money

Financial Reporting by Charities

“It is most likely that this will require charities to disclose some additional information in relation to their charitable activities and their finances." 

Introduction and Contexts

There is a great variation in terms of the quality and range of information currently provided by charitable companies in their financial statements to the Companies Registration Office (CRO). Some charities comply with the minimum standards required under company law, some Irish charities go beyond the minimum, whilst some even comply with the Statement of Recommended Practice for Financial Reporting by Charities (SORP) standard, which is recommended best practice by the Accounting Standards Board (ASB)

Managing

Fundraising

Aim to build long term relationships with your funders

It is vital that your organisation approaches fundraising in a strategic way, with proper planning, implementation and evaluation. It is a demanding task that should be seen as central to the organisation and not left to one individual.

Information and Copyright

Poor systems will lead to organisational inefficiency

Information

It is imperative that you establish systems for the proper administration and management of information. Organisations are bombarded with vast volumes of information daily, received by post, telephone, text, email, fax, etc. Poor systems will lead to organisational inefficiency. For example, how do you ensure that information is passed round all relevant people? How do you keep track of your library resources?

Premises and Equipment

Make sure you have an assets register listing details of all your capital assets and dates of purchase and disposal

Unless your group is very small and operates from the homes of individuals, you will have some sort of premises, however basic. You are also likely to have furniture and equipment, and possibly vehicles and stock. The sourcing, security and maintenance of these is your responsibility.

Money and Assets

This section provides practical advice on how to effectively manage your organisation's money and assets, ranging from your office equipme

Financial Responsibilities

 Keeping detailed records, on receipt, of all monies received...

Each organisation has significant financial responsibilities that must be taken seriously. These include:

Monitoring Results

You may need to make further cuts as a result or make other changes in your operations...

There is no point in planning your budget and in gathering the information if you do not use it. You should keep simple spreadsheets of actual expenditure and income and actual cash flow if you do not have a bookkeeper/accountant do this for you. Have a review each month of your own numbers, even if you have an accountant to prepare quarterly management accounts only. Keep a very close eye on the cash balance, but also on the numbers generally – are they up or down on expectations in the budget – why?

Guidelines on Reserves Policies for Charities (March, 2012)

Income needs to be spent in a particular year unless it has already been agreed with the Revenue Commissioners as to why it will not be spent in that particular year.

What are Charity Reserves?

For the purposes of this document reserves can be understood as income that becomes available to the charity and is to be expended at the discretion of the Board

Finance

 Good financial management will keep your organisation efficient and effective...
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