Finance Count 2012, a unique financial management benchmarking study, has just been launched by Agenda Consulting and Charity Finance Directors’ Group (CFDG).

Last year 64 charities took part in the study which benchmarks each charity’s finance function against other participants.

Caron Bradshaw, CEO of CFDG, said: “Faced with a continuing difficult environment, Finance Count offers charities an opportunity to explore how their management and performance compares with their peers, something which is an invaluable contribution to any organisation in a period of adaptation.”

Finance Count 2011 provided detailed insight into how charities have adapted to the current economic climate and where they could make efficiency savings. It also demonstrated:

Where charities were top performers, such as being prompt payers to creditors, and the potential for negotiation of costs based on these attributes; where there were common issues across the sector with administrative processes, for example, difficulties in processing Gift Aid; how organisations manage investments; in 2011 there were indications that investment strategies were reflecting an increase in pressure for high financial return.

Roger Parry, director of Agenda Consulting, said: “This year we expect public sector cuts, fundraising, other general income pressures and wider uncertainty to continue to be the key concerns of our participants.

"This study aims to help them to identify areas where they can keep costs down and learn from the actions taken by others.”

A CFDG member that recently participated in the study commented: “With increasing pressure from my trustees for the support functions to demonstrate value for money, participation in the Finance Count study has provided a rich source of quality benchmarked data.

"This is the first year we have taken part and we will definitely wish do so again as we see real value in not only measuring ourselves against others, but measuring too how our own figures are moving year on year.”

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