Three things your finance should be able to answer before you sign, hire or apply.
Today the answer arrives after the contract is signed, from accounts prepared last autumn.
A contract the awards do not fully cover gets paid for out of unrestricted reserves.
Or read on to see how it works.
What happens when the decision arrives before the number does?
- Funder offers a contract
- Board approves it
- Delivery costs exceed award
- Staff time unmapped
- Reserves quietly cover it
- Found at year end
The decision is made in March and the number turns up in November.
By then the contract is half delivered and the shortfall belongs to unrestricted money. Nobody chose that; it happened in the gap.
Which of these could you answer in this month’s meeting?
These are the questions that arrive in the week before a decision, not after it.
- Which awards cover this contract, and until when?
- What does this post cost against each grant?
- How much restricted money is still unspent today?
- Which claim is due, and what evidence supports it?
- What could we send a funder this week?
That makes everything downstream harder.
The three systems behind those answers, and what each one settles
Same day. From live numbers. With the reasoning.
Award coverage shows, before you sign, which grants fund this contract and to what date.
- 3questions answered same day
- Award coverage before signing
- Post mapped to award
- Evidence pack kept current
- Answer the funder this week
Mapping each post to an award before you advertise it keeps the salary off reserves.
What the first ninety days change, and when you notice it
The work runs to a timetable, and each stage ends with something the board can use.
- Before day one
Awards and records collected
We agree scope, complete the checks and gather the funding agreements alongside the books.
- Day 30
Every award on one register
Bookkeeping complete, banks reconciled, and each award matched line by line to income actually received.
- Day 60
Claims and payroll on a timetable
Staff costs mapped to awards, claim dates set, and the monthly evidence routine running.
- Day 90
Board pack arrives before the meeting
Restricted and unrestricted positions, claims due and evidence ready, on the agreed date each month.
The review costs a fixed fee, credited in full if you go ahead
Sixty minutes with Gavin on your own records: how funding flows through the books, what restricted money is visible, which claims are due and what the board is not getting.
One hour, your records, and a plain answer on what is missing.
You leave with an evidence checklist, a claims and reporting timetable, and the priority actions for the next ninety days, whether or not you take it further.
Capacity is four new clients a month, and the handover from your current accountant is managed at no separate charge.
Who this works for, and who should not book it
The list stays short on purpose, so fit matters more here than it does elsewhere.
This fits if
- You hold more than one award, from more than one funder.
- A contract decision is coming and nobody can say which grant covers it.
- Staff costs are split across grants and the split lives in someone’s head.
- The board asks about restricted funds and the answer takes a fortnight.
- You have an accountant who files the accounts and little else between times.
This does not fit if
- You want the annual filing done and nothing in the months between.
- You run a cash business, which we do not take on.
- The delivery model depends on CIS construction subcontracting.
- You cannot complete AML checks or explain how the organisation actually runs.
- You need the records presented differently from how things happened.
Two minutes. If it fits, you’ll book the review with Gavin.
Three questions, answered the same day, before the decision has already been made
- Know which award funds it
- Know what each post costs
- Send the funder’s evidence quickly
- Take clean figures to trustees
The bookkeeping sits underneath all four, which is why the answer arrives on the day.
Think your numbers should be answering this?
See if Ardein fitsThe review is the next step, and it starts with a few short questions.
See if your finance function fits your size / structure
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