Financial Management and Controls

The Board has established the VCS Financial Policies in respect of operational and financial controls for sound financial management and compliance with applicable laws and regulations, so as to ensure that its resources are used legitimately and can be accounted for. The policies include procedures and controls for procurement, receipting, payment, approval limits and other areas.

An annual financial budget covering VCS’ planned activities should be prepared for approval by the Board before the start of a new financial year. A mid-year review of the annual budget shall be done and significant variances from budget should be accounted for with explanations provided.

The Board shall ensure the long-term financial sustainability of VCS. It is VCS’ desire to build up its reserve of unrestricted funds to meet two years of operating expenditure and any surplus will be transferred to the Expendable Endowment Fund.

The Expendable Endowment was established to receive donations and transfer of any unrestricted funds in excess of 2 years of operating expenditure. The transfer of surpluses from unrestricted fund (after provisions for current needs) to the Fund requires Board approval. While the Fund is not intended to meet recurrent expenditure, when such occasion arises due to prolonged slow-down in the economy, the Board can approve the use of funds from the Fund for such purpose.  While the capital is not available for general use, the capital, and the investment return from the Fund, subject to approval of the Board, can be used to launch or fund community projects and initiatives that VCS considers to be truly important and meaningful and can make a significant contribution to the community, in keeping with its mission.

VCS has also established designated funds for various specific purposes such as to help individuals with  medical  conditions  or  to  support  individuals  or  families  where assistance is unavailable from existing funds including funding of children’s enrichment programmes. The Board ensures that these designated funds are used for their specific purposes only.