Annual Statutory Reporting

The Charities Act 2011 and its impact on wording of the Examiner’s Report in the Annual Reports and Accounts

The Charities Act 2011 came into effect on 14 March 2012, and consolidates previous charity legislation into a single comprehensive Act. The new Act does not change pre-existing legislation under the previous Charities Acts.

Whilst none of the requirements concerning Independent Examination (or Audit) have been changed, and whilst the essential substance of the Examiners Report therefore stays the same, inevitably the references to respective statutory provisions have changed. The Charity Commission is busy updating its publications, and the Auditing Practices Board has in hand the updating of their model example audit reports.

FAQ – Accounting – The Charities Act 2011 and its impact on wording of Annual Reports and Accounts

Here are some links to other websites and resources to help with preparing the PCC’s Annual Accounts

Resources from the National Church

A useful guide for PCC Treasurers, “PCC Accountability: The Charities Act 2011 and the PCC 5th Edition (March 2017) “, has recently been published by Church House. This book provides essential and up to date guidance for all PCCs in the preparation and scrutiny of their annual financial statements and reports and can be downloaded from the Parish Resources website

There is also some useful guidance on annual reporting for PCCs on the parish resources website:

Charity Commission

The following pages on the Charity Commission website are also relevant:

Charity Reporting and Accounting

Accruals Accounts Pack

Receipts and Payments Accounts Pack

Charities and Risk Management

Charities requiring an independent examination, rather than an audit ,are not required to include a statement about risk management in their annual report. Trustees of smaller charities with gross income below the audit threshold (who should still be concerned about the risks their charity faces) are encouraged to make a statement as a matter of best practice.

Accounting Software

Paxton Quick Books Data Developments “Parish Buying” ( a National Church Initiative) are working with their approved IT Software supplier to make a whole range of software licences and packages available to parishes. Please refer to the Parish Buying Website for more details.

Annual Financial Returns

This link takes you to the Annual Returns – Finance page