? Pick one thing and focus there first.

Document your current process. Write down every single step. You'll probably discover redundancies you didn't even realize existed. (Like that thing where Janet emails the spreadsheet to Mark, who prints it for Linda, who manually enters it into the system. Yeah, that thing.)

Ask your team what drives them crazy. They know exactly where the bottlenecks are. They're living with them every day.

Look for quick wins. Can you create a shared spreadsheet for budget tracking? Can you scan documents instead of maintaining filing cabinets that predate the internet? Small changes add up.

Set a timeline for bigger improvements. You might not be ready to switch software today. But you should know it for when you are ready.

Your Community Deserves Better (And Honestly, So Do You)

Your residents don't care what software you use.

They care that their water bill is accurate. They care that the potholes get filled. They care that someone answers the phone when they call with a question.

But you know what helps you do all of that? Good processes. Systems that work. Software that supports you instead of making your job harder.

Monroeville figured it out. They looked at their paper-driven, spreadsheet-dependent, call-and-pray-for-support reality and said, "We can't keep doing this."

So they made a change. And you can, too.

Because managing a village or township is hard enough without fighting your own systems every single day. You deserve tools that make your job easier (not a badge of honor for surviving terrible software).

Your team deserves processes that don't waste their time on manual busywork. And your community deserves the best service you can possibly provide.

So what's your next step?

Maybe it's documenting that one process that makes everyone groan. Maybe it's scheduling a demo to see what modern software looks like. Maybe it's just admitting out loud that the way you're doing things now isn't sustainable long-term.

Whatever it is, take that step.

Because better processes lead to better service. And your community is counting on you to deliver both.