Scope of the Financial Management Policy

The Organization’s Financial Management Policy describes the accounting policies, systems and procedures to be used by the organization. The Policy will cover the input, processing, output, control and distribution of financial data. It has been developed to set out the accounting policies and procedures that will:

• Ensure that the organization’s books of accounts are prepared to conform to sound accounting principles and practices.
• Enable the management to obtain accurate and timely financial reports on monthly basis, thereby promoting sound financial management.
• Ensure correct and accountable use of funds and other resources. The approach used is in line with generally accepted accounting principles and organizations best practice reporting requirements.

The main purpose of the Policy is:

• To assist in the maintenance of controls.
• To provide a training and monitoring resource.
• To be used as a reference document by the staff, management, auditors and other stakeholders.

The procedures have the following objectives:

• To enhance completeness and accuracy of the data posted from source documents (say invoices, payments receipts, journal and cashbook) to the computerized system.
• To provide accurate and reliable reports to enable management to perform effective control over the operations of the organization.
• To detail the operation and administration procedures for input, processing, output and distribution of data to ensure security of data and documents.

The Policy has been made for use as follows:

• As a means of reference to management, supervisors, new and existing accountants staff, auditors, and as the basis of training staff, and ensuring that appropriate controls are in place.
• As a clearly defined list of the tasks to be carried out by each individual
• As a timetable for processing transactions and producing reports
• As a guide to evaluators and any monitoring consultant who may wish to review the institution’s progress.”

Process:

Before embarking upon the process of presenting the financial management policy, it was felt important to outline the roles and responsibilities of the staff involved in developing and updating the policy, the Board Members have appointed a financial committee to develop a draft financial management policy which is further discussed, improved and authorized by all the members of the Board. The organization director and the finance officer are primarily responsible for ensuring that the policy is fully implemented within the organization. They can also give recommendations to the board members for any modifications in it.

Financial Management Policy

1.2 Updating the NGO Financial Management Policy
The update of the manual will be the responsibility of the finance committee consisting of concerned authorities from finance & accounts as well as project head and approved by the chief functionaries of organization. The committee must ensure that:

• The manual is kept up-to-date
• The manual continues to set out the procedure that must be followed in the operation of the system and procedures
• Sufficient copies of manuals are available
• Amendments to the manual are properly authorized and communicated to concerned parties immediately. It is envisaged that, it may be necessary to amend the manual every year to accommodate any changes. The finance committee must ensure that there is a list of all the persons to whom the manual has been issued so as to ensure that the amendments issued are completed promptly.

Each amendment to the procedures manual must be given a unique code and dated, the finance manager is responsible for ensuring that each procedure issued has been properly amended.

1.3 Responsibilities of User Staff
All personnel with a role in the management of organization’s financial operations are expected to uphold the policies in this manual. It is the intention of organization that this accounting manual serves as our commitment to proper, accurate financial management and reporting.”

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