Rebecca Frost

Charities need to be extra vigilant against fraud, with the continuing pandemic and the accompanying tough economic times leading to an increased risk of such organisations being targeted, says Rebecca Frost of Lovewell Blake’s specialist Charity team.

The Charity Commission have released the results of independent research they have commissioned on how charities in England and Wales have been affected by the pandemic.

Read our latest update for academies.

The survey looked at the impact of the pandemic amongst other things.

Since the pandemic hit in March 2020, the Charity Commission have offered filing extensions to charities who have been unable to meet their filing deadlines for COVID-19 related reasons. These extensions have had no fixed end date.

The Academies Financial Handbook 2021 has now been published.

Small charities with employees are often unaware that they are eligible for the Employment Allowance. This enables them to reduce their annual National Insurance liability by up to £4,000, so long as their total NI liabilities were less than £100,000 in the previous tax year. Unincorporated charities and Community Action Sports Clubs are also eligible.

On 31 March the Academies Accounts Direction 2020 to 2021 was published, along with a separate set of Academy Trust model accounts 2020 to 2021.

For over a year now we have been working under exceptional circumstances as the country battles with the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Chancellor delivered his Budget speech on 3 March, with an attempt to balance the need to continue providing support to those affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, whilst raising taxes to meet the substantial costs that have been incurred in doing so.

A new helpsheet has been published by CCEW, the Fraud Advisory Panel and others that aims to highlight some of the key areas where charities may be vulnerable to fraud as a consequence of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Though there are no changes to the Charity SORP to report on, those preparing charity accounts might be interested to know that the model accounts published by the SORP Committee have been updated.

This month a report into the state of charity finances has raised serious concerns about the financial health of charities as lockdown restrictions start to be lifted.

We often receive enquiries from small unincorporated not for profit organisations, such as clubs, who are growing and finding that they want to, or need to, review their structure. Sometimes they are taking on their first employees, or perhaps they need to rent a property.

The Fundraising Regulator has published updated guidance for charities on what they should be disclosing in their Trustees Report in connection with their fundraising activities.

As more and more charities look to finalise their 2020 accounts, it is inevitable that the implications of the COVID-19 pandemic will have had an impact in some way on the charity’s activities and financial position, which will need to be appropriately reflected in the financial statements.

In the current climate, the charity sector faces a particular challenge.