All National Government Offices will soon use an online system called BTMS to process their financial transactions

The Department of Budget and Management (DBM) has recently issued Circular Letter No. 2019-4 introducing therein a new online system called the Budget and Treasury Management System (BTMS) which is envisioned to be used by all National Government Agencies (NGAs), including State Universities and Colleges (SUCs) and Commissions of the Government, in processing government financial transactions.

The Circular was issued by the DBM to standardize and automate the budget utilization of the spending agencies of the government through the adoption and use of the BTMS as the core and foundation of an integrated Financial Management Information System (FMIS) and the sole means for obligating, disbursing, and reporting all government expenditures.

The BTMS, which was piloted by select government agencies such as the DBM, Bureau of the Treasury (BTr), and Department of Education, is an integrated and web-based FMIS built on a centralized database to support the Public Financial Management (PFM) processes of the government.

It covers the budget execution and the budget utilization phases of the National Budget cycle and supports the following PFM functions: budget management, commitments management, payments management, receipts management, cash management, debt management, property, plant and equipment (i.e., fixed assets), accounting, and fiscal reporting.

Moreover, the BTMS provides standard workflow and signing authorities ensuring proper segregation of duties and enforcement of budget execution controls.

Use and Functions of the BTMS

The major functionality of the BTMS is budget utilization. It has the capability to carry out expenditures in accordance with the General Appropriations Act (GAA).

Stated simply, the BTMS automates the processing of budget utilization forms, including automatic recording of obligations in registries and reports.

The BTMS also establishes standard workflows and signing authorities i.e., maker, reviewer, approver for the budget utilization and disbursement process.

The system is also capable of generating standard forms such as Procurement Request (PR), Purchase Order (PO), Budget Utilization Request and Status (BURS), Disbursement Voucher (DV), and Journal Entry Voucher (JEV), among others.

Additionally, the BTMS can also generate budget and financial accountability reports and financial statements, both on a consolidated and disaggregated format.

According to the Circular, all agencies concerned are required to use the BTMS starting July 1, 2019.

To know more about the guidelines on how to use the BTMS click here or go to BTMS website for more details.