E-SPV salary validation in Ghana
Back in 2013 the Accountant General’s Department (CAGD) introduced the Government of Ghana Electronic Salary Payment Voucher (E-SPV). The aim of the E-SPV was to improve service delivery on the payroll and complement the GoGPayslip for public workers. Since workers who haven't validated their vouchers can't get paid, read on to find out all the details about the E-SPV and how to use it.
An obvious reality is that anybody who works expects some compensation subject to some agreeable terms including frequency of payment, which could be daily, weekly, one in a fortnight, monthly among other arrangements. The same applies to employees under the government of Ghana ministries, agencies, parastatals, and departments.
Salaries are computed by the Controller and Accountant General, who receives this data from his or her juniors, however, the salary validation process is not an easy thing and requires accuracy and being keen on details lest a lot of money may be lost in the process or mishandled. For this reason, the government introduced the E-SPV salary validation system to replace the manual and old system used to manage, certify and approve government of Ghana salary payment vouchers, which was challenging and time-consuming.
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E-SPV salary validation
The E-SPV salary validation software is a new system that will help in better management of the employees’ payroll and reduce the inefficiencies that have been experienced in the past thanks to use of manual computation with are subject to inaccuracy and inconsistency due to human weakness. The Electronic Salary Payment Voucher (E-SPV) system incorporated the elements of electronic and digital world to help the corporate world be better served.
Ideally, the government observed a skyrocketing wage bill that it was supposed to meet monthly, which has caused unimaginable strain on the ordinary citizen as this is passed down to them directly or indirectly. This in nothing new to use as analysts, politicians and whistle blowers have been very vocal on the issue, but what else would be a better way to air our grievances than this conventional yet very effective means?
The government in response to this public outcry has held various meeting deliberating on the way forward and how this situation can better be managed. It has been observed that ghost workers and inefficiency in operation could be costing us significant sums of monies that would have otherwise been put into other valuable uses. The government hence came up with the espv validation Ghana, a system that will scrap off any in efficiency, its super easy and very effective.
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How does the E-SPV salary validation Ghana work?
Well, whenever something new is introduced in the market, we get to question its relevance, effectiveness, ability to solve our present problem and not create enormous ones thereafter, its operations among many other things. I am sure of one thing your mind is wandering about how the E-SPV salary validation system works. Okay, worry not because I am here to bombard you with full facts on the use, operation and how it’s currently performing in the Ghanaian government.
The Electronic Salary Payment Voucher system as mentioned before was enacted to help the government stand a strong position in management of the payroll. Ideally, all employees should be under this electronic payment voucher for them to receive their salaries. Once they are signed in the E-SPV Ghana the ministries, department and agencies to which they are attached to can then verify that information as true and submit it to the Controller and Accountant General’s Department – CAGD, who then disburses funds to the district directors, regional directors, human resources personnel, and accountants to make payments to their respective employees.
This is in fulfillment of the Ghanaian constitution under the Financial Administration regulation of 2004 cap LI 1803, which requires that the Heads of Management units validate the payment of salaries. This validation of salary arrears should be done on monthly basis and the heads are advises to be more vigilant with the details. If the Human Resources officers or the Heads of Management units fail to validate employees’ information, then this means that the employees will not receive their monthly compensation as the law requires than in such cases the salaries be held.
This is a mandatory requirement that should be met before any monies are disbursed. This is a wake up call the new system is giving to all heads, to be more responsible and accountable in their administrative and operative roles. However, the government acknowledges to possible system failure and in such cases advises on calling at the CAGD website for assistance with E-SPV salary validation.
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Well, even as the top executives are given a heavy mandate of ensuring salary validation, there are other paramount stakeholders without which this system would fail terribly. These are the government employees. They should submit honest information about themselves at the Controller and Accountant General’s Department SPV return system. They are advised that August 2017 is the final date set for all this information to be uploaded and from hence any government employee who wishes to be paid for work done should follow.
The question of how to submit this vital information then pops up. The employees are expected to download the spv validation forms from the official websites, fill up the form and submit the same. Here is how to go about filling up these forms:
- Get to the Controller and Accountant General’s Department SPV return system content pages
- There are prompts to fill up
- If you are a first time visitor to the site then you need to register and create a portal, in a quick and easy to follow procedure
- You only need to click on register then this links will redirect you on what to do all the way to the end.
- Create a password and username which you will always use whenever you want to log in.
