Some charities are ‘excepted’ from charity registration. This just means they don’t have to register or submit annual returns. Apart from that, the Charity Commission regulates them just like registered charities and can use any of its powers if it needs to.
This exception was due to expire on 31st March 2021. However the Charity Commission and the DCMS have extended it to 2031, by which time all of these should have registered.
A charity is excepted if its income is £100,000 or less and it is in one of the following groups:
They are different from exempt charities, which are exempt from registration and regulation by the commission.
More details about these are on the Charity Commission website Excepted charities - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)
This extension to 2031 is intended to give excepted charities time to prepare for registration and to allow the Charity Commission as much time as possible to register all excepted organisations in a coordinated way. We understand that the Charity Commission and DCMS will publish details of the proposed phased registration arrangements in the first half of 2021.
We've received reports of a number of frauds that were facilitated in part by lax procedures during the pandemic.
Please remind your clients that dual signatory electronic banking is an important safeguard in interrupting scammers.
That scammers may well take advantage of the disruption to processes and the extensive advice emails, that are likely to occur in January.
The Charity Commission has updated its advice on Managing Finances including:
It is also important that charities not be allowed to 'drift' in their (often generous) response to the pandemic. The Charity Commission has updated it's advice on Purpose and Rules.
In addition to our regular IE workshops, which can be found on the events page, we have a series of on-line webinars across the year.
Format: short talk + Q&A, one hour.
16 Feb-2021 Zakat, Islamic Charities and Accounting Transparency
21-Feb-2021 Receipts and Payment
18-Mar-2121 Taking on a New Client
19-April 2021 Serious Incident Reporting
10-May-2021 How to Read a Set of Accounts for IE
29-June-2021 Fraud and Independent Examination
Charity Finance delivered a report in September assessing how well charities did in lockdown. The key take aways;
Charity Finance’s October included a report on transparent reporting. This remains poor, with particular concerns around:
Manchester Community Central (Macc) is Manchester's equivalent to BVSC. They have recently published a fascinating report, entitled No Going Back, in which Chief Executives from 22 VCS organisations reflect on their experiences of C-19. Read the Report.
ACIE Training in 2020-2021
Go to: https://www.acie.org.uk/events for all bookings.
Building your Independent Examination skills.
This course uses a case study, practical exercises and brings in your experience covering key areas of concern in Independent Examination:
· Materiality and risk
· Adequacy of records
· Vouching & analytical review
· Qualification of reports
We will look at the above areas of concern alongside the ACIE workbook so you understand how this resource can support your IE practice. We are aiming to build confidence in your practice.
Friday, 13 November 20
Thursday, 21 January 21
Wednesday, 17 March 21
Thursday, 15 July 21
Wednesday, 9 December 20
Tuesday, 15 December 20
Tuesday, 9 February 21
Friday, 12 February 21
Tuesday, 13 April 21
Thursday, 22 April 21
Friday, 21 May 21
Tuesday, 15 June 21
Wednesday, 23 June 21
Tuesday, 20 July 21
Workshops:
Trading, Taxation and VAT Tuesday, 6 October 20
Governance and Charity Law Tuesday, Tuesday, 3 November 20
Webinars:
Fraud and Independent Examination Tuesday, 29 June 21How to Read a Set of Accounts for Independent Examination Monday, 10 May 21
Receipts and Payments Sunday, 21 February 21
Reserves and Covid Wednesday, 28 October 20
Serious Incident Reporting Monday, 19 April 21
Taking on a New Client. Thursday, 18 March 21
Thinking of Becoming an Independent Examiner? Monday, 14 December 20
VAT changes Thursday, 26 November 20
Training Conferences:
Scotland, 26 August 2021
England and Wales, 28 October 2021
Booking at: https://www.acie.org.uk/events
Please direct all enquiries to Admin@acie.org.uk
Russell Hargreaves at Charity Finance reports that low levels of reserves meant some of the UK’s largest charities were “ill-prepared” for the impact of Covid-19, according to analysis by the accountancy firm BDO. The charities in the review held an average of two months of free reserves going into the pandemic, compared to three months when BDO last conducted the survey in 2017, the research says. The analysis, which looked at the finances of the 50 largest UK charities by income, also finds that as many as one in three could be breaking regulatory rules by not reporting their level of free reserves in their annual accounts. - See more.
Struggling charities are being bolstered by an outpouring of public support with one in five people giving to good causes in the last three months.
Read More:
04 August 2020 by Stephen Delahunty
Just 4 per cent of small international development charities have been eligible for government support, network says
Dozens of UK charities working in international development are expected to close over the next 12 months as a result of the Government’s £2.9 billion global development budget cut, an aid network has warned.
A survey of 53 small international development charities with annual incomes of between £5,000 and £1m, carried out by the Small International Development Charities Network (SIDCN) in June this year, found that despite nearly three quarters (72 per cent) of respondents seeing demand for their services increase, funding opportunities were rapidly disappearing.
Read More
Don Bawtree and Peter Lewis give some advice on adapting financial reporting to deal with the issues caused by the Covid-19 pandemic. - See more.
Advice on income Accounting:
Expenditure: Furloughed staff costs
Liabilities
Assets
The Association of Charity Independent Examiners
About Us:
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Telephone: 0131 659 9751 or 07899 891616 Email: admin@acie.org.uk Address: 19 Windsor Place Edinburgh EH15 2AJ