Services

Finance & award administration

Make accountability routine.

Praxis sorts your backlog by deadline, cash exposure and missing evidence, then gives you a recovery plan with realistic dates. Know what is restricted, what can be spent and what needs to be reported. Give your finance team a close calendar, reconciled schedules and one view of every award.

Hisham brings at least five years of finance and bookkeeping experience, including board finance committee service, bookkeeping for the OK Program of Oakland and fractional finance leadership for an Oakland family-services foundation.

Book a 20-minute call

Three ways to engage on finance

Choose an award compliance review, fractional controller support or finance advisory.

Award compliance review

Review award terms, coding, supporting records and reporting responsibilities.

Fractional controller support

Monthly close support, reconciliations, reporting and financial operating routines.

Finance advisory

Review budgets, forecasts and financial decisions with the responsible leaders.

Your first step: An award inventory and deadline calendar
How it runs: Compliance review: a defined scope ending in written findings. Controller support: a diagnostic month, then a monthly close. Advisory: a project or monthly reviews.
How it is priced: After a 20-minute call, you receive a written quote for the first piece of work: the deliverable, review dates and one fee, based on the number of awards or records involved and the deadline. Ongoing work is priced as a fixed monthly fee for agreed capacity. No commission or contingency.
Before work begins: Software, specialist services and travel are listed separately. Work begins only after you accept the written scope and fee.
Next step: Start a conversation See how a first month works

Who this is for

Two or more restricted awards, a first federal award or a growing county contract.
A reporting backlog, reimbursement delays or an approaching audit.
A board or finance lead who needs reconciled numbers on a fixed calendar.

Not included

An audit opinion, financial-statement review or compilation engagement.
A signed tax return or legal or investment advice.
Payment release without your authorized review and approval.

Delivery stages

How the work unfolds.

Month 1

Diagnose and stabilize

Books review and award inventory
Deadline and compliance gap list
One urgent reporting or reconciliation fix

Months 2 to 3

Build the routine

Account dimensions and allocation plan
Close checklist and reporting templates
First board packet and approval calendar

Ongoing

Keep the records current

Monthly close and funder reports
Board packets on an agreed calendar
Audit-season coordination and exception review

Deliverables

The work leaves something behind.

A calendar of every funder deadline
An indexed binder for each award
A reconciled packet for each board meeting
A close checklist with owners and a target completion day

Blank award and deadline register · CSV · 1 KB

A general operating template. Confirm each requirement against the award terms and the funder’s instructions.

Most engagements draw on one or two workstreams.

Workstreams and deliverables

Combine the workstreams your team needs, with clear owners and review points.

01Budgeting and forecastingGive your program and finance teams one set of reconciled assumptions.

Annual operating budget by program and function
Award budgets tied to the operating budget and grant budget justifications
Multi-year forecasts and scenario models
Rolling 13-week cash-flow forecast for reimbursement-funded work
Reserve-target scenarios and a draft reserves policy for board approval
Unit-cost models for services and delivery units
Budget assumptions and rate-negotiation support schedules

02Restricted funds and grant accountingConnect your ledger dimensions to award terms and release schedules.

Chart-of-accounts, class and dimension design by award, program and function
Schedules distinguishing net assets with and without donor restrictions under ASC 958, with CPA review of accounting judgments
Release-from-restriction schedules and supporting records
Award-by-award budget-to-actual reporting with spend-down pacing
Carryover, no-cost-extension and rebudget request packages
Program-income tracking and reconciliation
Match and cost-share registers with source documentation
In-kind contribution support and valuation documentation for finance or CPA approval

03Compliance and cost policyTranslate applicable award terms into documented finance procedures.

Allowability, allocability and reasonableness review of selected ledger costs
Written cost-allocation plan and allocation workpapers
Indirect-cost comparison: eligible de minimis election of up to 15 percent of modified total direct costs versus a negotiated rate
Negotiated indirect-cost proposal preparation, allocation schedules and coordination with your cognizant agency and finance reviewers
Time-and-effort and personnel-activity documentation templates
Procurement standards and an approval matrix using thresholds applicable to your award and organization
Equipment register and acquisition and disposition workflow linked to applicable terms
Subrecipient-versus-contractor documentation for authorized review
Subrecipient monitoring plan, risk assessment and follow-up log
Records-retention schedule and award-file checklist
Funder-specific requirements matrix for U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Continuum of Care, the U.S. Department of Justice Bureau of Justice Assistance (DOJ/BJA), CDC, the California Department of Public Health (CDPH), California Governor’s Office of Emergency Services (Cal OES) and county pass-through awards

04Billing, drawdowns and receivablesPrepare the support package and cash schedule behind each request.

Reimbursement invoices with supporting payroll, expense and program records
Automated Standard Application for Payments (ASAP) drawdown preparation and submission only within delegated authority
Payment Management System (PMS) reporting and payment-workflow support, subject to platform access and an agreed review process
County invoice templates and recurring billing calendar
Amendment-request packages and invoice-to-budget reconciliation
Receivables aging, disputed-item log and follow-up cadence
Drawdown-to-ledger reconciliation and approval trail
Cash-timing scenarios that flag reimbursement delays and upcoming payroll commitments

05Close, reconciliations and recordsEstablish a close sequence with named owners and review points.

