Finance Count™ is a financial management benchmarking tool tailored specifically to the needs of the UK voluntary and community sector, designed in partnership with the Charity Finance Directors Group (CFDG).

Over 180 organisations of different sizes and sub sectors have been involved over the past 2 years, representing almost 15% of the voluntary sector workforce, and combined total net assets of over £3.8 billion.

By taking part in Finance Count™, you will get a clear picture of how the financial processes in your organisation compare with those in other voluntary and community organisations.

Participation in the study involves filling out a questionnaire, and on completion you will receive a series of detailed reports, including a organisational Scorecard which sets out how your organisation’s performance compares with 10-20 of your chosen peers and with the sector as a whole. This provides a powerful, tailor-made tool which you can use to contribute to performance improvement. The reports also contain case studies of good practice from high performing organisations involved in the study.

As a new service we are also offering a one-to-one telephone consultation to all participants as part of the subscription. This will assist you in the process of effectively interpreting and applying your results.

The study is run annually. The sign-up deadline for Finance Count 2008 has now passed. If you would like to discuss taking part as a 'out-of-cycle participant' please call Sarah Houldcroft on 01865 263720.

Benefits experienced by participants:

• Provides early warning signs of potential issues
• Gives reassurance for what is already working well
• Helps determine priorities for action
• Useful in setting meaningful and realistic targets
• Provides an opportunity to gain new insights on good practice and how to achieve it
• Enhances your ability to report back to management and trustees.

Previous participants have said that the study provides ‘a unique insight’ which is ‘thought provoking’ and ‘has helped us to generate many new ideas’. To read more comments from previous participants see therecommendations page.

Key topics covered include:

• Transaction processing: purchasing, the purchase ledger, expenses, payroll and income processing
• Internal and external reporting
• Control and decision support: planning, budgeting, cash and treasury management, and public service delivery
• A look at the finance function in detail, including staffing levels, qualifications, training, effectiveness, leadership and planned changes
• Overhead costs, trading, performance management, internal audit, investment management.