Introduction to GIFMIS Accounting

Course evaluation        

Description

The government’s objective in investing in GIFMIS as outlined in the GIFMIS Project Charter is principally to “to improve the effectiveness of service delivery and the allocation of scarce resources, using the new tools and processes resulting from the GIFMIS system”. In turn improving effective service delivery is incumbent upon the improvement of public finance management. There are indeed a number of significant opportunities for improving PFM performance in Ghana through the automation and integration of its financial management information systems.
The particular areas of PFM performance improvement listed in the GIFMIS Project Charter include:
- Publish Standard Annual Financial Reports based on the IPSAS standard. As part of the GIFMIS Project a harmonized chart of accounts is to be adopted for all financial transactions throughout the country.
- An increase in Management Reporting and Information Queries. It is anticipated that these reports and queries will be available on a scheduled basis as well as on-demand.
- Enhance Annual Budget Preparation to achieve and retain transparency, efficiency and
timeliness in the creation, review, publishing and acceptance of the annual budget.
- Enhance budget control effectiveness with the intent of curbing the accrual of expenditure arrears. It is anticipated that such benefits will be further enhanced when budget controls are coupled with the benefits of the Cash Management module used for treasury management of cash balances.
- Improve Commitment Management –through the widespread use of the Purchase Order
module at all levels of government.
- Strengthen Internal Controls and Auditing Capabilities. Standardized auditing procedures are to be applied to the financial data base and internal control map permitting more efficient and effective auditing.
- It is recognized that a modern technical infrastructure will be required to fully utilize the
features of the new system. This infrastructure includes electronic data networks as well as environments for servers and desktop PCs and related storage and disaster recovery systems.

Enhance and Modernize Revenue Collection Processes – Through joint use, both the Cash Management and the Accounts Receivable modules will be utilized at all levels of government to enhance the amounts of revenues collected while current processes will be examined in an effort to make the revenue collection and recording procedures more productive, efficient, timely, and accurate with the goal of fewer revenue arrears. The course examines each of these aspects of improved performance and introduces basic accounting, expenditure and budgeting concepts as a basis for understanding how these are achieved. The course uses simple computerized models to deepen the participants understanding.

Objective

The purpose of this course is to provide the introductory tools and clear understanding necessary to
benefit from the more technical course to be provided by Oracle University. This will provide the
necessary knowledge for those attending these courses to develop into super users of GIFMIS. The
comprehensive and efficient fulfilment of these roles will be essential for the successful implementation
of the GIFMIS project. The course will include the following accounting training as a pre-requisite to
Oracle Functional Training Courses to be provided by Oracle University:
- Explaining the Oracle Accounting Ledgers and Sub Ledgers
- Understanding the bases of accounting – cash and accrual
- Understanding the types of accounts – personal and impersonal
- Understanding Accounts Payable Sub Ledger and the reconciliation with the General ledger
- Understanding Accounts Receivable Sub Ledger and the reconciliation with the General ledger
- Understanding the General Ledger
- Understanding the payroll accounting
- Understanding the Cash Book
- Understanding the accounting cycle
- Understanding the requirements for implementing Commitment control
- Understanding the Budget Classification
- Budget Classification and Expenditure Monitoring
- Understanding the differences between the Oracle Financials and the Legacy Systems
- Understanding the Chart of Accounts

Audience

Pre-requisites

Learning outcomes

By the end of the course participants should have:
- A clear conceptual understanding of fundamental accounting and budgeting techniques
- A deep understand of the linkages between the budget cycle and public sector financial statements
- A basic appreciation of the roles and linkages between the five (5) basic Oracle accounting modules to be adopted by GIFMIS
- A sound knowledge of best international practice including Government Finance Statistics (GFS 2001) and International Public Sector Accounting Standards
- Extensive hands on experience of computer based exercises to build a clear understanding of both the benefits and the limitations of the use of IT in government financial operations
- Have had the opportunity to discuss the key focal areas for the introduction of GIFMIS and related reforms.

Learning methods

The learning methods will include the following:
- An introduction to key concepts through direct presentation and discussion methods
- The use of original source material developed by the consultants based upon the Ghana of Government Chart of Accounts and the Oracle Financials e-Business Suite.
- The use of extensive practical examples to illustrate the points put across
- The use of exercises (in particular short "buzz-group" sessions) to provoke and consolidate certain points raises
- The use of substantial case studies and computer based exercises using simple Excel worksheet tools to consolidate the key aspects and themes of the course
- The first session of each afternoon will consist of an extended case study to consolidate concepts, approaches and knowledge gained.