James Walsh
Partner
Every time public funds or donations are spent on international aid or development projects, there are associated risks. Our clients work with us to identify and mitigate those risks and ensure that they can deliver the expected outcomes. The most common forms of risk we address with and for clients include:
- Fiduciary risk where funds are not spent in the intended, authorised or contracted way
- Fraud risk where funds or resources are being misappropriated or diverted
- Performance risk where a programme fails to deliver maximum benefits to beneficiaries
- Compliance risk where funds are not being spent in a legal manner
- Governance risk where the expenditure of funds is not well governed
- Reputational risk where an aspect of a project or programme damages the reputation of the donor organisation
International donors and the organisations they fund draw on our specialist financial management services to address most of these risks. As we have grown as a team, we have been able to develop the specialisms focused on mitigating the risks identified above. Our understanding of international grant giving and the pressures faced by both donors and grantees sets us apart.
Our donor clients have a broad range of needs and requirements that we are continuously responding to by developing new skills and services including:
- Financial audits of grantees, projects and programmes
- Expenditure verifications of grantees, projects and programmes
- Checks and assessments on grantees and projects as governed by ISRS 4400 “Agreed upon procedures”
- Pre-award assessments of the grantee’s financial management, reporting systems and control environment
- Due diligence assessments of prospective and current grantees
- Assessments of international donors’ grant-giving systems and procedures
- Systems-based audits of procedures and internal controls
- Procurement audits
- Reviews of tendering, award and contract payment procedures
Value-for-Money (VFM) assessments, performance audits and evaluations
Demonstrating that money has been ‘well spent’ is never easy. Donors and institutions want to know what concrete benefits have been achieved as well as whether funds have been spent as intended. Has Value for money been achieved? This often translates into questions such as:
- Have projects and programmes been effective and achieved their objectives?
- Have projects been efficient and delivered performance proportionate to their cost?
- Have projects been economical and paid the best possible prices for staff, goods, and services? What lessons can be learned to ensure VFM in future?
We can assess your project or programme at any stage of its life cycle - from design and option appraisal, through to ‘live’ performance assessments during implementation and retrospective VFM audits and evaluations after closure.
Assurance over results
Beneficiaries and fund recipients almost always provide technical reports that are a key source of assurance over the activities and results delivered by your funds. We can provide you with vital assurance over the quality, reliability and relevance of these reports by:
- Analysing reported data and identifying the key drivers of performance
- Independently validating reported data, including triangulation and checks against other data sources
- Assessing the quality and appropriateness of the performance framework, indicators and reporting systems
We offer this assurance either as a stand-alone product or as a complementary add-on to a financial or compliance audit.
