Insight Articles
Our straight-talking articles and guides are designed to cut through charity professional industry jargon and answer your pertinent questions.
The Impact of FRS 102 Amendments on Charities SORP Compliance
The FRC has issued substantial amendments to FRS 102, that aim to ‘enhance the quality of UK financial reporti...
Financial Statements 101: What You Need to Know
Financial statements can seem overwhelming at first glance, especially when you’re running a charity or social...
‘Impact’ should be the be the beating heart of charity finance…not just a reporting requirement
When a word or phrase grows in popularity and is used with increased frequency, it becomes easy to assume that...
Tax for charity fundraisers made simple
Fundraising is the lifeblood of many charities. We encourage you to share this simple guide with your teams an...
The Unsung Heroes: Accountants Empowering Charities
In the world of social enterprises, charities, and not-for-profit organisations, the role of an accountant of...
What type of accounts does your charity need to prepare?
Beyond Profit Ltd What type of accounts does your charity need to prepare? This really depends on what type of...
How to raise funds for nonprofits and charities
At Moore Kingston Smith Nonprofit Advisory, we often work with nonprofits and charities that are facing changi...
Newsletter March 2024
This month our team have been talking about the tax implications of hybrid working as well as taking a deep di...
How can data help charities to support their beneficiaries?
Data is everywhere, in everything we do. But many of us don’t capture this data, let alone analyse it. By doin...
On our radar for 2024
As is traditional at the start of a new year, we’ve given some thought to what lies ahead and the likely impac...
What questions should boards ask when considering risk?
Effective risk management has never been so important. Risk processes have always been a vital part of any org...
GETTING THE MOST OUT OF YOUR ANNUAL REPORT FOR UK CHARITIES & NOT-FOR-PROFITS
Okay, so we all have to do an Annual Report. But, let's be real, it's not just about ticking off a checklist. ...
All You Need to Know About Charities and Taxes in the UK
The UK has acknowledged that the symbiotic relationship between charities and the tax system is a means o...
Trustee training
As a trustee, ensuring good governance is essential to the ongoing success of your charity. Our free trustee t...
Accounts for non-accountants
Being responsible for signing off your charity’s accounts can be daunting, especially if you’ve little experie...
How Can Charities Implement A Better Finance Function?
Are you fed up with jumbled-up bookkeeping for your finance? Chasing outstanding and missing pieces of paperwo...
How to Align Your Personal and Organisation Goals
Knowing how to set organisation goals and align them with personal goals can increase productivity, impact, a...
Why safeguarding could ensure your charity's future
Safeguarding was a relatively unknown topic a few years ago, barely mentioned outside of children’s and elderl...
7 Tips to Make Managing Expenses Easier
Managing your expenses is tremendously important for ensuring that your small business stays profitable and f...
Charity Matters January 2023
Welcome to Charity Matters RSM'S UPDATE FOR THE CHARITY SECTOR Some boards (both corporate and charity) are p...
THE CHARITY FRAUD REPORT 2022: IS THE RISK OF FRAUD INCREASING IN THE CHARITY SECTOR?
Today, alongside the Fraud Advisory Panel, we launch the Charity Fraud Report 2022 – the findings from our an...
ESG strategy for Social Purpose and Non Profit organisations
Social purpose and non profit organisations hold themselves to high ethical standards and are often held to a ...
Autumn Statement 2022 | Our partners respond
Autumn Statement 2022 The Chancellor kept the Conservative Party Manifesto commitment not to increase rates of...
Jargon Buster
Jargon bustersAccountants are known for using jargon that many people need to look up in a dictionary before ...
Common Questions Asked By Charities
Common questionsHere are answers to some most common questions that I have been asked by charities. Like, doe...
Newsletter November 2022
t’s time for Trustees Week 2022 and so we caught up with three members of our team to ask them what they get o...
Five steps for boards to optimise social impact
Delivering positive social impact is what all social ventures are focused on achieving – but it won't happen u...
Why should charities be more alert to fraud now?
Kaley Crossthwaite, Head of Fraud, BDO LLP In recent years charities have had to react to ever-increasing fina...
