For the last week I've been in Uganda observing the work of accountants working for GOAL, Irelands equivalent to Oxfam.

What surrises me here is the level of detail they go into here with people on the ground to ensure that all money and spending has been properly documented.

A couple of days ago I even watched internal auditor Jerry Cole question a local woman in the remote northern town of Kalongo over whether she had received all 25 goats the charity had provided, where they were and how they were. I was surprised at the tough line of question for her and for the local GOAL workers involved in the animal husbandy programme here.

Then there are the processes put in place by programme managers for things like contract tendering abd for aid prosoals for local partner organisations. All of them detailed, rigorous and capable of soaking up time.

The question I can't help asking is how you strike the balance between having the right processes to achive the things you want to achieve, on the one hand, and providing the aid in a timely manner on the other.

That's a tough one. You wouldn't want to think that aid could be slowed down by an over bureaucratic process.

Out here though the accountants and administrators appear very much aware of reaching the right balance. Their focus appears to be to focus on integrating processes with the provision of aid so that one serves the other.

Financial controller Janet Humphrey insists that she wouldn't have processes in place for no reason and that they should work in a timely manner. The watchwords for NGOs accountants in the new millennium, she says, are accountability, accountability, accountability.

With that in mind the tension between processes and delivery will always remain. It's part of the FC's job to ensure they don't get out of control.