Training on the Accounting

System for Non-Profit

Organisations (SYCEBNL)
Yaoundé, Cameroon
9th – 11th October 2024
Contents
Overview.................................................................................................................................4
Recommendations.................................................................................................................5
Set up a Working Group......................................................................................................5
Adjust Finance & Accounting Systems Setup.....................................................................5
Adjust the Annual External Audit Process & Timetable.......................................................5
Build Capacity of Finance & Support Services teams.........................................................6
Outline of SYCEBNL Requirements.....................................................................................7
Donor Register.................................................................................................................... 7
Auditor Selection................................................................................................................. 7
Assets & Depreciation.........................................................................................................7
Inventory Management & Consumables.............................................................................8
Income Recognition.............................................................................................................9
Presentation & Account Coding...........................................................................................9
Third Parties Accounting................................................................................................... 10
General......................................................................................................................... 10
Partners.........................................................................................................................11
Suppliers....................................................................................................................... 11
Year-end Closure.............................................................................................................. 12
Annex....................................................................................................................................12
Accounting for project income & expenditure....................................................................12
Step 1: Budget approved.............................................................................................. 12
Step 2: Transfer from Head Office................................................................................12
Step 3a: Local Expenditure...........................................................................................12
Step 3b: Expenditure on behalf by Head Office............................................................12
Step 4: Deferred funds (year-end only).........................................................................13
Accounting for Partner Advances & Expenditure..............................................................13
Step 1: Partner Financial Agreement signed.................................................................13
Step 2: Partner Transfers by Head Office.....................................................................13
Step 3: Partner Financial Report approved...................................................................13

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 Step 4: Deferred funds (year-end).................................................................................13
Accounting for Staff Costs.................................................................................................14
Step 1: Payroll Journal (Africa Payroll)..........................................................................14
Step 2: Net Pay (Head Office).......................................................................................14
Step 3: Taxes & Statutory Payments (Country Office)..................................................14

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Overview
From 9th until 11th October 2024, Sightsavers Finance & Support Services colleagues and
Africa Finance & Operations team colleagues received training on the SYCEBNL
requirements, which was facilitated by Aïcha Iyagana and Anita Saju of Forvis Mazars
Cameroon. The objective of the training was to obtain a detailed understanding of SYCEBNL
regulation, and its impact on Sightsavers accounting processes and systems. This training
was successfully delivered, and this report summarises the key observations.
The Système Comptable des Entités à But Non-Lucratif, Accounting System for Non-Profit
Organisations in English (hereinafter: SYCEBNL), came into force as at 1 January 2024.
Financial statements must be presented and audited according to the stated requirements.
SYCEBNL applies to member countries of the Organisation pour l'harmonisation en Afrique
du droit des affaires, Organization for the harmonisation of Business Law in Africa in English
(hereinafter: OHADA). OHADA is a system of corporate law and implementing institutions
adopted by seventeen West and Central African nations in 1993 in Port Louis, Mauritius.
For Sightsavers those are Benin, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Cote d’Ivoire, Guinea, Guinea
Bissau, Mali, Senegal, and Togo.
SYCEBNL does not align to IFRS. It aligns with IFR4NPO (www.ifr4npo.org), and AUDCIF
(Uniform Act on Accounting Law and Financial Reporting). Statements must be prepared
and audited to SYCEBNL standards. The audited financial statements must be submitted to
the respective authorities no later than 30 April of each following year.
Non-compliance may result in criminal punishment of Sightsavers’ representatives.
To ensure compliance with SYCEBNL, Sightsavers will need to make numerous adjustments
to its accounting and reporting principles and underlying processes.
Other global non-profit organisations meet these chiefly through two approaches, either by:
1. Setting up a separate, parallel accounting system that is compliant with SYCEBNL, and
periodically transfer the data from the main accounting system to the parallel system, or;
2. Engaging a consultant to transfer the internal accounts to the SYCEBNL standard.
SYCEBNL will generally not have clear benefits to Sightsavers. However, as it is a statutory
requirement, Sightsavers has no alternative but to adopt it. A positive impact may be the
possible strengthening of internal controls on partner and supplier balances.

