Six phases. Municipal constraints built in.
Click any phase to see key activities and municipal-specific considerations.
Phase 1 — Discovery & Workflow Review
Current-state workflow mapping across civic modules — utility billing, property tax, permitting, licensing, asset management, and work orders. Pressure mapping by role. Integration and data landscape review.
"We map around your budget-close, levy run, and fiscal year-end timelines from day one. For civic modules, we identify assessment data sources, payment processor connections, and legacy system handoffs before scope is agreed."
How we assess current-state workflows
Discovery workshops
Structured sessions with finance, billing, IT, HR, permitting, and operations teams to map workflows as they actually run - not as documented.
Civic module mapping
For property tax, utility billing, permitting, and asset management, we map assessment data sources, legacy system handoffs, and provincial data authority integrations before any configuration scope is agreed.
Data and integration review
We review what data exists, where it lives, and what integrations are in place. Integration scope for civic modules is documented in discovery - not discovered in UAT.
How we plan implementation
Fit-gap analysis
Every in-scope workflow mapped against platform capability. Gaps documented and resolved in design - not discovered in UAT.
Scope clarity
Scope agreed and signed off before build begins. Change managed through a formal process, not absorbed silently.
Integration planning
All civic and ERP integration touchpoints documented in the fit-gap phase. Integration specs precede development.
Municipal calendar alignment
Project milestones mapped against your blackout periods, levy runs, billing cycles, and fiscal year-end before the project plan is finalised.
How we manage Dynamics GP migration risk
Dynamics GP migration is most successful when the implementation starts with current-state dependency mapping across workflows, reports, data, integrations, and operational timing.
Specialized workflows such as fixed assets, inventory, project costing, gravel haul, cemetery records, GIS handoffs, meter reads, document systems, and banking files should be mapped before cutover because they often affect reporting, reconciliation, training, and operational continuity.
1. Map the current state
Dynamics GP, municipal add-ons, spreadsheets, reports, integrations, and department workflows.
2. Identify operational dependencies
Finance close, payroll, tax cycles, utility billing, reporting, and resident-facing services.
3. Plan data migration
Open items, historical data, duplicate records, module-level conversion requirements, and validation rules.
4. Validate integrations
GIS, property data, budgeting, document management, meter reads, inventory, payments, and identity.
5. Test before cutover
UAT, parallel checks, report validation, role-based training, and go-live readiness.
6. Stabilize after go-live
Hypercare, reporting checks, adoption support, issue triage, and first-cycle monitoring.
Planning when the current state is incomplete
Municipal ERP programs often begin before every report, customization, workaround, role, integration, and blackout period is fully documented. PCL helps establish assumptions, discovery workshops, governance checkpoints, and risk controls so implementation planning can move forward with greater clarity.
Current-state discovery
Identify key workflows, transaction volumes, and system boundaries to build a baseline even with incomplete records.
Assumption and dependency tracking
Document knowns and unknowns systematically to prevent missed dependencies from halting configuration later.
PMT and leadership reporting
Keep project sponsors, steering committees, and council aligned with clear, structured readiness indicators.
Risk, issue, and decision governance
Establish formal registers and review gates to ensure design decisions are documented, approved, and tracked.
Year-round operational continuity
Implementation planning should assume that finance close, audit, tax billing, assessment import, utility billing, council reporting, payroll, resident service, and seasonal operational cycles cannot simply stop.
Finance close and audit
Coordinate project activities around regular reporting, fiscal year-end, and external audit commitments.
Tax and assessment cycles
Ensure mill rate setting, tax run preparation, notice printing, and correction runs proceed without delays.
Utility billing and customer service
Track meter reading schedules, billing cycles, payment processing, and high-volume customer notification periods.
Payroll and HR cycles
Plan around salary runs, benefit adjustments, union agreements, T4 processing, and seasonal hiring surges.
Council reporting and leadership updates
Structure governance reports and operational updates to align with standard council meeting schedules.
Change management and adoption readiness
ERP success depends on user readiness as much as system configuration. PCL supports stakeholder communication, role-based training, change impact planning, user readiness, train-the-trainer models, and post-go-live reinforcement.
Stakeholder alignment
Engage leadership, department heads, and operational staff early to establish shared goals and project commitment.
Change impact planning
Analyze how daily routines, authorization thresholds, and reporting requirements will change for individual roles.
Role-based training
Develop curriculum and materials focused on real municipal scenarios rather than generic software navigation.
Post-go-live reinforcement
Set up operational support networks and feedback loops to resolve user confusion and stabilize processes quickly.
How we work inside public-sector procurement
Municipal procurement has timelines, governance requirements, and documentation standards that a standard implementation proposal does not always reflect. We are familiar with these processes.
RFP and tender processes
We work within MERX, BidNet Direct, and municipal tender frameworks.
Cooperative purchasing
We work through cooperative purchasing arrangements where applicable.
Governance and sign-off
Formal review points designed to satisfy internal governance requirements.
Decision cycles
We structure our engagement around realistic municipal decision timelines.
Civic module implementations in Canadian municipalities must account for levy run windows, billing cycle dependencies, assessment authority data delivery schedules, and the standard budget-close and payroll blackout periods. We identify all of these in discovery and build them into the project plan.
Evaluation-ready workflow demonstrations
Where appropriate, PCL can support structured evaluation through workflow-based demonstrations, municipal scenarios, sandbox-style review environments, and operational walkthroughs across finance, tax, utilities, payroll, budgeting, reporting, integrations, and specialized municipal workflows.
Scenario-based walkthroughs
Demonstrations can be structured around realistic municipal workflows, exceptions, approvals, and reporting needs.
Operational Q&A
Evaluation teams can explore migration risks, blackout periods, integrations, training, support, and sustainment.
Sandbox-style review
Where appropriate, review environments can help stakeholders test navigation, usability, and workflow fit.
Workflow evidence
Screens, scenarios, reports, and process flows can help evaluators understand how the future operating model works.
What the first 90 days look like
Discovery and scoping
Civic and ERP workflow mapping, stakeholder sessions, data review, integration mapping. Output: agreed scope and project plan.
Design and fit-gap
Configuration design, integration specs, migration scoping, UAT plan. Output: signed-off design and confirmed timeline.
Build begins
Configuration starts on agreed design. Migration data extraction begins. Training plan confirmed. Output: first configuration review with your team.
Timelines are indicative. Actual duration depends on scope, available stakeholder time, and municipal operating constraints.
Bilingual and multilingual public-sector delivery
Canadian public-sector programs may need more than English-only delivery. PCL can support bilingual or multilingual operating environments through role-based training, public-facing workflow review, employee self-service considerations, translated materials, and delivery coordination for teams working across language requirements.