Financial Accounting Policy

1. General provisions

The accounting policy comprises the specific principles, methods, rules and practical guidelines developed by the Public Organization “Hamqadam” for preparing and submitting financial, tax and statistical reports that are not specifically set out in the regulatory legal acts of the Republic of Tajikistan but are applied in the day-to-day work of the Public Organization “Hamqadam”.

The legal basis for this document consists of regulations, orders, instructions, projects and other organizational and administrative documents developed on the basis of the regulatory legal acts of the Republic of Tajikistan and applied in the work of the Public Organization “Hamqadam”.

The Public Organization “Hamqadam” submits its reports and this Accounting Policy to the relevant parties:

a) donors and partners;

b) the Ministry of Justice of the Republic of Tajikistan;

c) the Dushanbe Tax Inspectorate;

d) the Dushanbe Statistics Agency;

e) the Social Protection Fund of the Republic of Tajikistan.

Financial, accounting and other information is provided to other persons only with the written consent of the management of the Public Organization “Hamqadam” or in cases provided for by law (a court or prosecutor’s decision, etc.).

1.1. Financial reporting and accounting for the Public Organization “Hamqadam” are carried out by the chief accountant.

1.2. The chief accountant is the key finance officer and is responsible for all of the organization’s financial transactions (tax obligations, payroll, approval of all project and administrative expenses, preparation of reports for the donor and other reports required in connection with accounting at enterprises and state institutions).

1.3. Receiving, recording, paying out and safekeeping funds, in strict compliance with the rules that ensure their security, is the job of the Organization’s cashier or chief accountant. In accordance with the established procedure, they collect documents and cash from banks for salaries, business travel and other direct administrative expenses; keep the cash book on the basis of receipt and expenditure documents; reconcile the actual amount with the book balance; and prepare the cash report.

1.4. Within the Republic of Tajikistan, all expenses are paid in the national currency (somoni). If funds are received in a foreign currency, payments are made in the national currency at the exchange rate of the National Bank of the Republic of Tajikistan.

1.5. The organization’s financial year begins on 1 January and ends on 31 December each year.

1.6. To ensure the financial transparency of the Organization’s activities, a document is prepared every year that includes, among other things:

a) information on each grant, with the project name, duration and donor;

b) income and expenditure for the financial year;

c) total current and non-current assets;

d) total expenditure by individual categories of the approved form (see annex).

2. Organizational structure and legal status

2.1. The Public Organization “Hamqadam” is a public, non-governmental, non-political, non-profit organization and a legal entity, and operates on the basis of its Charter and the legislation in force in the Republic of Tajikistan;

2.2. Activities of Hamqadam: the main purpose of the Organization is to promote sustainable development, support the initiatives of teenagers and young people in digitalization and ecology, and raise the level of well-being and improve the social and economic situation of society;

2.3. Hamqadam has an active account in the national currency with CJSC “Alif Bank”:

2.4. Hamqadam is registered as a taxpayer with the Dushanbe Tax Inspectorate, Taxpayer ID 040072167; its payer registration number with the Social Protection Fund is No. ___.

3. For the accountant to work properly, it is necessary to:

3.1. Set up a cash book and record in it all receipts and expenditure of funds;

3.2. Have the cash book formally approved by the organization’s management;

3.3. Divide all expenses in the cash book into 2 parts:

a) direct administrative expenses — paid as a single payment and allocated between projects as a percentage according to the budget (office rent, utilities, communications (telephone, internet), technical services, office supplies, technical equipment, transport costs and other expenses related to running the office);

b) project expenses — expenses related to carrying out project activities.

4. Payment for services

4.1. All salary payments to staff, as well as to specialists engaged under contract, are made in cash or by bank transfer to a bank card.

4.2. The basis for paying a staff member’s salary is the employment contract, the hiring order and the timesheet.

4.3. The basis for paying specialists engaged under contract is the services contract and the certificate of acceptance of work.

5. Procedure for receiving funds from the organization’s cash desk and holding competitions/tenders for the purchase of goods and services

To receive cash for direct and project expenses, the following is required:

5.1. Fill in a payment request form. Project staff fill in the form for project payments, and the administration (administrator) for administrative payments.

5.2. Project staff fill in the request for the following month’s ongoing project expenses no later than the 25th of the current month.

5.3. To ensure transparency in the procurement of goods and services at Hamqadam, and taking into account international/national standards and the requirements of development partners, competitions/tenders are organized on the basis of the following principles:

• transparency;

• equal treatment of bidders;

• value for money;

• consistency of the cost of goods and services with the project budget.

5.4. A competition/tender at Hamqadam involves the following stages:

• a request to launch the competition/tender;

• announcement of the competition/tender (the announcement period must be at least 8 working days);

• drawing up a list of organizations interested in taking part;

• a list of organizations that have submitted commercial offers;

• a meeting of the competition/tender committee and selection of the winner;

• conclusion of the contract;

• monitoring of the supplier’s performance of its contractual obligations;

• drawing up a certificate of acceptance of the work and services;

• payment for the services rendered or goods supplied on the basis of an invoice.