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Recommendations
Set up a Working Group
To manage the numerous changes that need to be effected and capacitate Sightsavers to
comply with SYCEBNL, we propose to set up a Working Group consisting of:
 Fanny Sanou, Astou Camara Bah, Epie Ebwekoh, Djenabu Bari, Ablo Coulibaly, and
Sophie Sarr, being the senior-most Finance colleagues in their respective country offices.
 Ndiaga Seye, Tihrno Drame, and Ulrich Ewayegneh, being the Regional Finance
Managers supporting these countries.
 Björn Maaskant, Head of Finance & Operations – Africa.
Other key stakeholders, such as Global Finance team, Finance Systems team, Programme
Finance team, NTD Finance team, and any others will be engaged on a needs basis where
this affects their area of work.
The Working Group should convene at regular intervals and work according to an agreed
time-bound action plan for implementation of SYCEBNL.

Adjust Finance & Accounting Systems Setup

To maintain our ability to prepare financial statements both in accordance with Sightsavers
internal practices, as well as in accordance with SYCEBNL, the group recommends:
1. To set up a new Business Unit to cater for additional accounting entries that are
required for SYCEBNL compliant statements, but which are not consistent with
Sightsavers’ approach. This will facilitate both locally compliant accounts (SYCEBNL) as
well as Sightsavers global accounts (IFRS):
– To produce Sightsavers’ statements, one refers to AMC Business Unit alone.
– To produce SYCEBNL statements, one refers to AMC plus the new Business Unit.
It may be feasible to make use of the XMC Business Unit that has already been set up to
facilitate partner expenditure reporting.
2. To map the Sightsavers Chart of Accounts to the SYCEBNL Chart of Accounts to
cater for financial reporting according to the categorisation required under SYCEBNL:
– Each Sightsavers account code should be mapped to a SYCEBNL account code.
– The account code naming should be available in English, French, and Portuguese.

Adjust the Annual External Audit Process & Timetable

Annual Financial Audit for 2024 must be done in accordance with SYCEBNL. As financial
systems have not yet been set up in line with these requirements, it is not yet possible to
present financial statements for audit in readiness for interim audit.

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The group therefore proposes:
1. Not to engage audit firms for interim audits, as Sightsavers would not yet be ready to
present financial statements that are compliant with SYCEBNL. Therefore, to only
undertake a final external audit covering all of 2024.
2. To utilise the time between now and year-end to implement the required adjustments
to systems and processes, pass the necessary additional accounting entries, and
3. To prepare SYCEBNL compliant financial statements after the closure of period
12/2024.
Given the complexity of changes and substantial work involved, the group advises that the
completion and sign-off of the financial statements will almost certainly delay from
Sightsavers’ customary audit timetable. The group will however endeavour to complete all
external audits by the statutory deadline of 30 April 2025.

Build Capacity of Finance & Support Services teams

Whereas the country offices’ Finance & Support Services team members received training
on the SYCEBNL requirements during the three-day workshop, a good understanding of the
requirements is imperative for all finance professionals in the countries within scope.
The group therefore advocates for comprehensive training to be provisioned for in staff
capacity building plans to all country-based finance professionals. The Africa Finance &
Operations team, through liaison with the external auditors, may support in negotiating a
deal to ensure good value for money.

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Outline of SYCEBNL Requirements
Outlined below are the key SYCEBNL compliance requirements that Sightsavers should
consider for implementation: a means that Sightsavers is currently compliant with this
requirement, and a means that Sightsavers must take actions to become compliant.
Proposed actions are marked in bold in the tabulations below.

Donor Register

Requirement Current position, actions

 Donations received locally must be  As local donor income is rarely (or
recorded and signed for. not at all) received, no register is
 A donor register must always be maintained.
available and maintained by the  Generate a Donor Register
office. according to the specified criteria
 The Donor Register is part of the to meet the requirement.
scope of the external audits.

