Finance management

The Chief Executive is appointed as the FSA's Accounting Officer, and is personally responsible to the parliaments and assemblies of the UK for the use of the money that they provide to the FSA. There must be a clear line of accountability through the organisation's management chain from anyone incurring expenditure back to Parliament and the devolved governments and assemblies of the UK.

Directors within the Agency receive a delegation letter from the Chief Executive and then they arrange for a cascade of delegated authority, in writing, to an appropriate level within their group.

Budget holders must not commit to individual projects in excess of the following limits:

Position	From 15 October 2008
Directors	£100,000
Heads of Divisions	£10,000
Heads of Branch	£5,000

From 15 October 2008, Budget managers must not commit to individual project, expenditure in excess of these financial limits. Budgets are delegated to individuals to enable them to deliver programmes of work contributing to the delivery of the FSA’s objectives. The budget holder is responsible for monitoring and controlling expenditure charged to their budget.

Anyone proposing to undertake a project must ensure that all stages of the project life cycle are appropriately applied to their project. Good project management helps to ensure that risks are identified and managed appropriately, and objectives and benefits are achieved within budget, within time, and to the required quality.

Budget holders are responsible for explaining variances from budget to the central finance team and/or auditors and informing the central finance team promptly if significant underspends or overspends are forecast.

Additionally, the invoice authorisation process is an important part of safeguarding against fraud, demonstrating sound systems of internal control, ensuring accurate accounts and financial information, and complying with government commitments to prompt payment.