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Sometimes, fraud can happen despite having solid financial management practices and internal controls in place. Many NGOs have been the…

Unfortunately, fraud is not unique occurance within organizations. The following signs may be an indication of fraud or abuse at…

One aspect of strategic financial management is assessing and managing the risks facing the organisation. If there are significant financial risks facing the organisation that the trustees fail to address, it may threaten the organisation’s financial sustainability. The trustees have a responsibility to ensure that a risk assessment takes place. It is often best done by a group of people including some board and management, say once a year. Your auditors may also be able to help or advise.

The Minimum Standards Checklist highlights the 7 most critical aspects of financial managment that should always be in place in every NGO, together with the reasons why. It also lists some additional areas of best practice.

A funding grid is also sometimes called an income allocation grid. As you submit funding proposals, sign grant agreements and generate unrestricted income through the year, use the funding grid to keep track of how much of your annual budget is funded. It helps you identify funding gaps and potential double funding.

If you record expenses as you actually pay for them (ie on a cash basis) it is also useful to know what payments you are committed to making, even if they aven’t been paid for yet. For example, goods or services you have received but not been invoiced for, unpaid bills, orders placed, contracts signed.

The foundation of effective financial management is a strong financial system. An organization’s financial system is the central pillar for the planning, organizing, monitoring and controlling of financial resources. While there is no universal standard for a financial management system, FMD Pro uses the four building block model as a framework. The model is composed of four fundamental, inter-linked building blocks that must be in place to ensure good practice in financial management.

As part of the best practices followed by nonprofit organizations, the Board of Directors (Board) should undertake a governance health check on a recurring basis. A Board Governance Assessment is an objective review of how an organization is overseen and evaluates whether there are adequate checks and balances in place for effective governance.

These top tips outline advice from our colleagues at Transparency International UK (TI-UK) on how to fight corruption and bribery…