Auditor Selection

Requirement Current position, actions

 Above set thresholds, an auditor  Auditors have been appointed
must be appointed. All Sightsavers accordingly.
offices, with exception of Togo,
exceed this threshold.
 Audits must be conducted against  Sightsavers Terms of Reference
the SYCEBNL requirements. does not reference SYCEBNL
 Sightsavers needs to review and
adjust the Audit Terms of
Reference.
 Auditors must be appointed for at  The first incumbent auditors were
least three years, and at most six appointed for 2020 financial audits.
years. The auditor must be changed Therefore, all firms are still within
thereafter, the same firm cannot be their appointment term limit.
reappointed.
 Auditors must be licensed to  Auditors have all been appointed
perform audits in the countries they with confirmation of registration at
undertake the audit in. the time of appointment following a
tendering process in 2023. This is
not routinely rechecked.
 A reconfirmation has been
requested from Crowe for Guinea
Bissau, if the Senegal-based
auditor is licensed locally.

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  Mazars have confirmed in a call
on 23 October 2024 that the
Burkina Faso audit will no longer
be undertaken by the Cameroon
team, but by Mazars Burkina
Faso.
 Auditors must participate in board  Sightsavers currently does not invite
meetings of all the Country Office Country Office auditors to
entities and present the financial participate in a board meeting.
statements.  Sightsavers Governance team
needs to consider how it would
implement this requirement.

Assets & Depreciation

Requirement Current position, actions

 Assets must be identifiable,  All fixed assets are identified and
controlled by Sightsavers, and maintained on the assets register
provide future economic benefits. (month-end checklist).
 Purchases with a useful lifetime of  Sightsavers capitalises and
more than 1 year and with a value of depreciates assets with a value of
XOF / XAF 500,000 must be GBP 15,000 (approx. XOF /
capitalised and depreciated. XAF 11.7 million) as per the Fixed
 The useful lifetime and other Assets Policy and Rationale.
specifics around the depreciation  Sightsavers capitalises and
method are defined by AUDCIF. immediately depreciates all Country
 Vehicles under Sightsavers full Office vehicles purchased for
control must be capitalised and general use and for project use.
depreciated over a period of 5  Sightsavers to align to AUDCIF
years. requirements, and capitalise and
depreciate assets with a value of
XOF / XAF 500,000.
 Cost associated with the purchase  Sightsavers expenses costs
and operationalising of an asset associated with operationalisation of
(e.g. import duties, transport, an asset.
agency fees, etc.) must be added to  Sightsavers to add cost of
the cost of the asset and operationalisation to the total
depreciated. cost of the asset and depreciate
the combined value.
 Assets purchased with donor  Current position and actions as
funding and over which the donor above.
retains control should be included
on the assets register but should not
be depreciated until the donor’s
decision at the end of the project,
should the decision be for
Sightsavers to retain the asset.

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Inventory Management & Consumables

Requirement Current position, actions

 Donations of consumables directly  Sightsavers expenses consumables
from Sightsavers to partners must purchased for partners.
be accounted for by the partner as
inventory.
 All inventory and consumables must  Sightsavers does not have a stock
be tracked as stock, including minor management system in place for
items such as drinking water, office supplies and consumables.
printing paper, etcetera.  Sightsavers Country Offices do not
consistently undertake stocktaking.
 Sightsavers to conduct
stocktaking exercise at the close
of each financial year.
 Stock purchases throughout the
year to be coded to balance sheet
(class 3).
 The opening balance at the
beginning of the year, plus
purchases, less the value of
stock at the close of the year is
the value of consumption
throughout the year, thus
expenditure (class 6).
 Fuel cards balances should be  Sightsavers does not consistently
managed as a cash account. have a fuel management system in
place to monitor usage of fuel.
 Initiative to separately identify
fuel card through a separate
account code in the Chart of
Accounts will allow for tracking
as required.

