Catching up with FreeBalance

Caught up with Matthew Olivier last night over dinner at Boat Quay. He's the Director of Global Communications for FreeBalance, a Canuck financial management vendor that specialises in working with developing countries to put the financial controls in place expected by the international donor community.

I first caught up with FreeBalance in October 2004, and since then they've completely reoriented their business away from their traditional customer (the Canadian government) to opportunities in Africa and increasingly Asia.

I knew that they'd been quick to get a toehold in Timor-Leste; but was pleasantly surprised to see that they'd also got traction in Mongolia and Afghanistan - and they're currently in play for a number of potentially "company altering" deals here in Southeast Asia.

What I found interesting was the significance of the new financial management solution to the civil servants working in Afghanistan's Ministry of Finance. As far as they're concerned, it regularises their work, and builds bridges between them and their peers in other countries.

Sure it's baby steps in the right direction, against a backdrop of a very challenging security situation, but you need to build up institutional identity - and effective financial management at a pan-government level will be a key component for building a sustainable sense of mission in Afghanistan's public sector.

Oh, and why did FreeBalance start looking overseas for its future business? Because an "international vendor", (okay, SAP if you must know), seems to have sewn up Canada's pan-government financial management software deal...