Thursday 27 November 2014

New guide – ‘Grants and Contracts’

It is important to be clear about the nature of your income - in particular whether it is a grant or a contract - given differing impacts on reserves and potential liabilities of the different forms of income. We’ve released a short informal guide on ‘Grants and Contracts’ which uses a couple of scenarios to highlight and explain the key differences and implications. The guide is available under the <Accounting basics tab> and is based on an article that initially appeared in our Balanced Sheet newsletter – a back catalogue of the newsletter is still available from our website.

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Don’t forget to file!

Many organisations have a March accounting year end date. Please note that companies, charitable or otherwise, ordinarily must file their accounts with Companies House within 9 months of the accounting year end. So for a 31 March 2014 year end, the final date for filing is the end of December 2014 which is now fast approaching. It is important to note that there are fines for failing to meet Companies House deadlines!  You can find further information on filing (including filing with HMRC) in edition 34 of our Balanced Sheet newsletter from Summer 2012.

If you are a charity you should also file your accounts with the Charity Commission in good time – the deadline for this is 10 months after the year end. Although there are currently no penalties for failing to do this, the Commission is beginning to take a tougher approach with those that don’t file in time – not only will this be publically highlighted on a charity’s entry on the searchable register but increasingly, filing performance is being used as a basis for further scrutiny by the Commission.

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2014 Evaluation survey

Earlier this month, we sent out our annual evaluation survey to all the organisations we have supported in the last year. It is a short 5 minute e-questionnaire (paper copies are available if required). Please help us by telling us what you think about the services we have given you. Your feedback is essential so we can make sure that our services continue to improve and meet your needs.  The volume of responses is also helpful in convincing existing funders of the on-going need for our services. The survey closes on 9 December and we will publish the results early next year. If you have any queries please get in touch. Thank you!

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E-learning - financial controls

The Charity Commission has recently changed the information it asks for in the Annual Return that charities must submit. There is an increased focus on stewardship of resources and charities will now be explicitly asked if they have reviewed their financial controls during the reporting period. If you are unsure what this means or want to develop your knowledge about financial controls and how to implement them, we will be re-running our E-learning course on this topic early in the new year.  It takes around half a day to complete and covers the key areas, to enable you to confidently answer YES when asked on the Annual Return.  Further information about the course, including cost and is available on our website.

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Pensions - Auto enrolment

Last month we included an item on Pensions Auto enrolment and the resulting requirements on all UK employers – including small charities for implementation. In addition to our own existing short briefing note another easy to read resource which might be helpful in terms of the basic rules and regulations is the Now: Pensions short introduction to Auto Enrolment which is available from here.

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Twitter

We’re trying to get better with #socmed! - If we work with your organisation and you use twitter, please let us know so we can make sure we follow you and show our support for your work!

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E-Bulletin

Our e-bulletin is issued on a monthly basis and sent directly to registered subscribers. It is also available from our website. Please note that information and resources contained in the e-bulletin are general in nature and not intended as specific advice or recommendations. We welcome any feedback on the content and format so that we can improve it and make sure it meets your needs. Please let us know  if you have any comments or suggestions.

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