This document outlines best practices for the financial management of GIS operations. It begins by explaining why developing best practices is important for maturing professions. It then defines financial management and identifies the key aspects related to GIS, such as preparing budgets, managing expenditures, and obtaining funding. The document recommends several best practices, including developing long-term financial plans, conducting regular analyses, and implementing accounting procedures. It concludes by discussing the role of the GIS Management Institute in formally developing best practices.

1. Best Practices for Financial
Management of GIS
Operations
GIS-Pro 2013
Tuesday, September 17, 2013
Providence, Rhode Island
Greg Babinski, MA, GISP
URISA Past-President
URISA GMI Committee Chair
COGO Secretary
Finance & Marketing Manager
King County GIS Center
Seattle, WA USA

2.  Why develop GIS best practices?
 What is financial management?
 What are key aspects of GIS financial management?
 Recommended best practices
 The role of the GIS Management Institute in the
formal development of best practices
Best Practices for Financial
Management of GIS Operations
Agenda

3. Best Practices for Financial
Management of GIS Operations
Why develop GIS best practices?
 We all have ‘practices’ for the work we have to
accomplish as GIS Managers.
 We wouldn’t be doing what we’re doing if it did not
work, right?

4. Best Practices for Financial
Management of GIS Operations
Why develop GIS best practices?
 We all have ‘practices’ for the work we have to
accomplish as GIS Managers.
 We wouldn’t be doing what we’re doing if it did not
work, right?
 But ‘I’m a manager, and I can change, if I have to.’
 We come to conferences to improve our practices,
correct?

5. Best Practices for Financial
Management of GIS Operations
Why develop GIS best practices?
 Developing best practices is the mark of a maturing
profession
Babinski’s Theory of GIS Management: As GIS Operational Maturity Improves, ROI Increases

6. Best Practices for Financial
Management of GIS Operations
Why develop GIS best practices?
Because
‘best’ is
better!

7. Best Practices for Financial
Management of GIS Operations
What is financial management?
 Financial management is the efficient and effective
application of funds (money) and resources to
accomplish the goals of an organization.
 It includes finding funding sources, acquiring the funds,
and allocating them to achieve the goals.
 It includes controlling costs and maximizing revenue.
 Professional management includes carefull fincial
stewardship.

8. Best Practices for Financial
Management of GIS Operations
What are key aspects of GIS
financial management?
One of 18 competency clusters in the URISA GMI Geospatial
Management Competency Model adopted by USDOLETA

9. Best Practices for Financial
Management of GIS Operations
What are key aspects of GIS
financial management?
Seven individual competencies in the URISA GMI Geospatial
Management Competency Model adopted by USDOLETA:
64. Prepare and document budgets
66. Manage expenditures and income
66. Identify Funding sources and obtain funding, including
collaborative opportunities
67. Develop and maintain a long term financial plan
68. Conduct regular financial analysis
69. Implement standard financial accounting procedures and
controls
70. Assure accountability by periodic independent audits

10. Best Practices for Financial
Management of GIS Operations
What are key aspects of GIS
financial management?
Three designated components of the URISA GMI GIS Capability
Maturity Model:

11. Best Practices for Financial
Management of GIS Operations
Recommended best practices
Prepare and document budgets:
 Know your organization’s budgeting process
 Understand your organization’s financial drivers

12. Best Practices for Financial
Management of GIS Operations
Recommended best practices
Manage expenditures and income:
 Know and negotiate the fair market price for services and products
required to develop, operate, and maintain your enterprise GIS
 Ensure fair compensation for enterprise GIS services and products:
 Ensure that your rates cover your costs
 If required develop rates that generate profit and/or financial
reserves

13. Best Practices for Financial
Management of GIS Operations
Recommended best practices
Identify funding sources and obtain funding, including collaborative
opportunities (part 1):
 Promote enterprise GIS that is a valuable business tool that should
funded by those who use the tool
 Understand regional collaboration as a means to share costs for non-
value added functions:
 Aerial imagery acquisition
 Certain framework data development and maintenance
 Back-office data storage and system administration
 Within enterprise GIS, allocate costs to users:
 Desktop GIS users
 GIS software as a service
 Web application users

