{"id":14,"date":"2008-12-10T20:44:45","date_gmt":"2008-12-10T20:44:45","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.clearbooks.co.uk\/blog\/?p=14"},"modified":"2018-11-07T10:23:46","modified_gmt":"2018-11-07T10:23:46","slug":"free-accounting-software-for-charities","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.clearbooks.co.uk\/blog\/free-accounting-software-for-charities\/","title":{"rendered":"Accounting software and free trial for charities"},"content":{"rendered":"

* UPDATED 28th JANUARY 2016 *<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

There are over 200,000 charities in the UK and all these charities are required to maintain accounting records, even the 84,000 that have an annual income of under \u00a310,000. The larger charities must submit their accounts on an annual basis to the Charity Commission<\/a>.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Background<\/strong><\/h2>\n

\"HEROES-RUN\"<\/a><\/p>\n

In 2008 I ran the Heroes Run, a 10km sponsored run in which all the participants dress up as superheroes for charity. I was Bananaman, my sister Zoro and my partner Catwoman and my time is not relevant! The event is organised by the charity passingiton, a charity with a worthy mission building schools in Africa.<\/p>\n

Passingiton needed help filing its annual charity accounts which were overdue. As a chartered accountant with an online accounts system in development, I stepped in.<\/p>\n

What documents should your charity consider?<\/b><\/h3>\n

There are three documents that a charity with income above the reporting threshold must send to the Charity Commission each year:<\/p>\n

*<\/span>Please note<\/strong> – If your charity’s income is less than \u00a325,000, you don\u2019t need to send accounts to the Charity Commission, and if you\u2019re a limited company you must always send your accounts to Companies House and sometimes to HMRC*<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0 \u00a01. Accounts & Trustee\u2019s Annual Report<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00a0 \u00a02. Independent Examiner\u2019s Report<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00a0 \u00a03. Charity Accounts<\/strong><\/p>\n

Let’s go through them in more detail:<\/p>\n

1. Accounts & Trustees\u2019 Annual Report<\/h3>\n

The Trustees\u2019 Annual Report is a document that describes the main goals and achievements of the charity during the financial year. It is a document completed and signed off by the trustees. This may seem somewhat overwhelming to a new charity, fortunately Clear Books takes the hassle out of preparing your charity\u2019s accounts.<\/p>\n

*<\/span>Please note<\/strong> – This is a main requirement for charities with an income of under \u00a325,000.*<\/span><\/p>\n

2. Independent Examiner’s Report <\/strong><\/h3>\n

An independent examiner is responsible for reviewing charity accounts to ensure that the charity has been run properly over the financial year. As a chartered accountant I am eligible and was asked to be an independent examiner for passingiton. The charity is based in Brighton and I live in London, but as the accounts are online, I was able to log on to the Clear Books website at home and view all the data that had been previously uploaded. Some corrections later and having confirmed balances to physical bank statements and invoices, I was able to sign off the Independent Examiner\u2019s Report. Clear Books is a web based accounting system which makes it flexible and available to different stakeholders of the charity.<\/p>\n

*<\/span>Please note<\/strong> – If your charity\u2019s income is between \u00a325,000 and \u00a3500,000 you have to send an Independent Examiner\u2019s report attached, and if it\u2019s over \u00a3500,000 you must have an Auditor\u2019s report attached.*<\/span><\/p>\n

3.\u00a0Charity Accounts<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Like most small charities busy raising sponsorship and collecting donations, passingiton was not focused on the finances. However, after an afternoon spent loading historic bank statement transactions into the online accounts system, two year\u2019s worth of accounts were soon up to date and perfectly organised within Clear Books. The charity accounts were then sourced from the Clear Books financial reporting and signed off by the trustees. Clear Books is a discounted and simple software package that records and maintains charity accounts.<\/p>\n

How charities can benefit from Clear Books accounting software<\/h2>\n

The experience with passingiton showcased how Clear Books can help other charities who are not concerned with finances but rather focused on their charitable work. These are organisations that are not going to spend vast sums of money on accounting software. Small charities will benefit from:<\/p>\n