Transforming Industry

24 25 GOVERNMENT Managing Covid aid The US State of Georgia helped its citizens during the pandemic by careful management of Coronavirus Relief Fund aid. The United States Treasury sent aid to state governments as part of the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act to provide assistance for workers, families, small businesses, and industry sectors that Covid-19 affected. KPMG and GrantCare helped the State of Georgia deliver and manage its economic recovery funds for citizens who were affected by Covid-19. As part of this engagement, they supported the state in its efforts to meet federal eligibility rules and requirements in a fast- moving environment. Blending GrantCare, Microsoft Dynamics 365, and Microsoft Power Platform technologies, KPMG created a robust grant management solution platform that tracks where and how money is spent, making accurate and accessible information available to all. Keeping the fund management processes in-house was an important principle, says Stephanie Beck, deputy director of the Office of Planning and Budget, State of Georgia. “We use Dynamics 365 and Microsoft Power Platform to get better insight into every dollar going out the door—and to manage everything ourselves, which could potentially save millions of taxpayer dollars, rather than outsource management of Coronavirus Relief Fund aid.” Less than three weeks after the funding was announced, the State of Georgia began accepting applications through the new platform. KPMG and GrantCare helped the state give decision makers real-time insights, boost staff efficiency, increase transparency, and easily accommodate future grants. When it comes to grant management, KPMG risk advisors stay up to date on ever-evolving federal rules and regulations to make sure eligibility and compliance requirements are met, funds are disbursed appropriately, and taxpayer dollars are spent without fraud or abuse. “As state and local governments need to do more with less, understanding the grant management process is particularly critical,” says Peter Zalkind, Principal, Health and Government Solutions Practice at KPMG. “Fewer government resources make it essential to use available grant dollars wisely.” GrantCare is a ready-made, highly customizable grant management solution built on Dynamics 365 Customer Service and other Microsoft technologies. The team used Microsoft Power BI and Power Apps to customize dashboards, templatize views, and automate processes to help the State of Georgia deploy a robust solution. The result is an agile, flexible platform that can easily be extended with other Microsoft resources for data visualization, dashboards, and insights. Tailored workflows and a clear view of data made it easier for state planners to meet grant requirements and deliver insights to decision makers. “While other states faced challenges in meeting evolving reporting guidelines, we were able to make changes to the platform quickly to get the data we needed to respond to United States Treasury requirements,” says Beck. Read the full case study > ” We were able to make changes to the platform quickly to get the data we needed”