Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation - Afforestation, Reforestation and Forest Restoration in Arid and Semi-arid Tropics - page 229

9.4 Recordkeeping and Documentation

Records and accounts are an integral part of project management. Financial state-
ments and procedures, records of materials, machinery and assets created should be
maintained meticulously. Financial recordkeeping may also be a statutory require-
ment under law. Modern practice is to use simple but complete set of procedures.
Duplication and redundancy in paperwork can be avoided by adopting a standard set
of forms prescribed for each kind of activity.

9.4.1 Financial Recordkeeping

Financial recordkeeping is mandatory in every organisation. Accounts are drawn
monthly and rendered usually to the next higher authority. The basic entity in financial
accounts is the voucher. For example, every piece of paper that is an evidence of a
payment made to workers or salary paid to a supervisor, and every bill of purchase
of materials is a voucher. A bill of payment becomes a voucher when it is entered
into the cashbook of that office. All vouchers entered into a cashbook are classified
according to site or nursery, and every month a schedule of such vouchers relating
to each work is drawn. Summary of the schedules of all the works constitutes the
monthly account of expenditure. The monthly account is prefaced with an abstract
of the cash-book (cash account) for that month.
The procedure for financial accounting is often controlled by legal stipulations
in force at the place. Sometimes the funding agency may prescribe accounting pro-
cedures. In such cases the prescribed procedures must be followed in lieu of the
example described here.
A special form of bill that is very important in afforestation works is the wage bill
of workers. Over 90 % of all expenditure in afforestation programmes is incurred on
labour, and therefore it is very important to design a system of engaging workers,
measuring their work, verifying it, preparing the wage bill, and disbursement of
wages to the workers. The format of a wage bill may also provide for recording
socio-economic information characterising the employment generated.
Another common form of bill is the bill of payment of salary to staff born on
establishment of the organisation—salaries of people from supervisors to the director
of the project. These bills are drawn in forms prescribed by the funding agency or in
a form in vogue in local practice.
Cashbook is the most important part of financial record-keeping in an office. Every
piece of expenditure has to find a place in the cashbook. The standard double-entry
system is often followed. The serial number at which a particular bill is entered in
the cashbook constitutes the voucher number of that voucher.
Monthly accounts are statements of expenditure supported by vouchers. Accounts
of works and accounts of establishment are often drawn separately since allocation
of budget and monitoring would be separate.