To have a sustainable business, members of a certain group must know their roles and responsibility in managing their finances for a continuous operation of their enterprises.

In order to help the Proponent Groups (PGs) attain this goal, the PRDP I-REAP had organized a two-day Training Workshop on Simplified Financial Management for the I-REAP Sub-projects with NOL 1 and the Micro-enterprises last August 4-5, 2016 at the RIARS Training Center, DA RFO 5 Compound, San Agustin, Pili, Camarines Sur.

The activity aimed to establish a concise financial management system to ensure an effective and efficient use of organizational assets and transparency in all the transactions of the Proponent Groups.

The training was spearheaded by Charito A. Carcido, Enterprise Development and Marketing Specialist of the NPCO with the help of Ms. Leny Pecson, I-REAP Alternate Component Head.

Most of the participants who attended the training are engaged in micro-enterprises and some of the PGs do not have established financial management system. Members of the LGUs and PPMIUs were also there to give their support and assistance to the PGs of their province.

“Wala ng libre sa mundo, lahat ng bagay may katumbas na expenses” (Nothing is free in this world, everything comes with expenses) said Pecson. “You should know how to treat your expenses properly to create a system on handling the money of the cooperative/association”, she added.

The training workshop was filled with discussion and hands-on training on planning and budgeting, accounting for fund receipts and disbursements, internal control systems and the responsibilities and accountabilities of the officers and members in accordance to the financial management activities and transactions.

Examples and exercises were also given to the participants during the workshop. The activity also served as a venue for consultation on the current situation that the PGs are going through. Each query was properly addressed and answered accordingly by Carcido.

As an established cooperative, the members of the Labo Progressive Multi-Purpose Cooperative (LPMPC) also assisted during the conduct of the workshop by showing concrete examples of their records, receipts and reports. This helped the participants to better understand the uses of each records and receipts.

Gerald Estiller, Agricultural Technologist and I-REAP member from the province of Sorsogon said that this kind of training is beneficial for the members of the PGs, as they are able to learn how to enhance financial management of their enterprise and improve their business operation.

Similarly, Comprencio Olitan, member of the Biga Farmers-Fishermen Association said that he is pleased with the training for this will surely help their organization to manage their funds.

Due to the limited time of the workshop, the members of the Proponent Groups promised to have a further study on what they had learned before re-echoing it to the Board of directors and the other members or their association/organization.

Financial management encompasses more than keeping an accurate set of books and balancing business checking account. Managing our finances will help us not to  overspend so that we can remain prepared for all the expenditures as well as with the profit distributions. Financial management responsibilities affect all aspects of the business. A company that sells well but has poor financial management can fail.

Further trainings will be done for the Proponent Groups to ensure preparedness on their project implementation. Pre-implementation and Procurement Training for the Micro-enterprise is scheduled on the last week of August. (Michelle Angela G. Alfigura, I-SUPPORT InfoACE Unit, DA-RAFIS 5)  

The Proponent Groups (PGs) of Catanduanes and Masbate doing their workshop on Internal Control Systems with the help of the I-REAP team.

The participants of the “Training Workshop on Simplified Financial Management System” attentively listens and participates in the discussion of the keynote speaker Ms. Charito A. Carcido