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Spotlight on finance 鈥� get ready for the new financial year

For many charities April is the start of a new financial year, making it the perfect time to strengthen and review your charity鈥檚 financial management.

Our newly developed 鈥楾rustee Finance Toolkit鈥� page has been designed to help you manage your charity鈥檚 finances. It features a range of Charity Commission guidance and a new interactive tool for you to check which guidance may be appropriate for the needs of your charity.

Consultation on changes to charity accounting rules

The Charity Commission and its sister bodies in Scotland and Northern Ireland have launched a public consultation on the next version of the charities accounting and reporting framework.

This framework, known as the charities鈥� Statement of Recommended Practice (SORP) is the sector standard for accounting and reporting for charities that are companies or have an income over 拢250,000.

It ensures consistency and transparency across the sector, making charity accounts comparable, understandable and useful for donors, beneficiaries, and the public alike.

It has been updated following an extensive development process informed by the views of partners and a sector specific SORP Committee.

The regulators are now inviting comments on the draft and the feedback will help shape the final version, which is expected to be published in autumn 2025.

We recommend that those charities who prepare accounts using the SORP start to get ready for the changes, which are expected to come into force for financial years starting from 1 January 2026.

Warning about fraudulent Commission letters and emails

The Commission is warning charities to be vigilant after receiving reports of fraudulent messages sent to charities and trustees falsely using our name.

These messages typically request action to be taken such as removing a trustee or chief executive from their position, releasing funds as part of a grant, or supplying documents such as a passport or utility bill. They may be signed as coming from 鈥榯he Commission鈥�, Chief Executive Officer and/or its Directors.

We have put together a short guide to help charities distinguish between correspondence that is real or fake. If in doubt, please contact us.

/government/news/charity-regulator-warns-about-fraudulent-letters-sent-on-its-behalf

Filing your annual return 鈥� a reminder

Registered charities in England or Wales are reminded they must send an annual return to the Charity Commission or report their income and spending every year.

You must submit your annual return within 10 months of the end of your financial year.

For example, if your financial year end was 31 December 2024 your deadline is 31 October.

/guidance/prepare-a-charity-annual-return

HMRC reminder to check the tax status of agency staff

Charities are reminded by HMRC that they are responsible for determining the tax status of employees paid via agencies or other service companies.

It is important that the employment status of every worker is fully considered so that both your charity and your workers pay the correct tax and national insurance.

Please check that you are getting employment status right for all your workers by going to GOV.鈥婾K and searching 鈥榚mployment status鈥�.

Use HMRC鈥檚 online tool to Check Employment Status for Tax (CEST) to make sure you are getting things right.

/guidance/check-employment-status-for-tax

Recycling changes for charities

New rules to make recycling easier for people in England came into force on March 31.

Simpler Recycling enables consistent, more streamlined collections from all households, businesses and relevant non-domestic premises such as charities, schools and hospitals. These will affect charities in England with 10 or more employees.

/guidance/simpler-recycling-workplace-recycling-in-england