14. Best Practices for Financial
Management of GIS Operations
Recommended best practices
Identify funding sources and obtain funding, including collaborative
opportunities (part 2):
 Understand and pursue commercial opportunities:
 Commercialize applications or other products
 Commercialize internal services of value to outside customers
 Understand alternate funding sources:
 Grants
 Consortiums
 Understand and be conversant in the ROI from GIS:
 Internal ROI from implementing GIS to reduce costs
 Internal ROI from implementing GIS to increase productivity or
effectiveness
 External ROI from regional economic benefits derived from GIS data,
products, and services

15. Best Practices for Financial
Management of GIS Operations
Recommended best practices
Develop and maintain a long term financial plan:
 Understand cyclical funding needs:
 Equipment replacement
 Imagery replacement
 Other periodic data replacement
 Labor payouts (retirement, long-term leave, other labor
settlements)
 Develop emergency financial reserves or contingencies

16. Best Practices for Financial
Management of GIS Operations
Recommended best practices
Conduct regular financial analysis:
 Compare budgeted revenue against actual revenue received
 Compare budgeted expenditures against actual expenses incurred
 Compare your costs against peer agencies
 Conduct activity based cost analysis
 Conduct periodic supplier cost analysis

17. Best Practices for Financial
Management of GIS Operations
Recommended best practices
Implement standard financial accounting procedures and controls:
 Know and implement your organization’s financial accounting
procedures
 Know and implement your organization’s financial control
procedures

18. Best Practices for Financial
Management of GIS Operations
Recommended best practices
Assure accountability by periodic independent audits:
 Understand your organization’s audit environment
 Develop transparent financial systems
 Discuss financial accountability and transparency with GIS staff:
 Financial accountability as a part of GIS ethics
 Transparent processes that are open to everyone promote clean
audits

19. Best Practices for Financial
Management of GIS Operations
The GIS Management Institute &
the development of best practices

20. Best Practices for Financial
Management of GIS Operations
The GIS Management Institute &
the development of best practices
GMI
GIS CMM
GMI Local
Agency
Accreditation
Program
GMI
GMBOK
PPD:
URISA Labs
AcD:
Gov Agency
Accreditation
AcD:
Educational
Accreditation
GMI
Educational
Accreditation
Program
PPD:
Educational
Requirements
UI ED:
Educational
Content
URISA
Workshops
ULA
University
GMI
GMCM
CD:
GISP-M
Requirements
GISCI
GISP-M
Certification
Program
GMI: GIS Management Institute
GIS CMM: GIS Capability Maturity Model
GMCM: Geospatial Management Competency Model
GMBOK: GIS Management Body of Knowledge
GISCI: GIS Certification Institute
AcD: GMI Accreditation Division
CD: GMI Certification Division
PPD: GMI Professional Practices Division
UI ED: URISA International Education Division

21. Best Practices for Financial
Management of GIS Operations
The GIS Management Institute &
the development of best practices

22. Best Practices for Financial
Management of GIS Operations
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23. Best Practices for Financial
Management of GIS Operations
Bibliography
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Annual Conference of the Australian Urban and Regional Information Systems Association. Queensland, Australia. 1992. Vol I, pp
173-182.
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Annual Conference of the Urban and Regional Information Systems Association. Chicago.
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24. Best Practices for Financial
Management of GIS Operations
A Final Thought
The application of GIS usually addresses issues of scarcity
that affect society:
 Space itself is finite: Space is the essential dimension of
geography
 Resources are mostly finite: The geographic distribution
of resources and the communities that need them are a
key dimension of geographic thought
 Time is finite: Time considerations impact spatial
organization and planning decisions
 Money is ultimately finite: Financial considerations are a
key element of geographic analysis.
 And a budget is the means to allocate society’s scarce
resources.

25. Best Practices for Financial
Management of GIS Operations
Call for volunteers
Are you interested in joining me to develop the
formal URISA GMI Best Practice for Financial
Management of GIS Operations?

26. Greg Babinski, MA, GISP
URISA Past-President
URISA GMI Committee Chair
COGO Secretary
Finance & Marketing Manager
King County GIS Center
201 South Jackson Street
MS: KSC-IT-0706
Seattle, WA 98104 USA
P: 206-263-3753
F: 206-263-3145
E: greg.babinski@kingcounty.gov
T: @gbabinski
W: www.kingcounty.gov/gis