The Bureau acts as the custodian of public funds for the South Ethiopia Region. Its primary duties include:
- Fiscal Oversight & Budgeting: preparing, executing and monitoring the regional annual subsidy and capital budgets, splitting funds between state treasury reserves and external development financing.
- Public Financial Management (PFM): modernizing public accounts through integrated financial software systems (such as IBEX/IFMIS), standardizing cash management and reducing government office rental expenditures through localized asset investments.
- CSO Regulation and Audit: jointly with the regional Justice Bureau, holds the legal mandate under Proclamation No. 43/2024 to register, license, monitor and financially audit Civil Society Organizations operating within the region, ensuring their administrative expenses do not exceed the statutory 20% cap.
- Program and Aid Coordination: managing decentralized service delivery grants for sectors like health, education, nutrition and infrastructure projects.
- Social Accountability Management: partnering with community-led mechanisms to align sub-regional budgets with actual local service performance evaluations.