Financial Management and Internal Control

ASF keeps complete, accurate accounts, separates financial duties, and is audited independently every year. Owner: ASF Secretariat, reporting to the International Standards Council. This policy operates alongside the Financial Independence statement published on Standards Development, which governs the separation between ASF’s fee structure and accreditation decisions specifically.

Controls

1. Segregation of duties: no single person requests, approves, pays and records the same transaction.
2. Budgets: an annual budget approved by the Council; membership and assessment fee income tracked separately from any other funding.
3. Banking: two signatories for every payment; online banking with dual authorisation.
4. Reconciliation: accounts reconciled monthly and signed by a second person.
5. Assets: a register of equipment and IT assets above a published threshold, checked physically each year, covered by appropriate insurance including professional indemnity for accreditation activity and cover for Coordinators/Monitors/Surveyors while travelling.
6. Suppliers: key suppliers (GMJ Academy as training platform, hosting/IT providers, the external auditor) are defined, their requirements set out in documented agreements, selected on competency and cost-effectiveness, and performance monitored annually.
7. Fee integrity: membership and assessment fees are fixed and published in advance, never adjusted after an accreditation decision is known, consistent with Financial Independence.

Reporting and audit

• Quarterly financial report to the International Standards Council.
• As an association governed by the French Law of 1 July 1901 (Loi 1901), ASF prepares annual financial statements under French association reporting requirements; once ASF’s annual public or donor funding exceeds €153,000, French law requires appointment of an independent commissaire aux comptes (statutory auditor), in addition to the audit already described below, with the audit report presented to the Council.