Professional services · 🇺🇸 United States
Restricted grant funds mixed into general operating
A non-profit tracking restricted grants in a spreadsheet could not demonstrate that funds were used as intended.
US non-profit, multiple restricted grants. Client identity withheld — we publish names only with written permission, so this engagement is described by its shape rather than by who it was.
6
Grants tracked in-ledger
Fund-level
Reporting introduced
Audit-ready
Position restored
The situation
- The organisation held several restricted grants with different reporting requirements and end dates.
- Restriction tracking lived in a spreadsheet maintained by one person alongside the ledger.
What we found
- Restricted and unrestricted funds were commingled in the ledger, with the split only in the spreadsheet.
- Grant expenditure could not be traced to specific restricted funds without manual work.
- One grant's reporting deadline had been missed the previous year.
What we did
- Implemented fund-level tracking in the ledger so restriction is a property of the transaction, not a spreadsheet note.
- Mapped historical expenditure to the correct restricted funds.
- Built a grant reporting calendar tied to each grant's own requirements.
The outcome
- Fund balances and expenditure are now traceable in the ledger, and grant reporting is produced rather than reconstructed.
- The organisation could answer a funder's expenditure query in an afternoon rather than a fortnight.
Start with a conversation
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