5.5. Goods/services worth up to 3,500.00 (three thousand five hundred) somoni are purchased directly from the supplier.

5.6. For goods/services worth from 3,500.00 (three thousand five hundred) to 15,000.00 (fifteen thousand) somoni, commercial offers from at least three companies must be obtained to secure the best value (price and quality). All comparative prices are attached to the purchase documents.

5.7. For goods/services worth more than 15,000.00 (fifteen thousand) and up to 100,000.00 (one hundred thousand) somoni, a competition must be announced. The competition is held in accordance with the Law of the Republic of Tajikistan “On Public Procurement of Goods, Works and Services”.

5.8. For goods/services worth more than 100,000.00 (one hundred thousand) somoni, a tender must be announced. The tender is held in accordance with the Law of the Republic of Tajikistan “On Public Procurement of Goods, Works and Services”.

5.9. To receive funds from the cashier, the request must be approved by the head of the organization.

5.10. When funds are paid out or unspent funds are returned, the date, the name of the recipient/payer, the project name, the amount, the purpose and the signatures of the recipient/payer and the cashier must be recorded.

5.11. The limit for cash held in the organization’s cash desk is set at 1,000 somoni.

6. Reporting, control and responsibility

6.1. All reports and expenses must comply with the principles of labour organization, the labour and occupational safety legislation of the Republic of Tajikistan, tax legislation, the internal regulations and occupational safety rules and standards, and are monitored by the chief accountant.

6.2. Finance staff must know the guidance and regulatory documents (decisions, orders, instructions, directives, etc.) relating to financial transactions, the forms of cash and bank documents, and the procedure for receiving, paying out, recording, reporting on and keeping funds.

6.3. The chief accountant calculates salaries and taxes.

6.4. The chief accountant is responsible for paying taxes and preparing social and tax reports.

7. Procedure for processing cash receipt and expenditure documents, keeping the cash book and preparing the cash report

7.1. Financial reports must be submitted with all supporting documents attached:

a) for administrative expenses — no later than the 10th of the following month;

b) for project expenses (urgent events) — no later than 5 working days after the event ends.

7.2. The cashier carefully checks the supporting documents submitted by the administrator/coordinator and passes them to the chief accountant to be entered in the receipts book.

7.3. Project managers/administrative assistants are accountable to the accountant and the cashier for their financial activities. The accountant and the cashier may request any information and documents supporting payment transactions.

7.4. The cashier or accountant must reconcile the bank and cash balances with the cash book and pass them to the chief accountant on a regular basis.

7.5. All grant reports are prepared by the chief accountant periodically or on completion of the project, depending on the agreement between the parties.

7.6. The cashier is responsible for cash received into the cash desk and must regularly check that funds stay within the cash balance limit set for the organization.

7.7. To ensure the security of cash, the chief accountant must regularly reconcile the cash desk with the book; in addition, the cash desk may be checked at any time (without notice) by the chief accountant or the employer in the presence of a witness, with the result recorded by management. If there is a shortfall or surplus between the cash counted and the book, the cashier must write an explanation, on the basis of which management takes action.

8. Payment amounts and financial documentation

8.1. To send a staff member on a business trip within or outside the Republic of Tajikistan, an order of the employer is issued.

8.2. Business travel expenses consist of transport, accommodation and the daily allowance.

8.3. Business travel expenses within the Republic of Tajikistan are calculated in the national currency, and outside it in foreign currency (US dollars).

8.4. The project administrator/coordinator arranges the purchase of air tickets. Staff may buy air tickets themselves only with the agreement of the project administrator/coordinator. In that case, the costs are reimbursed on presentation of the receipt for the tickets and the original boarding pass. For travel by land transport (train, taxi), costs are reimbursed on presentation of terminal tickets. Where there are no terminal tickets, costs are reimbursed on the basis of a transport services contract, with a copy of the driver’s passport/driving licence, a copy of the individual entrepreneur’s certificate and a copy of the tax payment receipt for the last month attached.

8.5. Accommodation costs are reimbursed on presentation of a receipt for payment for a hotel stay.

8.6. To reimburse the business travel expenses of Hamqadam staff and of persons involved in implementing projects (seminar participants, invited guests, partners, consultants and others) who are sent on business trips to near and far abroad countries or within the Republic of Tajikistan, the following rates are set in accordance with Resolution of the Government of the Republic of Tajikistan No. 531 of 31 October 2008 “On reimbursing the business travel expenses of civil servants and employees of state organizations and institutions travelling abroad and within the Republic of Tajikistan”:

Business travel funds are transferred in two instalments: first 80% of the agreed amount, then 20% (final payment) at the end of the trip, on submission of the expense report. Where necessary, 100% of the travel funds may be transferred.

8.7. For any purchase or accounting for expenses related to trainings/seminars and other events, a receipt and an invoice must be requested.

8.8. Expenses for publishing and printing materials must be supported by a cash receipt and an invoice stating: a) for publications — the title, the language of publication, the unit cost, the quantity and the total cost; b) for printing materials — the number of pages, the cost per page, the quantity and the total cost.

8.9. Written translation is paid at the rate of 1 (one) page = 1,800 characters without spaces. The rate for 1 (one) page is set at 13 US dollars and is calculated in the national currency at the exchange rate of the National Bank of the Republic of Tajikistan on the day of payment.