To be successful, any organisation from small to large will require good financial management processes.
Developing your current financial management processes or investing in a new system should be considered and implemented, as early as is practically possible, to ensure these meet the needs of your organisation in terms of any required reporting and planning.
Managing a facility may well increase the number of financial transactions and add additional responsibility and pressure on your workforce. It’s advisable to explore options for computerised systems, which can make the process of managing finances easier, more accurate and efficient.
If you are unfamiliar with these systems, it may be worth taking specialist advice or as part of your skills audit identifying anyone within your organisation that has this experience.
Budgeting
Budgeting is essential to control the finances of the organisation; it’s key to business growth and success.
You’ll have forecasted your income and expenditure as part of your business plan, so once your asset is operational you should compare your forecasted budget with the actual figures for income and expenditure after an initial period of operation.
Identifying where your actuals vary from the forecast budget can help you to identify if income is lower than expected or if costs are higher, so you can respond to these before any issues arise.
It’s important to identify why differences have occurred and what actions can be taken to control them, as well as to review variances across different times of the year (such as your club’s playing season or holiday periods).
You must also ensure you have set aside money for subsequent payments to contractors over the following 12 months after the completion of development works to your asset.
This retention money is paid once the asset has been in operation for a set period and any defects have been resolved. Be mindful that this isn’t swallowed up by general expenditure and everyday operations of your organisation.