Check out the latest module updates available in ClearGov's Summer Release! 

Capital Project Tracking 

• Project Type Templates
• Subscribe to Updates
• Reclassify Phase
• Phase Display Updates
• Project and Phase Summaries in Financials
• Easy Access to Public Pages

Strategic Planning

• Goal Display Updates

Capital Budgeting

• Actuals Data & Settings

Operational Budgeting 

• Rules
• Budget Comparisons   
• Report Enhancements

Personnel Budgeting

• Product Walkthroughs

Digital Budget Book

• Settings & Actuals Data from Capital Budgeting Integration
• Revert to Universal Settings
• Dynamic Row Settings (Dynamic Category Trees)
• Narrative Generation (Open Beta)  
• Budget Book Evaluator (Open Beta) 

Document Enhancements    

• Document Import (Open Beta)   
• PDF Header Controls   
• Global Block Spacing   
• Financial Schedule Font Configurations   

Transparency    

• Refreshed Design for Admin Pages    

Statement Builder    

• Lock Statements

Capital Project Tracking

Project Type Templates

Building on the ability to templatize projects through the Sync with the Capital Budgeting workflow, you can now create templates for all Project Types, regardless of their sync status with Capital Budgeting. 

Steps to Create and Apply a Project Type Template:

1. Navigate to Tracker Settings, then open the page for the desired Project Type.
   
   
2. Here you can define default Phases and Stand-Alone Cost Categories using the Add button on the far right. Similarly, you can define default Action Items within a given Phase, by selecting the Add Action Items button in that Phase’s card.
   
   
3. These default phases, stand-alone costs, and action items will guide as the templatized state for a Project once the Project Type is specified for it. To specify the project type, first click on Project Settings, and then click on the Project Type field.
   
   
4. Once the Project Type is set, you will see a prompt allowing you to create all default Phases, Cost Categories, and Action Items from the template. Ensure the “Create items for the template of the selected Project Type” toggle is on (default) to apply the template automatically, or toggle it off to update the Project Type without applying the template.
   
   
5. When you select “Update Project Type” to finalize the change, the Project Type is now assigned to the project. All templated Phases, Stand-Alone Cost Categories, and Action Items will be automatically created for the Project.

Subscribe to Updates

Public users who are viewing the public Capital Project Tracking pages can now subscribe to receive email notifications when updates are made to a project.

To subscribe, select the “Subscribe to Updates” button on the project’s Overview page.

Anyone subscribed will receive an email when these updates are made on the Project:

• Project Dates changed
• Project Budget updated
• Project Start or End Date change
• Announcement added
• Phase created
• Phase Start or End Date change
• Phase completed
• Project completed

Reclassify Phase

To provide more flexibility for projects synced with Capital Budgeting, you can now reclassify a Phase as a Stand-Alone Cost Category. When viewing a project in Capital Project Tracking, delete icons now appear on the far right of the Phases table for all Phases. Previously, these icons were only visible for Phases not synced with Capital Budgeting.

Because synced Phases may contain important financial information, they cannot be fully deleted. Instead, selecting the delete icon now gives you the option to reclassify the Phase as a Stand-Alone Cost Category. This removes it from the current project view and makes it visible only as a cost category in the Financials activity.

Phase Display Updates

Small visual updates have been made to the Summary section of Phases. All existing functionality remains unchanged, but the Start Date, End Date, Weight, and Groups fields are now displayed in the Phase Details column. In addition, the Overall Status and Progress section has been reformatted to better highlight key information about the current state of each Phase.

Project and Phase Summaries in Financials

Within the Financials activity, Projects and Phases now appear as clickable links in the Budget and Funding Sources tables. Selecting a link opens a detailed summary of that Project or Phase, allowing you to view key information without leaving the current activity or searching for the item in Project Manager.

Easy Access to Public Pages

A new “View Public Site” link now appears in the top right of all Capital Project Trackers, giving you quick access to the public pages for that set of projects. Selecting the link opens the public site in a new tab.

Strategic Planning

Goal Display Updates

Small visual updates have been made to the Summary section of Goals. All existing functionality remains unchanged, but the Start Date, End Date, Weight, and Groups fields now appear in the Goal Details column. In addition, the Overall Status and Progress section has been reformatted to better highlight key information about the current state of each Goal.

Capital Budgeting

Actuals Data & Settings

Based on client feedback and survey results, the Actuals data set was the most requested enhancement to Capital Budgeting. With this release, Actuals data can now be included in forms and requests across all financial panels. By default, this functionality is turned off to avoid disrupting existing workflows, but it can be enabled for any budget within the new “Settings” page.

Each of the five financial panel types now has its own unique settings options for the Actuals data set, allowing complete flexibility in how each panel is configured and used within that budget. Please note to click the “Save Changes” button at the bottom of each financial panel to apply the changes.

Once settings are updated, the changes are available immediately in associated requests, which now feature an updated look and feel based on the new data available.

Once Actuals information has been included in requests, it will also display throughout the rest of the Capital Budget, such as within the Dashboard. This provides a more complete picture of both what has been spent and what remains to be budgeted.

