Cronfa Weithredol Wrth Gefn
MAE HWN YNGHYLCH A CRONFA NID CYFRIF BANC!
Wedi'i gymryd o ganllawiau'r Comisiwn Elusennau:
Dylai ymddiriedolwyr sicrhau y gallant esbonio eu polisi cronfeydd wrth gefn i gyllidwyr drwy ddangos:
- mae'r cronfeydd wrth gefn a ddelir yn seiliedig ar bolisi a dealltwriaeth glir o sut y defnyddir yr arian
- mae'r elusen yn gweithredu gyda digon o gronfeydd wrth gefn i osgoi anawsterau ariannol
- mae cronfeydd wrth gefn yn elfen hanfodol o gynllunio strategol, gweithredol a chyllidebol
- mae'r elusen yn dryloyw ynghylch lefel y cronfeydd wrth gefn
O CC32 - Archwiliad Annibynnol o Gyfrifon Elusennau, cyfarwyddyd 9 (tudalen 7):
Rhaid i'r archwiliwr wirio a yw'r ymddiriedolwyr wedi ystyried amgylchiadau ariannol yr elusen ar ddiwedd y cyfnod adrodd.
Dros y blynyddoedd diwethaf, codwyd nifer o gwestiynau diddorol ynghylch a pa gronfeydd sydd ar gael i Ardaloedd Weinidogaeth, faint ddylen nhw fod yn ei gadw yn ôl, beth am rwymedigaethau ariannol yr ymddiriedolwyr? Gellir ateb y rhan fwyaf o'r cwestiynau hyn trwy gael cynllun strategol da yn ei le a pholisïau cronfeydd wrth gefn a dynodi arian Cronfa Gyffredinol tuag at Gronfa Weithredol Wrth Gefn.
Mae Cronfa Weithredol Wrth Gefn yn dangos bod yr ymddiriedolwyr wedi ystyried costau rhedeg eu helusen a'u bod wedi rhoi mesurau ar waith i sicrhau bod digon o arian wrth gefn os bydd digwyddiad annisgwyl yn digwydd ond hefyd os oes angen cau lawr yr elusen cyn i'r ymddiriedolwyr fod yn atebol eu hunain i dalu am derfynu contractau ac ati. Y prif bwyntiau o gael cronfa wrth gefn yw y dylai fod yno at ddiben e.e. dibenion gweithredol ac na ddylai fod yn rhy fach neu'n rhy fawr.
Dim ond argymhelliad yw hwn, rhaid ystyried anghenion lleol wrth lunio polisi cronfeydd wrth gefn gweithredol. Cofiwch, ymddiriedolwyr y CAW sy'n penderfynu ar y polisïau hyn ac os mae'n cael ei weithredu ar lefel Eglwys neu Ardal Weidogaeth.
Man cychwyn delfrydol fyddai adolygu lefelau gwariant y cronfeydd digyfyngiad neu ddynodedig y llynedd (nid cronfeydd cyfyngedig neu waddol), byddai hefyd yn dda cymryd gwariant untro sylweddol o'r cyfrifiad fel prosiect adeiladu cyfalaf mawr. Byddai wedyn yn syniad da awgrymu cyfnod amser y dylai Cronfa Weithredol Wrth Gefn ei chwmpasu, ond ni ddylai fod yn gyfnod amser rhy hir neu gyfnod amser rhy fyr (gellid ei hystyried fod rhy fyr yn ddi-hid a rhy hir yn cybydda). Man cychwyn delfrydol fyddai 3 mis. O gofio bod costau'n cynyddu o flwyddyn i flwyddyn, man cychwyn delfrydol ar gyfer Cronfa Weithredol Wrth Gefn fyddai talu gwariant am 3 mis gan ddefnyddio ffigurau'r llynedd ynghyd â chynnydd chwyddiant fel y mynegai RPI. Dylai hyn wedyn ddweud wrthych faint y dylech fod yn ei ddal mewn cronfa weithredol wrth gefn dynodedig. Yr unig arian presennol y gallwch ei roi mewn cronfa o'r math hwn yw arian sydd eisoes yn eich cronfa Gyffredinol. Fel mecanwaith adolygu, dylai'r ymddiriedolwyr adolygu lefel eu Cronfa Weithredol yn flynyddol a naill ai symud arian allan o'r gronfa Gyffredinol neu gynyddu'r Gronfa Weithredol Wrth Gefn drwy symud arian o'r gronfa Gyffredinol i mewn iddo.