Fundraising in a recession: our top five tips
Sarah Coop, our new Fundraising Consultant, reflects on COVID-19, the current cost-of-living crisis and how sh...
Collaborative working made simple – the benefits of a joint approach for charities
Given the challenging economic environment, it is good practice for charities to regularly question the status...
Restricted & Unrestricted Funding
Hi, my name is Moragh and I run North West Numbers CIC which provides bookkeeping and accountancy services for...
Non Profits: Improving efficiency and productivity
Recent surveys carried out on the state of the charity sector show a fall in income, reserves and cashflows, w...
Charity Record Keeping & Accounting
In this and subsequent articles, I will simplify and demystify accounting terms and processes. Today I want t...
The employer’s guide to the four-day working week
Employers can use innovative ways of working that differentiate their organisation to engage their current wor...
The recipe for good financial governance
An effective charity is a well governed charity. In this blog we look at some of the challenges around good fi...
Collaborative working made simple
The pandemic has made many charities reconsider their ways of working. Are existing models the best ways of de...
From 6 April 2022 employees can produce digital fit notes
New regulations mean that from 6 April 2022 a new form of fit note is permitted for social security or statuto...
How to review your finance function
Mark Salway (Managing Director) and Marcus Lees-Millais (Manager, Financial Sustainability) from our Nonprofit...
What is the difference between donations, grants and fundraising?
As a charity, it’s important to know exactly where your sources of income come from. In fact, having this lev...
Charities Alert Winter 2021
Our newsletter provides an update on the latest charity news and key announcements that you may need to act on...
Charity strategy and impact report 2021 - What does a good strategy look like?
Effective strategy-setting makes it clear exactly what a charity is trying to achieve, and whether or not it h...
The need for volunteers in the charity sector
Volunteering isn’t just great for charities, it’s beneficial to the individual too. Research from the Ins...
Explaining VAT Exemptions
Guest post by Les Howard of vatadvice.orgThere are six VAT exempt ‘Groups’ which specifically apply to th...
Happy 4th Birthday! 6(ish) lessons I've learned along the way Happy 4th Birthday! 6(ish) lessons I’ve learned along the way
My dream was to set up a business and help small UK charities. And despite the wraith of Covid-19, which decim...
The first rule of VAT for charities – assume nothing!
Guest post by Les Howard of vatadvice.orgIt is often said that the first rule of VAT is to assume nothing...
Why you shouldn’t set up a charity
Most charities are set up with the best of intentions – often in memorial for a loved one, to support a need i...
Sayer Vincent Newsletter
We’ve a bit to catch up on – so we have a bumper edition of the SV newsletter including court decisions on Kid...
7 inspirational stories our world needs more of
While I’m passionate about charities and the important work they do, it’s specifically newly established, smal...
Rising Girl, the story so far…
Guest Post by Emb Hashmi, Award winning Journalist at BBC , Podcast Host and Social Entrepreneur.Rising Girl&n...
How Hallidays can help your charity
With over 175 years’ experience and 50 charity clients we’re the people to help you in this difficult financia...
Engaging sponsors for your small UK charity
There are two types of sponsors that every charity needs to engage if they are to thrive. The first are sponso...
What makes a good annual report for your small UK charity?
We’re coming up to the time of the year that most charities dread – time to prepare the annual accounts and th...
How to form the most effective board for your charity
“Charities are the eyes, ears and conscience of society. They mobilise, they provide, they inspire, they ...
What you can learn from EmployabilityUK’s digital transformation
There’s no denying that lockdown has hit us hard. According to research from the Institute of Fundraising...
The UK’s biggest charities’ free reserves were falling even before the COVID-19 pandemic
This is the key finding of our third Charity reserves review. On average, charities were found to hold just tw...
Why every charity needs to embrace cloud-based accounting
Finance should never be a standalone function. Its primary purpose is to support the whole charity – not just ...
What to expect when you're having your audit remotely
Due to current social distancing restrictions, everyone is required to work from home wherever possible. This ...
How to be a good trustee during a period of rapid change
Fleur Holden, PartnerBy the time you are reading my article, events in the external social and economic enviro...
Are internal financial controls stressing you out?
Fraud is perhaps the biggest fear of most charities. It’s not just the financial impact, it’s the resulting re...