Mission 1 : Contribute to the definition of mission strategy
The Head of Finance Department is responsible for:
- creating the budgetary framework of the mission
- making financial and budgetary information available to other departments to facilitate the establishment of the country strategy
- producing high quality and timely financial and budgetary contributions to "proposals" and reports for funding bodies
- Contributing a financial and budgetary perspective to coordination discussions
- Advising other departments on their financial and budgetary needs
- Ensuring that financial and budgetary needs and constraints are taken into account in the preparation of projects
- Collecting data and writing the financial and budgetary section of proposals and reports to funding bodies and financing plans, and negotiation of the Z1 after validation of Country Director
- Ensuring that his/her contribution to “proposals” and reports is consistent with the rest of these documents
- Representing the mission to outside bodies on issues of finance and budget and developing a network for the exchange of information and good practice
Mission 2: Ensure high quality accounting for the mission
The Head of Finance Department is responsible for:
- disseminating information about accounting procedures throughout the mission and ensuring they are observed
- the correctness of accounting and analytical entries
- timely forwarding of the monthly accounting bundle
- verifications of cash stocks and bank accounts according to ACF regulations
- Ensuring that parameters of the accounting software are properly set up
- Ensuring that all accounting, extra-accounting and expatriate data are entered into the accounting software
- Verifying bankbook and checking and bank reconciliations
- Supervising the checking of invoices and ensuring that they are archived according to ACF procedures
- Verifying and approving the monthly accounting bundle and ensuring that it is forwarded to headquarters
- Verifying the physical cash count in capital and in the course of visits to bases
Mission 3 : Ensure high quality cash management for the mission
The Head of Finance Department is responsible for:
- designing, promulgating and ensuring compliance with cash management procedures across the mission
- the availability and safe keeping of the necessary cash
- adapting methods for cash transfer in the light of local conditions and security considerations
- monitoring the correspondence between cash forecast and the BFU
- anticipating treasury risks and resolving difficulties
- Designing and keeping up to date cash management procedures adapted to local conditions, suggesting alternatives in the light of any changes, authorising and organising the transfer of funds to the bases
- Consolidating and approving the treasury forecast of the mission and forwarding it to headquarters
- Consolidating requests to commit expenses on a non-signed contract (Z2) and forwarding them to headquarters
- Passing on payments made through headquarters
- Monitoring contractual payments made by funding bodies and signed off in the field
- Approving the choice of banking establishments, checking their solvency and reliability, securing optimal conditions, approving and requesting the opening and closing of accounts and the adding of signatories according to ACF procedures
- Approving the methods of payment of on-going contracts and ensuring payment by the due date
- Authorising the payment of mission expenses according to ACF procedures
Mission 4 : Provide financial and budgetary management
The Head of Finance Department is responsible for:
- promulgation of and compliance with the financial rules of funding bodies
- establishing the annual budget
- leadership in budgetary matters at mission level and steering the process of budget forecasting
- cost analysis and issuing budgetary alerts when necessary
- monitoring financial risks and issuing alerts when necessary
- providing the necessary materials for negotiations with funding bodies and producing documents to funding bodies
- Calculating and ratifying project budgets
- Preparing and revising the mission's annual budget
- Producing, checking and forwarding budget follow-up (including forecast) to the coordination team and to base Finance Managers, raising issues of relevance and alerts, support Heads of Department
- Producing, checking and forwarding the Z1 budget follow-up according to ACF procedures
- Ratifying the circulation and authorisation thresholds of expenditures laid down by Logistics
- Identifying financial risks (exchange rate fluctuations, inflation...), making Heads of Department aware of financial risks in their field, alerting the Deputy Country Director-support and headquarters, providing support in the management of risk
- Production and archiving of financial reports according to the deadlines and formats required by funding bodies
- Supervision of the pre-audit of funding bodies' financial contracts and responding to queries raised by auditors
Mission 5 : Promote and ensure financial collaboration and coordination with mission partners
The Head of Finance Department is responsible for:
- participating in the process of selecting partners and validating the financial risk analysis provided by the bases
- defining with partners the modes of financial and budgetary management in the framework of joint projects
- validating the financial and budgetary aspects of partnership conventions and agreements
- taking full advantage at mission level of all innovative practices in the field of financial and budgetary management in partnerships
Mission 6 : Support fraud and corruption management
The Head of Finance Department is responsible for:
- support identifying risks of fraud and corruption in his/her field of competence and setting up preventive and monitoring mechanisms
- making his/her team aware of the risks of fraud and corruption
- alerting the CD to cases of fraud and corruption and undertaking corrective action
- putting in place and monitoring recommendations arising from the day-to-day control and audit provided by ARC department
Mission 7 : Manage the Finance team in capital and be Technical/Support Manager of Finance Managers in the bases
The Head of Finance Department is responsible for:
- the day-to-day management of his/her team (guidance, follow-up, motivation…)
- evaluating the performance and developing the skills of his/her team members
- management of the teams for which s/he is support/technical Manager
- Defining the Human Resource needs of his/her area of activity and establishing the organisational chart of his/her team
- Taking part in the recruitment of team members
- Organising and leading team meetings
- Working out and monitoring individual action plans for team members
- Managing the planning process, the sharing and coordination of tasks
- Providing for appraisal interviews for team members
- Providing technical support to the teams
- Identifying the training needs of team members
- Creating, organising and leading training sessions
- Managing difficulties in the team
