Yoanna Bogdanova for Procedural Auditor of ESN AIBL

Dear all,  

we are happy to announce the candidacy of Yoanna Bogdanova for Procedural Auditor of ESN AISBL  with a mandate 2022/2023. To see her motivation and CV click HERE.

Deadlines:
All active members of ESN Bulgaria can ask the candidates questions.
Keep your posts as image-free and document-free as possible.
The deadline for asking your questions is 23.06.2022, 23:59 h.
The deadline for the candidates to answer is 25.06.2022, 23:59 h.

Dear Ani,

Congratulations for your application!  Here are my questions for you:
1. What do you think are the biggest challenges for the Procedural Auditor of ESN int.?
2. The Audit Commission is responsible for carrying out an internal audit of the financial documents of ESN Int. once per year. Do you have any experience in finance that would help you contribute to the team's work?
3. If you were to issue an recommendation to ESN int. right now, what would you address?

Thanks in advance for your answers!

Best regards,
Neli

Dear Neli,

Thank you!
Here is my reply to your questions:

1. What do you think are the biggest challenges for the Procedural Auditor of ESN int.?
Based on this year's experience as part of an audit body, I would say the biggest challenge for any auditor is the communication with the bodies and individuals that are being audited. Because the auditor has to check everything, to ask question, they should have critical thinking and ask for explanations and data. And sometimes, if you are the one being asked, you may take this as a sign of a lack of trust and additional stress (especially in an NGO environment). However, at the end of the day this is the job of an audit body. This is very challenging and requires strong diplomatic skills to remain objective and to bring transparency, while also being understanding.  
Another challenge I see for the Procedural Auditor in particular is that we have many documents and procedures and the person on the position, on the one hand, should know them well (or least to know where to find an answer) and on the other hand, to be available in order to react quickly.

2. The Audit Commission is responsible for carrying out an internal audit of the financial documents of ESN Int. once per year. Do you have any experience in finance that would help you contribute to the team's work?
Yes, I am confident that I will contribute to the team on that matter. I have broad experience in the Finance field. Including Bachelor's degree in Finance and professional experience as an Accountant and a Financial Analyst (4 years in total) in international companies. Through my work I have build strong knowledge of revenue and cost recognition principles, financial data reporting, variance analysis, International Financial Reporting Standards, accounting softwares, Excel, etc.
When it comes to finance in ESN, as this year the Financial Auditor position in our national Audit Commission was vacant, I took over the responsibility for the financial audit in ESN Bulgaria. I am happy that I managed to get it covered (at least to some extend) and to notice and resolve a few issues related to reporting and duplicate transactions.

3. If you were to issue an recommendation to ESN int. right now, what would you address?
I will address the integration and engagement of the Network on all levels. In some ways we can see high interest (e.g. recently many candidacies for the supporting structures). However, years ago we had proposals at AGM coming directly from the sections and now it just feels as the sections and the volunteers on the local level are not that aware of what is happening on the international level and therefore, not engaged enough. Less proposals are coming outside of the International Board, we haven't seen neither Section Consultation, nor Sections' Initiative in practice, and the communication with the volunteers on important topics is rare as there is no dedicated communication channel for all international news. Hopefully with the new position in the Board the knowledge, the volunteers' development and engagement will be tackled.


Best wishes,
Ani