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Jul 12, 2009

TOR

Analysis of Government Asset Management System functional requirements

Terms of reference (TOR)

 

  1. Background information

 

The Government of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan (GOJ) is in the process of implementing a financial reform program as part of its public sector modernization and financial management reform initiatives. The reform program aims at effectiveness, transparency and accountability in government financial management and resource allocation. The specific objectives of the financial management reform are to improve:

  1. Transparency and compliance with international best practices in budget execution
  2. Accuracy, timeliness and relevance of financial reporting at each level of government;
  3. Budget execution by ensuring that payments are made in accordance with the budget and within spending limits and cash constraints; and
  4. Fiscal sustainability through more effective and efficient management of cash and public debt.

The reform covers three levels:

  1. Modernizing the institutional structure of the Ministry of Finance (MoF) and building its capacity;
  2. Building financial reform programs to help Jordan's fiscal policy in achieving its objectives, namely, maintaining fiscal stability and avoiding financial crises through more efficient allocation of available financial resources according to national priorities;
  3. Strengthening linkages between financial management reform keystone and other public sector reform pillars.

 

At the same time, the GOJ has identified ICT as crucial for the social and economic development of the country. As such, it has embarked on an ambitious national ICT policy and strategy and has prepared a government specific e-strategy.

 

The IT administrative environment in the GOJ is dynamic and fast changing with many new

initiatives occurring regularly. Currently there are initiatives related to systems in the MoF, Departments of Customs; Income and Sales Tax; Land and Survey, among which are:

  • The E-accounting project, implemented by the Ministry of Finance with the support of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in the framework of the “E-Government for Development” international programme.

 

  • The Government Financial Management Information System (GFMIS).

 


The GFMIS project

 

The GFMIS, of which the operational phase is close to start, may be considered as a cornerstone in assisting the GOJ in achieving the objectives related particularly to the first and the second level of reform.

 

The objectives of the GFMIS are to strengthen GOJ's fiscal management, to support improved performance management over the use of all government resources, and to improve quality of public expenditure and government services provided to citizens.

 

To achieve the above objectives, GFMIS is required to comprise financial management systems (including, budgeting, accounting, reporting, and treasury systems covering both receipts and payments) and openness for linkage to a broad range of 'customer-centric' e-government services. Specifically, the GFMIS will incorporate many functionalities, among which are the following:

 

  • Systems to support Macro Economic Forecasting
  • Systems to assist in Budget Preparation and Approval
  • Systems for Budget Execution, Accounting, Cash Management and Fiscal Reporting
  • Interface with selected internal and external systems
  • Systems to support e-government initiatives to improve transparency and
  • accountability of the government functions.

 

The E-Accounting project

 

The E-Accounting project has two purposes:

 

  • to provide the MOF with an IT pilot application to accelerate the transmission of information regarding the revenues collection from the Commercial Banks to the Income and Sales Tax Department (ISTD) and from the ISTD to the MOF and their detailed recording into the accounting system of the MOF
  • to provide the MOF with an assessment study on Asset Management

 

Both purposes are fully consistent with the e-government strategy and with the functional requirements of the GFMIS project.

 

  1. Objectives

 

The objectives and the functional requirements of GFMIS do not include the Asset Management functional requirements, although an efficient and effective Asset Management System(AMS), currently not existing in Jordan, would be fully consistent with the Financial Reform strategy of the MOF. In fact, the GFMIS shall form an integral part of a Government Resource Planning (GRP) solution, supporting only financial management functions initially, but having the capability of supporting the full range of financial and associated resource management functions such as Payroll, HR management and Asset Management

 

Furthermore, the GOJ intends to create a unified automated AMS that is able to:

 

  • provide timely information related to the Assets held by the Jordan Government, their value, and their cost-effectiveness;
  • share the same information between all Government Institutions in order to responds to their needs, giving the possibility to exchange resources between entities, saving money and reducing costs;
  • facilitate the assessment of the soundness of government institutions for several purposes, including privatization;
  • reduce the cost of inventories; minimize errors;
  • build capacities for staff in public institutions;
  • and meet the international requirements and reporting.

 

  1. The Asset Management study

 

The study on Asset Management, produced in the framework of the E-accounting project for the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, is therefore fully consistent with the GOJ strategy and objectives and can be considered as a starting point for the implementation of a future AMS that, considering the international experiences and requirements and the current situation in Jordan related to Asset Management,  define the framework of accounting rules and procedures to be applied to the future AMS.

 

Particularly the study contains:

 

  • main international references (standards, rules, classifications,..) in the field of AM
  • definition of Assets and their boundaries and particularly of Assets held by Government
  • a proposed classification for the Financial and NON Financial Assets, with the definition of its items
  • definition and the main steps of an Asset Management Implementation Plan
  • main items related to the recognition and measurement of Assets:
    • Recognition threshold
    • Assessment of useful lives – consumption of fixed capital
    • Evaluation of Assets and evaluation policies
    • Asset Register and its integration with the General Ledger
    • Considerations regarding Asset Management practices
    • Special considerations regarding certain kinds of Financial and non financial assets
  • an overview of the current situation in Jordan regarding the AM

 

  1. Scope of the work and expected outputs

    1. General

The Scope of the work is to submit a document on the main functional requirements related to the implementation of a complete AMS, starting from the contents of the existing study.

    1. Expected  services and deliverables

 

The contractor will assist in:

  • deepening the assessment of the current situation in Jordan related to Government AM (laws, inputs, outputs, list of the actors involved and their role, existing systems)
  • assessing international experiences in the field of AMS, by organizing a Study tour to a third Country
  • drafting  the main functional requirements related to the implementation of a complete AMS.

 

The contractor will deliver a document, based on the existing study delivered during the first phase of the e-accounting project, containing the main functional requirements related to the implementation of a complete AMS.

 

The document will be delivered consistently with the submitted Work Plan.


 

 

 


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