Many small organisations could do with improving their financial resilience, with strengthening their financial controls or overhauling their reporting. The list is always long, and the time is never now, because it is always possible to keep going with the systems that you have. Even as it slows you down and leaves you missing opportunities for funding and growth.
As a management accountant in the charity sector for over twelve years it was my job, alongside the daily aspects of posting documents, reconciling accounts and creating monthly reporting, to make the most of those opportunities. Sometimes the projects were big - as when I designed and implemented Glyndebourne's system for tracking and claiming the newly introduced theatre sector tax relief (worth £1.5m per annum). Other projects were smaller, but no less valuable: analysing and comparing payment processing systems; automating reconciling financial data with CRM; streamlining fund accounting and overhead absorption of core costs.
After leaving my last job and looking at the charity sector with a clear view I realised that I was in a difficult position. If I wanted to continue doing the bits of the job I loved most I would either have to move away from the smaller organisations that I am passionate about, or move further into a management position. Either were viable options, but would not leave me as satisfied, as both would involve moving away from the technical aspects of charity accounting that I love getting stuck into. There was another option though, and that was how Blackbird Charity Finance was born.
My aim with this consultancy is to provide small charities with access to the level of technical financial knowledge that is normally only available to their larger cousins. Whilst I am comfortable working at the strategic level, it's operational solutions that really get me excited. Systems and reconciliations and solving those problems that just won't go away. I look forward to working with you all soon.