Case Study: Timework - GFOA 2025 Roundup

Reflections on GFOA’s 119th Annual Conference: Time & Scheduling Take Center Stage

The Walter E. Washington Convention Center brimmed with energy June 29 – July 2 as more than 5,000 public‑sector finance leaders converged for GFOA 2025. With 70‑plus CPE‑accredited sessions, keynote luminaries such as Judy Smith and Mitch Albom, and a bustling hall of 200 exhibitors, the 119th gathering proved to be the association’s most comprehensive forum yet.

Common Workforce Pain Points We Heard on the Expo Floor

  1. Legacy, On-Prem, “sun‑setting” time solutions. Counties and cities across the country told us their on‑premise time‑entry systems will fall out of support in the next 12–24 months, forcing risky manual work‑arounds and audits. Most are using a variety of solutions that have been implemented over time to solve individual departmental problems.
  2. Timekeeping,  Scheduling, Feature gaps inside ERP‑suites. Organizations running ERP clouds from Workday, Oracle, or SAP, repeatedly described “Swiss‑cheese functionality” around complex pay rules—split shifts, 24‑hour rotations, and grant‑funded differentials—that their HR modules can’t easily model. The need for enhanced functionality based on legislative rules passed     down, CBAs, Unions, is something that continues to be a bottleneck to address in their current organization. LOTS of Manual, timesheets, yes – paper and pen!

Department‑level  uniqueness. Whether EMS, Police, Fire, Public works, seasonal employees or courts, each department has a time, attendance or scheduling wrinkle—court‑mandated dockets, emergency callbacks, ferry‑crew hour caps—that generic tools ignore just to name a few.

Data trust & transparency. Finance officers spoke of reconciling three or more time sources (punch clocks, Excel rosters, mobile apps) before payroll can close, eroding confidence in labor‐cost numbers used for budget decisions. Time is being wasted on approvals, retros, or pushing multiple data collections to payroll.

Thought Leadership Highlights

  • Peer‑to‑peer  roundtables on workforce optimization (Track: Trending Topics in Public Finance) spotlighted agile scheduling, predictive analytics for overtime, and AI‑assisted demand forecasting.
  • Leadership workshops emphasized human capital resilience—aligning compensation models with new FLSA interpretations and tighter state overtime statutes.  (gfoa.org, gfoa.org)
  • GFOA’s  emerging‑tech sessions underlined the importance of open APIs and vendor neutrality so finance teams aren’t locked into any single HCM ecosystem. There is not a one size fits all.

How Timework Showcased Solutions

At Booth #725, Timework’s navy‑and‑white simple logo gave financial professionals the quick information they needed to understand the art of the possible when it came to solving Timekeeping and Scheduling bottlenecks:

  • Configurable  pay‑rule engine that mirrors complex rotations (48/96, 24‑on/72‑off, 12‑hour Kelly) without custom code. Low code solutions put the functionality and control back into the business owners while now partnering with their respective IT departments.
  • Timework's learning management platform was a hit! The feedback on the ability to log onto our website and fidn the exact configurations needed - impressed and set Timework aside as a differentiator.
  • Cross‑suite connectors into Workday, Oracle, and Infor—closing the gap between financial reporting and frontline scheduling. Timework showed how we can solve the current gaps.
  • Self‑service analytics that surface true labor cost per grant, route, or shift in real time.

Timework's Gratitude & Next Steps

A heartfelt thank‑you to every professional who paused amid a packed agenda to share stories, trade business cards, or sit for a live demo. Your candor about bottlenecks guides our product roadmap, and your enthusiasm reinforces the public sector’s commitment to innovation.

If we didn’t get a chance to speak—or if you’d like a deeper dive into how Timework can modernize your time, attendance, and scheduling workflows—let’s keep the conversation going. I’ll be reaching out over the next two weeks, or feel free to book a slot on my calendar directly.

Together, we can transform the essential yet often overlooked processes that keep government workforces running smoothly.

Visit www.timeworksolutionsgroup.com to schedule a meeting.

 

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