The secrets of good financial management are to keep things simple, develop routines and get into good habits.
People sometimes worry that financial management will be a very complicated, difficult and intellectual process. But in fact the best financial systems are very simple and easy to follow. The more complicated the system, the greater the chance that something will go wrong or that someone will make a mistake.
Remember, the legal responsibility for financial management lies with every member of your management committee and not just the treasurer. Your management committee and members must know who is responsible for the financial tasks in the organisation and these should be clearly defined in your trustees' written roles and responsibilities.
The full contents of each section of this Financial Management toolkit can be downloaded as pdf files. The complete toolkit can also be downloaded from this page, along with the section summaries. (See blue box above.)
If you can’t open pdf files, please visit the Adobe website to download the free pdf reader. If you have comments about the content of this toolkit, or suggestions for how we might develop it, please contact us.
Contents
1. Financial controls
2. Which accounting system?
3. Reserves
4. Budgeting
5. Cash flow
6. Bookkeeping
7. Petty cash
8. Bank reconciliation
9. Finance reports
10. Annual accounts
11. Glossary
12. Useful contacts
Throughout this toolkit, you will find practical examples and templates to illustrate each area.
Acknowledgments
Authors: The Basis Project team
Thanks to colleagues from Refugee Council and Refugee Action who contributed to the development and production of this toolkit. We would also like to thank John O’Brien, Chief Executive of Community Accounting Plus for reviewing and commenting on this draft toolkit.
Much of the content in this toolkit has been taken from the invaluable Refugee Council publication, Doing it for Ourselves (2003) – a step by step guide to setting up and managing an RCO. We would also like to thank the following organisations for allowing us to reproduce their copyright materials:
The Basis Project toolkits, while checked for accuracy, are for information and guidance only. The Basis Project cannot accept responsibility for loss to any organisation or individual as a result of action taken (or refrained from) based on the content of the Basis Project toolkits.
Record of Financial Management online toolkit updates
3 June 2008: Sample documents incorporated into main text of toolkit pdfs. They remain available as separate downloads on the individual section pages.
This page is a summary of the full Foreword and Introduction (pdf) contained in the online toolkit.
