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Charity and not-for-profit organisations

Developments in legislation, new guidance from the Charity Commission and changes to the rules on taxation mean charities regularly have to review their financial management and reporting practices. Not for profit specialists at WMT provide professional, relevant, and up-to-date advice on the accounting, audit, tax and governance aspects of effectively managing and reporting on your organisation.

Our service is effective, because we take the time to listen to your specific needs which enables us to provide focused financial advice along with charity accounting guidance, audit, tax, and other services.

You will find our approach is objective yet personal, offering you independent expert insight and year-round support, often acting as an informal sounding board when you need a fresh perspective.

Specialist charities advice from WMT

Audit and independent examination

We are experienced in undertaking audit and independent examinations for charities and not for profit organisations, ensuring they comply with rules and regulations, including those set out by the Charities Commission. Our approach assesses areas of financial risk as part of the process and includes recommendations for the trustees and management to assist with managing these risks.

Accounts

We assist in preparation and submission of charity and not-for-profit accounts, adapting them to meet the ever-changing legislation and guidance.

Tax

You will benefit from our advice on:

  • minimising taxation and claiming available reliefs;
  • non-charitable trading within the charity;
  • Giftaid and the Giftaid small donations scheme – to enable you to make the most of this relief whilst complying with its strict regulations;
  • VAT to ensure you secure available VAT reliefs, maximise VAT recovery, and remain compliant with VAT rules as they change or are affected by case law.
Corporate governance

We advise on governance procedures, risk management strategies, reserves policies, and improving internal controls.

Charity SORP and FRS 102

We keep you informed on the latest revisions to the UK financial reporting standards and how they affect your accounting and reporting practices.

Get in touch with our charity and not-for-profit team to find out more about how we can help you.

Audit services
Audit services

WMT’s external audit services go beyond ensuring that your business is compliant with the Companies Act and other regulatory requirements. It offers you a greater insight into the way your business functions and where improvements…

Tax advisory
Tax advisory

Effective tax planning from our specialist tax accountants helps individuals, businesses and other organisations to ensure that tax does not become a barrier to their ambitions. As our clients often benefit from both personal and…

Payroll & employment
Payroll & employment

Dealing with the ever-increasing range and complexity of employment taxation, alongside constant changes to legislation makes it challenging for employers to stay on the right side of the rules. WMT will answer your day-to-day queries…

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    Hertfordshire office

    4 Beaconsfield Rd
    St Albans
    Hertfordshire
    AL1 3RD

    Hertfordshire office

    +44 (0)1727 838 255

    info@wmtllp.com

    FAQs

    • What is Social Investment Tax Relief?

      Social Investment Tax Relief (SITR) is a government relief for social investment with the aim of encouraging individuals to support charities and social enterprises, to help them to access new sources of repayable finance.

      Individuals who make an eligible investment can deduct 30% of the cost of the investment from their income tax liability for either;

      • the tax year in which the investment is made; or
      • the previous tax year.

      The investment must be held for a minimum period of three years for the relief to be retained.

      Do you still have questions? Get in touch with our tax team to find out more about how they can help you.

    • What sort of accounts do charities need to prepare?

      All charities, whether registered with the charity commission or not, must prepare a trustees’ annual report and accounts which must be available to the public on request.

      While some basic requirements apply to all charities, exactly what needs to be included in the accounts will depend on factors such as income, gross assets and charity constitution.

      Charities may prepare their accounts on either a receipts and payments basis, or an accruals basis. The method they use will depend on the income of the charity and whether or not it has been set up as a company.

      The simpler receipt and payments method can be adopted by non-company charities with a gross income of £250,000 or less. It consists of an account summarising all money received and paid out by the charity in the financial year, and a statement of its assets and liabilities at the end of the year.

      All charitable companies and non-company charities with gross income of over £250,000 in the accounting period must prepare their accounts on an accruals basis.  The accounts must contain a balance sheet, a statement of financial activities and explanatory notes and must comply with the SORP.

      For more information on preparing charity accounts get in touch with our charities team.

    • How can I make sure my charity accounts for Gift Aid properly?

      Claiming the right amount of relief under Gift Aid and the Gift Aid Small Donations Scheme (GADS) depends on a clear policy and good record keeping. Make sure that you:

      • Keep gift aid declarations for 6 years after the most recent donation on which you claimed gift aid.
      • Keep an audit trail to link each gift aid claim to a specific individual donor and their gift aid declaration.
      • Keep a record of which donations you are claiming for under GADS and those you are claiming for under Gift Aid to avoid making duplicate claims. Having a clear policy on what you will claim for under each scheme will help you to manage this.
      • Check your GADS claim is the lower of:
        • £8,000; or
        • 10 times the amount of donations on which Gift Aid has been claimed

      Errors on Gift Aid claims will be extrapolated by HMRC and used to calculate any repayment due to them. This calculation may be applied to up to 6 years of claims, so getting it wrong could be costly. Ask your accountant to check your Gift Aid process is robust.

      Do you still have questions? Get in touch with our charities team to find out more about how they can help you.

    • Does my charity require and audit or independent examination?

      To decide if your charity needs some form of external scrutiny, you will need to refer to:

      • Statutory framework and audit thresholds for charities
      • The charity’s governing document

      You must follow whichever of these sources of guidance stipulates the highest standard of scrutiny.

      Statutory framework

      Charities with a gross income of £1m or less can decide to have an independent examination instead of an audit as long as:

      • their gross assets do not exceed £3.26 million and
      • their gross income does not exceed £250,000.

      Charities with gross income of £25,000 or less are not generally required to have any form of external scrutiny.

      The governing document

      Trustees will need to interpret the precise wording of the charities governing document to clarify what sort of external scrutiny is required. The Charity Commission recommends that trustees keep a record of how they interpret the charity’s governing document, and, if in doubt, consult the Commission for advice.

      Your charity’s governing document may stipulate who should carry out the review. This is a minimum requirement that the trustees have to meet, and it could mean that your charity has to have a more stringent review that it is obliged to have under the statutory guidance.

      Do you still have questions? Get in touch with our charities team to find out more about how they can help you.

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