Maintain Financial Business Operations

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Many utility officials want to know what actions their utility can take to maintain financial business continuity during incidents that disrupt the utility's operations or the area economy. To help with this financial challenge, the document, All-Hazard Consequence Management Planning for the Water Sector (PDF) (November 2009), includes a section under Specific Actions for Economic Disruption Incidents that provides a checklist (shown below) of actions utilities can take to minimize the financial hardship that can occur during a response or recovery. Click the following link to access a printable copy of the Checklist of Preparedness Actions for Economic Disruption Incidents (PDF) (1 pg, 20K, About PDF).

Preparedness Actions for Economic Disruption Incidents

Actions	NIMS/ICS Function
Establish policies to authorize expenditures during a response. This might include pre-authorizations of certain expenditures or establishing emergency accounts or contracts with suppliers or contractors.	Management, Finance
Mark all emergency-related contracts and pre-authorizations clearly so staff can find them quickly and not confuse them with executed instruments.	Finance
Document the utility's critical financial records and systems.	Finance
Create a plan to access critical financial records and systems remotely so staff can continue to use them even if an emergency prevents access to utility facilities.	Finance
Identify how to continue to receive payments and make payments to employees and vendors during an emergency, even if staff cannot access utility facilities.	Finance
Create a mechanism to expedite financial and procurement decision-making during an emergency.	Management
Establish a financial contingency plan so staff can continue to operate essential services and implement recovery activities if an emergency significantly disrupts revenue.	Finance
Consider establishing a "rainy day fund" as part of a utility's business continuity plan.	Management
Ensure the utility's accounting system is able to capture financial data in a way that provides accountability and supports potential cost recovery actions.	Finance
Increase the amount of cash on hand to facilitate purchase of supplies/equipment during response.	Finance
Activate pre-authorizations for response and recovery spending and/or emergency contracts as needed.	Management, Finance
Determine if staff can access normal financial and accounting systems; activate remote/alternate systems if needed.	Logistics
Consider increasing limits on employee credit cards to facilitate purchase of supplies/equipment during response.	Finance
Assess long-term implications of the incident on utility revenue and implement financial contingency plans as needed.	Finance
Maintain accurate financial records to support accountability and reimbursement/cost recovery claims.	Finance

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