Supporting Accounting and Reporting Across the Government of Canada
The FreeBalance story began in Canada in 1984 and the company has been working with the Government of Canada ever since. The first customer to go-live with FreeBalance was the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) in 1986. Today, the FreeBalance Accountability Suite™ is one of the most widely deployed financial management systems inside the government and Canadian departments and agencies are using the system for enhanced public financial management.
FreeBalance worked closely with the Government of Canada Cluster (GCC) to co-develop the FreeBalance Accountability Suite™ in a customer-centric way. The GCC met regularly with FreeBalance and convened special committees to assist in specific product initiatives to support government reform, modernization and transparency initiatives. FreeBalance worked closely with the GCC to set product direction, review product specifications, provide beta testing and certify new versions of the FreeBalance Accountability Suite™. This collaboration created the model for the FreeBalance International Steering Committee which today guides the product development roadmap.
The shared services solution that FreeBalance provides to the Government of Canada provides invaluable insight for government’s decision makers. In addition, the FreeBalance Accountability Suite™ is used to manage public finances for the territory of Nunavut.
Current departments and agencies using the FreeBalance Accountability Suite™
- Canada Economic Development for Quebec Regions
- Canadian Energy Regulator
- Canadian Institutes of Health Research
- Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission
- Correctional Service Canada
- Courts Administration Services
- Financial Transactions and Reports Analysis Centre of Canada
- House of Commons
- Libraries and Archives Canada
- Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada
- Office of the Commissioner for Federal Judicial Affairs
- Public Service Commission of Canada
- Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness Canada
- Supreme Court of Canada
- Transport Canada
- Department of Finance (Government of Nunavut)
- Housing Corporation (Government of Nunavut)
Latest Developments
Upgrades to Version 7 of the FreeBalance Accountability Suite™
- Courts Administration Service (CAS)
- The project includes the upgrade of key Public Financial Management (PFM) functionality within the financials, revenue and purchasing modules of the FreeBalance Accountability Suite™. This includes the new (PFPF) Core Public Financials, (PEPR) Purchasing and Expenditure, (GRRV) Government Receipts Management, and (CSPL) Civil Service Planning modules.
The upgrade to Version 7 of the FreeBalance Accountability Suite™ provides the CAS with a unified, web-based solution with benefits like a multi-year graphical chart of accounts, fully configurable workflow management and enhanced reporting.
Context
The public finance approach to decentralization differs among countries. Some countries have unitary governments like in Mongolia. Other countries, like Canada, operate with a federal system. Some regions (states, provinces, territories), like the Territory of Nunavut (2,038,722 km2), are larger than many countries. These sub-national governments seek to improve the stewardship of public funds.
History
1984 – 1990 Early Days
Ottawa-based LinkTek engages Government of Canada departments and agencies to create a set of software products designed to improve financial management controls and control spending. Government organizations are able to see the amount available for spending, using commitment accounting functions, in real-time. The calculation of budget less commitments and actuals is known as the “free balance.” The default budget linkage to all financial impacting transactions reflects the company’s focus on government specific needs.
Result: LinkTek becomes so well known for “free balance” in real time that it changes its name to “FreeBalance”.
Further Reading
- How to improve your country’s PFM rankings
- FreeBalance customers perform better in their PEFA assessments
- Latest World Happiness Report shows that FreeBalance customers outperform the global average
Read more success stories on how we helped governments all over the world improve their fiscal transparency and accountability.
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Liberia
Since 2010, the Government of Liberia has successfully leveraged the FreeBalance Accountability Suite™ to enable modern comptrollership and governance throughout the public sector.
Mongolia
Transparency helps improve governance, particularly for high-growth resource-rich countries like Mongolia and the country has seen “dramatic improvements” in budget transparency as noted by the International Budget Partnership Open Budget Index (OBI).