Annual reporting and auditing

Creating an annual report is best practice for any organisation or group and a regulatory requirement for charities.

Annual reporting for charities:

England & Wales:

• Charity Commission – Charity reporting & accounting: the essentials
• Charity Commission – Guidance on how to prepare a charity trustees annual report
• Charity Commission – Trustees annual report template

For Scotland:

• Scottish Charity Regulator – Trustees annual reports guidance and good practice

For Northern Ireland:

• Charity Commission of Northern Ireland – Annual reporting

Independent auditing of your accounts

It’s useful for a group to have its accounts looked at by someone who is not part of the group. It gives the whole group, and external organisations (funders, donors, etc), assurance that the group’s money is being well managed.

The examiner’s report provides a useful summary for the treasurer to present to the group at the Annual General Meeting (AGM). The Resource Centre provides useful advice on the Examination of accounts.

For England & Wales:

• Charity Commission – Independent examination of charity accounts: guidance for trustees

For Scotland:

• Scottish Charity Regulator – Charity accounting

For Northern Ireland:

• Charity Commission of Northern Ireland – Annual reporting