Accountants for charities and clubs

Charity accounts do much the same job as business accounts, showing what came in and what went out, but they are written for a different audience: the public, funders and the regulator. Trustees, not the treasurer alone, are responsible for them.

For a registered charity in England and Wales, the year usually involves keeping a record of income and spending, separating money given for a particular purpose (restricted funds) from general funds, preparing annual accounts in the right format, writing a trustees' annual report, arranging an independent examination or audit where required, and sending the annual return and accounts to the Charity Commission when the thresholds say so.

Clubs and societies that are not charities do not report to the Charity Commission, but their own rules often require accounts to be presented and checked at the annual general meeting. Many of the same habits apply.

Typical examples include:

• a village hall charity whose income has grown after a successful grant application
• a sports club treasurer preparing accounts for the AGM and wanting someone to look over them
• a small trust whose new treasurer has inherited a spreadsheet and a box of receipts
• a charitable incorporated organisation (CIO) choosing between receipts and payments accounts and accruals accounts
• a larger charity crossing into audit territory for the first time

The common thread is that trustees want confidence that the accounts are right and that they have met the Charity Commission's requirements.

The Charity Commission's guidance says the thresholds below apply to financial years ending on or after 30 September 2026. A charity's governing document can still require an examination or audit even where the law does not. The guidance applies to charities in England and Wales. SORP 2026, the recommended accounting practice for charities preparing accruals accounts, applies to financial years starting on or after 1 January 2026.

A small charity with straightforward income, such as subscriptions, donations and a few grants, can often keep its own records and prepare simple receipts and payments accounts. Below the independent examination threshold, there is no legal requirement for an outside check unless the governing document asks for one, though many trustees still like someone independent to look over the figures.

Above £40,000 of income an independent examiner is needed. Below £500,000 that person does not have to be professionally qualified, but Charity Commission guidance says the examiner must be independent of the charity, cannot be a trustee, and must have the skills and experience needed, including sufficient accounting skills. A supporter of the charity can act, provided they do not have a close relationship that could influence them. Above £500,000 the examiner must be a member of one of the accountancy bodies listed in the Charities Act 2011, and once audit thresholds are crossed only a statutory auditor can carry out the audit. Under the Companies Act, a statutory auditor must be a member of a recognised supervisory body.

Accountants are often brought in when a charity moves to accruals accounts, handles restricted grants for the first time, or needs the trustees' annual report and accounts to meet SORP.

Before the trustees agree to anything, it helps to ask:

• Are you offering an independent examination, an audit, help preparing the accounts, or a combination?
• Are you independent of the trustees, and do you have experience of charity accounts and SORP?
• If our income is over £500,000, which professional body are you a member of?
• Will you help with the trustees' annual report and the filing with the Charity Commission?
• Who supervises you under the money laundering rules? Anyone providing accountancy services must be supervised by HMRC or a professional body.
• Is the fee fixed, and what would change it?

Record the agreed scope and fee in writing and minute the decision at a trustees' meeting.

We have not found a reliable published survey of charity examination or audit fees, so we do not quote one. Costs depend on income, the type of accounts and how well records are kept. Our guide to accountant costs explains what affects fees more generally.