Income Recognition

Requirement Current position, actions

 Operating grants are to be  Income is only recognised based on
recognised for the total amount of HO Funds Request.
the grant. For multi-year grants, the  Approved FMF Expenditure Plans
unspent amount carried forward to are not recorded as income.
and reduced from income in the  Sightsavers to include the
current financial year. approved Expenditure Plans for
 The approved Expenditure Plans for three years as Income on the
three years must be captured as separate Business Unit, and the
Income, and the portion not due portion not due until the following
until the following years to be years to be captured as deferred

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 captured as deferred income. income.
 Payments made by the Head Office  In its current format of financial
on behalf of the Country Office must statements, Sightsavers recognises
be recognised as In-Kind transactions conducted by another
Contributions. office (usually Head Office) on
behalf of the Country Office as in-
kind contributions.
 Sightsavers to account for
amounts paid by other offices on
behalf of the Country Office as
voluntary in-kind contributions
(class 9). The increase of in-kind
contributions would reduce the
Administration Fund (class 1) and
the Sightsavers supplier account
(class 4).

Presentation & Account Coding

Requirement Current position, actions

 Financial Statements, including  Sightsavers format of financial
income statement, balance sheet, statements and referencing differs
cash flow statement, and notes, from the prescribed manner.
must be presented and categorised  Sightsavers must adopt the
in a prescribed manner (see Module prescribed manner and
7) referencing in its presentation of
the financial statements.
 Financial reporting must be done  Sightsavers’ account coding
according to a standard account structure differs from the statutory
code numbering structure. Chart of Accounts defined by
SYCEBNL (see Module 2, page 8).
 A mapping table should be
produced to assign SYCEBNL
account codes for each
Sightsavers account code.
 Review the possibility with
Finance Systems team to have
this set up within SUN.

Third Parties Accounting

General
Requirement Current position, actions
 Expenses must be recorded on  Sightsavers complies with this
receipt of invoice. requirement for central purchases,

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  Once-off purchases may be through Proactis.
recorded at the point of the expense  Sightsavers however does not
being incurred. comply with this requirement for
most local purchases.
 Initiative to implement S2C,
requisition module, purchase
order workflow for all
transactions, including country
office transactions, will ensure
compliance with the requirement.
 The liability must belong to the entity  All liabilities are recorded in SUN.
(Sightsavers), payment must be due However, locally managed suppliers
for their settlement, and value of are not registered through Accounts
payment can be reliably measured. Payable account.
 Implementation of S2C, Category
Management, Requisition module
through Proactis will ensure
compliance.
 Provisions to be recognised within  Sightsavers records provisions,
the liabilities on the balance sheet, including accrued expenses at the
when the amount of the liability can end of the financial year.
be reliably estimated and will lead to  Sightsavers does not record
outflow of resources. contingent liabilities according to the
 Contingent liabilities, where the definition provided, but these need
amount cannot be reasonably to be disclosed in the notes. Our
estimated and there is no likelihood template for financial statements do
of resource outflow should not be not have a Note pertaining to
included as a liability on the balance disclosure of contingent liabilities.
sheet.  Sightsavers to include a section
on Contingent Liabilities within
the notes.
 Rent and lease agreements to be  Sightsavers method of accounting
recorded as liability. for lease agreements meets
requirements as these are simple
leases (no options to buy, etc.)

Partners
Requirement Current position, actions
 On signature of agreement (PFA)  Sightsavers does not record the
with a partner, the total liability value of the PFA as a liability.
should be recorded.  Sightsavers expenses transfers to
 The subsequent transfer to partner partners when the transfer is made.
should be recorded as an advance  Sightsavers does not record the
to the supplier and deducted from financial accountability in the partner
the liability initially recorded. ledger (XMC) for some projects, but
 The subsequent financial not consistently.
accountability from the partner  Sightsavers to record the
should then be deducted from the committed value of PFA’s as a

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 advance and recorded as liability, and reduce the liability
expenditure. when advance is issued to the
partner.
 Sightsavers to record partner
financial accountability into XMC
ledger and offset against advance
payments issued.

Suppliers
Requirement Current position, actions
 Similar to Partners, on signature of  Sightsavers does not record the
an agreement with a supplier, the total value of the contract as a
total contractual liability should be liability.
recorded.  Purchase Orders are raised on
 On receipt of an invoice, this should receipt of a (pro forma) invoice only,
be offset against the liability. if processed through Proactis. The
 The subsequent payment of the expense is recorded directly at time
invoice clear the liability. of payment if not processed
through Proactis.
 Accounts Payable Account for
Country Office Direct Suppliers
to be created.

