PNGCP FINANCE POLICY AND PROCEDURES
AIM The aim of the policy is to:
- Safeguard the assets of Papua New Guinea Church Partnership (PNGCP) and
- Ensure that all monies received are expended in accordance with the objects of PNGCP and the wishes of the donors.
ASSETS A list of purchased assets which have a life expectancy of more than three years, together with their date of purchase, cost and any guarantee period, will be kept with the original invoices and guarantees in a file at ACO.
The disposal of any such assets will be approved by the Trustees and minuted at the quarterly Committee meeting. The disposal of any other assets e.g. books, pamphlets, artefacts, films or videos will similarly be approved and minuted.
BANK ACCOUNTS PNGCP will hold one current account with CAF Bank and two deposit accounts with CCLA – General Reserve and Staff Reserve (a small balance in this account).
BANK SIGNATORIES Each bank account will have a minimum of three Trustees as signatories with any two to authorise the release of payments or sign cheques.
When a Trustee retires or steps down, he/she will be deleted as a bank signatory and another appointed to take their place. In order to retain the minimum number of signatories at all times each account will have four signatories.
BANKING TRANSACTIONS
- Receipts will normally be credited directly into the current account. Cheques will be paid in by the Treasurer via the Post Office banking facility for CAF Bank.
- All receipts will be recorded to differentiate between “restricted” receipts and general receipts and whether any donations are made under the Gift Aid scheme.
- All donations will be acknowledged by the Treasurer.
- Payments will only be made against official invoices, authorised expense forms or authorisation at Committee meetings for International payments.
- Payments will normally be made by direct transfer. The Treasurer will initiate the transaction and a second Trustee will authorise the payment on-line.
- International payments are made via CAF Bank’s International facility with Western Union. An application form is completed by the Treasurer, authorised by a second Trustee and then sent to CAF Bank.
- All payments will be recorded to differentiate between those from “restricted” funds and those from general funds.
GIFT AID Records will be kept of all Gift Aid forms ensuring full completion by the donor. Any changes in address or Gift Aid status will be updated by the Treasurer when notified. The forms will be kept in a file at ACO.
The annual Gift Aid claim to HMRC will be submitted in the first quarter of the following year.
QUARTERLY REPORTS TO THE COMMITTEE The Treasurer will prepare a current financial report for each of the quarterly Committee meetings. This will include a summary of the “restricted” and unrestricted income and expenditure during the year and a record of the “restricted” funds being held.
The report will be provided to all Committee members prior to the meeting so that it can be reviewed and any questions raised.
A copy of the report will be filed with the Minutes of the meetings at ACO.
ANNUAL ACCOUNTS The Statement of Financial Activities, Balance Sheet and Trustees’ Annual Report will be prepared for approval by the Trustees in the first quarter of the following year. Upon agreement they will be forwarded to the wider Committee members prior to the second quarterly Committee meeting and then to the Independent Examiner. Once verified the Treasurer will complete the Annual Return and send this and all the above documents to the Charity Commission.
A full copy of the Accounts with all backing documentation will be filed at ACO.
COMMITMENTS These may only be made by a Trustee or member of the full Committee with relevant experience, e.g. agreements for use of ACO and the PNGCP website. These will be approved by the Trustees and minuted at the quarterly Committee meeting.
If contracting for work to be done, a contract will be drawn up with appropriate terms and conditions for payment against work performed.
GRANTS Grants will be considered by the whole Committee.
- For small grants (up to £2,000) we will request a report on how the funds have been spent.
- For grants over £2,000 we will request estimates of funding source(s) and expenditure and then a report and/or Income and Expenditure Account. Proforma dependent on value.
- For any interim grants or those of a recurring nature we will withhold future payments until we have accounts showing how previous monies have been spent.
Adopted on 19 July, 2023.
For review, July 2024.