Local Government Financial Management

The series of 15 manuals cover comprehensively the field of local government financial management. They have been developed under the USAID Public Administration program in Slovakia and can be easily adapted to other countries needs. All Slovak examples to be replaced by local examples are highlighted by a Slovak flag. Each manual has two parts: Part I Theory and Part II Interactive exercises for self-study and training events.

The fifteen manuals are:

• Introduction: provides the basic information about the training series in order to be used as effectively as possible.
• Accounting as a Management Tool: concentrates on the development and use of accounting systems as a primary tool for decision-making.
• Financial Policy Making: explores the nature of financial policy and how policies are formulated and used systematically by local governments to guide and direct their financial affairs.
• Financial Planning: examines in depth the process by which local governments anticipate their future financial needs using a variety of planning and forecasting methods.
• Operating Budget: concentrates on the annual operating budget and its use as a primary financial planning and management tool as well as for estimating annual income and controlling expenditures.
• Capital Programming: examines the process of planning for the financing of future physical development needs to ensure that construction priority and schedules are coordinated with the availability of needed financial resources.
• Debt Management: is concerned with the way local governments can direct and control the issuance and retirement of debt as provided by law and good professional practice.
• Cash Management: describes in detail how to provide the cash needed to finance current operations while obtaining an optimum return on investments of idle cash consistent with the law and council policy.
• Revenue Maximization: examines how to make productive use of available revenue sources and to plan improvements in the existing revenue structure consistent with the law and council policy.
• Cost Containment: details the methods used by local governments to hold down or reduce the cost of governmental programs and services.
• Procurement: reviews in detail the lawful, efficient and ethical procurement of goods and services by a local government including a step-by-step tour of the public procurement cycle.
• Performance Measures: describes the use of performance measures to determine if and how well the intended purposes of local government are being achieved and how to set up a performance measurement system.
• Construction Cost Management: examines the process for planning and managing the cost of public works projects through the use of a five-phase cycle which stresses the importance of obtaining good value for money spent.
• Citizen Participation: provides a guide for local government officials in their efforts to involve citizens in a timely and constructive way in the development and implementation of public programs.
• Grants Management: offers advice for obtaining grants from outside funding sources and how grants of public funds can be used by a local government to achieve desired public objectives through their institutions