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The Charity Commission for Northern Ireland is the regulator of charities in Northern Ireland, a non-departmental public body sponsored by the Department for Social Development.
Our vision
To deliver in partnership with other key stakeholders in the charitable sector “a dynamic and well governed charities sector in which the public has confidence, underpinned by the Commission’s effective delivery of its regulatory and advisory role”.
Further information about our aims and activities is available on our website
Equality
The Charity Commission for Northern Ireland is committed to equality and diversity in all that we do.
Accessibility
If you have any accessibility requirements please contact us.
Online or in print
If you are viewing this document online, you will be able to navigate your way around by clicking on links either within the contents page or text.
We have produced a glossary that provides further information, definitions and descriptions of some key terms. The words in bold green typeindicate words that are found in the glossary towards the end of this document. If you are reading the document online you can click on the word and it will link you to the definition in the glossary.
Contents
Section 1: / Overview / 3Section 2: / About this guidance / 4
Section 3: / Annual reporting by registered charities in Northern Ireland / 6
3.1 / What is annual reporting?
3.2 / What is annual reporting in the interim period?
3.3 / Providing charity accounts and reports in the format in which they are currently prepared
3.4 / Who does interim annual reporting apply to?
3.5 / When must registered charities report to the Commission?
3.6 / How will registered charities know when to report?
3.7 / What are the benefits of annual reporting?
3.8 / How will the Commission use the information gathered?
3.9 / What happens if a registered charity does not report to the Commission?
Section 4: / Preparing for your annual return / 13
4.1 / Preparing in advance
4.2 / How do you submit your annual return?
4.3 / What do you need in order to submit your annual return?
4.4 / Where can you get help?
4.5 / Preparing your accounts and reports
Section 5: / Completing the annual return / 17
5.1 / Annual monitoring return: Part A
5.2 / Annual monitoring return: Part B
5.3 / Annual monitoring return: Part C
5.4 / Declaration
5.5 / Special circumstances
5.6 / Submitting your annual monitoring return, accounts and reports
5.7 / What happens next?
Appendix 1 / Timeline / 28
Appendix 2 / Document and information checklist / 29
Appendix 3 / Glossary / 30
Useful contacts / 43
Useful supporting documents / 45
Freedom of information and data protection / 46
Contact details / 47
Section 1: Overview of interim annual reporting
Interim annual reporting in Northern Ireland
Annual reporting by registered charities is a key element in the Commission’s ongoing regulatory work and is essential to keep the new register of charities up to date. This document provides information to help you report annually to the Commission through an annual monitoring return and submission of accounts and reports.
While the Commission is responsible for determining the information required in the annual monitoring return, the Department for Social Development (DSD) is responsible for developing full accounting and reporting regulations, which will set out:
- the form and content for charity accounts
- levels of review or audit
- the content of the trustee annual report.
These regulations will be consulted on in 2014 and it is anticipated that they will come into force on 1 January 2015.
The Commission consulted on proposals for the interim annual reporting programme that will last until the full accounting and reporting regulations come into effect and will enable effective regulation of registered charities in the interim period.
The interim proposals are designed to ensure that the Commission obtains key information from registered charities, prior to full accounting and reporting regulations coming into force.
Section 2: About this guidance
What does this guidance cover?
This guidance provides information on annual reporting by charities registered with the Charity Commission for Northern Ireland, specifically:
- interim reporting arrangements and
- preparing for your annual monitoring return, which will be a requirement beyond the interim period.
It explains who must report annually, the process you should follow, what will happen with the information you provide and the background to annual reporting in Northern Ireland during this interim period. It is intended to support you through the interim annual reporting process so that you do not necessarily require professional help.
What does this guidance not cover?
You should not rely on this guidance to provide a full description of legal matters affecting your organisation, nor is the guidance a substitute for advice from your own professional advisers. Charities are also subject to other legislation and in some cases other regulation. For example, charitable companies also have to comply with the requirements of company law. More information is available from Companies House.
Who does this guidance apply to?
This guidance is aimed at charity trustees, members of management committees, directors of charitable companies or someone acting on behalf of a charity, for example a solicitor, accountant, agent or adviser.
In this guidance, “you” refers to the trustees of a registered charity.The registered charity’s trustees are responsible for making sure that the annual return is completed on time. If you choose to delegate this task, for example to a member of staff or a professional adviser, you should make sure they know what to do.
Who does this guidance not apply to?
This guidance is not relevant if your organisation is not a registered charity with the Charity Commission for Northern Ireland.
