AFMIS news

Latest update from AFMIS

According to the reports during webex, as regard to AFMIS progress, up to date approx. 110 out of 600 institutions have access to web portal while for the time being the roll-out is stopped as AFMIS team is looking to increase server capacity.

As regards to AFMIS -HRMIS interface the testing is ongoing, while the integration between General Directorate of Customs and PPA (Public Procurement Agency) is expected to happen.

As of today, 57 Line Ministries/Central Institutions consisting in 361 users are using PIM, MTBP and BPPM modules. As regards to IPSIS integration with AFMIS, both systems are fully compatible and real data is needed.

Because of Covid-19 pandemic, the AFMIS roll out activity was stopped, as this process involves a lot of staff training. MoFE has required the AFMIS guaranty period extension from 31 October 2020 until 31 January 2021 (three months extension), considering the fact that AFMIS roll out support interrupted during the March-May 2020

Technical group meeting on final stage of IPS2 project

A webex meeting facilitated by World Bank Office in Tirana, took place on June 9^th, 2020.

Meeting moderated by Ms. Evis Sulko, Mr. Cem Dener from World Bank with participation of representatives of all MIS teams, IPSIS system implementing company and NAIS team. The overall objective of the meeting was to give updates on MIS activities and share ideas and plans on sustainability. Ms. Evis Sulko, opened the meeting and welcomed the attendees, highlighting the need to focus on sustainability as the project is coming to closure.

All MIS representatives shared their updates about respective systems, current situation and challenges ahead. Ms, Aurela Velo gave updates on the status of web portal and access of institutions, other system integrations and challenges ahead.

Following the discussions raised by MoFE, Mr. Cem Dener advised to focus on the preparation of a defined methodology and procedures to be followed for system support. On the other hand a detailed analysis is required in order to make an informed decision on server capacity increase able to cope with workload and users.

As regards to EAMIS the post-warranty contract is signed within IPS 2 Trust Fund 2 project timeline. IPSIS system is reported to be in the stage of official acceptance for the system

Testing HRMIS-AFMIS at Treasury office at MoFE

On 8 May started the process of testing with real data on the integration of HRMIS with AGFIS for the automation of payments of public administration wages. The testing process is going well, however some minor issues are encountered from HRMIS side on which the respective contracted company is working to resolve them. AFMIS team has been working intensively even at COVID-19 restrictions and a few meetings have been organized only in urgent cases, respecting the anti-covid measures

AFMIS roll-out & systems contracting at glance

The Progress of AFMIS system during January-May 2020 is as follows:

The Treasury team is following the daily operations. There are currently 102 budgetary institutions accessing the Web Portal. For the time being the Roll-out is focused only in the configurations of new users and BI’s in the system and the support of BI’s which are using the web portal already, an activity carried out by IT and the functional support staff at MoFE.
With regard to MTBP and PIM, currently in AFMIS there are live 9 Ministries (out of 11 ) and 16 Budgetary Institutions ( out of 35). The process of data population and roll-out is not continuing due to Covid-19 restrictions.
The confirmation of EAMIS- AFMIS integration document is already finalized and signed by NAIS team members.

All systems contracting status

AFMIS rollout > Progress in using or rolling out MTBP, PIM and web portal. AFMIS contract was closed (no pending payments; acceptance certificate issued despite remaining interfaces and digital signature).
IPSIS testing and acceptance > Progress in remote acceptance of IPSIS modules and remote training in place
EAMIS acceptance and post-warranty is issued and in the process of signing with the developing company Synergy.

AFMIS integration progress in COVID-19 time

Currently there are live in AFMIS (these modules MTBP, PIM and BPPM) 9 ( nine) Ministries (out of 11 ) and 16 Budgetary Institutions ( out of 35). The process of data population and roll-out was interrupted during the period March-May 2020 due to Covid-19 restrictions. Other institutions which hasn’t populated the system yet need support in their offices to use the system and such thing is not possible during the current lock-down and social distancing. It is very important to explain and guide the appointed persons to use the system correctly in the first phase of using it, since appointed persons are not yet familiarized with the system. This process needs to restart when the lock-down is eased all over the country. Meanwhile, some issues were found during this time and the contracting company is working to solve them. It is expected that the process of data population continues during end of May and June.

