COA - Council On Accreditation

Sound financial management begins with an organization's commitment to providing high quality services relative to its mission or purpose. Leadership creates a culture of honesty and ethics in all areas of organizational practice, including the management of the organization's finances and the manner in which it conducts financial affairs. Accountability is established through clearly defined lines of authority and responsibility, and personnel receive a clear message from the top that internal control responsibilities are to be taken seriously. Additionally, the attention and commitment of the governing body and its audit committee to their fiduciary responsibilities are essential to ensuring that the organization's financial practices enable it to achieve operational effectiveness and efficiency, accurate and reliable financial reporting, and compliance with applicable laws and regulations.

Note: Please see Self-Paced_Training:_Financial_Management_(FIN) in the Tools Index for additional assistance with this standard.


	PURPOSE: The organization’s financial accountability and viability are achieved through the application of sound financial management practices that accord with legal and regulatory requirements.

RELATED FILES

NA Request.doc
FIN Reference List.pdf
FIN Private Template.doc


	ACCOUNTABILITY The extent to which an organization is answerable for its processes and outcomes to a variety of relevant stakeholders including: consumers, community representatives, governing bodies, and governmental regulators.


	PRACTICE Established actions or ways of proceeding in the regular performance of organizational duties. Policies and procedures often guide practice.


	QUALITY In this context, the extent to which contemporary and generally recognized standards for professional practice are met and exceeded, and desirable service outcomes achieved.


	SERVICE One or more organization-operated programs or activities that have a common general objective and deploy the organization's material and human resources in a planned and systematic manner. An organization that publicly promotes or identifies itself in writing as offering a service, is licensed to deliver a service, assigns personnel and/or space to a service, or allocates financial resources to a service is considered to offer that service.


	LEADERSHIP A nonprofit organization's leadership consists of its governing body, chief executive officer, and may also include its senior management. In a public agency the term refers to the agency head and administration team. The term "leadership" is not generally applied to for-profit organizations. With respect to COA standards, in for-profit organizations the term leadership applies to the owner and board of directors if one exists.


	CULTURE The customs, habits, values, skills, technology, beliefs, and religious, social, and political behaviors of a group of people in a specific period of time.


	ETHICS Formal principles or values used to determine whether practices are right or wrong, good or bad. Most professional organizations have ethical codes that define general standards of appropriate professional conduct.


	PERSONNEL The body of employees and/or volunteers that carries out the organization's tasks under the organization's administration and/or supervision. This definition does not include foster parents who are specifically referenced in relevant standards


	GOVERNING BODY A person or persons with the legal authority and responsibility to set policy and oversee the operations of an organization. Generally, the governing body is a group, such as a board of directors or board of trustees. While the exact responsibilities of the governing body depend on the nature and character of the organization, the governing body has minimum fiduciary responsibilities to the organization set by statute, regulation, and case law, and typically assume responsibilities for long term planning, risk management, and evaluation and effectiveness of management.


	MANAGEMENT See ADMINISTRATION


	AUDIT See FINANCIAL AUDIT