Accounting & Financial Management

Grants management is the end-to-end administration of donor funding — from pre-award proposal development through award negotiation, implementation monitoring, financial and narrative reporting, audit and close-out. It sits at the intersection of programmes, finance and compliance. Effective grants management ensures donor compliance (EU PRAG, USAID FAR/AIDAR, FCDO PCG, UN-managed funds), accurate burn-rate tracking, sub-grantee due diligence, and timely reporting. Failures in grants management — late reports, ineligible costs, missing supporting documents — are among the most common reasons donors flag organisations for restricted-status or grant suspension.

Related PGA training: Grants Management, Financial Management for Donor-Funded Projects

Fund accounting is the accounting method used by non-profits and government bodies to track financial activity by fund (or project) rather than by overall profit and loss. Each grant, project or restricted donation is treated as its own fund with separate revenue, expenditure, and balance — even though they all sit within one organisation. This makes donor reporting accurate, restricts cross-fund spending, and supports audit trails. QuickBooks, Sage Intacct, and Sun Systems all support fund accounting through class/project tagging, and most NGO finance staff need fluency in the approach.

Related PGA training: Accounting for NGOs using QuickBooks, Financial Management for Donor-Funded Projects

IFRS — International Financial Reporting Standards — are the globally-adopted accounting standards developed by the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB). They prescribe how transactions and events are recognised, measured, presented and disclosed in financial statements. NGOs increasingly adopt IFRS (or IFRS for SMEs) to support cross-border donor compliance, lender requirements and audit harmonisation. IFRS adoption affects revenue recognition (especially grants — IFRS 15 / IPSAS 23), lease accounting (IFRS 16), and impairment of assets — areas where NGO accounting commonly needs upskilling.

Related PGA training: International Financial Reporting Standards

Fundraising and resource mobilization is the strategic and tactical process of securing financial and in-kind resources from a diverse base — institutional donors, foundations, corporates, individuals, and earned income. Strong resource mobilization combines a clear case for support, donor mapping, prospect research, proposal development, and stewardship of existing funders. The shift from grant-dependence to diversified income — including social enterprise, fee-for-service, individual giving — is a strategic priority for most African NGOs as traditional donor funding contracts.

Related PGA training: Fundraising and Resource Mobilization, Resource Mobilization and Proposal Writing

Cash flow management is the practice of forecasting, monitoring and controlling cash inflows and outflows so that an organisation can meet its obligations on time. Working capital management focuses on current assets and current liabilities — inventory, receivables, payables, short-term debt. For NGOs running multiple grant-funded projects, cash flow planning is critical because donor disbursement is rarely matched to expenditure timing — requiring careful tranche scheduling, advance projections, and reserves. Weak cash flow management causes payroll delays, supplier disputes, and reputational damage with donors.

Related PGA training: Advanced Cash Flow and Working Capital Management