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Beyond Profit Ltd

What type of accounts does your charity need to prepare? This really depends on what type of charity you are.

If you are incorporated, you will need to prepare accruals-based accounts, regardless of your income. Under this method, you must record every transaction regardless of whether it has been paid or not.

If you are an unincorporated charity or a charitable incorporated organisation (CIO), with an income below £250k, you can prepare your accounts on a ‘receipts and payments’ basis. This means that you only record transactions once the money has actually changed hands. However, when your gross income hits £250k or above, you must switch to accruals-based accounts.

If you want a simple view of what your legal requirements are with regards to preparing accounts, reporting and external scrutiny, based on your charity type, you can access our handy guide here.