Strong financial management is crucial to the success of any organisation or programme. When the principles are explained in a simple practical way they are easy to learn and apply. This training course starts with the basics of finance and gradually gives you a thorough working knowledge of financial management, including ways of presenting funding proposals to maximise income. We use a mixture of approaches including tutor input, discussions, group work, games and individual activities. These provide you with the practical skills not only to know how the numbers are calculated, but also use finance information and systems in decision-making to strengthen capacity in organisations and programmes.
You will learn to use the techniques in your own organisation and with partners, and to better see decision-making and programme impact. The training includes a range of materials to use when you return to your organisation’s activities, including the book Building Financial Management Capacity for NGOs and Community Organisations, written by the trainer.
Why choose this course
If you sometimes deal with finance information and systems in your work, but you have had very little if any finance training, this course is designed especially for you. Whether you work for the UN, government, NGO or private sector this training course really does build up from the basics, helping you to use your new financial skills confidently and competently. The course is primarily designed for non-finance managers and staff. You will gain a strong working knowledge of finance skills and financial management to take back to your own organisation as well as your partner’s organisations.
What you will learn
In the practical participatory sessions you learn how to:
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- apply financial management within different settings using interactive case studies and examples
- plan and monitor budgets, using financial information to make good decisions
- assess and set up robust financial systems
- manage the expectations of donors for project funding and financial reporting
- build the financial capacity of partner organisations
Daily Course Objectives
Day 1: Finance management and budget planning
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- overview of finance management
- all you need to know about budgeting in any organisation
- budget planning and case study
Day 2: Budget monitoring and the rules of accounting
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- budget monitoring and managing cash flow
- using financial skills in funding
- achieving value for money
- ground rules of accounting and finance
Day 3: Making sense of finance information
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- the basics of finance records and systems
- making sense of the finance statements
- working with funders, auditors, accountants and donors
Day 4: Towards financial sustainability
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- managing overheads and organisational savings
- assess and reduce financial and organisational risk and uncertainty
- implement robust financial controls and systems
Day 5: Building financial management when working with partner organisations
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- case study on financial capacity building
- techniques for working with partners – setting up robust controls and systems
- checks and balances when working with partners