Public Financials Management
Enables governments to manage tax dollars effectively
Public Financials Management Solutions Overview
(PFM) Public Financials Management software supports the unique budgetary requirements of the public sector and offers features such as commitment accounting and budget management. The modules can be combined and configured in any way and can be progressively activated in line with a sequenced PFM reform program. Features include:
Budget and Commitment Accounting
Supports core government financial functions for unitary governments, national governments, line ministries, sub-national and local governments, and projects.
Assets and Inventory
Supports asset management principles tailored specifically to government needs such as fixed assets, stores, fleet and facilities.
Projects and Job Costing
Supports project management link budgeting and project accounting to project estimates and forecasts.
Fixed Assets and Inventory
Manages asset accounting, depreciation and evaluation. Supports government stores, transfers, inventory counts and consumption.
Journal, Vouchers and Ledgers
Supports traditional accounting cycles used in the public and private sectors.
Public Financials Management Modules
Public Financials Management (PFM) is one of the six core product pillars within the FreeBalance Accountability Suite™ and is composed of a number of modules that can be implemented individually or as part of a unified solution. The PFM system enables governments to manage tax dollars effectively.
(PFPF) Core Public Financials
The core foundation for government accounting – budget controls, appropriations, commitment accounting and Chart of Accounts.(PFBC) Budget Controls
Integrated into the FreeBalance Accountability Suite™ systems of record are controls for budget, appropriations and commitments.(PFBR) Budget Transfer Requests
Supports users requesting budget transfers and manages workflow approvals.(PFCB) Cash Books
Simplified ledger and cash book system for fast implementation and stand-alone needs for receipting.(PFFA) Fixed Assets
Supports fixed asset accounting, depreciation, custody transactions and asset transfer management.
(PFFM) Fleet Management
A part of general asset management that includes vehicle-specific needs – warranty, mileage, maintenance, usage, and monitoring and tracking.(PFSI) Stores and Inventory
Enables purchases from stores in the purchasing process, linked to the receiving process.(PFSL) Sub-Ledger
Supports sub-ledgers as an intermediary set of accounts linked to the main ledger.(PFAA) Accountable Advances
Provides functionality that supports control of advance payments, and ensures correct implementation and automatic control over recuperating advances payments.
What is Public Financial Management?
Public Financial Management (PFM) covers the legal and regulatory framework, IT systems and processes used by governments to raise revenue, undertake public spending, account for funds and audit results. It is focused on driving economic and governance reforms using fiscal discipline, predictability, transparency and accountability to strengthen public finances and deliver improved societal outcomes.
Critical to this process is the need to have a unified and integrated financial management information system that provides for budget controls, appropriations, commitment accounting, and the Chart of Accounts. The Public Financials Management pillar of the FreeBalance Accountability Suite™ supports these unique budgetary requirements of the public sector.
What are the Benefits of Public Financials Management?
Some of the features and benefits include:
Budgetary Control
Budgetary funds are mapped to the Chart of Accounts at a predetermined hierarchy level for aggregate fiscal control.Reform and Modernization
Modernizes the financial management structure such as migrating to accrual accounting.Multi-Level Allotment Controls
Supports appropriations, warrants or allocations, mapped to summarized or detailed reports within the Chart of Accounts and to fiscal periods.
Commitment and Obligation Control
Supports a soft commitment to spend or hard commitments to contractual obligations.Real-Time Ledger
Balances ledgers in real-time to ensure budgets are not overspent.
Additional Reading
Digital PFM – Why Isn’t It Working? What Can Be Done? The recent Budgets and Bytes event hosted by the Overseas Development Institute (ODI) for the launch of their new digital public financial management (PFM) hub and white paper entitled Digital Public Financial Management: An Emerging Paradigm are a great first step to get consensus around the challenges and opportunities, but in our view there is still lots lots needed to integrate public finance, economics, and digital technology. 
How Fighting Corruption and Implementing Effective Public Financial Management Systems Improve Citizen Wellbeing The latest World Happiness Report in the report indicates that FreeBalance customers improved their perceptions of corruption scores by an average 1.74% vs the global average improvement of 0.09%, indicating that the investments made in the FreeBalance Accountability Suite™, an integrated and unified Government Resource Planning (GRP) solution, have strengthened accountability and transparency mechanisms in these countries.
Role of Treasury Management Systems Government financial management and accounting are different from that of private businesses. The accounting principles and regulatory requirements are unique to governments. For instance, governments have to maintain a high level of transparency and accountability, which requires the use of specialized accounting standards. Private sector ERP systems are not designed to handle these specific requirements and may not provide the necessary features to comply with the government's regulatory and reporting requirements.Want to know more? Please fill out the form below.
Contact FreeBalance to learn how we can help accelerate PFM reform in your country.