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Design starts with the operating model
Nonprofit & Social Services
Grant and program reportingIndigenous & First Nations Organizations
Design around your governance, not an assumed model.
Every Nation and Indigenous organization has its own governance, entities and responsibilities. Finance design starts with the people who hold those responsibilities, and follows the structure they decide.
Governance, Entity / Program, Funding, Responsibility, Reporting
Governance leads. Everything else sits inside it.
Five layers, from the authority the organization holds to the reports it relies on. Select a layer to see what the design must respect there.
Governance
- What to understand
- Who holds decision authority: council, a board, committees, and how delegation works.
- Design decision
- Approval limits, signing authority and budget ownership come from the organization’s own governance, not a default template.
- Validate
- Walk a real approval from request to payment with the people who hold that authority.
Entity / Program
- What to understand
- Government operations, Nation-owned businesses, housing, trusts and programs may be separate or combined.
- Design decision
- Choose entities, programs and dimensions so each can report on its own, and together when that is needed.
- Validate
- Confirm the reporting perimeter and the activity between entities.
Funding
- What to understand
- Contribution agreements, flexible or block funding, own-source revenue and business income carry different conditions.
- Design decision
- Keep funding sources distinct, so restricted money, own-source revenue and business income are never mixed in a report.
- Validate
- Reconcile one program report to its agreement and to the ledger.
Responsibility
- What to understand
- Program managers, finance and leadership each own different decisions.
- Design decision
- Give every budget an accountable owner, and set access so people see what their role requires, and no more.
- Validate
- Review role access and approvals with leadership before go-live.
Reporting
- What to understand
- Leadership, members, funders and lenders need different views, on different calendars.
- Design decision
- Define each report, its audience and its calendar, and map it to the ledger once.
- Validate
- Review each output with the people accountable for it before it is relied on.
Separate, combined, or both.
Many Nations report some entities separately and others together. The perimeter is a governance decision. The finance design makes both views possible from one ledger.
Each entity reports on its own. Its funding, approvals and results stay inside its own boundary.
Leadership sees the whole organization. Activity between entities is identified and eliminated, so nothing is counted twice.
A design conversation led by the organization.
- 01Confirm the governance model and the people authorized to make decisions.
- 02Map entities, programs, funding and reporting responsibilities.
- 03Validate coding, approvals, shared costs and access with those people.
- 04Review every output with the people accountable for it.
Where the design needs particular care.
Capital projects
Infrastructure and housing projects often combine several funding sources. Track each project by funding source and by the asset it creates, so both the funder and the balance sheet are satisfied.
Shared administration
Finance, human resources and information technology serve every program. Agree an allocation method that the funding agreements allow, and apply it consistently.
Own-source revenue
Revenue from businesses, leases and other sources is the organization’s own. Keep it visible and distinct from restricted funding, because it carries different decisions.
Access and data
Membership, housing and program information can be sensitive. Access follows the organization’s requirements, and finance sees only what it needs.
Questions for the people who hold responsibility.
- Which reports support leadership, program managers, members and funders, and on which calendars?
- Which entities report separately, and which need a combined view?
- Where do reporting periods or definitions differ between agreements?
- Who approves spending at each level, and how is that authority delegated?
- Which data and access requirements must the solution respect?
Start with your governance, not a template.
A first conversation is about your structure and responsibilities. Nothing is assumed.