Preparing Your Charity’s Annual Accounts

28 October 2021

Our Finance Manager, Debbie, works hard to prepare Berkshire Youth’s annual accounts. Here she takes you through what you need to know.

Do you know what type of accounts you need to be preparing?

• Follow this simple guide from The Charity Commission website

Do you know when your accounts are to be submitted by?

• You must submit your annual return within ten months of the end of your financial year

For example, if your financial year end was 31 March 2021, your deadline is 31 January 2022.

What do charitable companies and unincorporated organisations need to submit?

• Income under £10,000 – you only need to report your income and spending
• Income between £10,000 and £25,000 – you must answer questions about your charity in an annual return
• Income over £25,000 – you must answer questions about your charity in an annual return.

You will need to get your accounts checked and provide copies of your:

• trustee annual report
• accounts
• independent examiner’s report

You also need a full audit if you have:

• income over £1 million
• gross assets over £3.26 million and income over £250,000

Charity annual return questions can be found here.