This weekly news update provides the Government Resource Planning (GRP) community with a brief overview of recent FreeBalance developments and relevant industry news.

FreeBalance Releases Public Financial Management (PFM) Good Practice Documents

FreeBalance recently released a set of five (5) PFM Good Practice Documents. FreeBalance Good Practice documents collect lessons learned with FreeBalance government customers in 20 countries and research used for product and services development. FreeBalance has a mission, as a For Profit Social Enterprise (FOPSE), to share lessons learned with the global PFM community. “There are very few ‘best practices’ in government financial management,” said Manuel Pietra, FreeBalance President and CEO. “Yet there are good practices that are ideal for governments based on their context.”

Read the Good Practice documents >>

New Alliance Positions FreeBalance and everis for GRP Growth in Latin America & the Caribbean

FreeBalance and everis announced a global product and services alliance focused initially on Government Resource Planning in Latin America & the Caribbean. The alliance will scale over time to address the growing demand for GRP solutions worldwide. The product and services partnership scope includes public financial management, civil service management, open government transparency and public procurement software and solutions. The alliance provides an opportunity for FreeBalance and everis to collaborate on initiatives that will empower citizens and transform government services through proven technology.

Read more about the alliance with everis >>

Top 7 Lessons Learned at FreeBalance International Steering Committee 2013

The FreeBalance International Steering Committee (FISC) conference was held last week in Ottawa. FISC, differs in many ways from traditional user conferences. Typical enterprise software companies leverage conferences to sell more software – to tell customers what features they are going to get. FISC, on the other hand, enables customers to change our product roadmap. They also tell us how to change our customer support processes. This was our 7th annual conference. So, we decided to share the top 7 things we learned this year.

Read more about FISC Top 7 >>

Federal spending watchdog says checks system ‘broken’

After five years of providing senators and members of Parliament with independent analysis on the state of the nation’s finances, the federal spending watchdog says the system of checks and balances is “broken.” In an interview airing Saturday on CBC Radio’s The House, Kevin Page, the parliamentary budget officer (PBO), told host Evan Solomon the Office of the Parliamentary Budget Officer will never truly be independent until it reports directly to Parliament.

Read the full article >>

Ces nouvelles hebdomadaires apportent à la communauté de la planification des ressources gouvernementales (PRG) un aperçu général des récents développements de FreeBalance et des nouvelles pertinentes de l’industrie.

FreeBalance publie des documents relatifs aux pratiques d’excellence dans la gestion des finances publiques (GFP)

FreeBalance a récemment publié une série de cinq (5) documents relatifs aux pratiques d’excellence dans la gestion des finances publiques (GFP). Les documents de FreeBalance concernant ces pratiques regroupent les leçons apprises avec les clients gouvernementaux de FreeBalance dans 20 pays, ainsi que la recherche utilisée dans le développement des produits et services. FreeBalance a la mission, en tant qu’entreprise sociale à but lucratif (FOPSE), de partager les leçons apprises avec la communauté mondiale de la GFP. « Il y a très peu de ‘meilleures pratiques’ en matière de gestion des finances gouvernementales », a déclaré Manuel Pietra, président-directeur général de FreeBalance. « Pourtant, il y a des pratiques d’excellence qui sont idéales pour les gouvernements en fonction de leur contexte. »

Lire les documents relatifs au pratiques d’excellence >>

La nouvelle alliance positionne FreeBalance et everis pour la PRG en Amérique latine et dans les Caraïbes

FreeBalance et everis ont annoncé une alliance globale sur les produits et services qui se concentre d’abord sur la planification des ressources du gouvernement en Amérique latine et dans les Caraïbes. L’alliance va évoluer au fil du temps pour répondre à la demande croissante de solutions de PRG dans le monde entier. La portée du partenariat sur les produits et services inclut la gestion des finances publiques, la gestion de la fonction publique, la transparence du gouvernement ouvert et les achats gouvernementaux de logiciels et de solutions. L’alliance permet à FreeBalance et à everis de collaborer à des initiatives qui donneront des responsabilités aux citoyens et transformeront les services gouvernementaux grâce à la technologie éprouvée.

