The functioning of county governments is regulated by clearly defined dates set in national laws. You can picture the county calendar as three parallel and concurrent calendars:
- one that guides decisions about future spending – Budgeting
- one that guides this year’s spending and service delivery – Implementation
- and one that looks back at what was done last year – Report and Audit
Budgeting - Making choices, by setting priorities and targets for next year
Based on CIDP priorities, reports on the status of ongoing projects and eventual new emerging priorities, the County approves the projects to be appraised, costed and funded in the next year (Annual Development Plan, ADP), then estimates past and future revenues and expenditures (CBROP) to set fiscal policies and prioritize resource allocations across sectors (CFSP ceilings). Sectors will then prioritize and refine their programs within given ceilings to arrive at the final budget.
Implementation - Counties spend this year on what was approved last year
Once received the legal mandate to raise revenue and spend (appropriation), county departments fine-tune their workplans, procurement plans, cash flow projections, set performance targets and provide services (budget implementation). Quarterly reports allow for monitoring progress on spending and on key performance indicators to inform management adjustments and eventual supplementary appropriations.
Report and Audit – Look at what was spent (and how) last year to adjust and improve
The County Treasury submits the consolidated accounts and financial statements to the Office of the Auditor General (OAG) for review. Within three months, OAG conducts financial and performance audits and sends the audit report to the County Assembly (CA). Both the CA and OAG are mandated to publish the audit report/opinion on their websites. The County Assembly has three months to debate the OAG report and act upon it to ensure issues are addressed by the County.
The following are some key milestones along with the three calendars:
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Budgeting |
Implementation |
Report and Audit |
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July |
Budget Circular |
Appropriation/ Spending warrant Procurement Plans Work Plans Performance Contracts |
Prior Financial Year (FY) Quarter (Q)4 and draft Annual Report Audit Preparation Memo |
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August |
Draft Annual Development Plan (ADP) |
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September |
Approved ADP (submitted to Assembly by Sept 1) County Budget Review and Outlook Paper (Treasury send draft to CEC by September 30) |
Annual Financial Statements |
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October |
County Budget Review and Outlook Paper (submitted to Assembly by October 21) |
Q1 Reports (Jul-Sept) |
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November |
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December |
Audited Accounts and Report |
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January |
Q2 Reports (Oct-Dec) Performance Review |
MTEF Sector Reports |
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February |
County Fiscal Strategy Paper (submitted to Assembly by February 28) County Debt Management Strategy |
Audit Management Response? |
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March |
Assembly debated and acted on Audit Report |
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April |
Budget Estimates (submitted to Assembly by April 30) (Citizen Budget) |
Q3 Reports (Jan-Mar) |
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May |
Draft Work Plans, Procurement Plans, Cashflow Forecasts |
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June |
Budget Approval Appropriation and Finance Bill (before end of fiscal year, June 30) |
Draft Q4 and Annual reports |
Laws and Regulations:
The Public Finance Management Act, 2012
The Public Finance Management – County Government Regulations, 2015
Other resources:
