Government of Kosovo Receives FreeBalance Public Financial Management Award of Excellence for Decentralization

Recognition for government financial decentralization presented at FreeBalance International Steering Committee (FISC) event in Turkey

Ottawa, Canada (January 30, 2012) – FreeBalance, a leading vendor of Government Resource Planning (GRP) software, is pleased to announce the presentation of the FreeBalance Public Financial Management Award of Excellence to the Government of Kosovo for Government Financial Decentralization. FreeBalance Awards of Excellence were presented at the FreeBalance International Steering Committee (FISC) event held between January 16-18, 2012 in Istanbul, Turkey.

“Decentralization is recognized as a good practice to improve government performance by enabling decisions closer to citizens,” said Manuel Pietra, President & CEO of FreeBalance. “This latest reform by the Republic of Kosovo is consistent with the will to modernize public finances for good governance, economic growth and social cohesion.”

The Kosovo Financial Management Information System (KFMIS), a configuration of the FreeBalance Accountability Suite, was first implemented in 1999. KFMIS functions have been progressively activated since that time to reflect legal reform, modernization and increasing civil service capacity. This enabled the Republic of Kosovo to roll-out KFMIS to all government entities at all levels of government. Additional functions have been added as described in a case study. And, the Government of Kosovo has recently upgraded to the latest version of the software.

Fiscal decentralization in government is complex. Capacity needs to be built to ensure proper fiscal discipline while giving public servants the discretion necessary to improve performance and optimize citizen services. The Government of Kosovo has decentralized commitment approvals, budget transfers and purchasing to line ministries and sub-national governments. KFMIS continues to manage central controls for yearly budgets and appropriations. This modernization has enabled the Treasury Department to focus on planning and cash management to further improve financial discipline by the Government of Kosovo.

The Public Expenditure and Financial Accountability (PEFA) assessment in 2009 recognized the progress made by the Government whose financial system and processes compares favorably with neighboring countries. According to the PEFA assessment: “The strength of the existing PFM system is centred on the successful introduction and implementation of the Financial Management Information System. This has ensured that commitment control is applied in budget execution and that reporting on budget execution is timely and meets the need of management for effective decision-making.”

About the FreeBalance Public Financial Management Awards of Excellence
FreeBalance recognize government customers who have achieved significant improvements in Public Financial Management (PFM). Presented every two years at the FreeBalance International Steering Committee meetings, the awards recognize important governance milestones.

About FreeBalance
FreeBalance helps governments around the world leverage robust Government Resource Planning (GRP) technology to accelerate country growth. FreeBalance is a recognized as leader in fast, adaptable and successful GRP implementations. FreeBalance software manages a global civil service workforce of 1,500,000, and a quarter trillion ($US) annual budgets worldwide. FreeBalance provides software solutions for public financial and human resource management, and supports reform and modernization to improve governance, transparency and accountability. Good governance is required to improve development results. For more information, visit www.freebalance.com.

About FISC
The annual FreeBalance International Steering Committee (FISC) conference runs from January 16 – 18, 2012 in Istanbul, Turkey. FISC provides an interactive forum to exchange Public Financial Management (PFM) good practices among international customers and PFM thought leaders. FISC drives the FreeBalance Accountability Suite Government Resource Planning (GRP) product direction. Previous FISC events were held in Madeira, Portugal (2011); Mt. Tremblant, Canada (2010); Prague, Czech Republic (2009); Cascais, Portugal (2008); and London, United Kingdom (2007).

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