Since 1984, the World Bank has financed 87 Financial Management Information System (FMIS) projects in 51 countries totaling over US $2.2 billion, of which US $938 million was for FMIS related information and communication technology (ICT) solutions. This study presents the World Bank’s experience with these investment operations to share the achievements and challenges observed, and provide guidance for improving the performance of future projects. The report is structured according to four overarching questions: • What historical patterns emerge from World Bank financed Treasury/FMIS projects? This includes an analysis of project scope, cost, duration, design, objectives, and ICT solutions, among other aspects. • How have such projects performed according to various criteria? • What are the key factors that contribute to the success and failure of projects? • What have we learned that could be useful for future projects? The findings of this report are primarily based on the 2010 FMIS Database, which includes 55 closed and 32 active FMIS projects implemented between 1984 and 2010 (7 pipeline projects are also analyzed in some sections). The data was gathered primarily from internal World Bank documents and sources, and complemented with interviews with project teams. The Database contains a rich set of operational data and performance ratings for the benefit of the World Bank task teams, government officials and other specialists involved in FMIS projects. Compared to the previously prepared draft FMIS report in 2003 (Dorotinsky and Cho), this study is based on a broader set of projects and documents in analyzing the performance and outputs of the FMIS projects, and presents more in-depth analysis of the success and failure factors. Based on the findings of the current study, the interventions of the World Bank in the design and implementation of FMIS solutions have been reasonably successful in most countries.

In the past decade, developing countries (DCs) have been encouraged to reform their public expenditure management systems and have increasingly embarked on major projects to computerize their government operations. Most popular among these have been projects to computerize government accounting and payment operations, by introducing government financial management information systems (FMISs). This paper investigates the reason for almost universal failure to implement and sustain FMISs in DCs. It starts with a review of the "received wisdom" in implementing these projects, and then analyzes problems in its application in the DC context to identify key factors to explain why FMIS projects have been so problematic. Based on the identified negative factors, suggestions for addressing them are offered in the hope of improving success rates.

A well-functioning financial management information system (FMIS) provides timely, reliable, and comprehensive reports that support implementation of the government's fiscal policies and fiscal rules, and the formulating, controlling, monitoring, and executing of the budget. The architecture of FMISs has undergone a transformation since these systems were first developed in the 1980s. Rather than attempting to cover all or most public financial management (PFM) functions, many FMISs now focus on a few core functions such as accounting and reporting, budget execution, and cash management. Yet a survey of 46 countries shows that many face severe challenges in transforming their FMIS into an effective tool of fiscal governance. These challenges relate to weaknesses in the system's core functions, its institutional coverage, the information technology platforms it uses, and the ease of sharing data with other IT systems. This How to Note discusses how to address these chal-lenges. Replacing an FMIS with an entirely new system may not be an optimal strategy. By utilizing the latest technology, a better approach may be to update or replace one or more core modules of the system: the so-called modular approach. Implementation of an effective FMIS, however, depends on two critical preconditions: strong political motivation and commitment, and the system's ability to meet ongoing and anticipated PFM needs.

?Financial Management Information Systems: 25 Years of World Bank Experience on What Works and What Doesn?t? was prepared as an updated and expanded version of the FMIS review report drafted in 2003, to highlight the achievements and challenges observed during the design and implementation of Bank funded FMIS projects since 1984.