CFUG Annual Assembly and Audit Readiness Checklist

The annual general assembly and the audit are the two moments when a community forest user group has to show its records. Groups that prepare during the year find them routine. Groups that prepare in the last week find them stressful. This checklist walks through what to have ready. It is about record keeping and does not replace the rules of your constitution, the Forest Act and regulations or the instructions of your forest office and local level. Confirm the current requirements with them and with your auditor.

Three months before year-end

• Check that every income has a receipt and every expense has a voucher and a decision.
• Reconcile the cash book with the bank statement and clear old differences.
• Update the member register: new households, divided households, deaths, migration and membership renewals.
• Collect all outstanding loan balances and decide how to treat overdue loans.
• Review the operational plan activities and note which were completed and which were not.
• Confirm who will be the auditor and ask what documents they need.

Records the auditor will usually ask for

Record	What to have ready
Cash book and bank book	Complete, totalled and signed monthly
Receipt books	All numbered, cancelled receipts retained
Voucher file	In date order, each with approval
Bank statements	For the whole fiscal year
Meeting minutes	Committee and assembly decisions with signatures
Member register	Updated with changes
Distribution records	Requests, approvals and receipts
Loan register	Borrower-wise balances
Asset list	Equipment, buildings, nursery and tools
Operational plan	The current approved copy

The annual report for members

Members should hear about their forest in plain figures and plain language. A good report in Nepali covers:

1. Number of member households and any change during the year.
2. Forest activities carried out: plantation, thinning, patrolling, fire protection, nursery and others.
3. Products harvested and distributed, and any sale, in simple quantities.
4. Total income and total expense, and the balance of each fund.
5. Support given to households and community works.
6. Loans given, repaid and outstanding.
7. Decisions needed from the assembly: budget, plan changes and committee election if due.

Circulate the report in advance if possible, and keep a copy on file together with the signed minutes.

Notice and quorum for the assembly

Your constitution states how much notice must be given, how the notice is circulated and what quorum is required. Follow it exactly, record how the notice was delivered and take an attendance register with signatures. A decision made without proper notice or quorum can be challenged later, and the record of notice is your protection.

Common gaps found at audit

• Receipts missing for some income, especially small sales.
• Expenses without a bill or without a committee decision.
• Cash held by one person for long periods rather than banked.
• Fund heads mixed so the use of each cannot be shown.
• Loans with no repayment record.
• Member register out of date.
• Minutes missing signatures or dates.

Most of these arise from rushing, not from bad intent. A weekly ten-minute routine prevents them: enter receipts, file vouchers, update the cash book and check the bank.

How software supports the checklist

A system keeps many of these items linked: a receipt is connected to the household and the fund head, a distribution to the receipt and a payment to its voucher number. At year-end the income and expense statement, fund-wise balances, loan list and distribution summaries can be produced for any date range and exported to Excel or PDF. Community Forest User Group Software is designed around this cycle. The software does not sign, approve or audit anything. It organises the records so your committee, assembly and auditor can do their work. For minutes and letters, darta chalani software can keep a searchable register of incoming and outgoing documents.

Six weeks before the assembly

Fix the date with the committee and decide the agenda. Draft the report and the income and expense statement, and ask two members who are not on the committee to read them for clarity. Prepare a short note in simple words on any proposal that needs a decision, such as a change of rate, a new fund purpose or a large construction. Print the member list for the attendance register and confirm the venue and time. Preparing early also gives you time to correct errors the auditor or a member may notice before the meeting rather than during it.

Documents to carry on the day

On the day of the assembly, have a folder ready with the notice, attendance sheet, the printed report, the audited or draft statements, the proposal papers, a blank minute book and a spare pen. Appoint one person to take minutes and another to read them back before the meeting closes, so the decisions are agreed while members are still present. Take photographs of the attendance if your rules allow, and record any objections raised. These small habits make the minutes accurate and the next audit easier.

After the assembly

File the signed minutes, update the committee list, inform the forest office or local level as required, hand over the keys and system access if the office bearers have changed, and take a fresh backup of all records. Start the new fiscal year, which begins in Shrawan, with opening balances matching the audited closing balances.

Next step

Use the table above as a tick list this week and see how many items are ready. If more than a few are missing, share the gaps with WebsNP on WhatsApp at +977 9846280400, and we will show how a system could close them before next year-end.

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