How will information be made public?
Any information submitted in the annual monitoring return that has a beside it will be published to the register of charities. Additionally, the accounts and reports you submit will be available for the public to view and download.
Each charity’s annual reporting deadline will be clearly shown on their entry on the register of charities. A ‘documents received’ or ‘charity in default’ banner will highlight the compliance status of each charity on the register. This banner will allow members of the public and other stakeholders to see if a charity has complied with their legal requirements to submit annual reporting documents on time.
What are legal requirements and best practice?
In this guidance, where we use the word ‘must’ we are referring to a specific legal or regulatory requirement. We use the word ‘should’ for what we regard as best practice, but where there is no specific legal requirement.
Charity trustees should follow best practice in this guidance unless there is a good reason not to.
Where can you find definitions of key terms?
You will find definitions of key terms in the glossary towards the end of this guidance. If you are viewing the guidance online, you can click on a word in bold green typeand you will be brought straight to the definition in the glossary.
Charity legislation
References in this guidance to ‘the Charities Act’ are to the Charities Act (Northern Ireland) 2008 as amended by the Charities Act (Northern Ireland) 2013. Please check our website to make sure you are using the latest version of forms and guidance.
March 20141
Section 3: Annual reporting by registered charities in Northern Ireland
March 20141
3.1 What is annual reporting?
It is a legal requirement for registered charities to report annually to the Commission. This is essential to keep the register of charities up to date, promote the transparency and accountability of the charitable sector, and to allow us to monitor and regulate charities in Northern Ireland effectively. At annual reporting, you will be required to:
- complete and submit an online annual monitoring return
- submit your charity’s annual accounts
- submit your charity’strustees’ annualreport.
The annual monitoring return is a permanent aspect of the reporting programme. Registered charities must complete an annual monitoring return in the interim period and when full accounting and reporting regulations come into effect.
3.2 What is annual reporting in the interim period?
This is an interim period for annual reporting by registered charities because fullAccounting and reporting regulations are still to be developed by the Department for Social Development (DSD). These regulations will specify the form and content for charity accounts, and the level of review or audit these accounts must have. They will also set out the content requirements for the trustees’ annual report.
Until these regulations come into force, under interim arrangements, registered charities must submit their accounts and reports in the format in which they are currently prepared.
The key differences between the interim period, and when the full annual reporting programme is introduced, are the requirements that charities must adhere to relating to the form and content of the charity accounts, the level of review or audit these charity accounts will have, and the content of the trustees’ annual report. This is highlighted in the table on the following page which sets out the key requirements of the interim reporting programme and the full annual reporting programme.
Interim reporting programme / Full annual reporting programmeComplete annual monitoring return / /
Submit the Audit Report or Independent Examiners Report (if applicable) / /
Submit accounts and reports in format currently prepared / / x
Submit accounts and reports as per the form and content of DSD regulations / x /
3.3 Providing charity accounts and reports in the format in which they are currently prepared
All charities have a legal obligation under the Charities Act (Northern Ireland) 1964 to keep accurate and up to date accounting records with respect to the affairs of the charity. You must keep these records for a minimum of 7 years and prepare consecutive statements of accounts. If a charity is unincorporated and has no additional accounting or reporting requirements, it is the accounts that you have prepared under this duty that we ask for.
If you are required to have your charity accounts reviewed or audited either as a condition of funding, or due to a requirement in your governing document, or because your charity is subject to other legislation, for example, company law, you should attach and submit this report as part of your charity accounts to the Commission.
Equally, if you prepare a trustees’ annual report alongside your charity accounts you must submit this report as part of the accounts you submit to the Commission. If you are under no legal requirement to prepare a trustees’ annual report, we recommend you prepare one as a matter of good practice. When full accounting and reporting regulations come into effect, all charities will be legally required to prepare a trustees’ annual report and submit this to the Commission on an annual basis. For more information on preparing a trustees’ annual report refer to section 4 of this document.
The legal basis for requesting the information in the annual monitoring return can be found in Section 70 of the Charities Act. Section 70 of the Charities Act also provides for the content of the annual monitoring return to be set out in the Charity Commission for Northern Ireland Annual Return Regulations (2014).
Submission of the accounts and reports with the annual monitoring return, in the format in which they are currently prepared, will be required in the interim period. Once the full accounting and reporting regulations are in place, those regulations will prescribe how accounts and reports must be submitted to the Commission.
