Foreign Service’s operating and financial planning

The Foreign Ministry’s operating and financial planning and monitoring encompasses the strategic policies for the administrative branch, medium-term and short-term operating and financial planning as well as reporting on these.

The strategic departure points for planning are the Government Programme in force and other Government documents detailing the Programme, and the Government's decision on spending limits. Additional guiding sources are Government reports, policy programmes, decisions in principle and other Government statements.

The planning system is part of the joint planning system within the Finnish state administration and, from the perspective of the Foreign Ministry, as a process it includes the following phases:

Operating and financial plans and budget proposals

The purpose of the administrative branch’s operating and financial plan, and of the preparation of the overall spending limits, is to ensure that the Government Programme is implemented and that the priorities and policies set by the Government are taken into account in the internal steering of the administrative branches.

The administrative branch’s operating and financial plan and the spending limit proposal comprise the strategic policies for the planning period and the objectives set for the administrative branch’s tasks and activities based on them, and the indicators describing them, as well as the resources necessary for their implementation.

The public financial plans approved by the Government can be found on the Ministry of Finance’s website at http://vm.fi/en/frontpage(Link to another website.) (Opens New Window).

Draft budgets

The Foreign Service’s draft budget consists of:

  1. the ministry’s tentative performance targets for impact on society and operating efficiency in its administrative branch, as well as
  2. the ministry’s proposal for the coming year’s appropriations and budget authority.

The budgets in force can be found on the Ministry of Finance’s website at http://budjetti.vm.fi/indox/index.jsp(Link to another website.).

Budget implementation documents

The administrative branch’s budget implementation document is part of the planning and steering system within the government financial administration.

It sets out the administrative branch’s performance targets for the budget year and, on this basis, the decision on the allocation of the administrative branch’s resources among the operating units (the ministry units and the diplomatic missions) is prepared.

Operating and financial monitoring and reporting

With regard to the monitoring of appropriations, all of the operating units must monitor both the use of funds allocated to them and the implementation of the internal budget, and they must take the necessary measures if the monitoring so warrants.

During the year the units must report significant deviances relating to the attainment of objectives or the use of appropriations.

Read more about development cooperation appropriations on our website: Development cooperation appropriations (in Finnish).

Financial accounts

Foreign Ministry’s financial accounts

The Foreign Ministry’s financial accounts include the report on operations, the budget outturn statement, the income and expense statement, the balance sheet and notes to the financial accounts.

The Foreign Service’s personnel balance sheets

The personnel balance sheet is a decision-making tool that describes the state of the personnel on the basis of available statistical data.

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