Page 60 - CMA Journal (Sep-Oct 2025)

Articles Section

Therefore, there is an urgent need for digital Public
transformation in PAC operations to ensure timely, Accounts
Committee
effective, and informed decision-making. Digital (PAC)
platforms can streamline the entire oversight process,
from issuing meeting notices and managing audit Departments
Experts
observations to tracking decisions and compiling (Auditees)
reports, thereby enhancing both efficiency and
transparency.
PACIS
Stakeholders
Public Accounts Committee Information
System (PACIS) Provincial
Assembly of Office of the
Accountant
To get rid of the cumbersome paper-based proceedings Balochistan General,
(PAC Balochistan
and make the parliamentary oversight process more Branch)
efficient, an innovative idea for the digitization of the Department
of the
traditional paper-based PAC was conceived by the Auditor
Provincial Assembly of Balochistan. The idea was then General
Pakistan
implemented through Public Accounts Committee
Information System (PACIS). Launched in August 2023, Transforming Oversight: Key Benefits of the PACIS
PACIS provides secure, role-based access to all
stakeholders involved in the oversight process. These The digitization of the legislative oversight process was
include PAC members, the PAC Section in the Balochistan initiated after strategically considering all promising
Provincial Assembly Secretariat, government benefits including efficiency, productivity, cost saving
departments (auditees), the offices of the Director and responsiveness. During the development stage of
General Audit and Accountant General Balochistan, and PACIS, the feedback of the end-users was highly valued to
expert representatives from the Law & Parliamentary make the system more acceptable. The key noted
Affairs, Planning & Development, and Finance benefits are:
departments Government of Balochistan.
Enhanced PACIS significantly improves the productivity of the PAC
efficiency and and its supporting staff. It has enabled the Committee to
PACIS is a web-based System productivity achieve optimal outputs within shorter timeframes.

Improved Overall process from issuing meeting notices to
Timeliness preparation of PAC reports has significantly expedited.

Increased Enabled the PAC to conduct critical evaluation of audit
Analytical observations and make more informed, data-driven
Effectiveness decisions.

Standardization PACIS has enabled focused and coordinated deliberation
and Procedural among PAC members, thereby achieving the goal of more
Uniformity effective decision-making.

Simplified Data Required information can be easily retrieved from
Retrieval centralized repository with just a few clicks.

Improved A built-in alert and notification system facilitates timely
Digital Transformation of Compliance compliance with PAC directives.

through
PAC Proceedings: The PACIS Workflow Notification
System
Advanced PACIS allow users to filter, categorize and visualize the data
Entry of Audit Observations Issuance of Notices and Filtering and and information as per their required needs.
into PACIS Meeting Agendas Receiving of Departmental Visual Analytics

Responses
Entry of audit observa ons Genera on and dissemina on Receiving of replies from
into the PACIS system based on of official no ces and mee ng relevant departments through Integrated Each audit observation, in the first paragraph, outlines the
the Audit Report issued by the agendas to all par cipants via the PACIS pla orm. Reference violated criteria. To support thorough understanding, if
Auditor General of Pakistan. PACIS.
Resources
access to referenced criteria.
Environmental Digitization in the public sector offers not only
Submission of Additional System Access for Meeting Presentation of Cases for Benefits of administrative and governance advantages but also
Audit Comments Preparation Deliberation Digitizing significant environmental benefits. The implementation of
Provision of me to the Audit Allowing adequate me for Display of complete audit Public Sector PACIS has evidently decreased the usage of thousands of
Office for submission of PAC members and other cases, one at a me, to PAC
addi onal comments or audit par cipants to login to PACIS members and mee ng Processes papers, which in most of the cases were for one-time use of
briefs in response to and prepare for the upcoming par cipants via screens for the Committee. Therefore, digitalization of the
departmental replies. mee ng. discussion and resolu on.
proceedings of PAC will for surely contribute to
deforestation, decrease in water and energy consumption
and carbon emissions involved in papers production and
Archiving of Approved transportation of paper.
Deliberation on Audit Recording of Meeting Minutes Minutes Cost Reduction Paper-based systems involve procurement, carrying,
Observations Documenta on of detailed Uploading of the approved
Structured discussion on each minutes during the mee ng mee ng minutes to PACIS, storage, printing and binding costs. The digitization of PAC
audit observa on. proceedings. ensuring access for all relevant proceedings in Balochistan has substantially decreased the
stakeholders. usage of papers.

58 ICMA’s Chartered Management Accountant, Sep-Oct 2025