Charity Accounting and Financial Management

Who is it for?

You may already be working in charity finance, as a manager or consultant, or aiming to move into this demanding role in the sector. Either way, this academically rigorous course will match your needs. It will also equip you for a role as an advisor, auditor or independent examiner to a charity.

You will gain a well-rounded understanding of the role and the knowledge and skills to develop and apply your financial expertise in the sector.

Objectives

*You might still see us referred to as Cass Business School. Find out more about our name change.

Under scrutiny from regulators, trustees and supporters, charities must exercise the highest level of financial governance. This course equips you for that unique challenge. Combining the academic rigour of an internationally respected business school with a highly practical and applied approach, it is tailored precisely to the issues facing senior managers in the third sector.

You will be taught by an academic team who understand first-hand the tools and techniques for effective financial management of charity income and assets. Guest lecturers will present their thoughts on the real-world challenges placed on charity finance managers. Your course includes a fieldwork exercise. This will give you a deep insight into the practical realities of charity financial management in another organisation.

For further enquiries please contact: Professor Paul Palmer , The Charities Programme Office or 020 7040 5114.

Teaching staff

Course Director

Professor Paul Palmer

Academic expert working at Bayes Business School

Professor Paul Palmer is the Course Director for the MSc Charity Accounting and Financial Management. He is a Founder Trustee of the Honorary Treasurers Forum and has just completed a review for the Charity Commission on CC14 and Social Investment. Previously he worked in senior positions in the voluntary sector.

Andrew Hind is a Visiting lecturer in Charity Governance and Finance. He is the joint module leader for Charity Accounting and Financial Management and Voluntary Sector Financial Management with Professor Paul Palmer. He was previously the Chief Executive of the Charity Commission and former Editor of the Charity Finance Magazine. His senor charity finance director roles include Barnados and Action Aid.

Mark Salway has a wealth of global experience in developing and implementing strategy, plans and KPIs, and financial innovation and new funding models including crowd funding, social finance and social impact investment. He has worked to form financial strategy and growth plans for CARE International, Depaul, Tomorrow's People, Edexcel, The Children Society and Cats Protection.

Karen Thompson has worked in the not for profit sector for over 15 years, as a Finance Director, Chief Operating Officer and also as an Assurance & Advisory partner in some of the top 20 firms. Since 2019 she ha run her own business specialising in charity finance team transformation.

Alex Skailes is a Director at Bayes and leads the consulting and professional development practice that sits within Bayes' Centre for Charity Effectiveness. She is an experienced strategy and finance director with a successful track record of advising and leading clients in the nonprofit and private sectors. She believes passionately in the power of cross sector working.

Guest lecturers on the Charity Accounting and Financial  Management course have included:

David Ainsworth: Editor at Civil Society News; James Brook-Turner: Finance Director, Nuffield Foundation; Jim Clifford: CEO and Founder, Sonnet Advisory and Impact C.I.C.; Kenneth Dibble: Head of the Legal Division, Charity Commission; Neil Finlayson: Head of Charities, Kingston Smith Chartered Accountants; Stephen Fisher: Hays MacIntyre; John Harrison: Visiting Professor in Charity Investment, formerly CIO of UBS Asset Management; Naziar Hashemi: Partner Crowe Clark Whitehill; James Maloney: Senior Associate, Farrer and Co; Sharon Martin: CFO, Born Free; Charles Nall: Director of Finance, Motability; Rick Payne: ICAEW Finance Innovation Lab; David Rowe: Honorary Visiting Fellow, CCE;
Joe Saxton: Founder of NFP Synergy; John Tate: IT Advisor; Cara Turtington:Partner at Saffery Champness.

Fees

Fees in each subsequent year of study (where applicable) will be subject to an annual increase of 2%. We will confirm any change to the annual tuition fee to you in writing prior to you commencing each subsequent year of study (where applicable).

The fee for the Postgraduate Diploma is £6,800 for the 2022/23 academic year of entry (£6,900 for 2023/24 entry). A deposit of £400 is payable on acceptance of a place. For self-paying students, the balance is payable in two instalments, the first during the registration process September and the second at the end of January. The fee for those converting the Diploma to MSc is a further £3,900 for 2022/23 (£4,000 for 2023/24 entry) and is payable in one instalment at the beginning of the second year.

You may wish to look at  the PG Loan option for funding.

Students on the course who are sponsored by their employer will need to complete a sponsorship form as part of the application process. This can be completed for the Postgraduate Diploma or the MSc. An invoice for the full fees for the academic year will be sent to the employer in October for the Postgraduate Diploma. If the employer is a charity, they can request payment in two instalments by contacting the person named on the invoice. This arrangement allows the charity to spread the fees across two financial years.

Students are selected on their professional experience, and generally continue working in their full –time role whilst undertaking this course.

Past students have come from a variety of organisations, including business and the public sector.  Their feedback has been very positive:

"Those leading the course are some of the most insightful and experiened practitioners in the charity industry."

- Darren Wall

"I wanted to experience a professional course at one of the world's leading Business Schools that delivered both technical specialism and more generalist leadership and management training across all the areas relevant to running a professional not-for-profit organisation. The course offered both extremely relevant and current theory, but also very practical knowledge from those working in, or running such organisations."

- Tom Bilton, Global Finance and Operations Manager, PEAS

"I came to the Charity Finance MSc as a mature student, wanting to move from being a commercial Finance Director into a portfolio career, and since graduating, have achieved that. As well as working in a consulting capacity, I have recently become a Trustee and Treasurer of a high profile charity, which I would never have been able to do without the MSc behind me. And the breadth of modules on offer meant that I ended up with a taught Masters rather than writing a dissertation, which had been my original intention."

- Nicola Silverleaf, Treasurer, CLiNKS

" I recently made the transition from the public sector to being a Finance Director in the Charity Sector. In advance of this, I completed the PgDip in Charity Accounting and Financial Management. I think I gained both from learning about the overall framework for charities in the UK and the current issues facing the sector, and from learning the specifics about the accounting rules and disclosure requirements for charities. Having this knowledge gave me the confidence when trying to find a job and, I believe, helped convince the trustees of my charity to appoint me. The knowledge gained on the course has also helped me settle into my new role fairly quickly."

- Elizabeth Dymond, Director of Finance and Corporate Services, The Charity for Civil Servants