Basic financial reporting requirements for grants or partner organisations

Financial Requirements and Procedures

Table of contents

1. Reporting Period2. Financial Reports Requirements3. Disbursement Request

Requirements4. Financial Report

REPORTING PERIOD

• Financial reports for each month must reach FTFZ offices by the XX of every month. The delay in submitting the financial report will also delay the disbursement for the next month. Any unutilized balances will be deducted from the next disbursement.

• Disbursement requests are to reach FTFZ offices by the XX of every month. This ensures enough time to process advance request for next month.

Requirements for a Complete Financial Report (FR)

• Cover Letter- Every FR must be accompanied by a cover letter which should be on a letterhead, signed by authorized signatories and stamped by the organizational stamp. The letter should state the month being reported, the total expenditure being claimed & and should have the following statement:

‘’We certify that the amount claimed in this report has been wholly and necessarily incurred for the purpose of and in compliance with the agreement and have not been previously claimed’’.


• FR Summary- is a summary of all the expenses which have been reported, it should be signed, stamped and state the month of the report. The summary is linked to the detailed FR

• FR Detailed report- it shows the detailed report of all expenses incurred line item by line item and is compared against the budget for that particular month. The detailed report should be stamped and signed by 3 different people (prepared by, verified by & certified by)

• cash reconciliation for those who keep cash , (2)and that cash and bank balance should equal balance on financial report.


• Bank reconciliation and Bank Statement- a monthly bank reconciliation should accompany the FR every month and a bank statement attached. The bank reconciliation should reflect the same balances as the bank statements .

• Bank charges- a schedule or summary of bank charges claimed should support the bank charges expenses as well as the bank statement for that particular month. A ledger printout for bank charges can be used instead of a schedule.


• Salaries- supporting documents for salaries expenses should be, pay slips, timesheets which are signed and authorized, and stamped bank transfers.

• Other Expenses, e.g. utilities, communication, original invoices and original receipts should be submitted. Communication –no juice cards are to be used, FTFZ require you buy your airtime in bulk according to your budget and get an invoice and receipt for the airtime and when you issue out a person can sign an acknowledgement of receiving the airtime. Statutory payments (proof of payment) and a schedules are required to support the expense


• Travel expenses- Fuel ledgers and vehicle logbooks are to be sent to FTFZ by the XXth every month. For those Partners which do not get coupons, a receipt or invoice of the fuel purchased should agree to the logbook as well as the fuel ledger and the trip should have been authorized. If there is a vehicle tracking system a print for the month must be matched with the logbook and submitted. Spot checks of fuel coupons and fuel kept in drums will be done on site visits and this should agree to the balance on the ledger.


• Perdiem- An authorized outreach/trip schedule should accompany perdiem claims and the dates and Partners visited should be the same as those on the perdiem claims of individuals and the vehicle tracking system. The new perdiem rates should be used and an individual should claim his/her own perdiem and acknowledge receipt of the money received and sign for it. If the money has been deposited, a deposit slip is to be attached to the perdiem claim form. Daily outreach allowance is $xx.

• Vehicle expenses- invoice & receipts for vehicle minor repairs should be submitted. Tollgate tickets accompanied by a route list which should match the outreach schedule.


• Facilitation Fees- should be supported by contract or letter of invitation of the facilitator, attendance register which has been signed by the participants and acknowledgement of receipt of the payment

• Peer Counselor Allowance- Timesheets of the peer counselors should be signed and authorized. An acknowledgement of receipt of the payment should also be attached

• Statutory Payments- payments for every month should be submitted together with Financial Reports. FTFZ is not liable in an event were a Partner is found defaulting the authorities and other statutory payments.


• Programme Reports- the reports should be submitted by the xxth of every month and a thorough check of all activities should be done and should match the expenses in the Financial report.


• Please check the following points before submission: a) Total expenses are equal in the following sheet:

• Detailed sheet = Summary

b) Initial balance of the month of “X” is equal to Closing balance of the previous month in the following sheets:

• c) All the documents above mentioned are signed by the following persons:

• Person who prepared, person who reviewed and person who certified the documents

• Segregation of duties is fully required to minimize the risk of error and fraud and to promptly detect them

Requirements for a Complete Disbursement Request (DR)

• Cover Letter- Letter- Every DR should be accompanied by a cover letter which should be on a letterhead, signed by authorized signatories and stamped by the organizational stamp. The letter should state the month of the request, the amount being requested and banking details which shows the account name, Bank name, Branch, Sort Code and account number.


• Disbursement Request – the request should be stamped, signed and states the month of the request. It should show the opening balance, which is unutilized balance from the previous advance given. The balance should agree to the balance FTFZ has in our books. If there are any outstanding obligations from prior months, these should be listed so that we wont deduct the whole amount. The planned expenditure from agreed budget should be claimed every month in full to those who do not get coupons and to the Partners which get coupons, it will be the planned budget less fuel.

• * No disbursement will be processed unless all outstanding reconciliations have been reconciled and any outstanding balance will be deducted from the next disbursement. Disbursement request to reach FTFZ office by the xxth of every month


Site submits Disbursement

Request (DR) to FTFZ

FTFZ reviews and approves DR and

make disbursement

Site receives the fund from FTFZ

Challenges that FTFZ faces

a) Incomplete reportsNot signedMissing supporting documentsUnorganized paper workIncomplete and unauthorized documents

b) Late submissionsc) Unauthorized budget reallocations. Claiming what is not on

the budget and claiming more than the budget.d) High cash in hand balances and delayed acquittalse) No or poor data triangulation.f) Disallowable, unallowable, Unreasonable or unjustifiable

expenses.

SUPPORTING DOCUMENTS

• - Must be original• -No photocopies• - No Proforma invoices• - No faxes• - Every payment should have an invoice ,

company official order, and a receipt of payment or a copy of the bank transfer letter

SOLUTIONS WHEN OVER THE BUDGET

• - seek permission to use savings from under spent budget line

• - reduce or postpone some activities• - use reserves to fund the shortfall

Challenges Faced by Partners

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Government & Nonprofit

Basic financial reporting requirements for grants or partner organisations