Annual Report – Getting Your Organisation Prepared
With the 31 October 2026 deadline approaching, charities are reminded to ensure their annual report is submitted to the Charities Regulator on time.
There is a strong link between greater transparency and accountability by charities and public trust in the sector, making a charity’s annual report to the Charities Regulator an important means for your charity to provide basic information to the public on its finances and activities in the previous year.
Filing the report within 10 months of your charity’s financial year end is also a requirement under section 52 of the Charities Act 2009.
Traffic light system
Please be aware that this Annual Report is due after the introduction of a traffic light system on the Register of Charities that shows more clearly whether or not a charity has submitted its annual report on time. Your record on the Register will show one of three symbols depending on whether your Annual Report has been filed on time, filed late, or if you have not filed your Annual Report. The change is designed to highlight the charities that meet their legal obligations, and is already in use in other countries. Please submit your Annual Report before the deadline to ensure you charity shows as filed on time.
If you haven’t already started, we have some advice and tips to help you get prepared to complete and file the report form on time.
1. Check you can access MyAccount
You can only complete and file your charity’s annual report form through your charity’s account on MyAccount, our online portal. You may not have accessed your charity’s account since last year, so now is the time to check that you can still access it. If you don’t know the correct login name and password, you’ll find guidance on our website to help you gain access. Please make sure you use the correct login name, otherwise emails to reset the password will not be sent to you.
2. Gather all necessary information
You’ll find details of all the information needed to complete the online form in our guidance on annual reporting on our website. If you can’t find the answer to your question there, please email us through the messaging service in MyAccount (just click on the envelope icon). We do not need a printed copy of your charity’s annual report – we only require the online form to be completed and submitted.
3. Arrange any meetings required to approve accounts
If your charity is required to get its end of year accounting figures approved by your board or at an AGM, ensure these are held in sufficient time so that the annual report to the Charities Regulator can be filed on time.
Please note that the deadline for filing charities annual reports is set by Charities Act 2009 and the Charities Regulator does not have the power to grant extensions under any circumstances. If you have missed your charity’s filing deadline, file it as soon as possible.
Governance Code Compliance Status
Charities are required to confirm their level of compliance with the Charities Governance Code when submitting their annual reports. However, if your charity is not fully compliant or has not finished its compliance process, you can still file your annual report. Input the actual status of your charity’s compliance with the Code at the time of filing the annual report and you can amend it later by logging into your account and using the Maintain Charities Governance Code Status form.