Population: ~400,000
Agency Type: County
Solution: Annual Comprehensive Financial Report (ACFR)
The Challenge
Placer County, California, known for its expansive geography and dynamic community growth, faced mounting complexity in financial reporting. Like many local governments, the County’s Auditor Controller’s Office relied heavily on disconnected Word and Excel files to prepare the Annual Comprehensive Financial Report (ACFR). MD&A, financial statements, footnotes, and statistical sections were managed in separate documents, each updated manually. Adjustments
meant combing through multiple files to ensure completeness and accuracy of the ACFR, and every internal review cycle required generating a new merged PDF. The process was arduous and error-prone.
"It wasn’t just time consuming," said Debbie Chan, Financial Reporting Manager. "It was stressful. One small change could impact multiple documents. Version control and formatting took up to 30% of our time."
The Lease Accounting process was equally painful. Departments had to manually configure lease schedules in Workday’s contract module, creating a decentralized, continuous burden on staff. Compliance with GASB 87 and 96 was a moving target. The decentralized nature of the process
increased audit risk.
The Solution
In 2022, Placer County selected Gravity to overhaul its ACFR and lease reporting workflows. Already using Gravity for its 500+ page Budget Book, the County prioritized an integrated approach. Gravity’s ability to consolidate financial content, automate linking, and centralize lease management immediately stood out.
Why Placer County Chose Gravity
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Unified ACFR Platform: Consolidated all Word and Excel files into one system with built-in linking.
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Audit-Ready Outputs: Validation checks and consistent formatting reduced risk and manual effort.
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Centralized Lease Management: Transformed decentralized processes into a centralized year-end workflow.
- Seamless Integration: Leveraged existing Workday data pipelines and past Gravity implementation work.
- Cost-Effective Choice: Competitive pricing compared to other vendors like Workiva, with strong existing vendor familiarity.
Results of Implementing Gravity
The County’s implementation team, including Debbie Chan and Emily
McLean, praised Gravity’s support throughout onboarding. “They weren’t just setting up our files. They were helping us improve our entire process,” said McLean. Features like automatic journal entry generation, maturity schedules, and real-time updates reduced stress and saved time
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Time Savings
Estimated 25 to 35percent reduction in manual prep time -
Stress Reduction
50 percent lower stress due to version control, audit prep, and formatting cleanup -
Lease Management
Replaced Workday’s decentralized model with a centralized and efficient process -
Report Ready
Output praised internally for professionalism and visual polish -
Support and Responsiveness
“One of the best teams we’ve worked with,” said Chan
“We’ve received so many compliments internally,” said Chan. “It finally looks like the professional report it’s supposed to be.”
Lessons Learned
and Opportunities
While the initial rollout under the Eclipse model had some usability limitations, Placer County has since
upgraded to Gravity’s MDFM (Multi-Dimensional Financial Model) platform.
“This new version is much more intuitive,” McLean noted. Both she and Chan acknowledged a desire for improved documentation and more proactive communication about product updates
Looking Ahead
The County is currently undergoing its first full ACFR cycle using the MDFM platform and plans to expand usage across more reporting tasks. The team is enthusiastic about the possibilities. “It was absolutely the right decision,” said Chan. “The time, accuracy, and sanity we’ve regained is more than worth the investment.”
For peer agencies considering a change, Chan offers simple advice. “If you’re spending hours stitching together documents and worrying about formatting, stop. There’s a better way and solution.”
“If you’re spending hours stitching together documents and worrying about formatting, stop. There’s a better way and solution."
ACFR Studio by Gravity
ACFR Studio by Gravity is the comprehensive solution tailored specifically for public sector finance and accounting professionals. By automating key aspects of the ACFR process and ensuring compliance with the latest standards, Gravity takes the stress out of preparing your reports—letting you focus on what truly matters: delivering value to your organization and the community.