We Haven’t Got the Time(sheets)!

This event will bring together representatives of CSOs, donor agencies and the audit profession to discuss the place of timesheets in accounting for and reporting project staff costs.

Donor agencies such as USAID, and many auditors, insist that CSOs must maintain timesheets as necessary proof for charging salary costs to different projects. Other donors and auditors do not require the use of timesheets, although they may advise that it is best practice. Some donors and auditors do not consider the issue at all. Meanwhile, staff in some CSOs are expected to keep timesheets as a matter of course, and other organisations say it is unnecessary, impractical or impossible.

Should timesheets be compulsory? If not, what alternative could be used to keep all stakeholders happy? If timesheets are unavoidable, how can we make them work in practice for all stakeholders?
By bringing together the different stakeholders in this debate we hope to promote better understanding of different views and to start finding the common ground that can be the basis for practical solutions to satisfy all sides.

Panellists

Charles Gitau is a Certified Public Accountant, a senior partner at Carr Stanyer Gitau & Co.

Thilo Panzerbieter is the founder and Executive Director of German Toilet Organisation, a speaker at WASH Network.

Axel Stelzner graduated in agricultural engineering with focus on agricultural economics, before working for NGOs in Latin America and Germany for over a decade.