FMIS in Iraq

“The GoI has adopted a new transitional chart of accounts (CoA) and started using the automated Financial Management Information System (FMIS). The newly adopted CoA is not fully consistent with the Fund’s GFSM 2001, but we are committed to correct any shortcomings in this regard and identify which accounts in the CoA form part of the budget classification by end-June 2007 (structural performance criterion). An assessment of the FreeBalance software (which was supposed to be completed by end-December) is also behind schedule. The Ministry of Finance (MoF) has started using the FMIS from January 2007. The aggregated monthly reports generated by the FMIS will be reviewed and compared with the corresponding consolidated reports generated by the existing legacy system for the budget as a whole. We will also increase our efforts to make sure that all spending units, including small independent accounting units, submit their transaction data to the relevant ministry, which should submit consolidated data to the MoF. For spending units where this is not possible in the near future, the MoF will enter their trial balances in the FMIS.”

-Iraq Letter of Intent, IMF

If anybody has come across an independent evaluation of the FreeBalance software, let us hear about it.

Related Links;
Iraqi Central Bank
Links to other government agencies
Iraq's Financial Management Information System to be fully operational by June

Automating Financial Management Information Systems in Post-Conflict Environments: Lessons from Kosovo

Implementing Integrated Financial Management Information Systems: World Bank Experience ;

The World Bank has invested over $1 billion in integrated financial management systems (IFMIS) in developing and transition economies with mixed results