1. SOIR Partners Financial Management Workshop Report 2014
Swedish Organisation for Individual Relief 2014 Page 1
Finance Management for SOIR Partners in Zimbabwe Training
26 to 28 August 2014
The objectives of the financial management workshop were as follows:
 Understanding the basics of financial management and accounting jargon.
 To assist the board members in reporting and how to interpret financial
reports.
 To understand financial roles and responsibilities of the partner staff and
stakeholders.
Attached as Annexure 1 are the names of the participants that attended the
workshop. In attendance form each of the three partners were 3 Board members
(Board Chairperson, Treasurer and Secretary), and the Programs Co-ordinator. The
total number of participants were 14 inclusive of the two facilitators. Nine were male
and five were female.
Annexure 2 is the programme outline of what the workshop covered. The facilitators
were Lindah Mtetwa and Namatai Moyo both from the finance department.
The workshop looked at the financial management and roles and responsibilities,
accounting cycles, budgeting, books of accounts, general reporting, SOIR reporting,
and internal controls.
Expectations
The following were the participants' expectations:
 To learn as much as possible how finances are managed.
 Acquire much knowledge on financial management
 Rules of financial transactions, books of accounts and how to enter them
correctly.
 How money is used in the organisation; how it is then passed from the
organisation to groups; and how to keep records of how the money is used?
 How to deal with finance , bookkeeping and budget.
 To know more about financial reporting, to know more about budgeting.
 To know financial management principles.
 Acquiring basic knowledge on good financial management practises.

2. SOIR Partners Financial Management Workshop Report 2014
Swedish Organisation for Individual Relief 2014 Page 2
 To have knowledge effectively transferred from the facilitators to the
participants.
 To know more about record bookkeeping and how to write budget.
Workshop tips to remember
From the recaps, the following were items that the participants noted as been
helpful:
DAY ONE
 With accounting you have to pay attention to every detail. Read documents
carefully and understand them before you sign.
 It should be clear which responsibilities fall on the board, management or
should be shared. We have learned about the work done by different people
in keeping monies and records. As well as keeping of monies and records and
signing of monies and work done by different people.
 I have learnt about cash-flow and it includes opening balance, cash in, cash
out and closing balance. Closing balance also becomes opening balance for
the next month.
 The chart of accounts is a crucial tool for the accounting and reporting
process, as well as codes for the donors.
 Problems that can occur in money handling and how to solve them.
 Roles and responsibilities of the board in financial management. The board's
role is basically that of monitoring compliance to policies, guidelines and
systems of finance. The provision of policy systems and strategic decisions of
the organisation is the duty of the board.
A case study on budget monitoring was done by the participants who were put into
three groups. Below are their answers for the discussions done.

3. SOIR Partners Financial Management Workshop Report 2014
Swedish Organisation for Individual Relief 2014 Page 3
DAY TWO
 Source documents and how they feed into books of accounts.
 Entry of transactions in books- cashbook, petty cashbook, trial balance and
Income and Expenditure statement.
 The importance of balance brought forward for both income and expenditure.
It is synonymous with expenditure to date. It can also mean income to date.

4. SOIR Partners Financial Management Workshop Report 2014
Swedish Organisation for Individual Relief 2014 Page 4
 A budget monitoring report normally shows income and expenditure and it is
used to check whether the organisation is on budget track. The reporting was
very fairly grasped by most of the people.
 Procurement procedures that need to be followed when purchasing goods.
 The difference between internal and external reports.
DAY THREE
 Learnt of the practical financial management challenges in the organisation/
institutions in Zimbabwe and the lessons we should draw from the negative
effects.
 Ways to control fraud and mismanagement of funds in the different
organisations.
 Board members currently should always work hand in hand with
management. Vouchers and bank transactions should be signed by the
signatory or board chairperson.
 Characteristics of fraudsters and causes of fraud.
 Contents of audit requirements.
 Templates used by the Swedish Organisation for Individual Relief.
 The importance of internal and external controls.
 Reasons why people commit fraud.
The three groups were given two case studies, in the links below, each so that they
could analyse and see if what they had learnt in the three days was sufficient to help
in coming up with answers.
Caritas August22-28 _ zimindependent_case study.pdf
Council_hearld_7072014_case study.pdf
The following were their answers:

5. SOIR Partners Financial Management Workshop Report 2014
Swedish Organisation for Individual Relief 2014 Page 5

6. SOIR Partners Financial Management Workshop Report 2014
Swedish Organisation for Individual Relief 2014 Page 6

7. SOIR Partners Financial Management Workshop Report 2014
Swedish Organisation for Individual Relief 2014 Page 7
Table 1: Evaluation of the 3-Day workshop
Questions Responses
1. Did the
workshop
meet your
expectations
?
Expectations were
adequately met (x8)
Yes-because I have
learnt basic financial
management practises
that should be
employed in an
organisation.
The workshop
answered most of
my expectations
laid down in Day
one.
Yes please Yes the workshop
met the standards.
2. Please
comment on
content.
The content was
relevant. Keep it up!
(x5)
The content and
wording was well
selected. Keep it up!
Content was well
planned and
enriched me.
The use of
concrete
examples and
case-studies
was
appropriate.
The workshop was
a good cross-
section of financial
management issues
that CBOs face or
are likely to face
sooner or later.
The content
was quite
good,
relevant
and
focused.
The content
was very
constructive.
3. What was
left out?
I personally think
there is nothing left
out. Well done!
More practical
examples should be
included next time.
Detailed
components of
finance policy and
procurement policy.
You covered
everything.
At the moment,
nothing appears to
have been left out.
(x5)
4. What
should be
improved
next time?
More group work
(x4)
More examples Please improve on
the venue. The
standards here are
falling. (x2)
Will
communicate
if I find
problems,
when
implementing.

8. SOIR Partners Financial Management Workshop Report 2014
Swedish Organisation for Individual Relief 2014 Page 8
5. How were
the
facilitators'?
Very good
facilitators, sociable
and willing to have
their views
challenged. This is
the first workshop
which I feel SOIR
engaged us as
partners who have
equal contributions
to IM's mission.
The facilitators' were
quiet good through-
out. We really enjoyed
their companies very
much. These are days
we will remember for a
long time. May you
keep up the good
ways or work you are
doing.
The facilitator's
were cheerful and
well-connected with
all participants.
Facilitators'
were quite
good and
demonstrated
knowledge on
the details of
the workshop.
(x6)
Facilitators know
their subject
content. They
entertained
participants' views
& opinions.
6. What
should they
improve?
Pacing was rather
fast for the old
members.
Nothing special So far so good. They have
already
improved.
Good (x2)
Participants were given certificate of completion certificates for the financial management workshop.

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Conclusion
From the above evaluation table we can therefore conclude that, the workshop was
a success. The workshop managed to cover all workshop material in the given
period.
Annexure 1
Participants' list register for the three days
Participants' register_26 to 28 August.pdf
Annexure 2
Programme for the workshop
Programme.doc
Report compiled by: Lindah Mtetwa and Namatai Moyo