Updated guidance for preparing your charity’s Annual Return

Organisation
Reading Voluntary Action (RVA)
Author
Herjeet Randhawa
Author's position
Advice Service Manager
Article date
3 April 2024
Primary interest
Voluntary sector
Background

All registered charities with a gross annual income above £10,000 need to submit an Annual Return to the Charity Commission every year.

This is normally filed around the same time as your Annual Accounts and must be filed within 10 months from the end of your financial year. For example: if your financial year ends on the 31 March each year, then you must file your Annual Return (and Annual Accounts) by 31 January the following year.  If you are unsure, please check on your Charity Commission listing what you have recorded as your financial year end.

Please also note that late filing of your charity’s Annual Return or Annual Accounts will show up on your Charity Commission listing in red, which can deter some funders from funding you. If you are concerned that you might be late in filing your accounts, please contact RVA for assistance and in some cases it is worth notifying the Charity Commission in advance with details of why you will be late in filing and how quickly you might be able to do this.

Recent updates to the Annual Return

The Charity Commission updated their Annual Return questions last October and have prepared a guide so that you can see the questions in advance of filling out your Annual Return online.

You will be asked about the following:

  1. Income
  2. Spend
  3. Any activities outside the UK
  4. Any trading subsidiaries
  5. Charity addresses and property
  6. Structure and membership
  7. Employees and volunteers
  8. Governance
  9. Safeguarding and risk
Further resources
  • Full guidance for the updated Annual Return here
  • Link to submitting your Annual Return (and additional guidance based on the charity size) here
  • Glossary of terms here
  • CC collection of guidance on Accounts, Financial Reporting, Trustees Annual Report, Independent Examination and Audit, Trading Tax and Gift Aid here
  • RVA hosts Treasurer Training each year, normally in March and October, please see our training page here or contact training@rva.org.uk for more information.
  • RVA also hosts Trustee Training three times per year, normally in February, June and November, for those looking for an introduction to the role or a refresher. The next session is on 13 June 2024 or see our training page here.
  • If you would like free confidential advice about charity governance or preparing your annual return or other regulatory documents, please contact advice@rva.org.uk