Financial management

What is Financial Management?

Financial Management is a vital activity in any organization. It is the process of planning, organizing, controlling and monitoring financial resources with a view to achieve organizational goals and objectives. It is an ideal practice for controlling the financial activities of an organization such as procurement of funds, utilization of funds, accounting, payments, risk assessment and every other thing related to money.
In other terms, Financial Management is the application of general principles of management to the financial possessions of an enterprise. Proper management of an organization’s finance provides quality fuel and regular service to ensure efficient functioning. If finances are not properly dealt with an organization will face barriers that may have severe repercussions on its growth and development.

There are several options that one can use for managing their finances, this could be either managing them on your own, hire a full time employee, hire a part time accountant or a third party who manages all finance related activities for you, for example a Chartered Accountant.
Most often organizations have a dedicated department that looks after the financial matters of the company. A finance manager is designated for handling finance and managing its resources within an enterprise. All finance-related decisions are taken at this position. Depending on the company profile the finance department can have several designations to cater to the various needs of the company.

Importance of Financial Management for NGOs

As a NGO you might be thinking your primary task is to work towards social service and not financial management. But unless your finances and funds are sorted, you cannot achieve your objectives. The primary significance of financial planning and management in NGOs lies in achieving its overall goals and objectives. Here are some points indicating the importance of financial management for an NGO.

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