The Ghana National Chamber of Commerce and Industry (GNCCI) has held a training on good record-keeping and financial management for its members in the Upper West Region.
The training was to equip the members with basic knowledge in financial management and bookkeeping, to enable them to access financial support to expand their businesses.
Addressing the members, the Chief Executive of the chamber, Mark Badu-Aboagye, said one of the challenges of the members in accessing financial support from financial institutions was the lack of source documents.
He said the training was to ensure that the members succeeded in their enterprises and helped in the development of the country, and that keeping records of activities would also help the members to track the progress of their businesses and finances.
GNCCI-WAY
Inaugurating the GNCCI -Women and Youth (WAY wings), the Vice-President of the chamber, Dr Emelia Assiakwa, said the success of any nation depended on its women and youth, and the inauguration of GNCCI-WAY was not just symbolic, but a declaration that inclusive economic development was not optimal but essential.
She said GNCCI-WAY “presents a shift for women and youth from the sidelines to the centre of Ghana's private sector and economic development.”
Dr Assiakwa urged the members of GNCCI-WAY to cooperate with their regional coordinators and executives in their activities.
She said the chamber would guide and support them to develop their full potential and contribute their quota to the national development agenda.
A resource person who took the members through financial management and bookkeeping, Dr Stephen Oteng, said there were four basic sources of documentation that financial institutions usually require of businesses.
These, he said, were invoices, receipts, payment vouchers, and bank statements.
He said that while the invoices helped businesses to keep track of enquiries, the receipts indicated the actual volume of sales.
The payment vouchers, on the other hand, he explained, showed the expenditure within a period, and the bank statement showed all financial transactions.
He said that in accessing a facility from a financial institution, these basic documents could help the firm to arrive at a conclusion.
He, therefore, urged the members to start keeping these basic documents for their own good.
