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03 / Cash administration

Cash payments made in the field, evidenced to audit standard.

Zhikal administers beneficiary payments, vendor payments, per-diem and allowance disbursements across Afghanistan — the delivery and documentation side of cash and voucher assistance (CVA) programmes — with identity verification, secure handling and a reconciled audit trail for every payment made.

Cash Administration in Afghanistan.

Moving money into a field location is the point where most programmes carry the greatest risk. The controls therefore sit ahead of the payment, not after it: a payment schedule agreed with the client, an entitlement list checked against it, and identity verification at the point of handover.

Field teams handle cash under defined custody rules, capture a signed or thumb-printed acknowledgement from each recipient, and reconcile daily against the schedule. Discrepancies are treated as exceptions with a named owner rather than as balancing entries.

The output is a payment file a finance team or auditor can follow end to end: who was entitled, who was paid, what they received, who witnessed it and how the total reconciles.

Responsibilities are divided plainly. Your organisation decides who is entitled and to how much, approves the payment list and any change to it, and sets the identity checks its rules require. Zhikal runs the field process the contract assigns to it — scheduling, verification at the point of payment, the handover, acknowledgements and daily reconciliation — and logs and escalates exceptions under the rules you set. Zhikal is a logistics and field-services company, not a bank; how funds reach the payment point is agreed in the contract.

At events this usually means participant allowances, per diems and travel reimbursements paid at the rates your organisation approves, alongside event management under the same contract, so attendance and payments are reconciled against each other on the day. Any charge for handling the payments is quoted on its own line, separate from the payments themselves.

What this service covers

  • Payment scheduling

    Beneficiary and vendor payment runs planned against the entitlement list, location and access window.

  • Identity and entitlement verification

    Recipient identity checked against the approved list before any payment is released.

  • Secure cash handling

    Defined custody, movement and field controls for cash held and disbursed outside a bank branch.

  • Recipient acknowledgements

    Signed or thumb-printed receipts and supporting records captured at the moment of handover.

  • Exception management

    Absentees, disputes and duplicate claims logged, escalated and resolved rather than absorbed.

  • Daily reconciliation

    Cash position reconciled each day, with summary reporting and audit-trail preparation at closeout.

Controls around a disbursement.

  1. 01 Schedule

    Agree the payment list, amounts, locations, dates and the approval chain with the client.

  2. 02 Verify

    Check recipient identity and entitlement against the approved list before release.

  3. 03 Disburse

    Pay under defined custody and field controls, with segregation of duties at the payment point.

  4. 04 Acknowledge

    Capture recipient acknowledgements and supporting records as each payment is made.

  5. 05 Resolve exceptions

    Log and escalate absentees, disputes and duplicates, and record how each was closed.

  6. 06 Reconcile and report

    Reconcile daily, then hand over summary reporting and a prepared audit trail.

Who it is for.

  • Humanitarian programmes making cash and voucher assistance (CVA) transfers to beneficiaries.
  • Workshop and training projects paying participant per diems, travel allowances and stipends.
  • Organisations settling vendor payments in provinces where their own finance staff cannot travel.
  • Projects that need payroll support for field enumerators and short-term staff.

How this works by sector

Coverage across Afghanistan.

Disbursements are run wherever the programme needs them, using regional teams in the Central, Eastern, Northern, Southern and Western zones. Cash work has been delivered across Kandahar, Helmand, Uruzgan, Zabul and Nimroz.

See the full operating network

Track record.

  • OSDRA — cash disbursement and event management

    27 workshop days across five southern and south-western provinces, combining participant transport allowances, meals, equipment and full payment documentation.

  • Payment controls carried into procurement

    The same approval, acknowledgement and reconciliation discipline applies to vendor settlement under procurement and distribution contracts.

Assignments are summarised from contracts and completion records supplied by Zhikal. Client names show who the work was for and do not imply endorsement.

All projects and case studies

Common questions.

How are duplicate or fraudulent claims prevented?

Every recipient is checked against the client's approved entitlement list before payment, acknowledgements are captured individually, and the day's disbursements are reconciled against the schedule before the team leaves the location.

Can Zhikal pay participants at a workshop it is also running?

Yes, and it is a common combination. The OSDRA assignment covered venue, meals, transport allowances and the payment documentation under a single contract.

What records are handed over?

The payment schedule, identity and entitlement checks, individual acknowledgements, exception log, daily reconciliations and a summary report prepared for audit.

Who sets the amounts and decides who is paid?

Your organisation does: the entitlement rules, the rates and the approved list. Zhikal pays against them, records each payment, and changes nothing on the list without your written approval.

Is Zhikal a bank?

No. Zhikal is a logistics and field-services company. It runs the field side of a payment under the contract, which also sets how the funds reach the payment point.

Guides for planning this work.

Written from delivered assignments, for the person who has to plan, specify or audit the work.

  • Resource · Events and field support

    NGO event management RFQ and budget template for Afghanistan

    Event quotations only compare when the request fixes the units: meals in participant-days, rooms in room-nights, transport in trips, allowances at your approved rate. This template sets the scope, and its worksheet keeps the organiser's charges apart from payments to participants.

  • Guide · Events and field support

    Planning workshops and training events in Afghanistan

    An institutional workshop is a logistics and accountability exercise wearing an agenda. Most of what decides whether it succeeds — participant travel, attendance, allowances and the closeout file — is settled before anyone books a room.

Related services.

What to send for a quotation.

  1. 01

    Payments and recipients

    The kinds of payment (participant allowances, per diems, travel reimbursements, vendor payments, beneficiary transfers), how many recipients, and the approved rates or entitlement rules. Not names or identity numbers.

  2. 02

    Places and dates

    Where payments are made, on which dates or in which window, and whether they run alongside an event, a distribution or a survey.

  3. 03

    Approvals and records

    Who approves the list and any change, the identity checks your rules require, the acknowledgement format, and the reconciliation and reporting you need back.

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