Charity: Taking over the running of an accounts department

Following an introduction from Arlington Resource Management to Simon Walters, we started an assignment for Camden Town-based charity Friends of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.

This UK organisation supports the highly regarded university, providing endowment funds to enable British students – Jews and non-Jews alike – to study in Israel, and promotes knowledge in Britain about the work and research of the university.

Executive director Wendy Pollecoff heads a small team in London, including a finance team recently reduced from three to two by the departure of their FD.

Ian Parlane of FD Solutions is now working closely with Wendy, providing leadership to the two accounts clerks, and producing all the financial information required, including regular management accounts for the executive board. He is preparing the charity’s budget for next year and getting last year’s statutory accounts finalised and ready for audit.

While preparing the information, we constantly look to improve it. For FHU, this includes producing individual fundraiser income and cost budgets – where previously there were none – with actuals to come in due course.

Wendy commented:

“Working with FD Solutions provided us with a seamless handover on one week’s notice. The solution they provide, regular supervision and hands-on input has given us a much better level of accounting control as well as a broader resource than we had previously.

“Simon and Ian are experienced in facing dilemmas and crises and have turned my nightmare calmly into a normal state of affairs, in fact superior than previous. I highly recommend them.”

Ian is likely to work with the client for some time yet, and expects to advise FHU in due course whether to replace their full-time FD or whether to appoint a full/part-time financial controller.