Finance support for grant funded organisations: could you show a funder where the money went by Friday?
Finance support for grant funded organisations that have to evidence every award. We keep the records that answer where the money went, why, and against which grant, so the claim and the board pack are ready when asked.
Funders rarely ask for much. They ask for something specific, quickly, about a year you have half forgotten. The money was almost certainly spent properly; the harder question is whether you can show it, line by line, before the deadline.
Ardein is an outsourced finance function for grant funded CICs, charities and community organisations, run remotely from Chester across the UK. It tracks restricted money by award, prepares claims and monthly board packs on an agreed date, and scopes fees to the work. The handover from a current accountant is managed at no separate charge.
“They don't feel like a contractor. They get fully involved in the business and are well respected by all.”
UK SME owner
- IAB member (MIAB 292185)
- Anti-money-laundering supervised
- Established 2021
Three things you would know before the funder asks
Answer a funder’s evidence request the same week
Every award carries its own record of what was spent against it, updated monthly.
Arrive at the board meeting with the figures already read
The pack reaches trustees on the same date each month, before they sit down.
Know which award covers which salary before you commit
Staff costs are mapped to funding lines, so you can see what is covered and until when.
Where grant funded organisations get caught out, and what it costs
Three things chief executives tell me early on, usually about money that was spent correctly and recorded badly.
- Funder
“The funder asked for a breakdown of last year’s award and it took us three weeks to put together.”
The spend was fine. The evidence sat across bank statements, spreadsheets and memory, so three weeks of staff time went on rebuilding it.
- Salary
“We could not show which grant paid for the project coordinator, so reserves ended up covering eight months of her post.”
Nobody had mapped the role to a funding line. By the time anyone checked, the claim window on that award had closed.
- Award
“We applied for the next round without knowing how much of the current award we had actually drawn down.”
The application understated what was left unspent. The funder asked about it and the board had no answer in the meeting.
- Day 90
What it looks like when the answer is in the room
By day ninety there is a funding register. Every award sits on it with what was awarded, what has been drawn, what remains and where the evidence is. A funder’s question is answered from that register in the same week it arrives. The board pack reaches trustees before the meeting, on the same date each month.
Quick check · no email
Ask whoever keeps your books three questions this week. If the answers involve waiting until after year end, you have the wrong accountant.
Answer these three about the person handling your finances today.
Question 1 of 3
Could they tell you by this afternoon how much of a named award is still unspent?
Could they show which grant each salary is charged to, without building a spreadsheet first?
Could they put a board pack in front of trustees on the agreed date without being chased?
That gap is real, and it tends to surface in the week a funder sets a deadline. The review is where we find out how far back it goes.
That is a reasonable position for an organisation running more than one award. The area worth checking is the entry below: over £200,000 of funding with paperwork never completed, found by reconciling awards against income line by line.
You are well served and there is little here for you. The guide on the first ninety days will tell you whether the reporting could go further.
Year-end accounts, or an answer while the funder is still waiting
Both have a place. Only one of them helps in the week the request lands.
A year-end accountant
Files the CIC or charity accounts and the corporation tax, correctly and on time.
Sees the year once it is finished, months after the spending happened.
Reports on the organisation as a whole rather than award by award.
Answers funder questions by going back through records nobody kept for that purpose.
Ardein
Keeps a funding register updated monthly, award by award.
Maps salaries and costs to the grant paying for them as they are posted.
Delivers the board pack on the same date every month.
Answers a funder from records built to answer that question.
Eight questions to answer before your next funding application
Work through these with your current records in front of you.
- 01
Can you state today how much of each award remains unspent?
If it takes a day of digging, the next application is being written on an estimate.
- 02
Is every salary mapped to the grant or contract paying for it?
Unmapped posts are the ones reserves quietly end up funding.
- 03
Could you produce the evidence for one award within a week?
Funders set short windows and rarely extend them.
- 04
Does the board see the same figures on the same date each month?
Reporting that moves about gets read less and questioned more.
- 05
Are restricted and unrestricted funds separated in the bookkeeping itself?
If the split only exists at year end, nobody can act on it during the year.
- 06
Do you know which contract or service is covering its own costs?
