Finance executive volunteer roles in Belfast

Our partner is a national civil society network in Central America that supports and strengthens non-profit, community-based and civil society organisations. Its work focuses on institutional strengthening, governance, legal reform, member engagement, and building a more resilient and coordinated civil society sector.

The organisation is seeking remote finance support to strengthen its financial management systems and improve the way financial information supports decision-making, donor reporting and future planning. It currently uses QuickBooks and would value an experienced finance professional to review the current setup, identify areas for improvement, and provide practical recommendations that support stronger reporting, compliance and audit readiness. Alongside this, the organisation would like support to think through financial sustainability.

Key areas of support

• Review the current QuickBooks setup, including the chart of accounts, class or project tracking, donor reporting setup and financial workflows.
• Identify gaps, risks or inefficiencies in the current financial management and reporting processes.
• Provide practical recommendations to strengthen accounting practices, compliance, audit readiness and management reporting.
• Review the organisation’s current funding model and sources of income.
• Support the organisation to understand financial risks and consider possible income diversification opportunities.
• Help test sustainability ideas led by the organisation, adding financial assumptions, costs, risks and practical next steps.
• Support improved use of financial information for planning, Board discussion and decision-making.

Volunteer Profile

This assignment would suit a finance professional with:

• Experience in non-profit accounting systems, QuickBooks, donor reporting, financial controls and management reporting.
• Experience supporting small civil society organisations, membership networks, non-profit governance, or financial sustainability discussions would be particularly helpful.

The ideal volunteer will be practical and collaborative, able to provide clear recommendations while recognising that fundraising strategy and resource mobilisation ideas need to be shaped by the organisation’s own context, relationships and priorities.

Time Commitment
The assignment can be delivered entirely remotely. The anticipated commitment is approximately 30 hours in total, ideally over a period of 2–3 months. A commitment of around 2–3 hours per week would be helpful, allowing time for the QuickBooks review, discussions with leadership and Board members, and financial sustainability support in a way that is manageable for both the organisation and the volunteer.

Our partner is a small faith-based organisation supporting indigenous communities in Central America through integrated health, education and community care programmes.

The organisation has grown around a committed local team and is now reviewing how its finance and operations functions should be structured for the next stage of development. It currently has a Finance Manager who also holds some operational responsibilities.

The Executive Director is seeking support from an experienced finance professional to offer an external perspective on how finance and operations responsibilities could be organised in a way that protects financial controls, supports staff development, and enables the Executive Director to focus more time on fundraising and organisational leadership.

Key areas of support

• Review current finance and operations responsibilities, including how tasks are currently split across finance, administration, purchasing, inventory and related operational processes.
• Consider possible organisational structure options for the finance and operations functions, including whether the Finance Manager’s role could evolve into a more strategic finance and systems position, and whether a separate operations-focused role may be needed to take on non-finance operational responsibilities.
• Review how additional accounting or finance responsibilities could be delegated safely within the team, identifying the internal controls, reporting lines and role clarity needed under different structure options.
• Provide practical recommendations on structure, controls, staffing options and job description content where useful.

Volunteer Profile

This assignment would suit a senior finance professional with experience in:

• Small or growing non-profits, finance operations, internal controls and organisational structure.
• Managing finance teams and supporting operational change
• Working with organisations in Latin America would be helpful, and Spanish language skills would be beneficial, but are not essential.

The ideal volunteer will bring a practical, sensitive and collaborative approach, with the ability to support a small leadership team to think clearly through structure, controls and capacity before making changes.

Time commitment
The assignment can be delivered entirely remotely. The anticipated commitment is up to 15 hours in total, ideally over a period of approximately 4–6 weeks, with the hope that the bulk of the work can be completed in July.

Our partner is an established international development organisation seeking an experienced finance professional to undertake a short, independent process review relating to the financial management of a large donor-funded programme.

The assignment relates to a complex grant management issue involving the treatment and interpretation of foreign exchange gains and losses, donor policy requirements, partner payments, internal decision-making and communications. The situation has involved a number of finance, programme, donor and partner considerations, and the organisation is seeking an external professional who can help establish a clear, balanced and factual account of what happened.

