Management of financial records at the Public Procurement and Disposal of Public Assets authority.

Abstract

The study assessed the management of financial records at PPDA. Financial records management seeks to efficiently control the life cycle of financial records routinely generated as a result of business activities and transactions. Many government agencies have a problem in managing financial records which are required for accountability and transparency. This research thus attempted to fill the gap by using PPDA as a case study. The study reviewed literature on concepts of financial records, lifecycle, management practices, benefits and challenges of financial records management. The study involved eleven respondents, including senior and junior staff of PPDA. From a qualitative nature of research strategy, interview, observation and document review where used as data collection instruments. The major findings of the study revealed that financial records are stored both manually and electronically. This leads to quick decision making, accountability and quick service delivery on addition to saving office space. However it was indicated that records are not managed according to the policies and guidelines on addition to being managed by non-records professionals. Therefore it was recommended that management of PPDA should allocate more funds to records management functions, recruit a professional records personnel to manage financial records and also consider off-site storage for semi-active financial records on addition to working with National Archives, Uganda for guidance on records of permanent value.