Lire la suite au sujet de l’alliance avec everis >>

Classement des 7 leçons apprises lors du Comité international de pilotage de FreeBalance

La conférence du Comité international de pilotage de FreeBalance (FISC) a eu lieu la semaine dernière à Ottawa. Le FISC diffère à bien des égards des conférences traditionnelles d’utilisateurs. Les entreprises typiques de logiciels tirent profit des conférences afin de vendre plus de logiciels – pour dire aux clients les fonctionnalités dont ils vont disposer. Le FISC, au contraire, permet aux clients de changer la feuille de route de notre produit. Ils nous disent également de quelle manière changer nos processus de soutien à la clientèle. Comme il s’agissait de notre 7e conférence annuelle, nous avons donc décidé de partager les 7 premières choses que nous avons apprises cette année.

Lire la suite au sujet des 7 leçons du FISC >>

L’organisme de surveillance des dépenses fédérales indique que le système de contrôle est « cassé »

Après avoir fournit pendant cinq ans des analyses indépendantes aux sénateurs et députés au sujet de l’état des finances du pays, l’organisme de surveillance des dépenses fédérales indique que le système de contrôle et d’équilibre est « cassé ». Dans une entrevue diffusée samedi lors de l’émission radiophonique The House de CBC, Kevin Page, le directeur parlementaire du budget (DPB), a déclaré au présentateur, Evan Solomon, que le bureau du directeur parlementaire du budget ne sera jamais réellement indépendant tant qu’il ne relèvera pas directement du Parlement.

Lire l’article complet >>

Doug Hadden, VP Products

FISC 2013 is our Seventh Annual FreeBalance International Steering Committee conference. The FISC approach differs from the traditional technology user group conference in many ways – good ways, we think

For one thing, FISC is about enabling customers to influence FreeBalance, not the other way around.

In the spirit of transparency, we were live tweeting from FISC last week and we’ve ‘storified’ it below. FISC is a key element of our customer service strategy:

Customer Centric in Action?

FreeBalance International Steering Committee customer-centric processes at FISC7 in January 2013 in Ottawa Canada

Storified by · Wed, Jan 30 2013 10:38:41

Also see:

Doug Hadden, VP Products

The FreeBalance International Steering Committee (FISC) conference was held last week in Ottawa. FISC, as I’ve written before , differs in many ways from traditional user conferences. Typical enterprise software companies leverage conferences to sell more software – to tell customers what features they are going to get. FISC, on the other hand, enables customers to change our product roadmap. They also tell us how to change our customer support processes.

This was our 7th annual conference. So, the top 7 things I learned this year. ( Also see the Top 7 Highlights from past FISCs )

1. Common Problems, Common Solutions?

One FISC attendee mentioned that he had learned more about good practices in public financial management at FISC than through Public Financial Management (PFM) conferences or donor technical assistance. This generated an interesting discussion. Yes, there was a bit of “beating up the donors.” Primarily about the subjective nature of technical assistance. How advice is often contradictory depending on the consultant. And the extent to which person experiences in the consultant’s home country affects advice.

The difference at FISC is the sharing of what works in countries in similar circumstances. What has often called “South-South” cooperation” . The emergence of BRIC countries has put some doubt into the “Washington Consensus” approach to development.

FISC is also different from traditional user conferences because each customer presents on lessons learned in PFM reform. That’s right: no fluff about how they used our software to overcome some challenge. This year presenters described good practices in budget formulation, problems in identifying and removing ghost workers, improving cash and liquidity management, and capacity building. Turns out that there are common solutions to common problems.

2. Transparency has become a Competitive Sport

Transparency is no longer a sport of kings – for developed countries. Emerging economies are following the lead of Brazil and the Open Government Partnership. Fiscal transparency is facilitated in less developed countries by leveraging GRP systems. Unlike more developed countries with multiple financial systems, many governments in emerging economies – even so-called “fragile states” – have single GRP systems. We have seen some interesting innovation:

3. Interest in Government Performance Management on the Increase

The roadmap process used by FreeBalance is somewhat unique in the industry. We provide a list of current and potential Government Resource Planning (GRP) modules based on the PFM Component Map. We show what modules are currently available and those modules that we are committed to completing. We also show proposed modules. Customers add ideas for new modules then vote on the 2 year roadmap. This can adjust our roadmap significantly.

The takeaway over the past 4 years is the increasing interest in government performance management tools. This might seem somewhat strange that performance management has a significant interest in emerging economy governments. My sense is that the resilience of some countries to the financial crisis, critical linkage of revenue to economic factors and increasing oversight of civil society organizations has generated this interest in performance tools.

4. Achieve Control by Giving up Control

Our competitive environment with so many ERP vendors seems daunting to many observers. As is our insistence to position FreeBalance squarely in the government space – GRP. Anti-ERP (especially given so many ERP failures in government.) How can a smaller yet global company compete effectively?

The secret is to let customers drive product and service improvements. To operate within the PFM community rather than broadcast PR as the main mechanism of engagement. This is how we learn and leap ahead of our competitors – give up control to customers.

5. Sharing is the New Power

Information is power. Holding on to that information is no longer as powerful as sharing what you’ve learned. Sharing results in learning more. Our customers find this outcome as part of FISC. We find that providing our research into PFM and technology is valuable. That’s why we share what we’ve learned with governments who are not our customers.

Sharing becomes an annuity. It provides a feedback loop between the theoretical and the practical. It helps us prioritize what is important for government customers.

6. Software Architecture Design Matters

Many observers believe that there is nothing particularly different when comparing software architectures among enterprise vendors. The large ERP vendors, for example, have a broad functional coverage across many business domains. It’s often thought to be six of one and half a dozen of the other when comparing technology.

This is a myth.

We find that our software architecture, the FreeBalance Accountability Platform, has enabled us to respond much faster to changing customer requirements. To meet the priorities set at FISC. Why? The architecture does not contain any legacy client/server code, is a modern design supporting component reuse and was designed for government to provide extensibility.

7. Having a Conference in Ottawa in January might not be a Good Idea

This was the first FISC where the attendee picture was shot indoors. It also seemed to confirm virtually every stereotype of Canadian winters as the temperature dipped below -30C.

Lesson learned: FISC 2014 should be closer to the equator!

Also see:

This weekly news update provides the Government Resource Planning (GRP) community with a brief overview of recent FreeBalance developments and relevant industry news.

FreeBalance Customers Gather in Ottawa for 7th Annual Steering Committee Meeting

The FreeBalance International Steering Committee (FISC) event is taking place from January 21-24, 2013 in Ottawa, Canada. The event is designed to share good governance practices among countries and is critical to the FreeBalance customer-centric approach to social responsibility. The theme of the seventh annual FISC event is “A Story of 7’s”. The theme is intended to recognize the history and value of the steering committee over the last seven years and highlight the impact that FreeBalance Accountability Suite Version 7 software is having on global PFM reform initiatives.

Read more about FISC >>

PFM in a Changing World – the Harvard Perspective

Several FreeBalance executives had the opportunity to participate in the Public Financial Management in a Changing World program last week at Harvard University, John F. Kennedy School of Government. The program was attended by more than 60 Public Financial Management professionals from 33 countries around the world. The program successfully brought together senior government officials involved in PFM reform with domain experts from international financial institutions and the private sector.

