How Effective Financial Reporting Started with an Initiative in the Education Sector

In the past, the financial comptroller general office prepared a consolidated financial statement of the federal grant every trimester. This report helped development partners and other government agencies to monitor progress of the programs. Moreover, it helped keep track of how and where the funds were being used to maximize development impacts.

However, in the federal context, as the local governments did not have a system for reporting expenditures, the financial comptroller general office was unable to prepare the report.  This posed a major fiduciary risk since the federal government could not assess whether the funds released were used and if they were used for the intended purpose. It also hampered, to some extent, the release of more funds in the education sector.

Mobilized for the Ministry of Education, Science, and Technology, the public financial management support team struggled to consolidate financial statements incorporating expenditures of 753 local governments on public schools using federal grants. All possible means—from communicating with the local governments to publishing public notices to collect data—proved futile in getting the required information for the report.

The public financial management support team soon realized that the problem was not limited to the education sector. The government also struggled in managing the financial reporting in all sectors in the new federal context. Therefore, seeking solution for the education sector alone would be too restricting. It required a policy change in the overall financial reporting system of local governments.

ADB and the public financial management team engaged in a series of policy discussions with the Government—including the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Education, Science, and Technology—to understand the importance of having a system of financial reporting from the local governments and to come up with possible solutions. In early 2019, the government agreed to develop templates for financial management reports based on the Nepal Public Sector Accounting Standards, a version of cash-based International Public Sector Accounting Standards. The template covered all federal grants released to local governments.

The Office of the Auditor General then approved the hard-copy templates for use by local governments in reporting expenditures to the federal government.  However, challenges remained on the timely submission of the required financial information.

During the same period, the financial comptroller general office was developing a software system—the Subnational Treasury Regulation Authority—that will be used by the local governments on all financial transactions. By early 2020, the approved templates were embedded in the system. It allowed local governments to generate monthly, quarterly, and annual financial reports. It also enabled the financial comptroller general office to extract required and reliable financial reports automatically. This integration transformed the entire expenditure reporting system of all federal grants by local governments.

Once the Subnational Treasury Regulation Authority system was modified to accommodate expenditure reporting templates, capacity development of local government accountants followed. In view of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) situation, the financial comptroller general office and the public financial management team developed online training modules. Accountants and relevant staff of the local government offices were trained starting in November 2020.

Participants reported that the training provided them with a better understanding of financial management requirements and expressed confidence that their reports will have minimum error.

The support for Nepal’s education sector made a significant impact on larger public financial reform in the country. It enabled the federal government to receive financial reports for all expenditures made by the local governments in a timely manner.

Actual expenditure reporting from local governments to the federal government has now jumped to more than 95% compliance from 0% in 2018. The financial comptroller general office expects it to reach 100% by end of the first quarter of 2021 as financial management reports can be generated with much ease.

The local governments also recognized that the system helps them prepare financial statements easily, allowing them to report back to the federal government and promptly provide the required information to all stakeholders.

A solutions-oriented initiative from public financial management has enabled the national government to receive financial reports for all expenditures made by local governments. It has developed capacity at the local level and at the same time, strengthened governance and accountability in the country.

Asian Development Bank. 2016. Loan Agreement (Special Operations) for Loan 3452-NEP: Supporting School Sector Development Plan. Manila.

ADB. 2016. Nepal: Supporting School Sector Development Plan. 

ADB. 2016. Report and Recommendation of the President to the Board of Directors: Proposed Results-Based Loan and Technical Assistance Grant to Nepal for the Supporting School Sector Development Plan. Manila.