Track source of funds for specific projects (restricted and non-restricted grants)

Description

The ability to track the source of funds for projects, specifically restricted and non-restricted grants, is critical in the management of finances in non-profit and education industries. CPM software should provide comprehensive tools to effectively track, manage, and report on the funds, ensuring accountability and transparency.

Example Use Case

Scenario: Acme University, a higher educational institution, receives multiple grants with various restrictions for research and development projects. With several grants being utilized concurrently, it becomes challenging to accurately monitor and report the source and usage of funds.

Solution: By implementing CPM software, ABC University can assign each fund to specific projects, hence easily tracking its source and how it is utilized. For instance, Grant A (restricted for Robotics Research) and Grant B (non-restricted) can be appropriately managed and tracked. This not only simplifies financial management but also ensures compliance with grant conditions.

Considerations

The first step in ensuring that grants are tracked properly in the source system before importing into a planning environment. Actual expenses will come from there, while planned expenses will be tracked in the CPM tool using the same dimensions. If you are unsure about the state of data in your source systems, investigate this before going too deep into the demonstration process. We find that non-profits sometimes struggle with this, as their source systems often lack the power to do so at the granularity required.

Confirm that these projects are rolled into the financial statements required by non-profits. This means that the project plans are directly connected to the overall plan for the organization.

Questions to Ask a Vendor

• Customization Capabilities: Can your system allow users to classify funds based on their sources and restrictions with ease?
• Reporting Functionality: What are your system's capabilities in generating comprehensive reports illustrating fund tracking and usage?
• Financial Statements: Can the system link all plans together and produce the financial statements that we need without manual intervention?
• Periods: How does the system manage projects that operate on a different fiscal calendar?