Interim financial report: exchange rate, eligibility of…

International NGO · Written recruitment test

Practical exercise · Officer level

Grants Officer (finance and compliance)

Duty station: Bertoua, East region (Cameroon)
Time allowed: 90 min
Marks: 100 marks
Pass mark: 60 %
Profile: Officer, 2 to 5 years of experience

Instructions

The test lasts 90 minutes. It is marked out of 100; the pass mark for the interview is 60.
You may use a calculator or a spreadsheet. Show your workings: a correct result without workings receives only half the marks.
Answer in English, in a structured way. Note form is accepted if the answer remains complete and understandable by a third party.
Any outside help (another person, artificial intelligence) is forbidden.
The documents are fictional. Do not make unjustified assumptions; if you make one, state it.

Original practice test, built on the format of written tests used by United Nations agencies and international NGOs. The context and figures are fictitious.

Documents provided

Document 1. Funds received and conversion rule (grant in USD, education project for refugee children, 1 January to 31 December)

Date	Transfer from the donor	Amount credited to the project account
15 January	USD 120,000	XAF 70,800,000
10 June	USD 80,000	XAF 48,400,000

Contract rule: expenditure in local currency is converted at the weighted average rate of funds received at the closing date of the period. Previous report (January to March): USD 85,000 of expenditure. Period of this report: 1 April to 30 September. The accountant converted the expenditure at the rate on the day the report was prepared, XAF 615 to USD 1.

Document 2. Extract from the project general ledger, April to September period (XAF)

No.	Date	Description	Amount	Supporting documents and remarks
1	30/09	Project team salaries, July to September (budgeted positions)	21,456,000	Signed payslips and payroll sheets
2	14/07	1,800 school kits (tender)	16,200,000	Purchase order, delivery note, invoice, receipt report
3	28/09	Rent for the Bertoua office, October to December	1,800,000	Lease and receipt
4	30/09	Fuel, July to September	2,980,000	Fuel vouchers; logbooks: 30% of kilometres for the health project of the same office
5	22/08	Closing of the teachers' workshop: meals 300,000, alcoholic drinks 150,000	450,000	Itemised caterer's invoice
6	15/09	Late payment surcharges from the social security fund	380,000	Surcharge notice
7	03/08	Laptop for the monitoring officer	950,000	"IT equipment" budget line; three quotations
8	19/08	20 kVA generator	6,500,000	"Equipment" line budgeted at USD 4,000; no prior approval from the donor
9	10/09	Transport of school supplies to Garoua-Boulaï	1,200,000	Handwritten receipt only, no invoice or waybill
10	20/08	Per diems, training of 60 teachers	2,340,000	Signed attendance sheet, internal scale
11	30/09	Bank charges	185,000	Bank statements; budgeted line
12	05/10	Office supplies	760,000	Invoice dated 5 October
		Total	55,201,000

Document 3. Grant agreement, eligibility rules (extract)

Expenditure is eligible if it is incurred during the implementation period and charged to the reporting period in which the service or goods are consumed, necessary for the project, provided for in the budget, identifiable and supported by original documents.
The following are not eligible: alcoholic drinks, fines, penalties and surcharges, exchange losses, expenditure of other projects.
Any equipment with a unit value above USD 5,000 requires the donor's prior written approval.
Costs shared between projects are charged according to a justified and documented allocation key.

Question 115 marks

Calculate the conversion rate to be applied under the contract. What would be the effect of using the rate of XAF 615 on the total reported? Give the calculation based on the reportable amount you will find in question 2.

Your answer

0 words

Question 240 marks

Review the 12 entries (documents 2 and 3): for each, state whether it is eligible, ineligible, to be charged to another period or pending, and the reportable amount. Calculate the total reportable in XAF and in USD.

Your answer

0 words

Model answer

No.	Decision	Reportable (XAF)
1	Eligible	21,456,000
2	Eligible (complete procurement procedure)	16,200,000
3	Rent for October to December: charged to the next period (prepaid expense)	0
4	70% eligible according to the logbooks; 894,000 to be charged to the health project	2,086,000
5	Meals eligible; alcohol ineligible (150,000)	300,000
6	Ineligible (surcharges)	0
7	Eligible (budgeted, below the approval threshold)	950,000
8	Pending: 6,500,000 / 596 = USD 10,906.04, above the USD 5,000 threshold, without prior approval; also exceeds the budgeted line	0 at this stage
9	Pending: insufficient supporting documents	0 at this stage
10	Eligible	2,340,000
11	Eligible (budgeted)	185,000
12	Outside the period (October): next period	0

Total reportable: 21,456,000 + 16,200,000 + 2,086,000 + 300,000 + 950,000 + 2,340,000 + 185,000 = XAF 43,517,000, i.e. 43,517,000 / 596 = USD 73,015.10.

Check: pending XAF 7,700,000 (USD 12,919.46); charged to the next period 2,560,000; charged to the health project 894,000; ineligible, charged to own funds 530,000. 43,517,000 + 7,700,000 + 2,560,000 + 894,000 + 530,000 = 55,201,000: the general ledger total is matched.

Marking grid

Correct decisions on the simple entries (1, 2, 6, 7, 10, 11) (8 marks)
Correct partial allocations (4 and 5) (8 marks)
Charging to the correct period (3 and 12) (6 marks)
Pending entries correctly justified (8 and 9) (8 marks)
Correct total in XAF and in USD, with reconciliation to the general ledger (10 marks)

Your mark for this question / 40

Question 325 marks

What follow-up do you give to the pending entries and the ineligible expenditure? Calculate the balance of funds received not yet accounted for after this report. Propose three internal control measures.

Your answer

0 words

Question 420 marks

Write the email to the donor's programme officer requesting retroactive approval for the generator (150 words maximum).

Your answer

0 words

Other tests for this profession

Panel interview question for this profession

Describe a time when, while preparing a financial report, you found expenditure that was problematic under the donor's rules. What did you do?

Competency assessed : Compliance and expenditure review

What the panel expects : A methodical review of the entries, knowledge of the eligibility rules, precise amounts, a transparent decision (reclassification, retroactive approval, own funds), honest communication with the donor and a preventive measure.

Possible follow-up questions

How did you organise your review of the entries?
Who wanted to report this expenditure anyway, and how did you hold your position?
What did you put in place to prevent it from happening again?

Strong answer

In Chad, while preparing the six-monthly report for a EUR 450,000 grant, I reviewed the 312 entries for the period using a checklist drawn from the contract. I found three problems: EUR 4,800 of fuel from another project, a motorbike costing EUR 6,200 bought without the prior approval required above EUR 5,000, and EUR 1,150 of tax penalties. The coordinator wanted to report everything. I showed him the clauses and the audit risk, then I reclassified the fuel to the correct project, moved the penalties to own funds and drafted a request for retroactive approval for the motorbike, with the quotations and the justification. The donor accepted it within three weeks. The report went out on time, and the final audit found no ineligible costs. Since then, every purchase above EUR 3,000 goes through me before the purchase order.

Weak answer

"The accountant had included some questionable expenses, but the amounts were small, so I left them in so as not to delay the report." This answer shows ineligible costs being accepted, without analysis or informing the donor, with a risk of refunds and an unfavourable audit.

← All tests

Interim financial report: exchange rate, eligibility of expenditure and retroactive approval

Instructions

Documents provided

Question 115 marks

Model answer

Marking grid

Question 240 marks

Model answer

Marking grid

Question 325 marks

Model answer

Marking grid

Question 420 marks

Model answer

Marking grid

Result

Common mistakes that cost marks

Useful references