Read the full article >>

7 Highlights from the past FreeBalance International Steering Committee Conferences

FISC 2013 is our Seventh Annual FreeBalance International Steering Committee conference. The FISC approach differs from the traditional technology user group conference in many ways – good ways, we think. For one thing, FISC is about enabling customers to influence FreeBalance, not the other way around. And, FISC is about gathering Public Financial Management (PFM) professionals from different countries around the world to help share good practices. We often have keynote speakers. And, we share our research and experience well beyond the narrow boundaries of being a software company

Read more on the FreeBalance blog >>

How Can the Pace of Budget Transparency Be Increased? Examining the Open Budget Survey 2012

The International Budget Partnership (IBP) and the World Bank Institute (WBI) are pleased to invite you to join practitioners in the fields of development and fiscal management in a discussion on how to increase budget transparency and participation around the world. The discussion will include a presentation of the results of the IBP’s latest round of the Open Budget Survey and then focus on identifying innovative and practical suggestions for rapidly improving country performance on the Survey.

Read more on the IMF blog >>

The Philippines Introduces E-Payment System In E-Procurement

The Philippine Government Electronic Procurement System (PhilGEPS), in partnership with the Land Bank of the Philippines, introduced a new e-payment system which seeks to enhance transparency in how the government agencies transact and do business with its suppliers. The PhilGEPS is the central portal of all public procurement activities that provides both government agencies and suppliers a more open, transparent and competitive environment.

Read more on the FutureGov website >>

Doug Hadden, VP Products

FISC 2013 is our Seventh Annual FreeBalance International Steering Committee conference. The FISC approach differs from the traditional technology user group conference in many ways – good ways, we think

For one thing, FISC is about enabling customers to influence FreeBalance, not the other way around.

And, FISC is about gathering Public Financial Management (PFM) professionals from different countries around the world to help share good practices. We often have keynote speakers. And, we share our research and experience well beyond the narrow boundaries of being a software company. That’s our mission. I looked through past public FISC presentations (and those adapted from FISC and made public) and found my 7 favourites :

1. Sequencing Public Financial Management Reform

David Nummy from Grant Thornton providing practical experience about PFM reform in developing countries. PFM reform sequencing is a critical concern in developing countries and was of great interest to our government customers. This resulted in a brainstorming session and spirited discussions. It was agreed that capacity building was the most critical factor for reform success for the first stages. But, the importance of capacity building never dropped below “very important” for every stage of PFM maturity.

2. Governance Valuation

We’ve taken lessons in PFM sequencing over the years further to provide tools to help governments decide on the most effective reform courses of action. This presentation, slightly adapted from FISC 2012, was built on many of the ideas from the brainstorming from FISC 2008.

3. IFMIS of Tomorrow

We use FISC to help us understand the future of Public Financial Management. We also share our research with government customers. We adapted this from the presentation we gave at the first FISC in 2007. Some of the predictions did come to pass.

4. Technology Leapfrog

Leveraging technology for governance is a concern for a software company like FreeBalance. Our government customers have been leveraging technology from FreeBalance and other vendors to enable reform and transparency. This often enables these governments to “leapfrog” more developed countries. This presentation was adapted from content given by our customers at different FISC events. Ever government that attends FISC provides an overview of PFM lessons learned: challenges, solutions, achievements with an emphasis on initiatives from the past year.

5. The Social Future of PFM

Social media, open data, Government 2.0 and crowdsourcing represents significant opportunities and risks for government. We reflected on this last year at FISC in the wake of the Arab Spring, the Ushahidi platform and the Tea Party movement. And, we presented this at the ICGFM conference later that year.

6. Lessons from Fragile States

Steve Symanksy, formerly at the IMF, provided insight based on his experience in fragile states. He explained that the view that PFM reform should start with proper planning is incorrect: fragile states should start with budget execution and control first.

7. Post-Conflict Lessons

FreeBalance has been successful implementing sustainable Government Resource Planning (GRP) systems in post-conflict countries. (This seems to be confirmed in a recent World Bank report.” We’ve also been successful in more developed countries in achieving low costs for customers and ease to adapt software to changing needs. We reflected on the post-conflict experience using some of the content from customer presentations.