3.4 Who does interim annual reporting apply to?
Interim annual reporting applies to all registered charities in Northern Ireland. This means charities that have been registered by the Charity Commission for Northern Ireland and had their details entered on the register of charities. It does not mean organisations that are only recognised with Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs (HMRC) for charitable tax purposes, and not with the Commission.
Annual reporting is compulsory for registered charities irrespective of the size, annual income or the type of charity, for example charitable company or unincorporated association.
It is your responsibility as charity trustees of a registered charity to ensure that the requirements of the interim annual reporting programme are met. If you do not do so, you are in breach of your duties under the Charities Act.
3.5 When must registered charities report to the Commission?
You can complete your annual monitoring return and submit your accounts and reports as soon as the accounts and reports are approved by the charity’s trustees.
You must, however, complete and file your charity’s annual monitoring return, accounts and reports with the Commission within 10 months of the charity’s financial period end. Registered charities will be required to report on an annual basis.
The interim reporting requirements are live from 1 April 2014, and we will only require information on financial periods beginning on or after 1 April 2014. Therefore, charities registered with the Commission before 1 April 2014 will not have to report on accounting periods before this date.
Examples of the relevant reporting periods and filing deadlines for registered charities are set out in the table below.
Charity
/A
/B
/C
Registration date
/15.12.13
/25.4.14
/16.3.14
Financial period end date
/31 March
/30 June
/30 September
Period of account
/12 months
/12 months
/6 months
Reporting period*
/31.03.15
/30.06.15
/30.09.14
Filing deadline**
/31.01.16
/30.04.16
/31.07.15
*First full accounting period after registration
**10 months after the accounting period end
A charity’s financial period will normally be 12 months but, in exceptional circumstances, can be shorter or longer. If for exceptional reasons a charity must prepare their accounts to cover a short or long period of account, the accounting period must not be less than six months or longer than eighteen months.
The flow chart at Appendix 1 sets out the timeline for interim annual reporting and the anticipated launch of full annual reporting.
3.6 How will registered charities know when to report?
Charities are able to view their filing deadlines on their entry on the register of charities. The Commission will also email a reminder to charity trustees at the end of their financial period and when the deadline for submitting their annual monitoring return and accounts and reports is approaching.
You must file annual reporting information through an online process, accessed through Online Services via our website
Charity trustees are responsible for filing charity reporting information on time.
3.7 What are the benefits of annual reporting?
The information collected from the annual monitoring return and the accounts and reports will enable us to maintain a regulatory system in which the public has trust and confidence. It will also provide useful information on the sector and support the future development of evidence-based policy and guidance, while keeping the register of charities up to date.
Benefits to registered charities
Benefits to registered charities include the following:
- meeting your statutory obligation to report annually
- increased public trust and confidence, potentially leading to increased public donations or other support
- up-to-date information on your charity is publicly available on the Northern Ireland register of charities
- decision makers having greater knowledge of the charitable sector in Northern Ireland, potentially influencing policy making.
Benefits to other stakeholders
Benefits to other stakeholders include the following:
- knowledge that organisations on the register are effectively regulated and monitored, enhancing trust and confidence
- access to information on charities relating to their work throughout the year, governance and finances and how they have used their income to advance their purposes.
These are examples only and the lists are not intended to be exhaustive.
3.8 How will the Commission use the information gathered?
We will use the information gathered to regulate charities in Northern Ireland and to meet the objectives of our monitoring programme. These objectives have been consulted on and agreed with the charity sector. They are as follows:
- Check for compliance with charity law
- Discover where there is misconduct, mismanagement and inappropriate use of charitable property and funds
- Encourage good practice
- Provide information about the charity sector
- Provide information on each charity
- Provide an up-to-date register of charities in Northern Ireland.
Check for compliance with charity law
Through annual reporting by registered charities we will identify and alert those charities that are not complying with the Charities Act. We aim to be proportionate and constructive in promoting compliance, particularly in the first few years of the programme.
Discover where there is misconduct, mismanagement and inappropriate use of charitable property and funds
The information we gather may alert us to potential problems early on so that we can work with charity trustees to put things right. Where there are serious issues identified, we will deal with them appropriately.
Encourage good practice
The questions we ask in the annual monitoring return will encourage good practice in two ways. Firstly, through acting as a prompt to remind trustees of their duties and secondly, by identifying common problematic areas where we can develop best practice guidance and advice.
Provide information about the charity sector
Obtaining key information about charities will help us make informed decisions when carrying out our regulatory and monitoring activities, and the statistics we hold on the sector may impact on legislation and future policy development.