The purpose is to support transparency, shared understanding and organisational learning, and to identify practical recommendations that could strengthen future grant management, documentation, financial decision-making and communication between teams.

Scope of support

The volunteer will be asked to:

• Review relevant grant documentation, donor correspondence, internal communications, financial records and policy guidance relating to the issue.
• Understand the organisation’s approach to calculating, recording and managing foreign exchange gains and losses within the grant.
• Review the sequence of internal and donor-facing communications, including key decision points and financial implications.
• Conduct remote conversations with approximately 4–5 key staff members involved in the process.
• Identify any areas where interpretation, documentation, process, communication or escalation could have been clearer.
• Prepare a concise written note or report setting out the chronology, observations, learning points and practical recommendations.
• Maintain a sensitive, balanced and non-judgemental approach throughout, recognising the complexity of the issue and the range of stakeholders involved.

Volunteer Profile

This assignment would suit a senior professional with experience in international NGO finance, donor grant management and financial controls. The ideal volunteer will bring:

• Strong experience of complex donor-funded programmes, including restricted funding, donor compliance, grant financial management and partner payment arrangements.
• Ability to interpret financial information, donor requirements and organisational policies clearly and objectively.
• Experience reviewing financial processes, internal controls or grant management issues.
• Strong written communication skills, with the ability to produce a concise, balanced and practical report.
• A calm, thoughtful and sensitive approach, particularly where issues have involved internal tension or differing interpretations.

Time commitment

The assignment can be delivered entirely remotely. The anticipated commitment is up to 30 hours in total, ideally over a period of approximately 4–6 weeks. A commitment of around 5 hours per week would be helpful, although there is some flexibility depending on the volunteer’s availability and the agreed approach. They are seeking for the bulk of the work to be compelted in July - August. 

Accounting for International Development is seeking an experienced charity finance professional to support a UK-registered charity working internationally to strengthen responsible, low-impact small-scale fisheries.

The organisation works with coastal communities, fishery stakeholders and market actors to improve fisheries practices, support responsible sourcing, strengthen policy engagement and contribute to better livelihoods and food security.

They are now looking for a remote volunteer to review and strengthen their finance systems, reporting routines and use of Xero. Some finance processes, reporting and budget monitoring are currently managed outside the system, and they would value an experienced finance professional who can help them improve consistency, accuracy and the usefulness of financial information provided to senior management and Trustees.

This is not a day-to-day finance role. The assignment is intended as an independent review and strengthening exercise, working with the Managing Director, Finance Manager and selected Trustees to identify practical improvements and develop a realistic action plan.

Key areas of support may include:

• Reviewing current finance processes, month-end routines and reporting timelines.
• Reviewing how Xero is currently being used, including any processes or reporting managed outside the system.
• Supporting improvements to monthly management accounts and Board reporting.
• Reviewing internal controls, financial procedures and consistency of finance processes.
• Identifying key financial risks, control gaps or areas where processes could be strengthened.
• Advising on forecasting, budget monitoring and how project managers provide information to the finance team.
• Supporting the Finance Manager to strengthen monthly reporting and budget versus actual monitoring.
• Providing practical suggestions, templates or examples where helpful.
• Helping develop a clear, proportionate action plan with priorities and timelines.

We are looking for someone with:

• Senior charity finance experience.
• Strong financial management, management accounts and Board reporting experience.
• Experience reviewing or improving finance systems, processes, controls and reporting routines.
• Good working knowledge of Xero.
• Understanding of UK charity finance, trustee reporting and governance expectations.
• Experience with international charities or organisations operating across multiple countries would be helpful.
• A practical, diplomatic and collaborative approach.

The assignment is expected to involve up to 75 hours of remote support over around 3 to 4 months. The organisation expects a minimum commitment of around 4 hours per week, with the exact schedule and workplan to be agreed between the volunteer and the organisation.

This would be a good opportunity for a senior charity finance professional who enjoys helping organisations strengthen their systems, reporting and governance in a practical and supportive way.