AFMIS roll-out progress

AFMIS team is working for preparation of Web- Portal rollout plan for 2020, which is expected to be ready by end of December 2019. Nevertheless, several organizational obstacles and challenges for the Budgetary Institutions are identified, in relation to the access to web portal:

There are three types of challenges:

There is a lack of logistics (no scanners in Budgetary Institutions even they are previously notified by TDOs);
There are some issues regarding the compliance of financial specialists and execution officer functionalities with the internal financial controls rules in some Budgetary Institutions (financial specialist, which input the financial information and execution officer, which approve the financial information, is same person). The system is built in compliance with the internal financial controls rules: the person who register/input the financial information and the person who approve such information must be different persons.

During November other 15 institutions have been granted access in electronic archive and almost 50 employees are trained. The process has slowed down due to recent earthquake and damages in some BI’s offices.

In MTBP module two institutions have been granted access, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development as well as Ministry of Energy and Infrastructure. AFMIS team is currently working to gather information about the PIM, MTBP, and BPPM from the line ministries and other central institutions in order to include them in system configuration.

AFMIS Integrations

As regards to integration of AFMIS with other systems, work is in progress in several directions. The interface between HRMIS – AGFIS communication, a technical document for starting testing among HRMIS and AGFIS is approved. It is planned that the tests will last for three weeks. The tests, according to the plan, should start in December. With regard to AGFIS – APP integration, the technical document is approved and agreed, by two institutions. It is expected that APP defines the testing dates

Training of TDO-s for web portal and Electronic archive

Starting from September, all TDO’s with the support of Business Process Directorate in General Treasury Department are training respective BIs for the implementation of the electronic archive of all supporting documents for their transactions executed in AGFIS.

For this purpose, AFMIS team is carrying out a series of training with TDO-s for the implementation of electronic archive through web portal. Almost 30 TDOs have been trained, while the remaining six will be trained in the coming weeks.

With the support of Business Processing Directorate, almost 60 budget institutions have been trained consisting in 360 trained employees. IT department has completed the configuration in web portal for 30 budget institutions and will continue with others. While at the same time, NAIS and IT department at MOFE and those in other institutions are working closely to ensure access to web portal to respective institutions. This process is expected to be a bit long, as all structures involved are geographically far from each other and located in different districts of Albania.

Integration and testing with other systems (INSTAT, eKonsultimet, QPZ) NAIS, DDGG, INSTAT, QPZ and Vendors have been undergoing during October

AFMIS and HRMIS integration in progress

AFMIS team is working jointly with HRMIS toward the development of integration between two systems AFMIS and HRMIS. Pilot testing will follow with the aim to going live with this interface in 2020. This development will help in automating the payment of salaries for civil servants.

Changes to the Treasury Bill transfer process have been discussed with AKSHI, DoPA and the Joint Venture that maintains the HRMIS system and an initial evaluation was made that required the development of a separate module for these operations. It was agreed that at this stage, only posting the treasury bill is necessary.
For this, a testing period was granted, and successful tests have been made, in posting dummy data from HRMIS to AFMIS via the GG interface.

Now the implementation phase will begin, and according to the agreements between the institutions the time to go live will be communicated.

The planned changes will make possible posting the treasury file from HRMIS to AFMIS by replacing the existing functions of HRMIS.

AFMIS integration with other systems

AFMIS is expected to be integrated with other systems, herein we are updating on the status of some of them.

The communication on QBZ/IPSIS interface is in process and the fields are agreed with PM legal Department, QBZ institution, IPSIS and NAIS teams. The communication is followed in at technical and vendor level. QBZ vendor has delivered the API document. IPSIS JV is developing the web service end point and API document which should be shared with QBZ vendor in order integrate both to GG and follow with testing phase.
Treasury department at MoFE has concluded a technical solution with APP for the integration of EPS with AGFIS.

The software company is working with the implementation of the technical solution. Integration of APP (Albanian Procurement Portal) with AGFIS is very important component because it will ensure that only budget institutions that have available funds can undertake procurement process. On the other hand, this integration enables every user of the Public Investment Module Management in AFMIS to get information from APP about stages of procurement and funds available for a specific project.