The secret of good financial management is to keep things simple, develop routines and get into good habits. People sometimes worry that financial management will be a very complicated, difficult and intellectual process. But in fact the best financial systems are very simple and easy to follow. The more complicated the system, the greater the chance that something will go wrong or that someone will make a mistake.

Remember, the legal responsibility for financial management lies with every member of your management committee and not just the treasurer. Your management committee and members must know who is responsible for the financial tasks in the organization and these should be clearly defined in your trustees' written roles and responsibilities

 Financial

controls  Which accounting system?  Reserves  Budgeting  Cash flow

 Book

keeping  Petty cash  Bank reconciliation  Finance reports  Annual accounts  Glossary

Financial controls are the written rules and procedures for financial control and management that all organizations should have. Financial controls should cover, for example, who can sign cheques, who maintains the cash books, and how petty cash is administered. Some of these rules will be laid down by the constitution (or, in the case of registered companies, memoranda and articles of association) and others may simply be unwritten understandings, or ways of working traditionally adopted by the management committee or staff of the organization.

Accounts can be simple or complex it's usually best to keep them simple. Simple accounts are sometimes called ‘cash accounts’ or ‘receipts and payments accounts’. This system only recognizes money received or paid out when it takes place. The basic rule is: if it happened, write it down.

More complex accounts are sometimes called 'accrual accounts' or 'income and expenditure