What do charities need to submit to the Charity Commission this year?

Contents

• What do trustees need to submit to the Commission this year?
• What about the charity's accounts?
• When do trustees need to submit their documents?
• Where to go for more help
• Frequently asked questions

What do trustees need to submit to the Commission this year?

Over 70% of charities choose to submit their form online. We have received lots of feedback from customers who have filed online in the last year and we constantly review the service to make it easier and quicker to use. All charities will initially be invited to submit their annual documentation online. Alternatively, you can request a paper version of the form but we will not send out paper forms as a matter of course. Please allow up to 7 days for the delivery of your paper form.

The Annual Return itself is made up of three parts and the parts you have to complete will depend upon your charity’s income in the financial period you are reporting on.

For example,

• Charities with an income of £10,000 or less in the reporting period are asked to complete an Annual Update. This requests information forming part of the charity's entry on the Register, including trustee details and a section asking about your area of operation. Although not required to complete an Annual Return, small charities are asked to complete the Annual Update as a good way of meeting their legal obligation to update their Register details.
• Charities with an income between £10,001 and £25,000 in the reporting period are legally required to complete an Annual Return requesting essential information to update the charity’s details. Although trustees of these smaller charities do have a legal obligation to complete an Annual Return, we have tried to keep the administrative burden to a minimum.  The form  they have to complete constitutes the basic Part A-Charity Information of the Annual Return, similar in content to the Annual Update above.
• Charities with an income between £25,001 and £500,000 in the reporting period must complete an Annual Return consisting of essential information (Part A) and a statement of the trustees’ legal obligation to report serious incidents (RSI) to the Charity Commission. The nature of reportable incidents and information about how to report them is explained fully in the guidance notes accompanying the paper form and the help pages in the online form. In completing the declaration at the end of the Return, the trustee signatory will be certifying that any such incident occurring in the period has been reported to the Charity Commission.
• Charities with an income between £500,001 and £1,000,000 in the reporting period will be legally required to complete Part A- Charity Information of the Annual Return (as above) as well as Part B. Part B - Financial Information of the Annual Return comprises a series of questions about the charity’s finances. The information obtained from these questions may be used to identify trends in the resources available to, and expended by, the charitable sector.  The information should be readily available to charities preparing their accounts in line with the new Statement of Recommended Practice (SORP 2005) so that the questions should not be unduly onerous. In addition the form will contain a statement of the trustees’ legal obligation to report serious incidents (RSI) to the Charity Commission, referred to above. In completing the declaration at the end of the Return, the trustee signatory will be certifying that any such incident occurring in the period has been reported to the Charity Commission.
• Charities with an income exceeding £1,000,000 in the financial period must complete Part A - Charity Information, Part B - Financial Information, the RSI section as well as Part C - Summary Information Return (SIR).

A recent change in charity law will make life easier for those charities with a financial year ending on or after 01 April 2009. See the following tables to check what annual documentation your charity is required to submit.

Charities with financial year ending on or before 31 March 2009

Annual Return 2009 – Summary of Requirements

Income in the financial period reported upon	Annual Update/Part A (online/paper form)	Annual Return/Part A (online/paper form)	Reporting Serious Incidents - Declaration (online & paper form)	Financial Information/Part B (online/paper form)	Summary Information Return (online & paper form)	Trustees' Annual Report & Accounts
£10K or less
>£10K - £25K
>£25K - £500K
>£500K - £1M
>£1m

Charities with financial year ending on or after 01 April 2009

Annual Return 2009 – Summary of Requirements

Income in the financial period reported upon	Annual Update/Part A (online/paper form)	Annual Return/Part A (online/paper form)	Reporting Serious Incidents - Declaration (online & paper form)	Financial Information/Part B (online/paper form)	Summary Information Return (online & paper form)	Trustees' Annual Report & Accounts
£10K or less
>£10K - £25K
>£25K - £500K
>£500K - £1M
>£1m

What about the charity's accounts?

Charity law has changed recently so that the requirements are different depending upon the end date of your reporting period.

Charities with a financial period ending on or before 31st March 2009 with an income greater than £10,000 must submit their Trustees' Annual Report and accounts to the Commission. The accounts should also contain any necessary independent examiner's or auditor's report.

Charities with a financial period ending on or after 1st April 2009 with an income greater than £25,000 must send in their Trustees’ Annual Report and accounts to the Commission. The accounts should also contain any necessary independent examiner's or auditor's report

All charities – even those below the financial thresholds set out above - must prepare accounts and make these available to the Commission on request.

More detailed advice on accounting requirements can be found via our Charity Accounts Page.

Remember, you can send us a copy of your charity's accounts and Trustees' Annual Report using our secure online service.

When do trustees need to submit their documents?

Annual Returns, SIR’s, Trustees’ Annual Reports and accounts must be completed and submitted within 10 months of the end of the charity's financial year. Whilst this is the statutory deadline, we encourage charities to file their documents with us as early as possible after the end of the financial year.

Charities with an income of £10,000 or less are encouraged to complete their form and send it to us as early as possible.

The 10 month period after the end of the financial year always ends on the same date in the relevant month. This means that a charity with a financial year-end of 30th September has until midnight on 30th July in the following year to submit its Annual Return and accounts, not 31st July. If there is no corresponding date in the relevant month, the last day of the month will apply. For example, a charity with a financial year-end of 30th April has until midnight on 28/29th February in the following year to submit its documents.

Where to go for more help?

For help and advice on completing the Annual Return/Update form, RSI section or Summary Information Return, please call Charity Commission Direct on 0845 3000 218. Advisers are available to answer your queries between 8am and 8pm, Monday to Friday and 9am to 1pm on Saturdays (excluding national holidays). We also have a Textphone service on 0845 3000 219 for hearing or speech impaired callers.

Frequently Asked Questions

The answers to some other frequently asked questions can be found on our website.