Finance Procedures

FCF's Main Account

Bank Name: Siam Commercial Bank
Owner Name: The Family Connection Foundation
Account Number: 840-207730-0

The Purpose of Unified Procedures

Projects have the freedom to manage their own finances within the constraints of FCF policies, project description, and Thai law. Thailand is increasingly expecting foundations to follow higher levels of international financial standards, with some regulations updated as recently as early 2022. This is great news for preventing corruption in Thailand, but it does require more time and resources to comply with regulations. For this reason, we need to have unified financial procedures across all of our Projects. This helps FCF maintain efficiency and scalability, thereby keeping our costs low to benefit all Projects.

Types of Accounts & Designated Funds

• FCF Holding Account - This is the main business banking account that all money passes through.

• FCF Receiving Accounts - We have multiple business banking accounts for a few projects that do local fundraising. This helps the Project because they can market a unique QR code, and it helps FCF Finance because we know the designation for anonymous donations to that account.

• Project or Branch Accounts - These are personal bank accounts set up to be used as operating accounts. It’s the digital equivalent of FCF Finance handing you cash to go buy some budgeted items. In both cases, receipts and leftover money need to be returned.

• Designated Fund - This is not a bank account. Every transaction in our main holding account is recorded in our “fund accounting” web application called Aplos. Every Baht is given a purpose by placing it in the appropriate designated fund. 

Request Funds

• To request a transfer from FCF’s holding account to your Project account, click here. This method notifies FCF Finance of your request via email and is the quickest way to get your money. FCF Finance receives dozens of requests each month, and by using the same method, they can be fulfilled quicker. 

• We can often complete same-day funds requests but can only guarantee completion within 2 business days, so please plan ahead and request more money than you think you need each month.

• You may request funds at any time, but please try to avoid the need for multiple transfers per month.

Return Funds

At the end of the month, Projects must transfer any unused Project money back to the FCF holding account below. If the bank deposited a few baht of interest into the account, include that. Please DO NOT bring cash to the office for this because we need to have a digital transfer record on our bank statement. Transfers can be made conveniently and at no cost using the SCB app. 

Bank Name: Siam Commercial Bank

Owner Name: The Family Connection Foundation

Account Number: 840-207730-0

Example: Let’s say you request 10,000b on Jan 1st. You proceed to spend 9,000b and have 1,000b leftover. That 1,000b does not stay in your Project bank account for February expenses. It must come back to FCF as if we had handed you cash, and you’re now giving us the leftover money that wasn’t spent. Our auditor wants to see the remaining 1,000b you didn’t spend transferred back to the FCF holding account. It is ok to request money for February expenses at the end of January to ensure you don’t have a gap in funding, but that 1,000b from January still needs to be transferred back on the last day of the month or sooner. The only time you might have a gap in funding is on New Year’s Day because all remaining December money needs to be transferred back to FCF by midnight of New Year’s Eve, and January money can’t be sent until the 1st. 

Why do we do it this way? This fraud prevention method allows Projects to use personal bank accounts for Project purposes. Unlike a foundation business account, a personal account can use the SCB app for convenient online or QR payments. You can also use a debit card to withdraw money at ATMs. The alternative is that we open 30+ foundation bank accounts which would be a processing nightmare for everyone involved because it would require 2 foundation staff to withdraw cash inside the bank, and you couldn’t use the SCB app or a debit card. The transfer back and forth between FCF and Project may seem like extra work, but it takes very little time, helps us keep 84 different designated funds separate, and gives us all more freedom without compromising accountability.

Expense Reports & Receipts

Every month, FCF sends all expense reports and receipts to a 3rd party auditor for review. This means that expense reports and accounts must be reconciled each month. To accomplish this, all Projects must submit their expense report packet to FCF no later than the 5th of each month, but preferably sooner. Bookmark the Expense Report Template so that you start with a fresh spreadsheet each month with the original formulas built into it. If you need any training on this, email finance@fcfthailand.org.  

Please fill out this form for missing receipts and include a payment voucher (purchasable at Lotus) in place of each missing receipt, along with a copy of the ID card or passport of the person who made the purchase. Each receipt or payment voucher needs a signed copy of the ID card or passport of the person who made the purchase. Yes, it’s repetitive, but we have to follow accounting standards. If you visit a store that can issue a tax receipt, a copy of ID won’t be required when turning in that particular receipt to FCF. Usually, this can be done at customer service in large stores like Lotus & Makro. The tax number you’ll need to give them is 0993000056299.

Turn in the expense report, all original receipts, a copy of the Project bank book information page, and any bank book pages showing transactions for the given month to the FCF office. If you work outside of Chiang Mai, you can mail this packet to the main office. All of this is due by the 5th of each month.

For questions about submitting receipts, we recommend you sit down with our accountant at the main office so she can show you a sample expense report packet and give you pointers on how to make it easier.

Designated Funds Management

All projects have a general fund in Aplos. If you want to add new designated funds to help you keep money separate, we can do this for you.  Email finance@fcfthailand.org anytime you want to move money around between your designated funds. You can manage those funds in two different ways.

1. If you or a donor wants to see transactions on separate financial statements from your Project's general fund, you can turn in one expense report for each designated fund per month. You don't have to open a new bank account for each new designated fund unless it helps you manage your money.

2. If you don't need to separate your transactions on financial statements, you can treat your extra designated funds like savings accounts. 

   • Example 1: Maybe you want to save up to purchase a vehicle. We can do a monthly transfer from your general fund to that vehicle savings fund, and when the time comes to purchase the vehicle, you can report the expense on your monthly general fund expense report, and we can move your vehicle savings over to your general fund to cover it. 

   • Example 2: Another common scenario is when a donor makes a special donation towards a specific purchase or program your Project is running but trusts you to manage the money and doesn't need a financial report. In that case, you can still put the donation into a separate designated fund, expense it through your main general fund and then let us know when you want to transfer between designated funds.

Cash Donations

If you receive cash donations, please transfer them to the FCF holding account below, send an email to finance@fcfthailand.org with a picture of the transfer slip, and tell us which designated fund it belongs to. If a donor requests a receipt, contact us, and we can issue a receipt to the donor. Direct donations to our type of foundation are not tax deductible. If a donor requests a receipt, please contact us, and we can issue a receipt to the donor. Direct donations to our type of foundation are not tax deductible. 

Bank Name: Siam Commercial Bank

Owner Name: The Family Connection Foundation

Account Number: 840-207730-0

Annual Budget

Each year, Projects submit an annual budget showing Projected expenses and income for the coming year. Project budgets must be approved by the Project board and included in the minutes before submitting the budget to FCF Finance. During the year, it’s ok to spend more or less than you budgeted, provided you have the funds to cover it, but any large deviations from the budget should be approved by the Project board first. Project budgets are due at the end of the year, but you’ll receive instructions from Finance in the 3rd quarter of the year on how to do this. 

The purpose of doing this is... 

• to help each Project plan for the future.

• to involve Project Boards in financial decisions.

• to project FCF cash flow for the coming year.

• to help FCF’s Board of Directors gauge the financial health of each project.

We'd Love To Help!

If you ever need help understanding your financial reports in Aplos, need help working on your fundraising plan, or have general questions about finance, we’d love to help! You can always email us at finance@fcfthailand.org.