The aim of this study was to describe the budgeting process of the Roma/C Local Health Authority during the 2004 financial year. The planning-control process, which included preparing regular reports, allowed performing comparisons between actual with planned results so that the necessary corrective actions could be taken in a timely manner. It also led to a confrontation between the various managers involved, regarding: 1. the conversion of ordinary regime hospital beds into day hospital beds; 2. the development of a new model of emergency care aimed at integrating care between the hospital and the community; 3. the need to implement dataware housing.