Manage the finances of social services precisely

Ultimately it is about the individual citizen. Which services does he or she receive? What do they cost? Are they of any help? This information makes it possible to manage finances, keep a budget and help citizens in the best possible way within the financial framework.

AS2007 started off as a solution for settlement of social services in and between municipalities. Today it has become much more than that. AS2007 provides a financial overview, a possibility of budget follow-up and a basis for statistics and management information.

The municipality of Odense in Denmark is among the 21 municipalities that use AS2007. All costs in the area of socially marginalized children and young people are entered into AS2007. Helle Damgaard Pedersen, a financial consultant in the Children and Family Department sums up the result of AS2007 as “We keep the budget.”

AS2007 has cracked the credit curve
The municipality of Horsens has similar ambitions. “In the long term, we can use the information from AS2007 to make a ‘tool box’ for the social workers so that they know they keep within the financial framework when they combine the services based on this ‘tool box’” says Søren Grotkær, Finance Director and Head of Administration. He uses AS2007 for financial management.

“It has cracked the curve. The costs of specialized social services are decreasing. We make continuous budget follow-up based on our budget assumptions so that we can immediately see if something goes wrong. We have different levels of accessibility in different departments in the municipality. And the precise reporting has changed the conversations in the committee. Previously the politicians might grant an extra DKK10 million for snow removal. The snow had to be removed anyway but it was difficult for them to understand why we could not simply put some citizens on the waiting list even though they had a right to the services according to the Consolidation Act on Social Services,” says Søren Grotkær.

Provides a holistic effort
Regarding budget follow-up, Søren Grotkær is enthusiastic about the AS2007 invoice module which CGI has developed in collaboration with the municipalities that are members of the AS2007 user club. When an invoice is received, it is transferred to AS2007 where the user can soon see if it is consistent with the purchase order. If that is the case it will be paid. If there is no consistency, it is up to the user to find out whether it is a wrong invoice or a wrong purchase order.

Budgeting two years ahead with AS2007
In the municipality of Herning, Antonio Barahona, team leader in Finance and Controlling, describes additional ways to use AS2007. “We use the system, among other things, to work out 12 month forecasts and qualify the budget follow-up. We also use AS2007 to budget two years ahead. We have also made great savings in social services for the handicapped where we had to find DKK1 million on referrals.” AS2007 was used for documenting the effort. All changes are entered into the system and used in financial reporting.

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