Sr. Manager – Finance & Accounts
Location– Pune
Experience: 7 – 9 yrs
About the role:
A Sr. Manager – Finance & Accounts will lead the Foundation’s finance and accounting function, with end-to-end responsibility for FCRA and non-FCRA accounting, statutory compliance, financial controls, reporting, audit readiness, and team leadership. In NGO and development-sector settings, this role typically sits at the centre of legal compliance, accounts discipline, donor reporting, budgeting, and finance operations, ensuring the finance system runs in a timely, compliant, and predictable manner.
Key Responsibilities:
Finance & Accounts Operations
• Lead end-to-end accounting operations for the Foundation, including general ledger, accounts payable, accounts receivable, expense booking, receipts, payments, journal entries, and monthly and annual closures.
• Ensure accurate maintenance of books of accounts, ledgers, vouchers, supporting documents, fixed asset records, and finance registers.
• Oversee bank, cash, advance, vendor, and inter-branch/inter-project reconciliations on a periodic basis. Monthly bank reconciliations are a recurring expectation in finance manager roles in the NGO sector.
• Establish and monitor strong internal financial controls, approval workflows, documentation standards, and audit trails.
• Ensure donor-wise, project-wise, and fund-wise accounting accuracy, including proper cost allocation and utilisation tracking.
FCRA and Non-FCRA Management
• Handle complete accounting, control, and reporting for FCRA funds and non-FCRA funds, ensuring segregation of books, vouchers, bank transactions, and utilisation as per applicable requirements. FCRA guidance and sector job descriptions consistently emphasize dedicated bank handling and separate accounting discipline for foreign contributions.
• Monitor designated FCRA bank account operations and ensure foreign contributions are received and tracked through the prescribed account structure. Public guidance notes that NGOs must maintain a dedicated FCRA bank account exclusively for foreign contributions.
• Prepare and review FCRA-related schedules, utilisation statements, donor reports, and annual return documentation, including support for Form FC-4 filing requirements where applicable.
• Ensure compliant accounting and reporting for domestic grants, CSR funds, local donations, statutory receipts, and general non-FCRA transactions.
• Coordinate with program, fundraising, and leadership teams to ensure financial clauses in grant agreements are understood and implemented correctly.
Compliance and Audit
• Ensure timely compliance with FCRA, Income Tax, TDS, GST, PF, ESIC, Professional Tax, Shops & Establishment, and other applicable laws and regulations. NGO finance leadership roles commonly cover this wider statutory compliance landscape in India.
• Maintain a robust compliance calendar and ensure timely filings, deposits, renewals, replies, and documentation.
• Lead coordination for statutory audit, internal audit, donor audit, FCRA audit, and financial due diligence exercises, ensuring schedules, annexures, and supporting records are audit-ready throughout the year.
• Liaise with auditors, bankers, consultants, and regulatory authorities on finance and compliance matters.
Budgeting, MIS, and Reporting
• Lead annual budgeting, periodic forecasting, variance analysis, and cash flow planning for the Foundation and its projects/programs.
• Prepare monthly, quarterly, and annual MIS reports for management, including budget vs actuals, burn rates, fund balances, utilisation status, and financial risk indicators.
• Support donor reporting, utilisation certificates, proposal budgets, and project financial reviews in coordination with program teams.
• Present meaningful financial insights to management to support decision-making, resource allocation, and risk mitigation.
Qualification & Experience:
• Qualified Chartered Accountant (CA).
• Strong experience handling both FCRA and non-FCRA books, bank accounts, reporting, and compliance requirements in India.
• Experience in leading and mentoring a finance/accounts team.
• Prior experience in NGO, social sector, trust, society, Section 8 company, donor-funded, or grant-based environment preferred.
Competencies:
• Strong knowledge of Indian accounting standards, financial controls, and statutory compliance.
• Strong working knowledge of FCRA regulations, donor compliance, utilisation reporting, and grant accounting.
• Proficiency in Tally/ERP/accounting systems and advanced Excel/MIS reporting. Job descriptions for comparable roles often list ERP familiarity and strong spreadsheet capability.
• Ability to prepare financial statements, schedules, reconciliations, cash flow reports, and management dashboards.
• Team management and people development capability
• Strong coordination and communication skills across finance, programs, admin, HR, donors, and auditors.