A major improvement the Department has begun is the computerization of its accounting records through the implementation of the Commission on Audit (COA) Electronic New Government Accounting System (e-NGAS). Almost all financial processing and recordkeeping is done manually, which is inherently prone to errors, particularly due to the large volume of transactions the Department handles.

During FY 2002, the Department was named as a pilot agency for the COA computerized e-NGAS. A Steering Committee and Technical Working Group comprised of membership from both COA and DPWH was formed in August of 2002 and updated in March 2004 to ensure its successful implementation.

COA conducted training for the e-NGAS users and administrators in March 2004. This training provided users and administrators an overview and understanding of how the e-NGAS would function. Implementation of the system began in April of 2004. The system setup procedures are underway and it is anticipated that the system will be in full operation by the end of 2004 in the Central Office.

It is estimated that the Central Office alone, has over 250,000 transactions a year of various types. The e-NGAS will allow the Department to better manage this volume of transactions, and ensure that transactions are properly recorded and posted. It will improve the accuracy of financial information. The e-NGAS will also allow the Department to begin developing management reporting of financial information, needed for operational and decision making. This will greatly assist in the monitoring of internal controls within the Department.

The current version of the e-NGAS includes the General Ledger (including Subsidiary Ledgers) and Inventory modules, which will greatly improve upon the Departments recording and reporting of transactions. After these modules are implemented, the Budget module will begin implementation in the Central Office. COA anticipates that other modules of e-NGAS will be available in the future. The Department has also developed a strategy for implementation of e-NGAS in Regional and District Offices, which should begin later in FY 2004. The e-NGAS will be run in parallel with the manual NGAS to fully test the system.