Essentials of Financial Management and Communication (5 days)

Using financial skills to maximise organisational and programme impact

Next course

• 10 - 14 June, Geneva, Switzerland

Registration and course fees

Registration and payment deadline: 3 June 2013. Early bird fee available for payments until 10 April 2013.

Early bird fee/ Full fee:

• Non-OECD: CHF 1220 / 1420
• OECD: CHF 1510 / 1760

Above fees are in Swiss francs (CHF) and include tuition, training materials and handouts, lunch and coffee breaks, and a course certificate.

Online currency converter: CHF to USD, CHF to EUR, CHF to GBP. These are indicative rates, provided by XE Currency Converter.

10% discount for returning students (within 12 months since the last course) or additional course participants from same organisation.

To register, please fill in the online registration form, or download the form and send it to us by email. For further inquiries, please contact us.

Course overview

Click here to download the course leaflet (PDF format).

The five-day course Essentials of financial management and communication with personal coaching is aimed at equipping NGO directors, managers, programme staff, fundraisers and other non-finance people. Whether working in a head office or internationally, it provides the knowledge and skills to effectively and efficiently manage financial resources.

Participants will learn the basics of financial management within a non-profit setting, including planning and monitoring budgets, using financial information to make the most of their resources, strategic financial management, and managing finance effectively to maximise organisational and programme impact. The course also shows how to achieve strong financial communication with management committee members, donors, partners and other stakeholders to optimise your work.

In this innovative workshop participants will learn to confidently use the skills which provide a working knowledge of finance and financial management. Participants will be asked to bring their project documentation from their organisation to work with during the course.

The morning sessions use a balance of short 'inputs', discussions, group work and individual activities, to give an overview of each day's topics.

The afternoon sessions help participants to adapt each day's topics for their own and their partner organisations, with the coaching services of the course facilitator.

The course is not only about learning financial skills but about planning how to use them in a work situation, helping organisations to obtain immediate benefit from the learning.

Who should attend

It is for anyone needing to communicate financial information, and/or structure their organisation to make sure this happens. It would be particularly appropriate for

• Programme staff
• Managers and heads of organisations, and fundraisers – whether working nationally or internationally.
• It will be helpful for those who recognise their need to communicate more effectively about finance, and those wanting an insight into how finance people communicate.
• Non-professional finance people may also find the course useful.

How you and your organisation will benefit - Learning Objectives

By the end of this course, participants will be able to:

• Use financial management to help build an organisation's capacity
• Manage budget processes and cash flow and develop the building blocks for financial systems
• Evaluate financial information to help become more sustainable

• Apply basic financial controls to minimise the risks of errors and theft
• Advise a partner on the appropriate timing of individual financial interventions
• Recognise cultural differences between 'finance' and 'non-finance' people, and how to communicate effectively when working cross-culturally

Communicate clearly about financial topics using practical skills.

Course programme

Day 1 Welcome

Financial Management

• Financial management requirements in non-profit organisations
• Financial and management accounting
• Budgeting preparation

Afternoon session

Create a checklist of financial management systems to help identify strengths and weaknesses in your financial systems.

Day 2

Finance planning and budgeting

• Budgeting ground rules and costing principles
• Budgeting case study
• Funding grids, monitoring and managing cash flow

Afternoon session

Review the current budget systems for your own or your partner organisations,and designing a system to achieve what you want.

Day 3

Financial statements and evaluation

• Building blocks of NGO financial records and systems
• Financial statements: what do they mean and how are they used
• Reviewing financial statements and using them to build capacity

Afternoon session

Review an organisation's financial statements; discovering how to use these to promote organisational effectiveness and sustainability.

Day 4

Strategic financial management and building financial capacity

• Sustainably managing 'reserves' and strategies for allocating overheads
• Financial capacity case study
• Improving financial management and programme effectiveness

Afternoon session

Design appropriate funding strategies and a reserves policy. Identify ways to build partners financial capacity; and prevent errors and theft.

Day 5

Financial management communication between finance and non-finance people

• Identifying work cultures and understanding each other
• Practical solutions to communicating finance between cultures
• Strategies for improving relationships and programmes.

Afternoon session

Preparing a financial management communication strategy for your organisation. Practice appropriate ways to communicate clearly about financial topics within your organisation.

Individual consultation

The afternoon sessions are kept flexible so that participants can bring their own material to work on with coaching support from the course facilitator.