Year-end Closure

Requirement Current position, actions

 Closing entries must be passed to  Sightsavers does not record the
record the surplus or deficit for the surplus or deficit for the year.
year.  Record the surplus or deficit for
the year as part of year-end
closing procedures in the new
Business Unit.

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Annexures
Accounting for project income & expenditure

Step 1: Budget approved

SUN SYCEB Description AMC AMC SYCEBN SYCEBN
Acct NL Acct Debit Credit L Debit L Credit
10000 46… Sightsavers Admin Fund 50m
n/a 165… Restricted Funds 50m

Step 2: Transfer from Head Office

SUN SYCEB Description AMC AMC SYCEBN SYCEBN
Acct NL Acct Debit Credit L Debit L Credit
48… 5… Bank 20m
10000 46… Sightsavers Admin Fund 20m

Step 3a: Local Expenditure

SUN SYCEB Description AMC AMC SYCEBN SYCEBN
Acct NL Acct Debit Credit L Debit L Credit
2… 6… Expenses 15m
TBD 40… Accounts Payable 15m
TBD 40… Accounts Payable 15m
48… 5… Bank 15m

Step 3b: Expenditure on behalf by Head Office

SUN SYCEB Description AMC AMC SYCEBN SYCEBN
Acct NL Acct Debit Credit L Debit L Credit
2… 6… Expenses 2m
53… 40… Proactis supplier acct 2m
53… 40… Proactis supplier acct 2m
10000 46… Sightsavers Admin Fund 2m
n/a 165… Restricted Funds 2m
10000a 9… Contributions in Kind 2m

Step 4: Deferred funds (year-end only)

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SUN SYCEB Description AMC AMC SYCEBN SYCEBN
Acct NL Acct Debit Credit L Debit L Credit
n/a 165… 22m
n/a 7925 22m

Accounting for Partner Advances & Expenditure

Step 1: Partner Financial Agreement Signed

SUN SYCEB Description AMC AMC SYCEBN SYCEBN
Acct NL Acct Debit Credit L Debit L Credit
53… 40… Proactis Partner acct 30m
XXXXX 30m

Step 2: Partner Transfers by Head Office

SUN SYCEB Description AMC AMC SYCEBN SYCEBN
Acct NL Acct Debit Credit L Debit L Credit
27000 XXXXX Partner advance 3m
53… 40… Proactis Partner acct 3m
53… 40… Proactis Partner acct 3m
10000 46… Sightsavers Admin Fund 3m
n/a 165… Restricted Funds 3m
10000a 9… Contributions in Kind 3m

Step 3: Partner Financial Report approved

SUN SYCEB Description AMC AMC XMC XMC
Acct NL Acct Debit Credit Debit Credit
2… 6… Partner expenditure 2.5m
27000 XXXXX Partner advance 2.5m

Step 4: Deferred funds (year-end)

SUN SYCEB Description AMC AMC SYCEBN SYCEBN
Acct NL Acct Debit Credit L Debit L Credit
XXXXX 27m
XXXXX 27m

Accounting for Staff Costs

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Step 1: Payroll Journal (Africa Payroll)
SUN SYCEB Description AMC AMC SYCEBN SYCEBN
Acct NL Acct Debit Credit L Debit L Credit
20… 66… Staff expenditure 10m
51… 42… Staff liabilities 10m
53…
54…

Step 2: Net Pay (Head Office)

SUN SYCEB Description AMC AMC SYCEBN SYCEBN
Acct NL Acct Debit Credit L Debit L Credit
53110 42… Net Pay Control Account 6m
… 46… Sightsavers Admin Fund 6m
(StoneX payments)
n/a 165… Restricted Funds 6m
10000a 9… Contributions in Kind 6m

Step 3: Taxes & Statutory Payments (Country Office)

SUN SYCEB Description AMC AMC SYCEBN SYCEBN
Acct NL Acct Debit Credit L Debit L Credit
51… 42… Control Accounts 4m
53…
54…
48… 5… Bank 4m

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