CIC finance support in the North West, with funder evidence ready the same week
CIC finance support in the North West for grant-funded CICs, charities and community organisations: a funding register that stays current, restricted money tracked to the costs it paid for, and board figures that arrive before the meeting.
Most boards learn about a funding gap long after they could have closed it. One grant-funded not-for-profit had over £200,000 of awards where the claim paperwork had never been completed, and nobody in the room knew. The question is what your own register would show tonight.
Ardein is an outsourced finance function for grant-funded CICs, charities and owner-managed businesses, run remotely from Chester across the North West. It keeps the funding register, restricted fund tracking, payroll and the monthly board pack, with fees scoped to the work after seeing the records and the handover from a current accountant 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 board meets
Answer the funder in the same week
The funding register is reconciled monthly, so the evidence is already assembled when the email arrives.
See which award is carrying which salary
Restricted money is tracked against the posts and activities it was awarded for, not split at the year end.
Take a decision to trustees with the numbers attached
Board figures land on the agreed date each month, ahead of the meeting rather than after it.
Three funding decisions that went wrong before anyone saw the numbers
Each one cost real money, and in each the figure existed somewhere nobody was reading.
- Funder
“The funder asked for a breakdown of last year’s award and it took us three weeks to put together.”
The spend was legitimate. The evidence sat across a chief executive’s inbox, a spreadsheet and a bank account nobody had reconciled that quarter.
- Salary
“We recruited a project coordinator on the strength of an award, then found half the salary was never covered.”
Unrestricted reserves paid the difference for eight months. Nobody had mapped the post to the award before the offer went out.
- Award
“Two awards closed in the same quarter and we only claimed against one of them.”
The second claim window shut with money still on the table. A register reviewed at each board meeting would have flagged it in time.
- Day 90
What it looks like when the answer is in the room
The funder emails on Monday and gets the breakdown by Wednesday, from the register rather than from memory. Every restricted pound is already matched to the cost it paid for. Claims are submitted against a timetable the board can see. Trustees read the pack before the meeting, so the meeting is about decisions.
Quick check · no email
If your accountant cannot tell you this week which awards are fully claimed and evidenced, and what is still uncovered, you have the wrong accountant
Three questions about your current accountant, answered yes or no.
Question 1 of 3
Could they tell you by Friday which grants are fully claimed and which are not?
Could they show, line by line, which salaries are covered by which award?
Could they put a board pack in trustees’ hands before the meeting, on the same date each month?
That is a real gap, and it usually surfaces when a funder asks first. The Funding and Finance Evidence Review exists to find out how wide it is while you still choose the timing.
You are in a reasonable position, and one area is still carrying risk. It is almost always the register: reconciling awards against income received line by line is how over £200,000 of unclaimed funding came to light.
You are well served and there is little for us to add. The guide on the first ninety days will tell you whether anything is quietly missing.
Year-end accountant or a monthly finance function: which one answers the funder
Both are needed. Only one of them is current when the question arrives.
A year-end accountant
Files the CIC accounts and the corporation tax return correctly.
Works from records that are closed and months old.
Sees the funding position once a year, after the awards have run.
Answers questions about last year rather than this quarter.
Ardein month by month
Keeps a funding register updated monthly and reviewed at each board meeting.
Matches restricted money to the salaries and activities it paid for.
Prepares claims against a timetable, so windows are not missed.
Delivers the board pack on the agreed date, before trustees meet.
Eight questions your board should be able to answer tonight
Answer each one yes or no, from what you have in front of you now.
- 01
Can you list every open award and its claim deadline?
If the list lives in one person’s head, the deadline is the risk.
- 02
Can you show how much of each award has been claimed?
This is the line that uncovered over £200,000 of unclaimed funding.
- 03
Is every salary mapped to the award that funds it?
Unmapped posts get paid from reserves, usually for months.
- 04
Could you produce the evidence for last year’s largest award this week?
A funder asking is not the moment to start assembling it.
- 05
Do trustees receive figures before the meeting, on a fixed date?
Papers that arrive on the day get read in the room, not before it.