- In addition to these, every log in presents a new verification code which should be fed correctly at the space bar anytime one is logging in.
- Log in to you account, download the E-SPV salary validation forms, fill up all the prompts and then submit.
- For security reasons and others of confidentiality always log out once done with the portal.
There is a provision for any government employee lest you feel you department or segment has been left out. In many a cases there are specific validation forms. For instance there is the teacher’s salary arrears validation forms, these are precisely for those in the teaching profession and are accredited and working for the Ghanaian government. Subject to the department, agency or ministry one is in, the underlying thing is that Salary validation is now a must.
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The emphasis put on the need for salary validation makes me wonder just how important this whole new thing is. This got me thinking and I resorted to finding out the boon to this E-SPV Ghana system. Below are the worthwhile benefits or should I say aims that made the implementation of the electronic salary payment voucher system a problem solver;
- Ensures proper validation of staff for payment of salaries – Ideally, financial matters are a very sensitive subject to touch on. It gets even more sensitive when it is government money involved. Nonetheless, somebody somewhere in an executive docket has been given the mandate to ensure they make accurate payment or compensation to all persons working for the Government of Ghana. The E-SPV salary validation system will help in proper validation leaving no loophole initially left by the manual and tedious procedures. Besides the use of machines removes the human burden which could lead to mistakes and rather replaces the same with prior fed data that the system can interpret uniformly and give and result. Accuracy, efficiency and consistency are then assured.
- Improved public resource management – Closely link to the latter is that the electronic salary payment voucher will lead to improved public resource management. Well, there are always rules and regulation that govern anything if order is to be maintained. The financial regulation provides that a public resource should be safeguarded and be put into optimal use which is not for selfish gain but for communal well-being. The laid down procedure regarding the E-SPV Ghana is a big milestone toward effective resource management as they provide an outline on how money is to be disbursed and how it cannot.
- Scrapping off ghost workers – Wage bill has been on the government’s neck for a while now. Well, the security and benefits that comes with working for the government may have led many to seeking positions in government ministries and departments. Nonetheless, there are some malicious self-centered persons who want to benefit for themselves alone with no regards for others. They then create profile for other workers who in real sense are themselves in order to get double or triple payments. It has come to the government realization and the salary validation Ghana will help deal with all these ghost workers as the system will easily spot them.
The above are some of the benefits that this new SPV validation of staff will bring. It surely is a prove that this is what the government all along has been short off. The parallel boon to this system is that it will encourage the use of debit cards – e-zwich smart card system which is not only modern but is also an effective mode of salary payment. We, just wish the system will work optimally and help us realized effective payroll management. This brings me to appoint where I desire to make a comparison between the two validation models and the characteristics under each. This may then help me laid a solid and affirmative basis as to which validation procedure is best.
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Manual salary validation vs electronic salary payment voucher validation
Whenever there is a new innovation in the market, the market knows far too well that there are discrepancies in the use, and operations of the same. This truth is nothing but plainly as it is for the salary validation. These are some of the cases I sit back and nod technology is worth it. Well, the electronic salary payment voucher validation has brought so much easy that was not there conventionally. Let us look at how the manual salary validation was;
1. There was a lot of inefficiencies
Inefficiency in this place being used to tell of a state where operation are not in optimal use and even so those that are in use are not maximized and hence we end up having losses which would have otherwise been important to us. It is natural that whenever human beings are put to task especially the voluminous type, they are bound to fatigue or even make mistakes. This then was a major challenge and would often lead to undesirable results. Besides this process was time consuming and one would assume how long it would take to make payments. This often led the officers to bypass detail in order to catch up with time, a big mistake there!
The manual salary validation hence was very inaccurate going by the high rate of inefficiency during management, certifying and approving of payment voucher for the government of Ghana. The Electronic Salary Payment voucher has then been of great aid in this modern age.
2. Accountability was questionable
Well, it is almost obvious that if the system was not operation at zero error, then mistakes were bound. This is reference to the payment voucher approved. If there approved vouchers which are faulty who then would be accountable for the wrong figures or for funds misappropriation. Remember this solely relied on human intellect and effort which imperatively is subject to errors. Accountability was then put on question something that has been completely dealt with in E-SPV salary validation. The employee uploads honest information, the heads of management units then certifies and validates this information before it is sent online safely to the CAGD.
