What you will learn
- Keep clear accounts: supporting documents, cost codes, bank and cash reconciliations.
- Manage cash flow and monitor the budget to avoid overspending and ineligible costs.
- Set up internal controls and prepare for audits and donor capacity assessments.
Course information
- Level
- Beginner to intermediate
- Study time
- 12 hours over 2 days (lessons, case studies, exercises)
- Format
- Online, at your own pace, free and unlimited access
- Assessment
- Daily quizzes + final exam of 20 randomly drawn questions (30 min, pass mark 70%)
- Credential
- Named, numbered certificate of achievement, verifiable online (QR code)
- Reference frameworks
- Humentum (formerly Mango) · IAASB · CHS Alliance, Groupe URD, Sphere
Programme
- Day1Accounting, cash management and budget controlSupporting documents first and foremost · Cash and bank · Budget monitoring Scenario: The cash box that does not balance
- Day2Internal controls, fraud and auditInternal controls · Preventing and dealing with fraud · Audit and capacity assessment Scenario: Before the donor audit
- Final assessment and certificate20 questions · 70% to pass · 3 attempts per 24 hours
Who is it for?
Finance assistants and officers, accountants, administrators, project and base managers who approve expenditure, and directors of national NGOs preparing for an audit or a capacity assessment.
The certificate
With at least 70% correct answers in the final assessment, you receive a certificate in your name, with a unique code that recruiters can verify on Humanitaires Jobs. A free Members area account is required.
Key concepts
The vocabulary you need to master for this course and the exam.
- Segregation of duties
- Dividing the steps of an expense between several people to limit fraud.
- Bank reconciliation
- A monthly comparison between the accounts and the bank statements.
- Budget vs actual
- Monitoring of spending variances by budget line.
- Screening
- Checking suppliers and partners against sanctions lists.
- Supporting document
- A document proving that an expense is real and eligible.
- Conflict of interest
- A situation in which a personal interest may influence a professional decision.
- Cash flow forecast
- An estimate of upcoming liquidity needs.
- Whistleblower
- A person who reports wrongdoing in good faith, protected by the organisation's policy.
References and recommended reading
The official texts and sector reference works on which the course is based.
- Humentum (formerly Mango) (2021). Mango: financial management guides for NGOs. www.humentum.org
- IAASB (2022). International Standards on Auditing (ISA). www.iaasb.org
- CHS Alliance, Groupe URD, Sphere (2024). Core Humanitarian Standard on Quality and Accountability (CHS). www.corehumanitarianstandard.org
- United Nations Office for Project Services (2023). Zero-tolerance policy on fraud and corruption (example). www.unops.org