Operational Budgeting

Rules

User-configured rules are now available directly within the “Settings” page, where they can be created and edited before, during, or after an open request round. Rules take effect during the request round based on the toggle for each rule, which is also controlled within the “Settings” page.

The Rules section of Settings allows you to create new rules and manage existing ones. To create a new rule, click the appropriate button and fill out the required fields. Depending on the rule’s scope, additional customizations are available within the Conditions and Restrictions sections. Selecting specific criteria within the Conditions section enables targeting of granular account segments for precise rule validation.

Dimension options are specific to the data available within the Worksheet tab. Once a rule is created, it appears on the Rules homepage for easy management and editing. Rules can also be deleted by selecting the trashcan icon next to the rule.

From the Rules homepage, you can also enable or disable a rule to control whether it applies to the next request round. This gives you flexibility to maintain rules without having to delete them entirely.

Budget Comparisons

A new Budget Comparisons option is now available in the “Settings” page. This allows editors to specify which versions each portion of the budget should compare to, with the flexibility to change these selections over time. The chosen comparison versions impact how the Difference and Percent columns calculate and display.

Updated defaults are applied when a budget is first created, but this new option gives you greater control to ensure the most appropriate data is always shown.

Report Enhancements

Change Columns for Version Comparisons

Based on client feedback, reporting enhancements have been added to the Operational Budgeting module for a more robust reporting experience. The first enhancement is the addition of change columns that allow you to compare different versions, either as a percentage or a dollar value. This is especially useful for seeing how totals have changed between time periods, such as comparing the baseline to departmental requests.

Enhanced Color Options

Additional color options are now available to improve report readability. In the Settings page, you can configure color choices for accounts and itemizations separately. Once saved, the alternating color pattern is applied, and the color changes will impact all reports for all users of that budget.

Configured Views in Reports

Within the “Settings” page, you can now add configured views to reports in the same manner as the Worksheet tab. This ensures that departments see the same level of information in both the Worksheet and any reports for a consistent view and additional levels of control on the editor side. This setting can be found in the Reports section of the “Settings” page.

New ERP Report for Central Square

A new ERP report has been added specifically for the latest version of Central Square. It is appropriately labeled “Central Square Version 9.1.24.2.0 ERP Report” and is available for organizations using this version of Central Square as their ERP.

Personnel Budgeting

Product Walkthroughs

To better assist the initial implementation of Personnel Budgeting, a guided walkthrough is now available that will provide in-depth context recommendations based on where someone is within the budget. This will be presented right after clicking into a budget. 

Suggestions and offers to assist will appear throughout the budget to give context and a short video walkthrough of that page or functionality. These will also talk through recommendations and/or requirements for that specific data. These can be closed and skipped if not needed. 

These walkthroughs will be available on all pages and tabs within the Personnel Budgeting module, so if help is needed as the process goes on, it will be available. The Audit Trail tab is the only one that doesn’t have a walkthrough associated with it. 

Note: If the walkthrough is “dismissed”, it will be dismissed for good. However, you can request from your CSM to re-engage with the walkthroughs, and ClearGov can reset the walkthrough to be available again. We’re actively researching how to make this available within the budget pages as well. 

Digital Budget Book

Settings & Actuals Data from Capital Budgeting Integration

Carrying forward the ability to configure and report on Actuals data within the Capital Budgeting module, you can now elect to report on that data within your Budget Book document. 

Navigate to the Settings > Data Sources section of the document. From there, you will be able to configure what elements of your capital budget you would like to report on. Each capital financial section is broken out individually. This way, you can choose to show actuals or future budgeted data for capital costs, funding sources, or any other financial option you have configured within the Capital Budgeting module. You have the options of what you do and do not want to report on.

Once you have configured the options you would like to report on, these data points will be included and reflected in the corresponding charts, tables, and request details. 

Revert to Universal Settings

Continuing the effort to improve the efficiency of customizing financial pages, you can now revert financial pages back to universal settings for pages that were customized individually. Universal settings allow you to configure all pages of a financial type in one place. However, if you were to update a page individually, it breaks the connection to the universal settings for that page. With this update, you have the ability to revert back to those universal settings and use those global controls.

1. Navigate to the Settings of the document and then proceed to the page type you would like to revert.
2. On the individual pages tab, you will now see a button to “Revert to Universal Settings”.

3. Clicking this option will present you with a confirmation modal. It is important to remember that reverting to universal settings can be done for each page type. 

4. Once you submit, all the pages of the selected type will inherit the universal settings, and all of those pages can then be configured universally again. 

Dynamic Row Settings (Dynamic Category Trees)

Continuing the effort to provide you with the flexibility to present your data as you need to, we have introduced dynamic row settings within your financial schedule table configuration settings. This feature allows you to configure your financial schedule tables and group data together by the dimensions of data that are relevant to you. 

You can take this action either through universal settings or within a financial schedule on each individual page. 

1. Click the “configure” option, which will present you with the modal to adjust the table settings.
2. Within the modal, you will see an option for row settings, where you can select what data you would like to group together to present in one view. The options available will be based on your chart of accounts.
3. Once saved, the table will recalculate and present the data configured as you defined.

