You can change the definitions if it is a project with a set budget but the principles are the same.

The other important model is the “Balance Sheet”. This is a way a business can calculate its total “worth” – basically what it owns in the form of assets (money in the bank, machinery, buildings, debtors) and what it owes – it’s liabilities (such as tax to pay, VAT, money owed to suppliers, creditors).

At the end of the day, financial controls are about the flow of money in and out of a business, organisation, project or group (e.g. family).

Accounts are a snapshot of an organisation’s position on a set day (the year end accounts).