| Even though it will cost a “pretty penny”, the Granger led administration is likely to go forward with the upgraded form of the Integrated Financial and Management Accounting System (IFMAS).Kaieteur News understands that before the Ministry of Finance goes forward with this crucial improvement, approval has to be granted by Cabinet. But based on the government’s desire to improve the system, permission is expected to be granted without qualms.Speaking with this publication, Finance Minister Winston Jordan said that the developers of the IFMAS are willing to provide an upgrade of the system at a 65 percent discount.The computerized accounting system was created by the Canadian Company, Freebalance. It is intended to ensure accountability and transparency regarding how taxpayers’ money is budgeted and spent by the government.A specially tailored system was made for Guyana by the company and was secured at a cost of $132M. It comes with seven components: Appropriation, Expenditure, General Ledger, Budget Preparation and Reporting System (BPRS), Purchasing, Revenue and Asset and Inventory Modules.But after ten years, the Purchasing and Asset and Inventory Modules are still to be implemented.Last year, this newspaper carried a series of articles showing how liability for assets and monies could be improved if all the modules belonging to the IFMAS system were operable.Finance Minister, Winston JordanThe Finance Minister recalled that in 2004, the past administration began the phased implementation of the system. This change saw a move from a completely manual system to an automated accounting system.“Since the last time we discussed this at the 2015 budget debates, we have had opportunities to examine the system further, and we have noted that the system still has some kinks which need to be ironed out in order to meet our needs,” Jordan had explained.“We have recently met with the owners of the IFMAS and they have listened to our concerns about the system, and they have recommended that we upgrade it to the latest model which they have recently implemented in Jamaica, and apparently have done so successfully.“They have said that as an incentive, they are prepared to offer a 65 percent discount on the installation on this new system. We understand that the system is more modern and it has more “sweets” than the present system, which will greatly meet our accounting needs while ensuring transparency and accountability.”Jordan said that the upgraded IFMAS system offers more flexibility, and at the moment, his ministry is currently studying the offer and the system details with a view to making a decision before the offer time runs out, which is by the end of the year.During his 2015 Budget speech, Jordan had revealed that after more than ten years and the expenditure of vast sums of money, the four installed IFMAS modules are “operating sub-optimally” or not to the highest standard.In a previous interview, Jordan had told this newspaper that he would investigate the matter of the unused modules which the country had paid millions for, as he is familiar with the system.“That system was initially brought here under a grant agreement with the Canadians. Any subsequent module to be added will be under that licence and would have to be paid for by us…,” Jordan had asserted.“You have to bring in the people to activate it and so forth, but I will be the first to admit that the others which are not in place are extremely useful.”The Finance Minister had explained that were the Asset and Inventory module in place, the system of handing over of assets would have been “much easier and believable.”That module provides the ability to: create an inventory for asset entries; track issues and receipts; enter receipts for deliveries to stores via the Purchasing Module; make adjustments to reflect inventory average and shortages; and provide queries and reports on current inventory, stock activity and receiving reports.The unimplemented Purchasing Module provides the ability to: create purchase requisitions and orders with self-creating commitments to reserve the necessary funds; record the receipts and return of goods and automatically update the purchase order to reflect the transactions; complete integration with the payment process to reflect payment for goods ordered and received; and create an asset record when goods are received.Jordan had said, “I am not saying that people have cheated, but I am saying that because it is not in place, you still have to go and verify that these assets are in place. For example, if ‘X’ ministry says these are the vehicles we are handing over, you still have to verify, through carrying out a check, that the records reflect the truth”.“There is no proper register of the properties of the ministries, or an asset register that says over the last five or three years of your time in government, these are the assets which were transferred,Cristian Pavon Jersey, disposed of or sold.”Jordan had opined that, for this purpose, the Asset and Inventory Module “would be beautiful.”He noted that he would “love to see it happen”, because with government’s assets “no one can tell you where it is at”. He had said that no one seems to be able to keep a proper asset register, which would also include the gifts received from international bodies.He recalled that the country’s Auditor General, Deodat Sharma, had complained bitterly that the Finance Ministry’s system for recording gifts and assets is very poor.Sharma in an interview with Kaieteur News had even stated that should the two unused IFMAS modules be operationalised, it would make for an easier and more efficient audit of government books. With this position, the guardian of the national purse has continuously called for the two modules to be activated.Doug Hadden, Vice President of Sales of the Canadian Company which develops the IFMAS, had said that he is unaware of any case where a government bought the system and did not use all of the modules. He said that while Governments are treated with a sense of privacy, he would advise that all the modules be used. |
