Charity accountants and auditors

Our specialist charity accountants can help you meet all your charity accounting compliance needs and advise on many other aspects of running your charity.

Charities and not for profit organisations have to comply with the same accounting requirements as most other businesses in terms of filing accounts, requiring audits and paying VAT. 

Preparing charity accounts

If you work for a charity, either as a volunteer or as an employee, you probably don’t want to be unnecessarily burdened by the compliance of running a charity.

Our charity accounting team can prepare your accounts in accordance with the accounting framework for charities, known as charities SORP. We will ensure your deadlines are managed leaving you to concentrate on the day to day running of your organisation, and will keep you updated on any new legislation which may affect your charity. This allows you to concentrate on what matters and use your specialist skills to the benefit of your organisation.

Audit and independent examination of charity accounts

All charities with incoming or outgoing resources of more than £25,000 a year need a certain level of external scrutiny of their accounts. Whether you need an independent examination of your charity accounts or a full statutory audit, our specialist charity auditors can assist you.

We use a risk based and tailored audit approach, focusing on the key issues in your charity, which enables us to identify ways in which your financial reporting systems and controls can be improved. By working closely with you to gain an in depth understanding of your organisation, we will provide you with proactive advice and assistance as your charity develops and grows.

VAT

Whilst charities are usually exempt from direct taxes such as Corporation Tax, they do still suffer VAT on their expenditure, which is often irrecoverable. We can:

• Consider whether voluntary registration for VAT would be of benefit
• Ensure that you are taking advantage of all VAT reliefs available to you
• Provide specific VAT advice on fundraising

Outsourced charity bookkeeping

Outsourcing your financial and accounting management to our charity bookkeeping team will reduce your operating costs and allows you to take advantage of economies of scale – giving you access to high levels of external expertise, and ensuring best practice and adherence to the latest rules and regulations.With your accountancy and administrative functions taken care of, you have more time to concentrate on strategic issues and the activities of the charity.

Online charity accounting

We offer low cost online accounting software for charities, which reduces your costs and enables you to work more efficiently. As it’s in the cloud, there is no software to install or data file backups to worry about. Online accounting gives you access to your charity’s finances 24/7, enabling you to run reports as often as you wish and giving you instant access to the financial health of your charity. You can also track bills or expenses and check bank statements online.

Gift Aid claims

Our charity accountants can assist in:

• Preparing and submitting Gift Aid claims
• Reviewing your policies and procedures
• Checking information provided to donors
• Testing records to ensure that they are compliant
• Recommending improvements to your process as necessary

Strategic advice for your charity

Charities can be created in a number of ways but are usually either:

• Incorporated under the Companies Act 2006 or earlier (Limited Company Charities)
• Incorporated under the Charities Act 2011 (Charitable Incorporated Organisations – CIOs)
• Created by a declaration of trust (Unincorporated Charities)

Advising on the best way to structure your charitable activities and issues such as reserves policies are just two of the many elements of the strategic support we can provide.

Recruitment for your finance team

If you are struggling to find the right candidates or simply do not have the time, we can help identify and select candidates for your charity’s finance team.

Talk to us about your charity’s requirements.

Speak to one of our expert charity accountants