Procedures Manual: Financial Reports

Now that you have successfully written the chapter on Reviewing General Ledgers, it’s time to move to Financial Reports.

These reports communicate your organization’s financial health to the board of directors. Reviewing them, understanding them and discussing them enables board members to fulfill their fiduciary responsibility. Here’s how you can help them excel at their job.

1. Who prepares your financial reports: staff member, treasurer, consultant…?
2. What kind of reports does the preparer create: profit and loss statement/income and expense report/statement of activities, balance sheets/statement of financial position, budget vs actual, cash flow projections..?
3. Do the reports include comparative information?
4. On the balance sheet, is the net asset’s section divided into unrestricted net assets, temporarily restricted net assets and permanently restricted net assets?
5. How often does the preparer create reports?
6. Who reviews the reports once completed: executive director, treasurer..?
7. Where are the reports kept prior to presentation?
8. Are the reports distributed electronically or in hard copy?
9. Are they reports distributed only in conjunction with a board meeting?
10. To whom are these reports presented: the board of directors, the finance committee, the executive director, the senior management team…?