Finance Coordinator (Head of Department)

Objective of Post

To ensure sound and transparent administration of funds by providing accounting and financial management consistent with the ACF financial management framework  and local legislation

Objective 1

Contribute to the definition of mission strategy

Tasks & responsibilities

• The Financial Coordinator is responsible for:
  • creating the budgetary framework of the mission
  • making financial and budgetary information available to other departments to facilitate the establishment of the country strategy
  • producing high quality and timely financial and budgetary contributions to "proposals" and reports for funding bodies
• Contributing a financial and budgetary perspective to coordination discussions
• Advising other departments on their financial and budgetary needs
• Ensuring that financial and budgetary needs and constraints are taken into account in the preparation of projects
• Collecting data and writing the financial and budgetary section of proposals and reports to funding bodies and financing plans, and proposition of structure costs requests
• Ensuring that his/her contribution to “proposals” and reports is consistent with the rest of these documents
• Representing the mission to outside bodies on issues of finance and budget and developing a network for the exchange of information and good practice

Objective 2

Ensure high quality accounting for the mission

Tasks & responsibilities

• The Financial Coordinator is responsible for:
  • disseminating information about accounting procedures throughout the mission and ensuring they are observed 
  • the correctness of accounting and analytical entries
  • timely forwarding of the monthly accounting bundle
  • verifications of cash stocks and bank accounts according to ACF regulations
• Ensuring that parameters of the accounting software are properly set up
• Ensuring that all accounting, extra-accounting and expatriate data are entered into the accounting software
• Verifying bankbook and checking and bank reconciliations
• Supervising the checking of invoices and ensuring that they are archived according to ACF procedures
• Verifying and approving the monthly accounting bundle and ensuring that it is forwarded to headquarters
• Verifying the physical cash count in capital and in the course of visits to bases

Objective 3

Ensure high quality cash management for the mission

Tasks & responsibilities

• The Financial Coordinator is responsible for:
  • defining, promulgating and ensuring compliance with cash management procedures across the mission
  • the availability and safe keeping of the necessary cash
  • adapting methods for cash transfer in the light of local conditions and security considerations
  • monitoring the correspondence between cash forecast and the BFU
  • anticipating treasury risks and resolving difficulties
• Defining and keeping up to date cash management procedures adapted to local conditions, suggesting alternatives in the light of any changes, authorizing and organizing the transfer of funds to the bases   
• Consolidating and approving the treasury forecast of the mission and forwarding it to headquarters
• Consolidating requests to commit expenses on a non-signed contract (structure budget) and forwarding them to headquarters
• Passing on payments made through headquarters
• Monitoring contractual payments made by funding bodies and signed off in the field
• Approving the choice of banking establishments, checking their solvency and reliability, securing optimal conditions, approving and requesting the opening and closing of accounts and the adding of signatories according to ACF procedures
• Approving the methods of payment of on-going contracts and ensuring payment by the due date
• Authorizing the payment of mission expenses according to ACF procedures

Objective 4

Provide financial and budgetary management

Tasks & responsibilities

• The Financial Coordinator is responsible for:
  • promulgation of and compliance with the financial rules of funding bodies
  • establishing the annual budget
  • leadership in budgetary matters at mission level and steering the process of budget forecasting
  • cost analysis and issuing budgetary alerts when necessary
  • monitoring financial risks and issuing alerts when necessary
  • providing the necessary materials for negotiations with funding bodies and producing documents to funding bodies
• Calculating and ratifying project budgets
• Preparing and revising the mission's annual budget
• Producing, checking and forwarding budget follow-up (including forecast) to the coordination team and to base administrators, raising issues of relevance and alerts, support Coordinators
• Ratifying the circulation and authorization thresholds of expenditures laid down by Logistics
• Identifying financial risks (exchange rate fluctuations, inflation...), making Coordinators aware of financial risks in their field, alerting the Country Director and headquarters, providing support in the management of risk
• Production and archiving of financial reports according to the deadlines and formats required by funding bodies
• Supervision of the pre-audit of funding bodies' financial contracts and responding to queries raised by auditors

Objective 5

Promote and ensure financial collaboration and coordination with mission partners

Tasks & responsibilities

• The Financial Coordinator is responsible for:
  • participating in the process of selecting partners and validating the financial risk analysis provided by the bases
  • defining with partners the modes of financial and budgetary management in the framework of joint projects
  • validating the financial and budgetary aspects of partnership conventions and agreements
  • taking full advantage at mission level of all innovative practices in the field of financial and budgetary management in partnerships

Objective 6

Prevent and manage fraud and corruption

Tasks & responsibilities

• The Financial Coordinator is responsible for:
  • identifying risks of fraud and corruption in his/her field of competence and setting up preventive and monitoring mechanisms
  • making his/her team aware of the risks of fraud and corruption
  • alerting the Country Director to cases of fraud and corruption and undertaking  corrective action
  • putting in place and monitoring recommendations arising from the day-to-day control and audit

Objective 7

Manage the Finance team

Tasks & responsibilities

• The Financial Coordinator is responsible for:
  • the day-to-day management of his/her team (guidance, follow-up, motivation…)
  • evaluating the performance and developing the skills of his/her team members
  • management of the teams for which s/he is support/technical Manager
• Defining the Human Resource needs of his/her area of activity and establishing the organizational chart of his/her team
• Taking part in the recruitment of team members
• Organizing and leading team meetings
• Working out and monitoring individual action plans for team members
• Managing the planning process, the sharing and coordination of tasks
• Providing for appraisal interviews for team members
• Providing technical support to the teams
• Identifying the training needs of team members
• Creating, organizing and leading training sessions
• Managing difficulties in the team

INTERNAL & EXTERNAL RELATIONSHIP

Internal

·         Finance Coordinator is Line managed by DCD Support

·         Technical Coordinators – Keep active liaison to ensure development of coherent cost proposals and expenditure under ongoing grants

·         Field Finance Officer – HQ referent for Finance Co in relation to all grant development reporting and financial matters including but not limited to Mission Funding plan, cash forecasts, monthly closure of accountancy, review of the budget follow up, etc;

Islamabad finance team;

External

·         In country Donors, as directed by CD, DCD

·         Auditors

·         Tax consultant

·         Other NGO Finance department

REPORTING RESPONSIBILITIES

·         Monthly Admin Reports

·         Incident reporting

·         Financial Reporting

·         Others as agrees upon with the Country Director and Field Finance Manager