The following course will assist you in understanding how a new project is created on the system. Registering and maturing projects on this system ensures alignment with the latest Municipal Standard Chart of Accounts (MSCOA) and the Municipal Finance Management Act (MFMA) Circular 80 business processes.  It furthermore assists in retaining vital institutional memory pertaining to projects within the organisation because project knowledge no longer resides on the spreadsheet or computer of one individual.

Standardisation of the type of data collected on each project ensures parity and fairness across your organisation.  Given that the creation and planning of projects are done within a standardised format, it allows for the prioritising of projects across a wide and diverse spectrum of project types, all using the same basic metrics.  Prioritisation gets done bespoke for each organisation for consideration during the annual budgeting process.  The outputs can be appraised with powerful analytical tools and reports offered by the system. This course provides context to the project planning component of the system and consists of the following:

• An introduction to project planning and creation, followed by key concepts and system terminology.
• Populating or editing general project information that includes the project name, description and responsibility for the implementation of the project.
• Accessing and aligning the project’s MSCOA segments in terms of the function-, project-, item assets & liabilities- and cost segments.
• Aligning project outcomes to the strategic goals and objectives of the organisation.
• Determining a project’s implementation readiness.
• Outlining possible risks during project implementation.
• Defining interdependencies between projects planned.
• Uploading proof of evidence using the document repository.

After completing this course, users of the system will be able to:

1. Create and plan projects to be included in the organisation’s prioritisation, budgeting and implementation processes.
2. Plan projects following the MFMA Circular 80 business processes.
3. Ensure MSCOA compliance of capital projects through the use of the system for successful alignment to all seven MSCOA segments.
4. Report project alignment with the strategic goals, objectives and other priorities of the organisation.
5. Plan for the implementation readiness of projects.
6. Plan for various risks anticipated during project implementation.
7. Understand how project planning and technical information is used for purposes of prioritising projects during the budgeting process.