Charity Accounts

First Year Charity Accounts

Our First Year Charity Accounts Service is a bespoke service and is only available by contacting us at customerservices@primeformation.co.uk or calling us on 0333 533 0264.

Limited companies, LLPs, Charities and Charitable Companies and Community Interest Companies [CICs] must keep accounting records. Accounting records among other things must contain:

• Entries detailing all money received and expended by the company. Records of income and expenditure of the company must be adequately kept. The records kept form the basis of preparing the profit and loss account
• A record of the Assets and Liabilities of the company forming the components of the balance sheet
• Statements of Stock held by the company at the end of each financial period
• Statements of Stock takings upon which the statements of stock were prepared
• Other than retail trade any other goods sold and purchased with the attendant list of the goods, and the buyers and sellers.

Accounts prepared must be based on the sufficiency and adequacy of records kept. The accounts and returns made must disclose the financial position and performance of the company and comply with the requirements of the Companies Act 2006 and the UK issued Financial Reporting Standards [FRS] or International Accounting Standards [IAS]

If you are a director of a limited company or a member of an LLP you must prepare accounts for each financial year.

At Prime Formations, we have designed a 1st Year Accounting service to help you fulfil your responsibilities of delivering accounts to Companies, HMRC and other regulatory bodies such as the Charity Commission.

What does a set of Accounts include?

A set of Accounts must include the following:

• A Profit and Loss Account and Income and Expenditure Account for not- for-profit companies
• A Balance Sheet signed by a named director with his printed name inserted on the statement on behalf of the board of directors
• Notes to the accounts providing detailed information of the breakdown of the figures in the Balance Sheet and the reasons for adopting the various policies and standards used in preparing the accounts
• Group Accounts [if appropriate]
• A Directors Report signed by a secretary or director and their name printed on the report.
• An Auditors report unless exempt from audit

1st Year Charity Accounts

A private limited charitable company is required to deliver financial accounts to Companies House within 9 months after the accounting reference date and for newly formed charitable companies- accounts must be delivered within 21 months from the incorporation date. The filing deadlines are entrenched in the Companies Act 2006 and must be strictly complied with to avoid a civil penalty starting at a minimum fine of £150 and graduating to £1,500 or more on a time defined basis. It is a criminal offence not to file your charitable company accounts within the stipulated filing deadlines.

In addition to the requirements of the financial statements, the Charitable Company registered with the Charity Commission would have to produce the accounts in line with the requirements of the Statement of Recommended Practice [SORP Charities FRS 102]. The Charity SORP gives a framework for Charities Accounts and Reporting, helping trustees to produce an account that gives a true and fair view.

The Charity must also produce a Trustees’ Annual Report designed to help people including funders, beneficiaries and other stakeholders of the Charity understand what the Charity does, where the Charity sources income from and what the money is expended on in the past year.

Reporting requirements for Small Non-Company Charities

For Charities with income under £500,000 and assets under £3.26 million the report should include the following:

• Charity’s Name, Registration Number, Address and Trustee Names
• The Charity structure and details of how it is managed including its Trustees Recruitment Strategy
• Charity objectives and activities during the year
• Charity achievements, performance and reporting on public benefit
• A Financial review including debts and details of the Charity reserves policy

If your income is under £25,000 you do not have to send your accounts to the Charity Commission however you must complete the Charity Annual Return.

Accountancy and Tax Service

Our Tax and Accounting Division-Prime Formations Partnership (a Firm of Qualified Accountants) would deliver 1st Year Charity Accounts Service as follows:

1st Year Charitable Company/Charities Accounts Service

Once you place an order for this service, we would send by email an Accounts Production Schedule of Requests detailing what we require to produce your financial accounts. During the process of the Accounts Production, we would liaise with you by email to ensure all accounting queries are fully answered, any missing document notified to you and received and any unclear transactions appropriately dealt with. Once the accounts are produced, we would arrange an appropriate time to chat online about your accounts and finalise the same with you. We will confirm available tax reliefs available to you as a Charity and the implications of the same for your Corporation Tax filing.

Please note that the fee charged is strictly for the 1st year Charity Accounts Production Service. We charge for Corporation Tax filing separately.

Regular Service – £349.89 Plus VAT

If we receive all answers to our requests the financial accounts would be available for Companies House and Charity Commission submission within 30 working days and our charge for this service is £349.89 plus VAT. Please note that this service is for Charitable companies and other Charities with a turnover not exceeding £150,000. For charities with turnovers exceeding this limit, a separate additional charge of £250 per £100,000 in turnover would apply. For example, if your charity turnover is £300,000, you would be required to pay an additional £375 in accountancy fees making a total of £724.89 plus VAT.

To ensure you do not fall into the Companies House penalty regime you must deliver your accounts to us at least 2 months before your filing deadline which is normally 9 months after your accounting reference period. The Charity Commission has a deadline of 10 months after the Charitable Companies accounting reference period for submission.

Fast Track Service £499.89 Plus VAT

If we receive all answers to our requests the financial accounts would be available for Companies House submission and the Charity Commission submission within 10 working days and our charge for this service is £499.89 plus VAT. Please note that this service is for Charitable Companies and other Charities with a turnover not exceeding £150,000. For companies with turnovers exceeding this limit, a separate additional charge of £350 per £100,000 in turnover would apply. For example, if your company turnover is £300,000, you would be required to pay an additional £525 in accountancy fees making a total of £1,024.89 plus VAT.

To ensure you do not fall into the Companies House penalty regime you must deliver your accounts to us at least 15 working days before your filing deadline which is normally 9 months after your accounting reference period. The Charity Commission has a deadline of 10 months after the Charitable companies accounting reference period for submission.