The Cinnamon Network
Cinnamon Network UK began emerging in 2010 in response to growing social need, public sector reform, increasing recognition of the role of voluntary organisations and the economic cuts.
50 Christian CEOs and leaders were challenged to consider how the Christian community could deliver more local transformation at national scale and to do so at speed. They met together at The Cinnamon Club in London and The Cinnamon Network was born.
We started working with The Cinnamon Network in September 2016, initially to provide an independent examination on their latest set of accounts, and also then to provide a GAP analysis on their existing Xero setup. As a result of this report we were asked to set up a new financial system for them, dealing with some of the challenges that we identified.
These challenges included a structure which meant that their team are distributed across the UK with no central office, and staff who were continually travelling and so required online access via their mobile phones.
In addition, one of their team at that point was doing significant amounts of international travel requiring systems that could easily handle multi-currency expenses claims. As a medium sized charity, they also required a system that supported a multi-faceted approval workflow for expenses and purchase invoices based on not just teams, but also value of the expense item and any restricted funder requirements.
We implemented a new Xero set-up with additional expense management through the Expensify application, and additional purchase invoice workflows using ApprovalMax, and are currently moving their management account support onto Furtli.
Following the successful implementation of this process, in April 2017 we were asked to take over management account production and payroll provision, as well as prepare the ongoing annual accounts and support the audit process with Kingston Smith. The relationship continued to grow and in April 2018 we were asked to take over the book-keeping, and from September 2018 to provide a full outsourced finance function, including leading on financial strategy and planning for the organisation.
“Andy Nash has transformed the way that Cinnamon Network report and control its finances. At a critical growth point Andy was able to implement Xero, building on previous processes and also directing us towards improvements in invoice approvals, expenses management and even our banking provider. He combines managing detail with a clear strategic eye on what needs to be achieved!”
Mark Kitson,
Associate Director – The Cinnamon Network
“Other accountants may say they do charities but there is a big difference between saying they do them and knowing what a Charity needs.”
Amanda Bindon,
CEO – The Cinnamon Network
