Charities: Why Having an Audit Matters

Charity sector audits

For charities, financial audits are more than a regulatory obligation. They’re a chance to build trust, improve operations, and demonstrate accountability to stakeholders. Gavita has a dedicated charity audit team, Here, we explain why having an audit can be a powerful asset for your charity. Table of Contents Why should charities prioritise having a financial […]

Charities – income and setting up a trading subsidiary

charity trading subsidiary

What’s the issue?  Lots of charities carry out some sort of trading (ie selling goods or services) to help raise funds to pursue charitable objectives. A charity might sell items in a gift shop or rent rooms in its property, for example. The problem is that, unless this is monitored carefully, profits earned from trading […]

Charity Total Return Accounting

Charity total return accounting

Charities in England and Wales are permitted (subject to conditions) to adopt total return accounting in respect of their permanent endowment funds, but how is this accounted for? Normal treatment Without total return accounting, investment income earned from endowment funds is credited to unrestricted or restricted funds in the Statement of Financial Activities (SoFA). It […]

The Statement of Recommended Practice (SORP) for Charities: What you need to know

charity sorp

Written by Audit Partner, Shona Munday The Statement of Recommended Practice (SORP) for charities in the UK is a crucial framework that guides the preparation of financial statements and annual reports for charitable organisations. This framework ensures that charities present their financial information transparently and consistently, maintaining the accounting standards.   What is charity SORP? […]

Charity Tax Issues

Charity tax issues

Most charities will have to complete corporation tax returns if notified to do so by HMRC or where they have non charitable trading profits that are liable to corporation tax.   Charities where all income and expenditure have been incurred for charitable purposes will not be liable to corporation tax but may still need to […]

Charities and trading subsidiary companies

Charities and trading subsidiary companies

For charities, setting up a trading subsidiary company can prove to be a very tax efficient way of raising funds.  We explore below how this works, when it can be used and how to overcome the pitfalls that might arise.   How does it work? Non-primary purpose trading of a charity can be operated through […]

The CIO as a charitable structure: the pros and cons

Charitable CIO

As experts within the charity sector, we wanted to share our experiences in advising and setting up charities as a Charitable Incorporated Organisation (CIO). Jointly with Henmans Freeth we held a roundtable discussion with voluntary organisations – including some who have taken the plunge and created CIOs – at Henmans Freeth in Oxford last week. […]