State Treasury

A digitalisation triple jump saves working time, reduces errors and supports knowledge-based management

Both outdated technology and cumbersome processes were modernised through the Finnish State Treasury’s system reform. A modern cloud-based solution saves a considerable amount of working time, reduces the risk of manual errors and supports knowledge-based management in ministries.

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CHALLENGE

An entirely new system and process

The Finnish state’s central accounting is handled by the State Treasury. Part of this work involves maintaining the breakdown of budgetary accounts. This includes refining the content of the budget approved by Parliament to a sufficient level of detail for the operation of the different administrative branches. However, the process that had been followed for decades and the latest system used for the breakdown of budgetary accounts (TATI) had reached the end of their lifespan.

The old TATI system was functioning unreliably, and using it required a lot of manual work, taking up specialists’ time and increasing the risk of errors. In addition, not all information related to the breakdown of accounts could be stored in the system. The objective was to build a modern and completely new cloud-based system that would make the work related to the breakdown of accounts easier and more automated in ministries as well. The system was also expected to produce transparent and up-to-date information to support decision-making.

“We wanted to reform the entire process for the breakdown of budgetary accounts, not just replace the old system with a new one. The old TATI system could only be used by a few members of the central accounting team, and government agencies and ministries sent information to them by email. We wanted to make this work much smoother,” says Jari Kannela, Financial Administration Specialist at the State Treasury.

SOLUTION

User needs at the centre of planning

Through a public competitive tendering process, the State Treasury chose Gofore as their partner. The system reform was implemented in an agile manner using the Scrum model. The project started with service design. First, the system’s future users were interviewed. A new process for the breakdown of budgetary accounts was then designed in which the central accounting organisation and the ministries worked using a single system.

“Getting people involved was particularly important when the number of users increased from about five to more than a hundred. When the designer started drawing the user paths, quite a lot of things that could be automated were discovered,” Kannela says.

Alongside the service design, system programming was started. When building the new TATI2 system, integrations were also considered. It was necessary to be able to receive information directly from the Ministry of Finance’s information system, for example. The first production version was completed less than a year after the kickoff meeting.

“This was the first information system project during my career that clearly included one team, even though people from different organisations participated. This was reflected in how the developers not only implemented the client’s wishes but also presented their own views and proposals for solutions,” Kannela states.

This was the first information system project during my career that clearly included one team, even though people from different organisations participated.

Jari Kannela / Financial Administration Specialist, State Treasury

OUTCOME

Faster, fewer errors and increased transparency

The State Treasury’s new cloud-based TATI2 system speeds up the maintenance work for the breakdown of budgetary accounts, minimises errors resulting from manual data processing and promotes knowledge-based management.

“When the project was presented, one financial director from a ministry commented that this wasn’t about taking only a single leap but a digitalisation triple jump. Work that previously required several systems and separate notes now takes place centrally in a single system. In particular, the processing of changes that causes a lot of work is much easier to do, both at the ministries and in central accounting,” Kannela says.

The information used by the ministries is more precise, reliable and up to date. This helps increase the transparency and quality of decision-making. The reform immediately made work smoother at both the State Treasury and the ministries, and thanks to the agilely developed cloud system, the future looks bright.

“In the autumn, we received an almost complete template for the breakdown of budgetary accounts directly in the TATI2 system, based on the budget proposal, to be updated by the ministries. Previously, we exchanged several different Excel files with the ministries and then the changed data had to be interpreted and entered manually into the old system. This time, we didn’t need to store information multiple times that had already been entered once, and the working time saved could be used for more beneficial purposes.”

“Earlier, we had to set aside a few weeks’ worth of working time for three people in central accounting alone at the turn of the year to store, check and email the breakdowns of budgetary accounts. This time, the whole process took one person a little more than a week,” Kannela says, illustrating the time saved.

Earlier, we had to set aside a few weeks’ worth of working time for three people in central accounting alone at the turn of the year to store, check and email the breakdowns of budgetary accounts. This time, the whole process took one person a little more than a week.

Jari Kannela / Financial Administration Specialist, State Treasury

Project highlights

Challenge

The State Treasury’s system used for the breakdown of budgetary accounts was outdated: the system was functioning unreliably, and using it required a lot of manual work, taking up specialists’ time and increasing the risk of errors. The objective was to build a modern system that would support the new process, making the work related to the breakdown of accounts easier and more automated. The information produced to support decision-making also needed to be more transparent, and reporting was to be implemented with Power BI.

Approach

The system reform was implemented using the Scrum model and listening closely to users’ needs. Service design and system programming were carried out in an agile manner at the same time. This helped complete the first production version in less than a year from the kickoff meeting. Cloud-based technology scales to meet the needs of a multiplied user base and caters to any potential future increase in the number of users.

Outcome

The new TATI2 system speeds up the maintenance work for the breakdown of budgetary accounts, minimises errors resulting from manual data processing and promotes knowledge-based management. TATI2 already demonstrated how well it functions during the first breakdown of budgetary accounts, where several weeks’ work was saved compared to the earlier situation. It will also be easier to carry out further development on top of the solution that has been created.