At the end of each year you will usually need to produce a summary of your finances and a report on the difference your organisation has made.

Charities

If you are a charity then there are detailed rules about how to prepare your end of year accounts. If you are a charitable company or another type of charity (including a CIO) with an annual income of more than £250,000 then you need to prepare what are called accrual accounts and a Trustees Annual Report, and have to follow the Charity SORP. These will be made up of:

1. Statement of Financial Activities and Balance Sheet compared with the previous year end, and broken down into
   
   • Unrestricted Funds.
   • Restricted Funds
   • Endowment Funds
2. A comprehensive set of Notes to the Accounts
3. Your Accounting Policies
4. The report of your Independent Examiner/Auditor (if required)
5. The Trustees Annual Report, covering
   
   • Reference and administrative information
   • Structure, governance and management
   • Objectives and Activities
   • Achievements and Performance
   • Public Benefit i.e. the difference made
   • Financial Review
   • Reserves Policy 

If you are not a charitable company and your income is less than £250,000 you can use the simpler receipts and payments system and Trustees Annual Report, made up of:

1. Receipts and Payments and Statement of Assets and Liabilities for the year compared with the previous year, and broken down into
   
   • Unrestricted Funds
   • Restricted Funds
   • Endowment Fund
2. The report of your Independent Examiner (if required)
3. The Trustees Annual Report

The Charity Commission have templates for both types of accounts and a useful checklist to help you decide which one you have to do. We have a simplified receipts and payments template and Trustees Annual Report. The Commission have example trustees’ annual reports and accounts for charities

CICs

CICs are companies so have to produce accrual accounts like all companies. However unlike charitable companies they do not have any special rules to follow. However they have to produce a simple annual report using the CIC form. There is no special way of reporting so use language as if you were describing the community benefit to someone in the street. 

Other voluntary and community groups

There is no legal requirement for you to produce accounts or reports but you may want to adapt the template for charities using the simpler receipts and payments templates above (you won’t have to show your finances broken down into restricted, unrestricted and endowment).

Last updated: 26th April, 2022