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Design starts with the operating model
Nonprofit & Social Services
Grant and program reportingGovernment & Regulators
Spend only what was authorized. Prove it afterwards.
Public bodies and regulators work from approved budgets, delegated authority and public accountability. The finance design has to show, at any moment, what was authorized, committed, spent and still available, with the evidence behind it.
Authority, Budget, Commitment, Spend, Evidence / Reporting
Five questions every dollar has to answer.
Step from authority to evidence. The bar shows the same approved budget at each stage: divided into programs, reserved by commitments, consumed by spending and backed by evidence.
Authority
A council, legislature, ministry or board approves the budget and delegates who may spend it.
- Control
- Budget owners and delegation limits reflect the authority that was approved.
- Evidence
- The approved budget and the delegation instrument, kept with the budget load.
Budget
Approved amounts are loaded by program, department and account, and changed only through approved amendments.
- Control
- Revisions follow an approval path, and the original budget stays visible.
- Evidence
- Original, revised and amended budgets, each traceable to a decision.
Commitment
Purchase orders and contracts reserve budget before any money is spent.
- Control
- Design how available budget is checked before a commitment is approved.
- Evidence
- Procurement approvals and a commitment register that reconciles to the ledger.
Spend
Invoices and payroll consume the commitment and the budget.
- Control
- Matching, approvals and separation of duties before payment.
- Evidence
- Matched documents and the approval trail for every payment.
Evidence / Reporting
Councils, boards, the public and auditors need the same numbers from different angles.
- Control
- Every report reconciles to the ledger, and every figure traces to its source.
- Evidence
- Audit trail, reconciliations and report mappings.
Proportions are illustrative.
Regulators follow a different funding logic.
Many regulators are funded by fees or levies rather than appropriations, and report to a board or ministry. The finance design has to support cost recovery and independence as well as control.
- Cost by regulatory activityLicensing, inspection, enforcement and policy tracked as programs, so fees can be set on real cost.
- Reserves and restricted fundsDesignated reserves kept distinct and reported separately.
- Specialized reportingSector reports are validated against the requirement before assuming the general ledger produces them directly.
The areas that carry the most risk.
- Grants and transfers
- Grants received from other levels of government, and grants paid to others, each with conditions, periods and reporting obligations.
- Capital programs
- Multi-year projects tracked by project, funding source and the asset they create.
- Procurement
- Requisition, approval, purchase order and receipt, with commitments that reserve budget before the invoice.
- Auditability
- An unbroken trail from the approved budget to the published report.
Questions for accountable owners.
- How is budget authority approved and delegated, and how are amendments recorded?
- At what point is available budget checked: requisition, purchase order or invoice?
- Which grants, transfers or capital programs have their own reporting obligations?
- Which council, board, ministry or public reports must reconcile to the ledger?
- For regulators: which activities should carry cost for fee setting?
Make authority and evidence part of the design.
Talk to a Sage Intacct specialist about your budgets, approvals and reporting obligations.