How is the financial control of a public contract carried out?

Well, look, the Roll of Financial Control in a public contract is basically making sure that everyone's paste (yes, ours) does not miss out there in strange things or spent without ton or they are. That is, it is not just sitting to make accounts, but follow the trail to each weight from the moment the contract is planned until it ends and, if everything goes well, nobody ends in the news for corruption.

First, the matter starts with financial planning. There is no place to improvise: you have to set up a decent budget before giving anyone. No numbers in the air. You have to put up to the last screw on the list, add labor, materials, equipment, and leave a little range for those unforeseen events that always appear. Because if I have seen something in life, it is that everything comes out more expensive than one believes.

When the contract is already underway, the gossip of financial supervision comes. Basically, it is being like a fly above expenses. It is not about being paranoid, but comparing what is spent with what was budgeted. If there is a detour, you better have a good excuse. And, obvious, it is time to do audits from time to time so that no one gets creative with accounting.

Now, the issue of payments is another world. It's not just release silver and now, huh. You have to pay according to what was agreed, neither before nor after, and always leave everything well documented. If not, then the messes come and there is no one to save you. Each payment has to square with what has been done and what the contract says, neither more nor less.

In the end, when the contract is over (and hopefully nobody has run), it is time to check everything with magnifying glass. It is time to see if the money was used well and if the contract really was worth who paid it, that is, the public entity. It is not just checking invoices, it is seeing if the whole process made meaning and if the silver did not go in nonsense.

Ah, and be careful, that all this is not because one is fussy, is that there are laws that force. In many countries, the Public Sector Contract Law puts the rules of the game: how to plan, how to supervise, how to pay, how to review in the end ... Nothing to do what one wants.

Summarizing: financially controlling a public contract is not a walk through the park, but it is the only way for public money to be used as it should. You have to plan, supervise, pay well and review everything at the close following the law and, if you can, using a little common sense. Because, if not, then the dramas come and nobody wants that.