Understanding the Project's Financial Reports
In general, financial reports reveal 5 basic things about a Project’s status:
- What you have (assets)
- What you owe (liabilities)
- What you are worth (fund balance)
- Money received in a given period (revenues)
- Money spent in a given period (expenses)
Financial reports that are available weekly:
- Award Report
- Income Statement by Program Area Report
- Balance Sheet Report
- Ledger Details Report
Financial reports that are available monthly:
- Income Statement Report
Other reports that are available weekly:
- Revenue Report
- Award Summary Report
The accuracy of a Project's financial reports is dependent on Project employees coding their expenses properly. If there are any misallocations in the Project's financial reports, notify the Finance Specialist immediately.
The Award Report gives Projects an update on their spending against a particular award. The Award Report includes a separate column for each award, along with a "total" column. It includes the following information:
- Revenue (award) code
- Actual revenue and expenses for the award, beginning January to the present date
- Amount remaining for the award
The Income Statement by Program Area Report shows the Project’s revenues and expenses for a specific period of time. It is organized as follows:
- Program area: There is a column for each program area along with a "total" column.
- Revenues: Sources of income generated by the Project.
- Expenses: Costs incurred by the Project.
- Net income: If revenues exceed expenses, the report will show a positive net income. If expenses exceed revenues, the report will show a negative net income.
The Balance Sheet Report is a snapshot of the Project’s assets, liabilities, and fund balance for a specific period.
- Assets: Items of value owned or controlled by the Project.
- Liabilities: Amounts that the Project owes to others, e.g., employee remittances and accounts payables.
- Fund balance: The difference between the Project's assets and liabilities. Think of it as the Project's "net worth". It is not an asset like cash and cannot be used to buy something.
The Balance Sheet Report also shows the ending cash balance and accounts receivable, e.g., GST/HST receivable. Petty cash amounts or cash card amounts are listed as current assets, and property and equipment are listed as long-term assets.
The Ledger Details Report shows all transactions for the current year, including cash activity. Transactions are grouped by account type first and then in chronological order.
The Ledger Details Report is where Projects should confirm that:
- Expected revenues have been received and recorded correctly.
- Expenses have been allocated correctly.
- A particular expense cleared in the period.
The Ledger Details Report may be referred to as the general ledger (GL).
The Revenue Report is generated from MakeWay's internal database, rather than the accounting software. It shows all revenue items posted to the Project in the current fiscal year. This includes:
- Awards
- Individual donations
- “Other revenue"
The Revenue Report also lists donor contact information, which allows the Project to appropriately steward gifts. Donor contact information is confidential, so it should be removed if the report will be shared with anyone other than the Program Director.
The Award Summary Report is generated from MakeWay's internal database, rather than the accounting software. It shows all confirmed or received awards for the Project, as well as the following for each award:
- The revenue (award) code
- The funder (including whether the funder wants to be considered anonymous or not)
- Payment information
- The full amount of the award
- The award's start and end dates
Again, donor contact information is confidential, so it should be removed if the report will be shared with anyone other than the Program Director.