Os ydych yn ystyried gwneud hyn ar sail fesul eglwys a rhydych yn defnyddio Finance Co-ordinator, sicrhewch fod y Gronfa Weithredol Wrth Gefn yn cael ei chreu gyda'r un disgrifiad o'r gronfa a'r talfyriad e.e. Cronfa Weithredol Wrth Gefn fel ei ddisgrifiad a Wr-Gfn fel ei byrfodd. Bydd hyn yn caniatáu i'r Finance Co-ordinator eu hychwanegu at ei gilydd i ddangos un llinell Cronfa Weithredol Wrth Gefn pan fydd adroddiad cronfa gyfunol ar gyfer yr Ardal Weinidogaeth yn cael ei redeg.
Operational Reserve Fund
THIS IS ABOUT A FUND NOT A BANK ACCOUNT!
Taken from the Charity Commission guidance:
Trustees should ensure that they can explain their reserves policy to funders by showing that:
- the reserves held are based on a policy and a clear understanding of what the money is to be used for
- the charity is operating with sufficient reserves to avoid financial difficulties
- reserves are an essential element of strategic, operational and budgetary planning
- the charity is being transparent about the level of reserves
Taken from CC32 - Independent Examination of Charity Accounts, direction 9 (page 7):
The examiner must check whether the trustees have considered the financial circumstances of the charity at the end of the reporting period.
Over the past year or so several interesting questions have been raised about what funds a Ministry Area has at its disposal, how much should they be keeping back, what about financial liabilities of the trustees? Most of these questions can be answered by having good strategic planning in place in the shape of a reserves policy and designating some General fund money towards an Operational Reserve fund.
An Operational Reserve fund demonstrates that the trustees have taken account of the running costs of their charity and that they have put measures in place to ensure that there is adequate funding held in reserve should an unexpected event happen but also if there is a need to shut down the charity prior to the trustees being liable themselves to pay for the termination of contracts etc. The main points of having a reserve is that it should be there for a purpose e.g. operational purposes and that it shouldn't be too small or too large.
The following is only a recommendation, local needs have to be taken into account when drawing up an operational reserves policy. Remember, it is the MAC trustees that decide these policies and whether it is implemented at a Church or Ministry Area level.
An ideal starting point would be to review the expenditure levels of the unrestricted or designated funds last year (not restricted or endowment funds), it would also be good to take out sizable one off expenditure from the calculation such as a big capital building project. It would then be a good idea to suggest a timeframe that an Operational Reserve should cover but it shouldn't be too long a timeframe or too short (too short could be seen as reckless, too long could be seen as hoarding funds). An ideal starting point would be 3 months. Given that costs do increase year on year an ideal starting point for an Operational Reserve fund would be to cover 3 months of expenditure using last years figures plus an inflation increase such as the RPI index. This should then tell you how much you should be holding in a designated operational reserve fund. The only existing money you can put into a fund of this sort is money already in your General fund. As a mechanism of review, the trustees should review their level of Operational Reserve on an annual basis and either move funds out of it back into the General fund or increase the Operational Reserve fund by moving funds out of the General fund into it.
If you are considering doing this on a church by church basis and you are using Finance Co-ordinator, please ensure that the Operational Reserve fund is created with the same fund description and abbreviation e.g. Operational Reserve as its description and Op-Res as its abbreviation. This will allow Finance Co-ordinator to add them all together to show one Operational Reserve line when a combined fund report for the Ministry Area is run.