A contract subsidised from reserves can run for years before anyone notices.
- 07
Are claim deadlines in a timetable someone owns?
Late claims are the most expensive administrative failure in this sector.
- 08
Could a new trustee understand where the money came from and went?
If the answer needs you in the room, the record is not doing its job.
What you actually get each month, and what it lets you answer
Scoped on the number of funding streams and how often the board reports.
Restricted money tracked by award
Bookkeeping coded so each award carries its own record of what was spent against it, and why.
A board pack on the agreed date
Cash, funding drawn and funding remaining, in front of trustees before the meeting rather than during it.
Claims and returns to a timetable
Funder deadlines sit in the same monthly routine as payroll, VAT and year-end filings.
Entry 01
What reconciling awards against income turned up in one onboarding
One entry, from a grant-funded not-for-profit, found in the first weeks of the work.
Figures as recorded in client work · names withheld
What clients say
“They don't feel like a contractor. They get fully involved in the business and are well respected by all.”
UK SME owner
What changes between the first conversation and day ninety
Four markers, each one an answer you can give that you could not give before.
You know which awards have no evidence behind them
We agree scope, complete AML checks and collect the records, then list every award against the income actually received.
Every award has a record you can point at
Bookkeeping is complete and coded by fund, banks are reconciled, and salaries are matched to the grants that pay for them.
Claims and board reporting run to a timetable
Claim deadlines, funder returns and the board pack sit in the same monthly routine as payroll and VAT.
A funder’s question is answered the same week
The funding register is current, trustees read the pack before the meeting, and evidence comes out of the records rather than out of memory.
Where we say no, and why it is better said early
We do not take on cash businesses, including organisations with significant unbanked cash income.
We do not work with CIS-dependent construction.
We walk away from anything illegal or reportable, and from falsified records of any kind.
AML checks have to be completed first, and the person we deal with has to be able to explain how the organisation runs.
If you are unsure which side of that you sit on, the review is the place to find out.
Questions chief executives and trustees ask before they start
Is the Funding and Finance Evidence Review a sales call?
No. It is a working session on your funding flows, restricted funds and board reporting, and you leave with an evidence checklist, a claims and reporting timetable and priority actions for the next ninety days. There is a fixed review fee, credited in full against onboarding if you go ahead. If we are not the right fit, I will say so.
We already have an accountant, so why would we need this as well?
Most organisations we speak to already have one, and the annual accounts are usually filed correctly. What tends to be missing is the month by month record showing which award paid for what. We can run the whole finance function or work alongside what you have, depending on what the funders and the board are asking for.
What happens with our current accountant if we switch?
Ardein handles it. We write for professional clearance, collect the records, agree a transition plan around your year end and map who is responsible for each part of the finance routine. There is no separate charge for that handover. You do not have to have the awkward conversation, though many people prefer to make the call themselves.
What are we committing to if we go ahead?
The review is a fixed piece of work and stands on its own. If we go further, the monthly fee is scoped after I have seen the records and understood how the organisation runs, and it is agreed before anything starts. Capacity is capped at four new clients a month, so start dates are limited.
What does finance support for grant funded organisations include?
Bookkeeping with fund tracking, so restricted money is coded by award, plus payroll and auto-enrolment, the monthly evidence and board pack, year-end accounts and the CIC or charity filings. Claim deadlines sit in the same routine. Where a chief executive needs a finance lead for funding decisions, virtual FD input is added.
Do you provide finance support for grant funded CICs and charities outside the North West?
Yes. Ardein works remotely across the UK from a base in Chester, with clients from Edinburgh and Newcastle down to Bristol and Cardiff. Records, claims and board packs are shared online through Xero. Note that from 1 April 2026, CIC accounts must be filed with Companies House using software.
Three ways to take the next step
Start with the evidence review
We work through your funding flows and restricted funds, and you leave with a checklist, a reporting timetable and the priorities for the next ninety days.
Check your funding evidence 02 · A question firstWant to ask something first?
Call or email Gavin and ask the one thing you want to know about your funding records.
Ask Gavin a question 03 · Still decidingStill deciding?
The guide on the first ninety days sets out what changes in month one, month two and month three.
Read the guides →