Public finance management is under pressure from slow revenue growth, rising debt service and growing demands for services. In this environment, a budget that merely balances on paper is not enough. Oversight bodies, auditors and citizens ask whether money was spent lawfully, whether hidden obligations threaten future budgets, and whether spending achieved anything measurable.

The Governance and Compliance in Budgeting, Fiscal Risk & Outcome-Based Budgeting Training Course addresses these three concerns together. It begins with the governance architecture of the budget: legal frameworks, roles of the executive, legislature and audit institutions, and the controls that make appropriation binding. It then covers fiscal risk, showing how to identify, classify, quantify and disclose risks from contingent liabilities, public enterprises, arrears and economic shocks. The remaining sessions teach outcome-based and programme budgeting, from defining programmes and indicators to linking performance information with allocation decisions and in-year monitoring.

Participants work on case material and templates throughout, including a fiscal risk register, a compliance checklist and a draft programme performance framework. They leave with tools and a short improvement plan that can be applied immediately in their own budget office or agency.

By the end of the course, participants will be able to:

• Describe the legal, institutional and ethical framework that governs the budget cycle.
• Apply expenditure controls, commitment rules and in-year monitoring to protect appropriations.
• Identify and classify fiscal risks, including contingent liabilities and public enterprise exposures.
• Quantify and prioritise fiscal risks and present them in a clear risk statement.
• Design programme structures with outcomes, outputs and measurable indicators.
• Link performance information to budget allocation and review decisions.
• Assess budget documents against transparency and compliance standards.
• Prepare a reform plan for strengthening budget governance in their institution.

The course is suited to public finance and planning professionals, including:

• Budget officers and finance directors in ministries, departments and agencies
• County and local government finance and planning staff
• Treasury and fiscal policy analysts
• Internal auditors and audit committee members
• Accountants responsible for public sector reporting
• Parliamentary and county assembly finance committee staff
• Development partner and donor finance advisers
• NGO and public entity managers handling government or donor funds

Participants leave the programme equipped with:

• A fiscal risk register template with scoring and disclosure guidance.
• A compliance checklist for testing budget proposals and execution reports.
• A programme structure with outcome indicators and targets for their own sector.
• A method for presenting performance information alongside budget requests.
• Talking points for explaining fiscal risk to senior managers and legislators.
• A practical improvement plan for budget governance in their organisation.

The programme links governance principles to everyday budget office tasks through:

• Facilitated discussion of budget documents and audit findings
• Case files on arrears, guarantees and programme restructuring
• Template-based workshops for risk registers and performance frameworks
• Group critiques of sample budget submissions
• Short scenario exercises on legislature and oversight engagement

A CPD-accredited Certificate of Completion from Vision Reach Global Consultancy is issued to participants who attend the full programme and complete the workshop exercises.