3. Control was not exercised
It goes without saying that if one fails to manage something they have consequently failed to exercise full control or authority over it. In the manual salary validation as we have found out here above is that it was characterized by mistakes some often going unnoticeable while other could even be conscious made. This means that management was out of hand and so was control.
In comparison to the electronic salary payment voucher, where control is more centralized. Management is done using the management units which have the mandate of validation before the CAGD gets to approve the payment voucher. Is it not a good thing now that payrolls have gotten more controlled? I think it is.
4. High number of ghost workers
Well, I think this has been the tool of trade for those in positions of power. People who are not even working for the government get to be paid. Well, this is of course with ill intents for the ordinary citizen who is struggling with taxation so he can pay for these ghost workers. This however, has come to light and is almost now a thing of the past as the government is not lenient of officials who practice these.
The new salary validation system however has removed the possibility of having ghost workers, first is because the system requires that employees fill up their personal data. If a repetition occurs the machine will question this making it impossible to. For this reason, ghost workers are a thing of the past and their bill has significantly reduced the wage bill.
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History of salary validation
Since the post colonial period Ghanaians had little to worry about the public resource; very few people were literate and in government jobs. Besides, their compensation was significantly small comparable to what government official take home. It appears people were more content with the little they had or was it that the value was high at the time, well, this is subject to discussion. However, as times and fate would have it people became more greed and self centered with an inherent desire to amass wealth only for themselves with little to no regard for others. This was further worsened by the fact that Ghana is agriculturally rich, has high mineral resources and is habitable.
Soon enough it became very necessary for the government to safeguard its resources. Some of the resource in question included the money. Government employees would then be compensated subject to their ranks, experience, expertise and skills. For this to be enforceable structures had to be laid out which included the salary validation the manual one customarily used.
The greatest salary validation review happened in 2004 where the electronic salary payment voucher was introduced which would be use instead of the manual salary validation system which was logistically challenged and corruptible and was time consuming. It was established that all heads of management units would validate payment of salaries every month to ensure efficiency. This is according to the Regulation 293 of 2004 – Financial and Administration LI 1802 act. All heads of management would validate staff before they get paid and failure to do so would imply the salaries being held and the officials get to be subjected to the wrath of the staff for not receiving any pay.
This announcement was made by the then Controller and Accountant General, Mr. Eugene Ofosuhene during a press briefing. He explained the relevance of this system and state that the implementation would begin in 2004 having had been prior on been pilot tested at Korle Bu Teaching Hospital. The Central Regional Minster, Mr. Aquinas Tawiah Quansah commended this program saying it would help in payroll management and even reduce the number of ghost workers. The CAG at length explained how the system would work and the repercussions if the heads of management units failed to submit particulars and names of their staff for processing through the electronic system. He made it very clear so that everybody would understand where he is coming from and why it is vital.
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Recently, during an interview, the acting Controller and Accountant General, Ms Grace Adzroe said that the progress of the electronic salary payment voucher was commendable. She said that during the short period the system has been implemented there are notable changes. For instance there are reduced inefficiencies pointed out by improved system performance and effective payroll management. The high wage bill is slowly melting away as the cost of payroll emanating from unauthorized payment has been scraped off.
The E-SPV salary validation Ghana is a technological and corporate achievement. It has helped the government embrace the Information Communication Technology, which it was to employ for excellent service delivery. The acting CAG is very positive and hopeful about the program and as it so appears is well to do. She is a good manager and understands far too well the dynamics involved in financial and administrative duties.
Apparently, this new system – electronic salary payment voucher roll out implementation process began in 2017 in the Grater Accra Region. it success led to the government going ahead with the expansion plans and is now in Ashanti, Brong Ahofo, Central, Western, Upper East, Upper West and the Northern Regions. Sensitization seminars, workshops and conferences have been organized severally to educate the members of the public and answer or respond to all of their queries.
Salary validation in Ghana has been a topic of discussion now with the upgraded system been factored in. initially many were concerned on its practicality but can now rest assure that it is indeed working seamlessly. Validation of salary arrears through the E-SPV system is here to stay and we can as well get used to it as early as now. Besides, it is crystal clear that it has immense benefits to all and more so in enabling the government handle the sensitive topic of payroll with ease. This is a solace we have been yearning for, we now ought to nurture it until it matures and gets ground. It is us who will benefit; less tax, improved living standards, economic growth just to mention but a few fruit we will bear.
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Source: YEN.com.gh