The town opens its books
The Municipality of Hafnarfjörður has decided to open its accounts and make them accessible on its website. A new reality calls for new solutions, and with this initiative, Hafnarfjörður Municipality wishes to respond to the call for increased visibility and transparency, as well as for greater interest and public awareness of its operations. Work on the open accounts will begin in the coming days, and it is expected that the accounts will be accessible on the website in the spring.
The City of Hafnarfjörður has decided to open its accounts and make them accessible on its website. The aim is to increase users' access to financial information and to explain the allocation of the municipality's funds in the simplest possible way and in a visual format. The new reality calls for new solutions, and with this initiative, Hafnarfjörður wishes to respond to the call for increased visibility and transparency, as well as for greater interest and public awareness of its operations.
The Hafnarfjörður Town Council, at its meeting this week, approved authorising the mayor to enter into an agreement with Capacent to implement open book accounting for the municipality. The Mayor, Haraldur L. Haraldsson, today signed a contract with Capacent, which has developed a methodology that meets the new needs of the market. The project uses a Power BI solution from Microsoft, and Capacent will be responsible for the setup and operation of this solution for the City of Hafnarfjörður. This web-based solution offers powerful self-service visual analytics, access to interactive reports, and the ability to view data from various perspectives. The financial information published online includes, among other things, the municipality's income and expenditure, the development of operating items, the development of key financial ratios for the municipality in comparison with benchmarks for municipal finance, and a breakdown of costs by cost codes, organisational units and suppliers. „With open books, we make the financial data of the City of Hafnarfjörður and key figures from its operations not only easily accessible to all interested parties, but the presentation of the data will also be graphical, designed to increase understanding and further the interest in the city's operations. The running of the municipality is a collaborative effort involving all stakeholders, and it is important that everyone has a voice and the opportunity to understand and express their opinions. Open books are a very positive step for us and will undoubtedly bring the running of the municipality closer to the community, and the community closer to us.“ says Haraldur L. Haraldsson, Mayor of Hafnarfjörður, following the signing of an agreement.
Work on the open books of the City of Hafnarfjörður will begin in the coming days, and it is expected that the books will be accessible on the City of Hafnarfjörður's website in the spring.