Narrative Generation (Open Beta)

Narrative Generation is a one-click capability that automatically generates a first draft of explanatory text to accompany charts in budget books. By producing relevant commentary aligned with visual data, Narrative Generation helps you save significant time while improving communication with non-technical stakeholders. Importantly, the feature also supports ADA compliance by providing readable context where screen readers struggle with visual-only content.

ClearGov’s Digital Budget Book now includes Narrative Generation within Financial Pages. This feature helps you craft narratives based on complex financial chart data in a convenient and consumable way. 

On a Digital Budget Book Financial Page, you will see Generate Narratives (beta) buttons located in the text boxes beneath each financial chart, as well as in the top right corner of the page editor. 

• Selecting Generate Narratives (beta) in the top right corner of the page editor generates narratives for each text box accompanying an automated financial chart.
• Selecting Generate Narratives (beta) within an individual text box will craft narrative content for that individual chart. 

Budget Book Evaluator (Open Beta)

The Budget Book Evaluator, powered by ClearGov AI, is a free tool designed to allow you to assess your budget books against the criteria for the GFOA’s Distinguished Budget Presentation Award. 

• This free tool will be available to any local government or school district- a ClearGov account is not required.
• The Budget Book Evaluator is not accessible from the ClearGov platform, and it is not connected to the Digital Budget Book module. It is available on a separate webpage, and we will distribute a link to the tool via email as soon as that becomes available. 

To receive your evaluation, simply upload a PDF of your budget book, and the Budget Book Evaluator delivers a detailed readiness scorecard highlighting strengths, projected scores for each evaluation criterion, and actionable recommendations for improvement. This tool helps you gauge your budget book’s award-readiness and elevate the quality of your financial documentation. 

Document Enhancements 

Document enhancement updates apply to all document and report templates in Digital Budget Book, Digital Financial Reporting, and Strategic Planning Documents.

Document Import (Open Beta)

Document Import enables users to upload documents created outside of ClearGov and automatically converts the content into a ClearGov digital document format, adding it as pages within their budget book, financial report, or other custom ClearGov document. 

Powered by ClearGov AI, Document Import leverages custom-built AI technology to scan the PDF and extract text, images, and tables — and then intelligently places that content into new pages within the ClearGov document. Users can specify single pages, page ranges, and sections via the table of contents, and the system will update the TOC accordingly as the pages are imported. Once a document is imported, it seamlessly becomes part of the ClearGov digital document or report, and can be edited the same way, effortlessly.

To import a document:

1. From the edit document view, click Add Page.

2. Next, select the Document Import option and upload your PDF.

3. Next, select the pages to include by either using a page number range or a table of contents selection. Once defined, click Add Page(s).

PDF Header Controls

You can now customize PDF headers within your documents. From the PDF Presentation section of your document settings, you can select if you would like to continue having headers generated as they do today. You may also elect to turn headers off completely or set one custom header to display throughout the entire document. 

Global Block Spacing

If you choose to adjust the spacing between the blocks of your document, you now have the option to adjust this globally for the document, rather than having to edit spacing for each block individually. 

To update global block spacing: 

1. Navigate to the Public Website Presentation section of the document settings.
2. From there, you will have the option to update global block spacing.
3. Once saved, the configurations will be applied to all blocks throughout the document. Any blocks that have spacing settings adjusted manually will retain those individual settings. 

Spacing can still be adjusted individually for each block. And, any adjustments made at an individual block level will override these settings. 

Financial Schedule Font Configurations

You can now configure the font type and color for system-generated financial schedule tables. Simply navigate to the Public Website Presentation section of the document settings and adjust the options for financial schedule fonts. There are two options that can be customized:

• Financial Schedule Category Font
• Financial Schedule Financials Font

Oftentimes, you may want dollar amounts displayed in a different font or color than category names. These options provide that level of flexibility. 

Transparency

Refreshed Design for Admin Pages

A series of admin pages in Transparency have received a refreshed look as part of ongoing improvements to the technology behind the scenes. All functionality remains the same, so you can use these pages just as you always have. However, they now feature a sleeker design and smoother performance.

The pages updated are:

• Years
• Pages
• Banner
• Subdomain
• Projects

Statement Builder

Lock Statements

The lock statement feature gives you a convenient method to clone and lock financial statements created in the statement builder tool.

To lock a statement:

1. Navigate to the Statement Builder list screen.
2. Click the three-dot action menu on any financial statement.
3. Select the Lock Statement option from the menu. 

4. After selecting Lock Statement, you will be asked to provide a new name for the statement. This is because the Lock Statement feature creates a copy of the original source statement to ensure the locked copy cannot be changed., It provides a snapshot in time, and it keeps the flexibility if the original source statement needs to be modified. 

5. Once you select Lock Statement, you will see the content of the locked statement view. This locked copy is displayed within the Statement Builder list, and can be easily found using the Locked column. 

Locked statements can still be linked within documents, just as an unlocked statement can. If you want data updates to flow through to financial statements within your reports, link an unlocked statement. If you do not want data updates to flow through to your reports, link to a locked statement.