ARLINGTON — When the City Council reviewed Business Fission’s analysis of how the city’s divisions handle financial documentation, city administrator Paul Ellis reported a single common denominator that could be improved.

“What takes the most time in this process is that it’s all being done manually, on paper,” Ellis said.

On Jan. 25, Ellis broke this analysis down into the four areas of accounts payable, “p-cards,” spreadsheets and payroll.

The analysis recommends software systems for accounts payable that would allow electronic approvals.

“This is a priority for me,” Ellis told The Arlington Times after the council workshop. “I couldn’t answer why this wasn’t done before, but I know the city’s been working toward it for a while.”

Ellis also noted that scanned invoices for p-cards are less likely to be misplaced or lost, and are accessible in real time.

He explained to the council that p-cards, or purchase-cards, are essentially city credit cards, that make the tracking and control of certain expenditures easier.

“They allow us to set spending limits on their users,” Ellis said. “We can also specify what types of purchases they can make.”

He told the council: “Our invoices have been delayed because not all of our departments were on the same version of a given spreadsheet,” he told the council.

Aside from saving on paper, he added that it saves time when the finance department doesn’t have to manually reenter the same payroll data that employees have already entered.

“That’s more staff time that can be used in other areas,” said Ellis, who’s spoken with other cities who are already using similar electronic systems.

Council member Debora Nelson asked, “Is this projected into this year’s budget?”

“Partly,” Ellis said. “The payroll program will pay for itself in savings.”

Mayor Barbara Tolbert agreed with council member Marilyn Oertle that paperless processes represent a step forward.

“We’re coming into the 21st century,” Tolbert said.