The province of Utrecht's task is to enhance the province's attractiveness and facilitate growth in a way that preserves the quality of space. The province works towards a sustainable and healthy living environment, with valuable nature and clean water. A province with lively cities and villages, with safe and sustainable mobility, and with a strong economy.

Issue

In 2015, a scan conducted by IMPROVEN on the quality of the financial function of the province of Utrecht showed that the development of financial management was lagging behind. The problems were caused, among other things, by outdated records, lack of connection between financial records and provincial processes, lengthy audits with many areas for improvement, and incorrect forecasts. This led the province of Utrecht to conclude that a province-wide approach was needed to strengthen the financial function.

Approach

In 2019, the province and IMPROVEN jointly developed the 'Strengthening Financial Function' programme. The programme aimed to improve and strengthen the finance and control function. The programme focused on improving financial control, improving financial forecasting, accelerating and improving reporting, and strengthening the organisation. The approach taken consisted of several streams, including organising a consistent financial control organisation across the province, up-to-date administration, improved forecasting power, and implementing ownership of financial processes and systems.

Results

The improvement programme has resulted in:

  • Clear job content for all finance functions so that better collaboration could be achieved
  • Unambiguous ownership of financial processes and systems so that lines of communication became short
  • A central obligation counter per domain which led to better recording and monitoring of obligations, and periodic closures were introduced that improved the reliability of financial data
  • Improved design of internal control activities so that the quality of control was more quickly and fully understood
  • Improved reliability and legality of financial information so that the board and management could steer and decide with confidence.
  • Increased efficiency and effectiveness of financial processes
  • Teams trained in the improved way of working

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Maarten Franken

The province of Utrecht's task is to enhance the province's attractiveness and facilitate growth in a way that preserves the quality of space. The province is working towards a sustainable and healthy living environment, with valuable nature and clean water. A province with lively cities and villages, with safe and sustainable mobility, and [...]