City Finance Lab: Practical Training Built Around Cities’ Needs

October 9, 2026

Stepping into a city finance role can mean taking on everything from payroll and accounts payable to budgeting and financial reporting. But for some city employees, there’s no predecessor or experienced colleague there to help them learn the ropes.

Turnover and staffing shortages have left some Minnesota city staff taking on finance responsibilities with little local government experience and limited training in governmental accounting.

“We’ve got clerk-treasurers coming in cold,” Lisa Sova, the League of Minnesota Cities’ assistant finance director, said. “Oftentimes, without previous local government experience and no one in house with the knowledge or experience to train them.”

Sova and her League colleagues have heard about these challenges from cities across the state for years. Those challenges ultimately helped inspire City Finance Lab, a new League training program designed to give city staff practical experience with the financial responsibilities they encounter every day.

A need taking shape

The challenges that led to City Finance Lab didn’t emerge overnight.

In February 2024, League staff brought a broader discussion about finance staffing shortages to the LMC Board of Directors. Staff had seen shortages affecting cities of all sizes; small cities struggled to find qualified staff to prepare monthly financial statements, while larger cities faced difficulty hiring finance directors and senior accountants. At the same time, staffing shortages at audit firms contributed to late audits and higher costs.

For smaller cities, turnover can create another complication. Staff may enter a position that has been vacant for an extended period, without an established mentor or colleague to help them learn the role. The League was also hearing more finance questions from members, including from clerks unfamiliar with fund accounting, governmental accounting software, and other requirements unique to the public sector.

The 2024 discussion identified more formal finance training for clerks, treasurers, and other finance staff as one way the League could expand its support. But before deciding what that training should look like, League staff wanted to hear directly from the people doing the work.

Asking cities what they need

League staff surveyed members, met with clerks at a regional meeting, and called cities of varying populations across Minnesota.

The questions were simple: What do you need? What would make your job easier? What are the problem areas?

Those conversations confirmed many of the patterns League staff were already seeing through member inquiries. The feedback helped shape the League’s Finance Desk Manual for Small Cities, and eventually, the training that became City Finance Lab.

Bank reconciliation was one of the most common challenges raised.

“The bank reconciliation is the foundation of all financial reports. It has to be done, and it has to be done monthly. But it can be very intimidating,” Sova said.

Staff also identified a need for help with fundamentals such as processing invoices, handling deposits, using a chart of accounts, and understanding fund accounting. These are everyday responsibilities that can be especially challenging for someone who hasn’t previously worked in local government.

Governmental accounting itself can also be unfamiliar territory — even for someone who arrives with an accounting background. The League’s 2024 research found that many accounting majors receive little training in governmental accounting or Governmental Accounting Standards Board requirements.

That was something Sova understood from experience.

Creating the roadmap she once needed

Before coming to the League in 2020, Sova made the transition from corporate accounting to city government herself.

She brought a strong finance background to the job, but governmental accounting presented an entirely new set of processes and responsibilities. She relied on an auditor, software vendor, and others to help her learn the correct processes, from governmental accounting practices to issuing bonds.

“There’s no roadmap when you take these jobs, so I want to create that roadmap so that others don’t have the same struggles,” Sova said.

City Finance Lab grew out of that idea: Give city staff a place to learn the fundamentals that can otherwise be difficult to pick up on their own.

Learning by doing

That also meant thinking differently about how the training would be delivered.

Rather than relying primarily on presentations, City Finance Lab combines online learning with an in-person program where participants can work through practical examples, exercises, and demonstrations.

“Everyone learns differently, and hands-on can really drive the principles of a method or procedure home by actually doing it,” Sova said. “So that’s what we’re hoping for. We’re hoping to provide education in a format that’s a little different than a webinar or an online training.”

The League partnered with Abdo to develop the training. The firm has experience providing interim finance assistance to cities, including stepping in when a position is vacant or helping address financial work that has accumulated over time. This gives its staff firsthand experience with many of the situations City Finance Lab is intended to help city employees navigate.

The partnership also brought together Sova and Abdo’s Vicki Holthaus, whom Sova has worked with for many years and holds in high regard. When the League began looking for a partner with the expertise and capacity to help develop City Finance Lab, Sova saw Abdo as a natural fit. Through its work directly with cities, the firm understands the challenges finance staff face when stepping into unfamiliar roles, managing growing workloads, or catching up on financial responsibilities after a prolonged vacancy. That practical experience helped make Abdo a valuable partner in developing training grounded in the realities of city finance.

Building skills and networks

City Finance Lab is ultimately about more than learning accounting processes.

In many small cities, the person handling finance may not have another finance professional down the hall to ask for advice. Sova said she hopes participants leave not only more comfortable with their day-to-day responsibilities, but also knowing they have people to turn to when questions arise.

“I hope attendees develop a network of colleagues they can reach out to when they have questions,” Sova said. “I hope they learn that the League is always here to help them through and that we don’t want them to struggle. We want to be a resource.”