- 06
Do you know your unrestricted cash position today, not last quarter?
Unrestricted cash is what funds the decision you are about to take.
- 07
Can you see which contract or activity is covering its own costs?
Contracts subsidised by reserves are rarely priced again until it hurts.
- 08
Is anyone other than the chief executive keeping the books?
A chief executive doing the bookkeeping is a reporting risk, not a saving.
What running the finance function covers for a CIC
Scoped on the number of funding streams and how often the board reports.
Funding register and claims
Awards reconciled to income monthly, restricted money tracked, claims prepared to the funder’s timetable.
Monthly evidence and board pack
Cash, restricted funds and performance in one pack, delivered before trustees meet.
Payroll, year end and CIC filings
Payroll and pension duties, statutory accounts and the CIC filings, from records that already reconcile.
Entry 01
What reconciling awards against income actually turns up
Two findings from first-month work, both from asking how something was being funded.
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 the first ninety days change about the answers you can give
Four markers, each one a question the board can answer that it could not answer before.
You know which awards are exposed
Scope, due diligence and records agreed, and the handover from your current accountant run by us.
The funding register tells the truth
Bookkeeping complete, banks reconciled, awards matched to income received and to the costs they funded.
Claims go in on the funder’s timetable
Routines set for bookkeeping, payroll, claims and evidence, with responsibility for each part agreed in writing.
Trustees read the pack before the meeting
Monthly board reporting on cash, restricted funds and performance, delivered on the same date each month.
Who this is not for
Cash businesses, which we do not take on.
Construction work that depends on CIS, which sits outside what we do.
Anything non-compliant or reportable, which we walk away from, including incomplete AML checks.
Organisations whose leadership cannot explain how the work is funded or what they need.
Everything else is a question of scope, and the review is where that gets settled.
Questions we get asked first
Is the Funding and Finance Evidence Review a sales call?
No. It is a scoped piece of work covering your funding flows, restricted fund visibility, an evidence checklist, a board reporting gap review and a claims timetable. You keep the findings and the priority actions for the next ninety days whether or not you go further. It carries a fixed review fee, credited in full against onboarding.
We already have an accountant, so why look at CIC finance support in the North West?
Most CICs we speak to already have someone filing the accounts. The gap is usually monthly: who keeps the funding register current, who maps salaries to awards, and who prepares the board pack. Ardein can run that alongside your existing filing arrangement, or take the whole finance function, whichever the board prefers.
What happens with our current accountant if we switch?
Ardein manages the handover: professional clearance, collecting the records, and a transition plan agreed around your year end. There is no separate charge for the normal handover. You do not chase your previous accountant for anything, and we agree in writing who is responsible for each part of the finance routine from day one.
How long do we have to commit for?
The monthly fee is scoped to the work once we have seen the records and understood how the organisation runs, and it covers a defined finance routine rather than a filing deadline. There is no long tie-in. Capacity is capped at four new clients a month, so start dates are agreed rather than assumed.
Do you work with CICs outside the North West?
Yes. Ardein works remotely across the UK from a base in Chester, with a core across Cheshire, Merseyside and Greater Manchester, including Liverpool, Manchester, Warrington and Crewe. Meetings are held online and records are kept in Xero, so the reporting date is the same wherever the organisation is based.
What does CIC finance support in the North West actually include?
Bookkeeping with fund tracking, payroll and pension duties, VAT where it applies, the monthly evidence and board pack, year-end accounts and the CIC filings. From 1 April 2026, CIC accounts must be filed at Companies House using software, which we handle. Scope depends on the number of funding streams and your reporting cadence.
Three ways to take the next step
Start the Funding and Finance Evidence Review
You get the funding flow findings, an evidence checklist and the priority actions for the next ninety days.
Check your funding evidence 02 · A question firstNot sure it applies to your organisation?
Call or email Gavin and describe how your awards are tracked today.
Ask Gavin a question 03 · Still decidingStill deciding
The guide sets out what the first ninety days change, week by week, before you commit to anything.
When a funder wants evidence →