Description (Grantees)
Description (Volunteers)
Financial Controls Project
Step 0: Kick-off/ Orientation
Goals | - Grantee & volunteer are familiar with their roles and responsibilities.
- Grantee & volunteer prepare for the project & their initial meeting
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Timing | Complete this step prior to the first one-on-one meeting between the grantee and volunteer. |
Activities | - Meeting: Kick-off/ Orientation call
- Homework: Grantee documents business processes that need controls
- Homework: Volunteer reviews general financial controls resources
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Deliverable | - (Grantee) List of business processes that need controls
- ______________________________
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Outcome | - Completed homework sent to all team members
- Volunteer schedules initial call with grantee
- _______________________________
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Step 1: Initial Interview
Goals | - Volunteer understands the current state of financial controls and the business processes the grantee feels need financial controls.
- Grantee can ask questions, express ideas and concerns.
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Timing | Complete this step during the first call between the volunteer and the grantee. |
Activities | - Meeting: Initial call between volunteer & grantee
- Volunteer reviews general financial controls best practices with the grantee and sees which controls they currently are using
- Grantee presents overview of business processes that need controls
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Deliverable | none |
Outcome | - Volunteer understands existing financial controls & business processes that grantee feels need financial controls.
- Volunteer suggest additional areas that might need financial controls
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Volunteer Tips | - Ask lots of questions.
- Assess the grantee's familiarity with financial control concepts. Tailor your advice and project scope to the sophistication level of the grantee.
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Grantee Tips | - Ask lots of questions.
- Explain the types of things your organization does (business processes) that need financial controls to the volunteer in simple, narrative terms. You are already the expert on what you do... just share your expertise.
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Step 2: Scope
Goals | - Document the scope for the project.
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Timing | Can be completed after the initial call between the grantee & volunteer. |
Activities | - Meeting: Initial call between volunteer & grantee
- Discuss, agree on & document the scope of the SuiteVolunteer Project.
- Write down the priorities for the project, specifically document what will be done (in scope) and what will not be done (out of scope).
- Determine the timeline, including target dates for meetings & deliverables.
- Write down the specific list of deliverables agreed to.
- Can financial controls for multiple business processes be completed in the project scope (usually only a single process can be addressed)?
- Distribute project brief & timeline to all participants. Send copy to NetSuite.org.
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Deliverable | - Written project brief & timeline
- Send copy of project brief & timeline to NetSuite.org
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Outcome | - Agreed upon scope and timeline for the project.
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Volunteer Tips | |
Grantee Tips | |
Step 3: Design & Implement Controls
- Volunteer works with grantee to develop and document controls
- Volunteer suggests tools within NetSuite to support the financial controls.
Goals | - Design & implement general controls.
- Design & implement controls for specific business process(es).
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Timing | This step constitutes the bulk of the engagement and generally requires multiple meetings. |
Activities | |
Deliverable | - Document outlining general controls.
- Document outlining specific business process controls.
- Implementations of controls
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Outcome | |
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Grantee Tips | |
Step 4: Sign-off
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Resources
Five Controls for Small Nonprofits (online article from Blue Avocado)
Developing a Financial Policy (2 page primer from Nonprofit Assistance Fund)
Sample Financial Policy (short sample document from Nonprofit Assistance Fund)