Month-end close checklist and responsibility calendar
Bank reconciliations and unresolved-item log
Credit-card reconciliations and missing-receipt follow-up
Payroll reconciliation and award-allocation journals for approval
BILL payables workflow, invoice routing and approval documentation
Expense-coding review and correction log
Fixed-asset and depreciation schedules under approved accounting policy
One award-file structure and one annual audit binder with version ownership

06Reporting and dashboardsGive your funders and board a consistent packet, with the records behind it.

SF-425 preparation support and program-specific financial reporting schedules
Statement-of-activities support schedules and explanations
Statement-of-financial-position support schedules and reconciliations
Budget-to-actual by organization, program and award
Cash runway and days-cash-on-hand calculations with defined assumptions
Restricted balances, award spend rates and reporting timeliness dashboard
Funding-pipeline versus committed-cost analysis that separates prospects from secured revenue
Google Sheets and Sage Intacct reporting views; additional dashboard tools selected during discovery
Board packet and finance-calendar ownership, with final review by the designated finance lead

07Audit and Form 990 readinessPrepare the records and responses your auditor needs.

Prepared-by-client (PBC) request lists for your auditor, with a document index
Schedule of Expenditures of Federal Awards preparation support
Single Audit readiness assessment against the applicable expenditure threshold and fiscal year
Functional-expense allocation schedules for Form 990 preparation
Corrective-action tracking and draft responses to findings for management or CPA approval
Financial policies and procedures manual
Segregation-of-duties matrix for a small team and compensating-control documentation
Approval thresholds and dual-signature workflow under adopted policy
Year-end support schedules and reconciliation of the audit package to the books

08SystemsAlign the system structure, migration and reporting with how your organization is funded.

QuickBooks Online structure review and scoped setup or cleanup
Sage Intacct dimension and reporting requirements, with implementation responsibilities defined
BILL permissions, routing and reconciliation workflow
Instrumentl and Fluxx award and calendar configuration tied to finance responsibilities
Cross-system field mapping and integration requirements
Spreadsheet-to-system migration inventory, reconciliation and exception log
User roles, approval access and handoff documentation
Team training and a post-migration validation checklist

09Special situationsDefine the recovery or launch assignment before assuming the books can be taken over.

Comprehensive (Model A) fiscal-sponsorship administration records and responsibility map
Preapproved grant relationship (Model C) fiscal-sponsorship agreements and reporting support under counsel-approved structures
Sponsor and nonprofit eligibility research for a business seeking mission-related funding, under the specific funder’s rules
First operating and award budgets for a new organization
Initial finance policies, approval flows and file structure
Audit-finding remediation work plan with CPA and counsel responsibilities
Lapsed-award document inventory, funder questions and recovery schedule
Backlog triage ranked by deadlines, cash exposure and missing evidence

10Payroll and personnel cost complianceConnect payroll, allocation records and the monthly close so personnel charges are traceable to the work performed.

Payroll platform setup, cleanup and ledger mapping by program and fund
Salary and fringe allocation across awards, with a documented method
Time-and-effort documentation for personnel charges under 2 CFR 200.430(g), checked against the version incorporated into each award
Payroll-to-ledger reconciliation as part of the monthly close

11Spend management and documentationConnect each purchase to its program, approval and supporting record before month-end.

Card and expense policy aligned to your financial management standards under 2 CFR 200.302 and the record-retention requirements in section 200.334
Coding card and reimbursement spend to programs and awards at the point of purchase, not at year end
Approval routing and vendor records in the payables system
A receipt and documentation standard an auditor can follow

Systems experience

QuickBooks Online · Sage Intacct · Aplos · Gusto · BILL

Donor and fundraising platforms

CharityEngine · Salesforce · Bloomerang · Donorbox · DonorPerfect · Airtable

Award systems

System for Award Management (SAM.gov) · JustGrants

Experience behind the work

Nonprofit role

$6.9M

Survivor housing: HUD applications and renewals

Hisham wrote six HUD Continuum of Care renewals totaling $6,904,652 across fiscal 2023 and 2024 for survivor housing, including rapid rehousing. Each project renewal is counted once in the selected award record.

Read the work

Praxis engagement · Family services

Family-services foundation: finance under one lead

Fractional finance leadership: finance systems and reporting, grant compliance and county contract invoicing. Proposals written: a $50,000 operating request, a $10,000 food-access request and a $5,000 corporate request.

Read the case

Questions

Common questions

Do you replace our existing bookkeeper?

Usually, you keep the people who know your books. Praxis agrees on who owns transaction entry, reconciliations, award schedules, review and reporting. If you need a backlog taken over, the scope identifies the records and capacity involved.

How do you work with our CPA at audit time?

Praxis assembles the schedules, reconciliations and support your auditor requests, and tracks each request to closure.

What does the first month cost and include?

You receive a quote based on the number of awards, the state of the records, deadlines and agreed capacity. The first month normally includes a diagnostic, a deadline calendar and one priority deliverable. Work begins against a written scope.

Can you take over our overdue reports?

Praxis sorts your backlog by deadline, cash exposure and missing evidence, then gives you a recovery plan with realistic dates. Your team supplies the records and approves any funder communications.

Are you a CPA firm?

No. Praxis prepares records, schedules and workflows and coordinates with your CPA. Audit, review, compilation and tax work stay with your licensed accountants.