Finance Advisor

Peepul; Delhi; On-site; INR 1,200,000 - 1,800,000; Full time

Job summary

Peepul is seeking a Finance Advisor to elevate financial planning, budgeting, donor reporting and governance across programmes. You will work with the Finance and Programme teams to ensure funds are planned, utilized and reported in line with policies and donor requirements.

The role focuses on budgeting, budgeting controls, financial analysis and ERP-enabled processes, with responsibility for compliance, reporting and capacity building across teams.

Qualifications

• 7–12 years of relevant experience, preferably including NGO sector experience.
• Strong budgeting and financial analysis skills with project accounting.
• Experience with donor-funded projects, ERP systems and advanced Excel.

Responsibilities

• Coordinate the annual budgeting process with programme and support functions.
• Review programme budgets, donor budgets and organisational budgets for reasonableness and alignment with priorities.
• Develop budget assumptions and costing methodologies.
• Monitor actual expenditure against approved budgets and provide variance analysis.
• Provide financial advisory support to programme teams throughout the grant/project lifecycle.
• Review donor budgets, financial terms, cost eligibility and reporting requirements.
• Monitor project-wise and donor-wise expenditure.
• Support preparation and review of donor financial reports and utilisation certificates.
• Ensure financial reporting is consistent with donor agreements and accounting policies.
• Prepare and review monthly/quarterly MIS for management.
• Analyse expenditure trends, budget utilisation and variances.
• Provide financial insights and develop dashboards and reports.
• Ensure compliance with policy and governance standards.
• Coordinate with auditors and monitor audit findings.
• Support ERP-enabled financial processes and system optimisations.
• Build finance capability across teams and provide training.

Skills

Budgeting

Financial analysis

Project accounting

Management reporting

FCRA knowledge

Income tax

ERP implementation

Excel

Financial modelling

Tools

ERP software

Job description

6.5 million students. 291,000 teachers.90,000+ schools. That’s the scale of what Peepul is changing — and this rolesits at the centre of it. Peepul is an education non-profit working with stategovernments in Delhi and Madhya Pradesh to drive systemic reform at scale.We’ve received international recognition — including the Commonwealth EducationAward for Innovation — and are backed by India’s leading CSR funders and globalpartners. Our model is simple: embed, deliver, measure anchored in system-levelchange, in partnership with governments. We are a growing organisation with anambitious strategy and a strong evidence base. Join us in our mission to createa world where every child has equal access to high-quality education. Learnmore about our transformative work at http://peepulindia.org

About the Role

The Finance Advisor will provide financialoversight, analysis and advisory support to the organisation and programmeteams. The role will strengthen financial planning, budgeting, projectfinancial management, internal controls, compliance, donor reporting andfinancial decision-making.

The Finance Advisor will work closely withthe Finance Team and programme team to ensure that financial resources areplanned, utilised and reported effectively, efficiently and in accordance withorganisational policies, donor requirements and applicable laws.

Responsibilities would include (but notlimited to):

A. Financial Planning & Budgeting

• Coordinate the annual budgeting processwith programme and support functions.
• Review programme budgets, donor budgetsand organisational budgets for completeness, reasonableness and alignment withstrategic priorities.
• Develop budget assumptions and costingmethodologies.
• Monitor actual expenditure againstapproved budgets and provide variance analysis.
• Provide financial advisory support toprogramme teams throughout the grant/project lifecycle.
• Review donor budgets, financial terms,cost eligibility and reporting requirements.
• Monitor project-wise and donor-wiseexpenditure.
• Support preparation and review of donorfinancial reports and utilisation certificates.
• Ensure financial reporting is consistentwith donor agreements and organisational accounting policies.

C. Financial Analysis & Management Reporting

• Prepare and review monthly/quarterlyfinancial MIS for management.
• Analyse expenditure trends, budgetutilisation, programme cost structures and variances.
• Provide meaningful financial insights.
• Develop financial dashboards andmanagement reports.

D. Internal Controls & Governance

• Ensure financial policies, SOPs andcontrol mechanisms.
• Evaluate adequacy of controls relating toprocurement, payments, payroll, assets, advances, travel and programmeexpenditure.
• Identify control weaknesses and recommendcorrective actions.
• Support implementation of risk-basedfinancial controls.
• Ensure compliance with delegation ofauthority and approval mechanisms.
• Support governance reporting to theleadership team, Finance Committee and Board, as applicable.

E. Statutory, Regulatory & FCRA Compliance

• Oversee financial aspects of statutory andregulatory compliance.
• Review compliance relating to TDS, GST,PF/ESI, Income Tax and other applicable regulations.
• Provide oversight on FCRA accounting,utilisation, reporting and documentation.
• Ensure proper segregation and tracking ofrestricted, unrestricted and foreign contribution funds.

F. Audit & Assurance

• Coordinate with statutory, internal anddonor auditors.
• Review audit schedules, financialstatements and supporting documentation.
• Analyse audit observations and recommendcorrective measures.
• Monitor closure of audit findings.
• Strengthen audit readiness across theorganisation.

G. ERP & Finance Systems

• Provide functional inputs for ERPimplementation and optimisation.
• Review finance workflows, chart ofaccounts, project/cost-centre structures and reporting dimensions.
• Identify opportunities for automation andprocess improvement.
• Ensure appropriate financial controls areembedded within ERP workflows.
• Support development of finance MIS anddashboards.

H. Team Capacity Building and Advisory Support to Management

• Build finance capability among programme and support teams.
• Conduct training on budgeting, financialprocedures, documentation and compliance.
• Promote a culture of financialaccountability across the organisation.
• Provide financial inputs for operationaldecisions.
• Support management in assessing financialrisks associated with new initiatives.
• Timely and reliable management financialreports.
• Effective annual budgeting and periodicforecasting.
• Strong budget and grant monitoringsystems.
• Improved financial controls andcompliance.
• Timely and accurate donor financialreporting.
• Audit readiness and timely closure ofaudit observations.
• Effective ERP-enabled financial processes.
• Strong financial capability withinprogramme teams.

Qualifications and Role Requirements:

• Work Experience: We value both professional and personal experience. Candidateswith 7–12 years of relevant experience, preferably including experience in thedevelopment/NGO sector.
• Other Skills: Strong experience in budgeting, financial analysis, projectaccounting and management reporting. Good understanding of FCRA, Income Tax andother statutory compliance applicable to NGOs. Experience in donor-fundedprojects is highly desirable. Strong ERP experience, preferably withimplementation/process improvement exposure. Advanced Excel and financialmodelling skills.
• PreferredExperience: Prior exposure to NGO/development-sectorfinance, FCRA and donor compliance, multi-donor or project financialmanagement, ERP implementation, internal audit and risk-based controls,budgeting and financial modelling, Board/Finance Committee reporting, ormanaging/mentoring finance teams will be an added advantage.

Learnmore about our transformative work at http://peepulindia.org