The Budget is an extremely important management and accountability tool for a Municipality. Through its pages, the political will of the respective municipal authority is reflected, along with the needs of the local community, the priorities, and ultimately, through its execution, the Municipality's ability to implement what it has planned.

2026 is a milestone year for the budgets of municipalities, as their financial services and administrations are called for the first time in about 20 years to prepare them based on a completely new framework, the Financial Management Framework of the General Government (P.D.54/2018). Presidential Decree 54/2018 represents one of the major reforms of the last two decades in the Public Sector.

It places Greece among the countries with modern accounting systems based on the International Public Sector Accounting Standards (IPSAS). It is a prime opportunity for municipalities to turn a new page and move towards a modern, sustainable, and efficient Local Government. However, to make this a reality, vision, political will, resources, and of course, knowledge are required.

This book offers a small contribution towards this direction. It is addressed to elected officials and municipal staff across the country who are called to follow a new, multi-factor, and highly demanding process for preparing and executing their budgets. The aim is to provide a practical, understandable, well-founded guide, enriched with examples, practical instructions, and templates, as well as a tool for those who wish to deepen their understanding and go beyond mere compliance by applying innovative ideas and systems.

From the author's preface.