An Analysis of Factors Influencing Financial Control Practices in Community Based Organizations in Baringo County, Kenya

Aims: The aim of this study was to analyze factors influencing financial control practices of Community Based Organizations (CBO) in Baringo County, Kenya.

Study Design: A survey research design was used targeting 134 management and staff members drawn from different CBOs from six sub counties in the area using stratified sampling.

Methodology: Data were collected using a structured questionnaire and analyzed using both descriptive and inferential statistics.

Research Hypotheses: Four hypotheses were tested and decisions made based on: if the p-value was less than or equal to 0.01, the null hypothesis was rejected; the claim was accept and vice versa. The hypotheses were the following ones:

H01: Technical skills of CBO officials have no significant influence on financial control practices of CBOs in Baringo County.

H02: Internal control systems and budgeting have no significant influence on financial control practices of CBOs in Baringo County.

H03: Bookkeeping has no significant influence on financial control practices of CBOs in Baringo County.

H04: Auditing has no significant influence on financial control practices of CBOs in Baringo County.

Results: The findings of the study show that Technical skills (β = 0.347, p < 0.01) and Auditing controls (β = 0.285, p < 0.01) were significant while Internal control systems and budgeting (β = 0.095, p = 0.224) and Bookkeeping (β = 0.024, p = 0.772) not significant factors influencing financial control practices of CBOs in the area.

Conclusions: The technical skills of the CBO officials in the area needed to be strengthened, especially with regard to spending priorities. It is recommended that standardized accounting and reporting should be provided by the government in order to make the financial activities of the CBOs tractable through sharing of information on a common and acceptable platform. More studies should, however, be done on the effects of regulations governing funding of CBOs on their performance and on the influence of ICT on the financial performance of CBOs.