The City of Florence Finance Department is responsible for ensuring that all City funds are managed in accordance with generally accepted principles of governmental accounting. To this end, the Finance Department adheres to accounting best practices to maintain appropriate controls of all City assets. The Finance Department provides a full range of administrative and support services including cash management and investment of funds, debt management, purchasing, accounts payable and revenues receivable, payroll processing, inventory control, and data processing. This department is also responsible for the administration, coordination, and collection of business licenses, hospitality fees, and City service fees including water, sewer, and stormwater utilities.

The City is subject to an annual audit of its accounting practices and internal controls by a qualified independent auditing firm. As a part of this audit process, the City produces an annual financial statement which complies with standards developed by the Government Finance Officers Association of the United States and Canada (GFOA). GFOA awarded a Certificate of Achievement for Excellence in Financial Reporting to the City of Florence for its comprehensive annual financial report for the fiscal year ended June 30, 2009. The Certificate awarded for fiscal year ended 2009 marks the twelfth consecutive year the award has been received by the City of Florence.

To be awarded the Certificate of Achievement, a governmental entity must publish an easily readable and efficiently organized comprehensive annual financial report with contents which conform to GFOA program standards. Such reports must satisfy both generally accepted accounting principles and applicable legal requirements. A Certificate of Achievement is valid for a period of one year only.