FOREST PRESERVE DISTRICT OF WILL COUNTY, IL, UNITED STATES, February 26, 2026 /EINPresswire.com/ — The Forest Preserve District of Will County, Illinois has selected OpenGov ERP to enhance financial management, integrate project accounting, and improve contract and budget oversight across the organization.
The District manages more than 23,000 acres of protected land, along with visitor centers, educational facilities, trail systems, and capital improvement projects throughout one of Illinois’ fastest-growing counties. As operational complexity increased, leadership identified the need for a financial system to support coordinated oversight of spending, contracts, grants, and long-term capital planning.
For nearly a decade, the District used a legacy financial system primarily for General Ledger and Accounts Payable. Key functions, including procurement and project accounting, were handled outside the ERP in Microsoft Access databases and Excel workbooks. This structure required duplicate data entry and manual reconciliation across departments.
Accounts payable approvals were paper-based, with no digital workflow or audit trail. Cash receipts and point-of-sale transactions for nature center sales and permits were reconciled manually every other day. Financial, payroll, and document management systems operated independently, creating data silos and limiting timely insight into project balances, contract commitments, and grant funding across fiscal years. Budget development also relied heavily on spreadsheets, leaving capital project data disconnected from core financial reporting.
Under new leadership, the District conducted a comprehensive review of its financial infrastructure with the goal of establishing a scalable platform to support future growth. The evaluation prioritized integrated project accounting within the ERP, improved contract and spend tracking, stronger purchasing controls, long-term scalability, and procurement through a cooperative purchasing agreement. Following stakeholder review and board approval, the District selected OpenGov.
The initial implementation will include core Financial Management functions such as General Ledger, Accounts Payable, Cash Receipts, and Bank Reconciliation, along with integrated Project Accounting, Contract Management, Budgeting and Capital Planning. Bringing project accounting and contract oversight directly into the ERP environment will eliminate duplicate entry, reduce manual reconciliation, and provide real-time budget-to-actual tracking.
With OpenGov, the Forest Preserve District expects to establish a centralized, cloud-based financial platform that connects financial, project, and contract data within a single system. Digital approval workflows will replace paper routing, purchasing controls can be implemented within the ERP, and leadership will gain clearer insight into capital commitments, grant allocations, and available balances.
“Our District oversees significant public land, capital investments, and grant-funded initiatives, and we need financial systems that provide accurate, timely information,” said Tracy Chapman, Executive Director of the Forest Preserve District of Will County. “OpenGov gives us an integrated foundation that strengthens financial oversight, improves coordination across departments, and positions us for long-term sustainability.”
By selecting OpenGov ERP, the Forest Preserve District of Will County is establishing a more disciplined financial infrastructure designed to support transparency, operational efficiency, and responsible stewardship of public resources.
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