All things financial: building a strong financial foundation

This online course with Pamela Redpath will look at the basic financial roles and responsibilities within a third sector organisation, why you need financial information, how to use it and how it impacts on others.

It can be studied as a standalone course or in conjunction with the two other All things financial courses - Book all 3 courses, get 20% off the 3rd!  

• Budgeting and sound financial management
• Annual accounting and external reporting

The aim of this online course is to look at financial systems and how getting them right is essential, not just for sound financial control but also for efficiency and effectiveness, and making the most of the always limited financial staffing resources.

This online course is packed full of content to help you identify and understand what is required to build a strong financial foundation.

Basic financial roles and responsibilities: The Board’s responsibility for good financial governance; The financial manager’s role; Staff and volunteers.

Who uses the financial information and how: The Board, Treasurer and/or Finance Sub-group; Internally – The manager/management team, Project staff and Fundraising staff; Externally – Funders, Accountants/auditors, OSCR and Companies House.

What we need our financial package to do: Information for monitoring current performance; Information for planning forward; Information for external reporting; Choosing a suitable financial package and setting it up to be useful; Restricted funds – recording for easier reporting; Effective use of the reports function.

Effective systems and control: “Walking through” your financial processes; Considering financial risks and effective internal control; Getting other staff to play their part and make your life easier; Recording financial processes – why and how.

Dealing with external requirements: Reporting to funders; Reporting to OSCR; Reporting to Companies House.

This course is aimed at people requiring an introduction to the principles of building a strong financial foundation and the basic technical knowledge and skills to implement these principles.

There are no formal entry requirements.

Course format: 3 hour session, which is broken into segments with time to recap on the main points and an opportunity for questions. At the end of the course there will be time for final points and questions.