A year-end handoff fundraising and finance can trust

A year-end fundraising and finance handoff gives both teams the evidence needed to explain their reports. It establishes which activity is included, how totals were checked and what remains unresolved.

Fundraising and finance can describe the same period differently for legitimate reasons. A gift received, a pledge recorded and a bank settlement are different events. Agree the definitions before comparing totals. This guide is an operational workflow; your finance lead and qualified advisers determine accounting, receipting and filing rules for your organization and jurisdiction.

Agree the report before assembling it

Write down the period, reporting currency, cutoff convention and transaction statuses included. Distinguish cash received, commitments and other income categories. Specify how refunds, reversals, fees and transactions awaiting settlement will appear.

Agree which system is authoritative for each field and who can approve a correction. Name the person preparing the handoff and a reviewer. Where staffing makes separation difficult, arrange an appropriate review with the treasurer, finance committee or another authorized person rather than quietly dropping the check.

NCVO's internal-controls guidance describes bank reconciliation and separation of duties as useful controls. It is a UK practice reference. Use your own organization's documented controls to decide how review and sign-off work.

Build an evidence pack someone can follow

Keep original source exports unchanged. Record when they were generated and which filters were applied. Include a short index linking the working files, reconciliation and unresolved issues so the recipient can navigate the pack without a long explanation.

A useful handoff contains:

• A scope note covering dates, currencies, statuses and definitions.
• Source counts and gross totals, with file references.
• Separate schedules for refunds, fees and settlements where relevant.
• An explanation of duplicate removals and identity corrections.
• Designated-purpose information as recorded, with unresolved questions flagged.
• An exception list with owners, impact and next review dates.
• Reviewer notes and the date of the accepted version.

Keep donor information access-controlled. Give each recipient what they need for the task instead of copying the full donor database into every reporting pack. The Donor Bill of Rights provides an ethical reference for handling donation information with care.

Reconcile differences rather than hiding them

Compare like with like. A gross giving report will not necessarily equal a bank payout report. Explain the bridge using fees, refunds, timing and other supported adjustments. Work separately by currency unless finance has supplied an approved conversion approach.

Trace unusual items to their original transaction references. When a difference reflects an unknown source or an ambiguous donor match, record it as unresolved. Do not change an amount or assign a donor merely to make the report balance.

Use the donor reconciliation checklist to track evidence and review. It is an operational aid, not a financial statement or tax checklist. The giving reconciliation guide explains how to preserve the distinction between a donor record, payment activity and accounting work.

A fictional example: a gift and a later payout

In this fictional example, a community music organization records a completed online gift of 200 on the last day of its reporting period. The platform pays out 194 in the following period after a fee of 6. All amounts use the same currency.

Fundraising's source shows the gift on its transaction date. The settlement file shows the later payout. The team includes the transaction reference, the fee and the payout reference in the evidence pack. Finance decides how to recognize and reconcile the activity under the organization's applicable policies.

If the donor also appears in a CRM export, the team checks whether that row is a second representation of the same gift. The handoff records the decision, rather than counting both rows or deleting one without a trail. These fictional amounts illustrate a timing difference, not a provider's pricing or a tax treatment.

Sign off a version and plan corrections

Ask the reviewer to check scope, totals, significant exceptions and a sample of the underlying evidence. Document what has been accepted and any open issue that could change the report. If a deadline requires a provisional pack, label it clearly and agree who will issue the final version.

After sign-off, preserve that version. Put subsequent changes in a correction log with the reason, affected records, approver and revised report version. Confirm who must receive an updated copy. This avoids two teams working from different files with the same filename.

Relae's reports and exports support the operational side of bringing giving records into a shared review. The actual finance handoff still needs your definitions and sign-off. For the next cycle, use small-team donor management to keep records and responsibilities current through the year. A useful year-end close starts with work your team can sustain in an ordinary week.