McLain Decision Support Systems

Public-sector decision support for budget, workforce, capital, and strategy

Purpose-built software designed and supported directly by MDSS — U.S.-built, U.S.-developed, and U.S.-hosted.

Government budgeting specialists since 1997
~130 public-sector organizations supported
18 states served
U.S.-built / U.S.-developed / U.S.-hosted

mBUDGET mPERSONNEL mCIP mCANVAS Consulting

Consulting

MDSS Consulting

Executive-grade budget process, systems, and specialized delivery — built for governments that expect clarity at every decision.

Explore Consulting

Budget office

Budgeting department supplementation

Augment your budget office with MDSS specialists who help run the cycle, coach staff, close gaps, and keep development, review, and adoption on schedule. You get seasoned capacity without a long hire cycle — and a partner who already knows public-sector budgeting.

We embed alongside your team for department submissions, executive review, packet production, and adoption support—using your policies, your calendar, and your governing-body format. Engagements can span a single critical phase or multiple cycles while you build internal bench strength.

Budget methods

Zero base budgeting

Zero-Based Budgeting rebuilt from the ground up with structured packages, service justification, and decision-ready comparisons instead of last-year-plus increments. Every dollar starts with a purpose, so executives can defend what stays, what changes, and what stops.

MDSS helps you define decision units, package templates, ranking criteria, and council-ready narratives so ZBB is operable—not a one-time exercise. mBUDGET decision packages and scoring can carry the structure once leaders accept the model.

Budget methods

Priority based budgeting

Priority-Based Budgeting ranks programs and services against community priorities so funding choices are transparent, defensible, and tied to what the organization values most. The result is a clearer story for councils, boards, and the public about why scarce resources land where they do.

We align PBB language with your strategic plan, program inventory, and fiscal constraints—then wire weights, scores, and tradeoff views leaders can use in the room. The outcome is a prioritization story that survives public question and staff turnover.

Budget methods

Budgeting for outcomes

Connect dollars to results with outcome statements, performance measures, and reporting that explain what the budget is intended to achieve. Leaders see not only what was funded, but what success should look like after adoption.

Outcome budgeting links requests and adopted lines to measures, targets, and narrative accountability—so monitoring and year-end reporting do not start from scratch. MDSS can connect outcomes thinking to mBUDGET, mCANVAS, and executive dashboards where you use those modules.

Systems & data

Custom software development

Design and build purpose-fit tools when off-the-shelf systems cannot support your budgeting, capital, or workforce workflows. MDSS ships practical software shaped around your process, your chart, and your decision calendar.

From specialized allocations and interfaces to purpose-built workspaces, we build on the same stack as mBUDGET, mCIP, and mPERSONNEL—or deliver targeted utilities that integrate with your ERP. You work directly with the team that designs, hosts, and supports the code.

Systems & data

ERP consulting and implementation

Plan, configure, and implement ERP-related budget and financial processes so core systems support — rather than constrain — the decision cycle. We bridge finance system reality with the way departments actually build and review the budget.

We map funds, org structures, accounts, workflows, and budget-entry paths across Oracle, Tyler, CentralSquare, SAP, and other public-sector financial suites—then align MDSS modules and reports to posted actuals. Implementation plans separate system-of-record decisions from project and budget decision support.

Systems & data

Chart of accounts and history rebuilding

Restructure the chart of accounts and rebuild usable history so reporting, roll-ups, and multi-year comparisons stay clean and auditable. Clean structure upfront prevents years of broken comparisons and rework later.

Engagements include crosswalk design, historical load validation, control totals, and documentation finance and audit can rely on. The rebuilt chart becomes the backbone for budget, actual, personnel, and capital reporting—not a one-year fix.

Systems & data

Custom database programming

Create and tune databases, conversions, and integrations that keep budget, actuals, staffing, and capital data reliable across systems. Reliable data plumbing is what makes dashboards, history, and cross-module reporting trustworthy.

We build conversion routines, scheduled imports, reconciliation reports, and exception queues so leadership trusts the numbers on the screen. SQL Server–based pipelines and documented mappings are standard; APIs and file exchange follow your security and vendor constraints.

Dashboards

Dashboards and other specialized projects

Deliver executive dashboards, KPI boards, and targeted special projects that put live context in front of leaders while decisions are still open. These engagements turn scattered reports into meeting-ready visuals that drive action.

Dashboards pull from governed budget, actual, personnel, and capital data—gauges, trends, rankings, and drill paths tuned to your executives and board. Specialized projects cover one-off analytics, briefing packs, and interfaces when a full module rollout is not required.