AFRO-NETS> Looking for appropriate software (3)

Looking for appropriate software (3)
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Hi Steve,

Looking for appropriate software
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Greetings,

I am hoping to draw on the collective experience of list members to
point me in the direction of some appropriate software.

My name is Eckhard Kleinau and I work for John Snow Inc. responsible for HMIS development(recently completed a MIS for the largest USAID child survival project, BASICS, in MS-Access).

I am very interested in the problem you are trying to solve, because it is an issue in many countries that decentralize to the district level. I might not have an easy solution, but it might be worth considering Quicken which is relatively easy to use and simple to manage budgets
(you need to find an old version that still runs under DOS, I assume). Without knowing more it is difficult to judge whether such a simple solution is appropriate. Some factors to consider are:

- Need to track expenditures by government budget line items
- Need to follow government accounting format
- Is a variance analysis required (budget vs. expenditures)
- Should expenditures be tracked by public health objectives (prevention
  vs, treatment) and service delivery goals (i.e., essential package of
  services)
- Is an aggregation across district necessary
- Is the location of spending important (individual facilities,
  hospitals, primary care providers, communities)

All these could substantially change the software requirements and make a custom application more appropriate. I agree, Lotus 123 could go a long way. We have developed very complex budget spreadsheets for BASICS within a few weeks (automated with macros) and staff has been able learn fast.

Let me know whether I can help any more.

Regards

Eckhard

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Eckhard Kleinau
John Snow Inc
mailto:EKLEINAU@basics.org

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