Many folks tell us that finance can feel daunting.  We get it. It can feel that way at the beginning. We recommend keeping it simple and starting off with:

A budget and cashflow forecast. 

A bookkeeping system. 

A monthly finance pack. 

A set of financial controls.

The following helps us build financial sustainability. This can be tricky. That's ok. The gap between what we need to do, and what we can do, is how we manage financial risk. 

Budget - and secure - the full cost of each project. 

Generate unrestricted income. 

Build and maintain adequate reserves.

Avoid mission drift - not all money pays.

It's not that resilient charities don't experience challenges. All do. It's just that they have created the conditions which give the very best chance of survival: 

They keep looking ahead with a forecast. 

They build reserves to buy valuable time. 

They keep track of the best and worst case. 

They have a good, timely, response plan. 

Honestly, there will always be some shadows. But there is an awful lot we can do to shine the light far and wide. 

There is some knowledge we all need. Like what makes for good financial governance, how to put a budget together that leads us towards a more financial sustainable future, and when that option is not open to us, how to build longer term financial resilience so that we can expand we can and contract when we need to. 

Happily, knowledge gaps can be filled easily. We cover a lot of this in our regular training. We also have heaps of useful stuff on our resources page to take your first step today. 

Firstly, while all of us need the relevant knowledge, not all of us need all the skills. 

Some of us need the skill of preparing financial information. Some of us need the skill of consuming financial information. 

Think carefully about who needs what in your organisation, buy in what you can and train up where you can't. 

Happily basic finance skills like the ones needed in most small charities, can be built by modelling best practice (knowledge) and putting it all into practice consistently and regularly (behaviours).

We always recommend spending at least one day a month on the finances; half looking backwards, half looking forwards.

Secondly, in all honesty, while having a chartered accountant in the mix somewhere is highly recommended, there is an awful lot we can do to become competent through sheer will and determination!

Truth be told, the biggest barrier to financial resilience is not technical. It is attitudinal. We find finance scary. Anxiety provoking. Boring. Difficult. Baffling. 

We all have a barrier when it comes to tackling the numbers. And we all think it is time. In our experience it is always time AND something else. Fear, anxiety, uncertainty, boredom etc. 

We always recommend determining the root cause, finding a work around (out-sourcing, working group, good training, pack of biscuits etc. ) and doing it anyway. Never let one spreadsheet get in the way of changing the world.  

We run many free sessions for small charities sharing best practice and insights. Join our mailing list for invites.  

We partners with many leading organisations in the sector to run high quality finance sessions across the sector. Check them out today. 

And if you are a funder, infrastructure body or membership body you can commission us to design and deliver bespoke sessions for your grantees, members and partners. Get in touch and tell us how we can help. 

When we started out in 2018, there were no specialist providers dedicated to providing live small charity finance training. Since then, we have become the go to provider for quality, small charity specialist training. 

Through our Academy, we provide two training programmes; a Foundation Programme supporting you to do the day to day finance jobs and a Leadership Programme supporting you to build financial resilience.

Our sessions are prefect for accidental finance heroes. They are:

• designed and delivered by small charity folk for small charity folk
• delivered in plain English in friendly and supportive online environments
• short, succinct and bitesize making them easy to fit into busy work lives

What's more - they are all bookable as stand alone sessions! 

Come join us!

If you are not sure where to begin with it all, fear not, we offer you:

• a free introduction to charity finance 
• conference slidedecks and publications
• a monthly (ish) newsletter 
• an insightful (ish) blog

Plus, we have curated a list of the all resources that we signpost to most often. The Small Charity Finance List has guidance across the finance spectrum which is perfect for Trustees, leaders and  accidental finance heroes.