A new tracking system developed through the joint efforts of the Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E) and Cashier units of Project Support Office North Luzon will now provide easier access in monitoring the progress billing status of subprojects.

The online portal maximizes free services offered by Google Sheets and is available for public viewing and downloading, with the M&E Unit as administrators of the portal.

Engr. Jovel Carreon, lead developer of the system, integrated in one sheet all essential data in tracing the status of billing documents submitted by local government units, and concerned components / units from PRDP offices across the cluster.

“We automatically update this progress billing portal as soon as we receive approval from our Finance Unit on which level (LGU, RPCO, PSO) a particular SP document currently stands. The dashboard also reflects major comments from our Financial Analyst and Accountant,” said Engr. Carreon.

“There are separate sheets for each region, both I-BUILD and I-REAP, so navigating the dashboard won’t be difficult. Just like a regular Google Sheet, a simple Ctrl + F allows anyone to search for specific subproject with pending billing.”

The portal also features a summarized billing status per region and of the cluster as a whole.

Carreon added that this system is an upgraded version of an existing Google Sheet created by PSO Cashier Clark Wendell Lising, who initially consolidated and uploaded a list of all scanned copies of Reports of Check Issued (RCI), Letters of Advice and Disbursement Vouchers of all SP billings submitted to the cashier unit.

“We integrated Mr. Lising’s idea with our regular status updates and with the guidance of our Deputy Project Director Elma Mananes and technical assistance from our M&E Specialist Karen Cortado, we came up with this system,” added Carreon.

In her message during the PSO-RPCOs management meeting, DPD Mananes sees this new system as another form of transparency in project implementation.

“By having one centralized online platform, we could save time in making frequent follow-ups to all concerned personnel – Finance staff, cashier, PSO, RPCO, and we also promote transparency through the uploaded scanned documents,” she said.

The billing dashboard is continuously under development and can be viewed and downloaded here:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/198ZRaNB4FpfFXvQoxi9OVemtEOAjJKgf/view?usp=sharing

(Kayla Arceo, PSO North Luzon)