Finance

What It Is

The Finance Department manages the money across every entity, Startup Lions Assets Kenya and Lions Strength above all, with Learning Lions aligned to it. It is led by the Finance Director, who leads financial strategy and management for the whole organisation, keeps the processes transparent and compliant, runs the budgeting and forecasting, coordinates the audits and the donor reporting, and gives the SGB and the two domain boards their financial analysis and risk assessments. The department reports to the Finance Director and the SGB.

The money's line. The two domain boards review the monthly result and the sub-budgets and send the yearly budget and its quarterly revision up as proposals; the SGB approves them and the audited accounts. Odoo holds finance, stock and payments.

The Four Teams

1. Accounting. Bookkeeping, payments, reconciliations and the financial statements.
2. Procurement. Purchasing, supplier relations and compliance; buying in bulk through the central store.
3. The Central Store. A central storage in the welcome area where every procured item arrives and is recorded before it goes to a department, so that procurement and accounting can buy in bulk, keep the records and track the assets.
4. Reporting. Donor reporting, impact measurement and the joining of financial and programme data, anchored in Finance with a shared mandate with Communication, so that what goes out is accurate, compliant and coherent.

How the Money Moves

1. The two domain boards, the Campus Administration Board and the Community Programs Board, meet every two weeks with the financial part led by the Finance Director. They review the monthly result and decide the monthly sub-budgets.
2. They work out the yearly budget and its quarterly revision and send them up as decision proposals; the SGB reviews, challenges and approves the budget, its quarterly adjustments and the audited financial statements.
3. The Finance Director co-decides every hire and salary with the Operations Director.
4. Inside the campus the branches bill each other: Maintenance bills the branches for its work, Housing bills the Training Department for the students, the cafeteria bills Hospitality for guest breakfasts, and the guest units are one of the income streams the department counts on.

Odoo

The campus runs its finance, stock and payments on Odoo. The Eco Market already keeps its inventory and sales there, the Campus Management Blueprint names it as the system for the branches' financial accountability, and the housing and guest register planned on the Campus Management page is meant to connect to it.

What the 2025 Papers Set as Priorities

Strong controls after past audit weaknesses, reliable audits, efficient procurement, business planning and financial sustainability. The transparency of the processes and the workload of the team were the challenges named.

Where to Read More

The Campus Functions has the department beside the others; The SGB Board has what the board approves; The Structure shows the reporting lines.