4.5 Cash budgets

Cash budgets are a list of expenses to be disbursed in cash in situ and, as such, it must not be assumed that all line items in a grant, contract or funds allocations will ultimately be disbursed in cash. The total amount available for emergency programming must be calculated before committing funds to third parties. Cash budgets must also identify the funding source(s) that will be used to cover the required expenditures.

To prepare accurate cash budgets, the finance function needs to be designed to support programme delivery and this is achieved by:

• providing up-to-date and regular budget compliance reports that indicate the fund balances available for programming. These reports should be provided to field-based staff at least twice a month
• providing estimates for necessary operating costs and outstanding obligations to be disbursed in cash.

Programme staff must estimate cash requirements according to programme objectives, and always considering the cost implications and expense coding structures.

Annex 17.2 Cash Budget Form