Restricted fund tracker
A small system for a charity holding several restricted grants at once: the terms read once and kept as dated rules, every cost charged with the rule that allowed it, shared costs split on a basis somebody can show, and funder reports that trace back to the invoice. Seven posts on the same system, one diagram at a time, with a cost breakdown and an engineering reference at the end.
- 01
A restricted fund tracker on AWS for a few dollars a month
The whole system on one page — grant rules, coding, shared costs and funder reports — and why a deficit nobody decided on is the failure that matters.
- 02
What the grant agreement actually allows
Reading grant agreements and variation letters into approved, dated rules, with every term tied to the clause it came from and nothing live until a person signs it off.
- 03
Charging a cost to the right fund
Coding every invoice and payroll line to a fund: the model proposes, the rules test, and each posting records its fund, category, rule version and evidence.
- 04
Sharing costs on a basis you can show
Allocating shared costs across funds on a stored basis — hours, floor area, headcount — applying each grant’s overhead cap afterwards, and leaving the remainder on unrestricted funds as a recorded choice.
- 05
Closing a period without a deficit nobody decided on
Closing a grant period: freezing postings, testing every fund for a deficit and an underspend, recording transfers as decisions, and building the funder report and its trace.
- 06
What the restricted fund tracker costs
About $4 a month. One Bedrock read per invoice is the only line that grows; the queue, the table, the mail and the storage are rounding errors. Plus the three ways the bill could surprise you.
- 07
Engineering reference: the restricted fund tracker architecture
Same system, drawn purely for engineers. Service names, region, Lambda inventory, IAM scopes, the schemas and the exact model id.
Frequently asked questions
- What makes a fund restricted?
- Money given for a narrower purpose than the charity’s own objects, because the donor or funder said so or because it was raised by an appeal for that purpose. It may only be spent on that purpose, and the SORP warns that failing to manage restricted funds properly can put trustees in breach of trust.
- Is a restricted fund going below zero always wrong?
- Not always. The SORP allows costs to be charged to a fund in deficit where there is a realistic expectation of income to cover the shortfall, such as a decided transfer from unrestricted funds. What is wrong is a deficit nobody decided on, which is the only kind a spreadsheet produces.
- Can we charge overheads to a restricted grant?
- Usually a reasonable share, if the agreement allows it and up to whatever cap it sets. The share has to rest on a basis you can show — hours, floor area, headcount — rather than on a percentage that happened to fit the budget.
- Does this replace our accounting software?
- No. The ledger stays the ledger. This sits beside it, holding the grant rules, the reason each cost landed on each fund and the working behind every allocation, and it hands the finance lead journals to post.
- What does it cost to run?
- A few dollars a month. See part six.