COMUNICADO DE BEARINGPOINT

BearingPoint delivers Financial Management System to Government

of Afghanistan

New Financial Management System will help Afghanistan manage the

Government operating budget and some of the over US$4 billion in

foreign project related aid

MCLEAN (USA), 2 (PRNewswire)

BearingPoint, Inc. (NYSE: BE), one of the world"s largest

business consulting and systems integration firms, today announced

that it has assisted the Islamic Transitional State of Afghanistan to

successfully install and operate the Afghanistan Financial Management

Information System (AFMIS), as part of a US$3.95 million contract to

help the government upgrade its accounting system. The two-year

project, financed by the World Bank, is viewed as a critical step to

ensuring accountability for processing and reporting the Government"s

operating budget, which is largely financed by international

contributions.

(Photo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20021002/DCW012LOGO)

An estimated US$4 billion in international aid is expected to

flow to the Islamic Transitional State of Afghanistan; some of which

AFMIS will help track as the system"s coverage grows to include

grants for donor-funded projects.

"This project is an essential step in developing the governance

infrastructure necessary to support the reconstruction effort in

Afghanistan," said Michael Vlaisavljevich, a managing director with

BearingPoint"s International Public Services practice. "The ability

to accurately and efficiently manage these funds will help the Afghan

government provide much- needed food, housing, healthcare, education,

roads and utilities to its people."

BearingPoint is serving as the project"s program manager,

responsible for the design and operation of the core accounting

system for the Ministry of Finance. In addition, the company is

providing systems integration and financial management services. The

system will be implemented in two phases, with the immediate phase

creating the capability of electronically recording expenditures,

producing checks, and generating disbursement reports. BearingPoint

will also assist the Ministry of Finance to recruit and train

employees on the new system.

The project recorded its first milestone event on November 23rd,

when the Treasury Department of Afghanistan successfully completed

its first month of computerised operation, producing some 4,700

checks through a system designed by FreeBalance, Inc. of Ottawa,

Canada. Alan Pearson, the BearingPoint project manager, also

presented the first-ever electronic check to Dr. Ashraf Ghani,

Minister of Finance, during a ceremony in Kabul. As scheduled, the

full system is expected to be functioning in March 2003, six months

after project initiation. BearingPoint employees will continue to

help maintain the system after that date.

FreeBalance, a subcontractor to BearingPoint on the project, has

been selected to supply its FreeBalance eFinancials(TM) software and

provide associated professional services as a foundation for the new

financial management system. The government-specific software

includes an allotment process, commitment accounting, basic cash

management and payment control capabilities.

"FreeBalance is proud of the important role we are playing

internationally and delighted to have the opportunity to work on this

critical project in Afghanistan," said Michael McTaggart, vice

president of eFinancials at FreeBalance, Inc. "We have developed

unique software and global expertise that enable us to rapidly deploy

government solutions in countries in transition."

About BearingPoint, Inc.

BearingPoint (NYSE: BE), formerly KPMG Consulting, Inc., is one

of the world"s largest business consulting and systems integration

firms dedicated to aligning business and systems to empower Global

2000 companies and government organisations. Providing business and

technology strategy, systems design and architecture, applications

implementation, network infrastructure and managed services,

BearingPoint"s 17,000 employees worldwide help clients deploy

business systems to access information on a timely basis, empowering

them to create value in their enterprises. BearingPoint"s corporate

headquarters is in McLean, Virginia. For more information, visit the

Company"s website at http://www.BearingPoint.com.

About FreeBalance Inc.

For close to two decades FreeBalance has been providing advanced,

innovative software solutions to government agencies worldwide. Since

the company"s inception in 1984, FreeBalance has grown to be a

premier provider of commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) software designed

to automate the core business and financial functions of government.

FreeBalance eFinancials(TM) is an integrated financial and

material management system built specifically to satisfy the special

information requirements of the public sector. FreeBalance

eFinancials(TM) consists of a series of dynamic modules that can be

assembled to form a fully integrated, GAAP-compliant management

system.

FreeBalance Inc., named as one of Federal Computer Week"s Top Ten

Companies to Watch, is headquartered in Ottawa, Canada, and

Washington, D.C. FreeBalance clients include the U.S. Department of

Defence, U.S. Department of Education, U.S. Department of

Transportation, U.S. Department of State, U.S. Department of the

Army, State of California, New York State, Government of Canada, and

the Province of Ontario.

This press release may contain forward-looking statements

relating to our operations that are based on our current

expectations, estimates and projections. Words such as "expects,"

"intends," "plans," "projects," "believes," "estimates," and similar

expressions are used to identify these forward-looking statements.

These statements are not guarantees of future performance and involve

risks, uncertainties and assumptions that are difficult to predict.

Forward-looking statements are based upon assumptions as to future

events that may not prove to be accurate. Actual outcomes and results

may differ materially from what is expressed or forecasted in these

forward-looking statements. As a result, these statements speak only

as of the date they were made and we undertake no obligation to

publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as

a result of new information, future events or otherwise. Our actual

results may differ from the forward- looking statements for many

reasons, including: the business decisions of our clients regarding

the use of our services; the timing of projects and their

termination; the availability of talented professionals to provide

our services; the pace of technological change; the strength of our

joint marketing relationships and the actions of our competitors. In

addition, these statements could be affected by domestic and

international economic and political conditions. For a more detailed

discussion of these factors, see Exhibit 99.1 in our Form 10-Q for

the quarter ended September 30, 2002.

Source: BearingPoint Inc.

Contact: John Schneidawind of BearingPoint Inc., +1 703 747 5853,

or jschneidawind@bearingpoint.net; Mathew Olivier of FreeBalance

Inc., +1 613 236 5150, ext. 129, or molivier@FreeBalance.com.

Photo: PRN Photo Desk, +1-888-776-6555 or +1-212-782-2840

http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20021002/DCW012LOGO

AP Archive: http://photoarchive.ap.org

Web site: http://www.bearingpoint.com

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