- MANGO (Management Accounting for Non-Governmental Organisations)
MANGO’s work is aimed at agencies working overseas, but many of the tools and resources provided by this site are useful for any small voluntary organisation.
- MANGO Guide to Financial Management
A range of tools and resources aimed at de-mystifying financial management. Some are included below.
- A simple accounting system
This MANGO resource is based on Excel spreadsheets and comes with a user guide. It has been designed for small to medium organisations and is available for anyone to download and use. You will need to adapt some parts of it to meet your specific needs, and it is always advisable to seek some expert accounting advice when setting up a new finance system.
- MANGO Financial Management Health Check
This financial health check involves answering a simple set of questions and comes with a simple explanation of how it works and a glossary of financial terms. The Health Check is available in several languages.
- NCVO Finance Management
The National Council for Voluntary Organisations have a finance section on their ‘Ask NVCO’ website. It includes sections on: finance strategy; budgeting; accounting; audit; funding earning and costing; managing resources; Investment; Risk; Tax; and an interactive service, ‘Ask us a Finance Question’.
- Financial advice and training
A selection of factsheets that are designed to be used both as an introduction for new management committee members and as practical work books for staff and volunteers in the context of financial advice and training.
Resource provided by Community Accountancy Self Help (CASH Online)
- Financial advice and information
A resource created to help organisations move towards having an integrated, strategic financial management function. Includes advice on financial strategy, budgeting, accounting, audit, full cost recovery, tax and others.
Resource provided by National Council for Voluntary Organisations (NCVO)
- Charity Commission Guidance
All registered charities, groups planning to register, or anyone carrying out activities with social or public benefit aims, needs to know what the Charity Commission’s rules about managing money and keeping accounts are.
There are a series of guides available from the Commission – key ones are listed below.
- CC15a - Charity Reporting and Accounting: The essentials (April 2008)
This guidance is aimed primarily at charity trustees and sets out what charities are required to do, in terms of preparing Annual Reports, accounts, and Annual Returns. It also signposts trustees to other helpful information. This guidance incorporates the changes introduced by the Charities Act 2006 and changes, for charitable companies, brought into effect by the Companies Act 2006 with effect for financial years beginning on or after 1 April 2008.
A further update to this guidance will be issued when the outcome of the thresholds review being carried out by the Office of the Third Sector is known so keep a look out. Recent reports sugggest that the new thresholds for unincorporated charities will be:
Charities with an annual income below £25,000 will no longer have to submit their annual accounts to the Charity Commission under plans approved by the regulator. The threshold is currently £10,000. However, the commission intends to introduce random checks for those below the £25,000 threshold.
The threshold for preparing accruals accounts for unincorporated charities will also be raised from £100,000 to £250,000.
- CC8 - Internal Financial Controls for Charities
Charity Commission guidance on financial controls for charities.
- CC8 - Internal Financial Controls for Charities pdf
Downloadable .pdf(87kb) version of CC8 – Charity Commission guidance on financial controls for charities.
- CC16 - Receipts and Payments Accounts Pack
CC16 – Receipts and Payments Accounts Pack, based on SORP 2005, for non company charities with income up to GBP 100,000.
- CC64(a) - Explanatory Notes
Downloadable .pdf (59kb) of explanatory notes for Receipts and Payments Accounts from the Charity Commission.
- CC61a - Charity Accounts: The framework (2005)
Guidance on what charities are required to do by law, in terms of preparing Annual Reports, Accounts and Annual Returns for financial years starting before 27 February 2007.
- CC17 - Accrual Accounts Pack
CC17 - Accrual Accounts Pack, based on SORP 2005, for non company charities with income over GBP 100,000.
- CC63a Independent Examination of Charity Accounts 2007
Downloadable .pdf (224kb) explaining the requirements for an Independent Examination – a less onerous form of scrutiny than a full audit, which may be adequate for smaller groups. The legal threshold for this form of scrutiny is non company charities with an annual income of less than GBP 500,000. However, some funders will require a full audit, even where the gross income is less than this.
- CC12 - Managing Financial Difficulties and Insolvency in Charities
All charity trustees have a fundamental duty to protect the assets of their charity and to apply them properly for the objects of the charity. Many charities will at some point face financial uncertainty. The aim of this guidance is to provide advice to charity trustees, outlining steps that may be taken to lessen the risks of insolvency, and describing charity trustees’ legal position.
- CC12 - Managing Financial Difficulties and Insolvency in Charities pdf
Downloadable .pdf (103kb) version of CC12. All charity trustees have a fundamental duty to protect the assets of their charity and to apply them properly for the objects of the charity. Many charities will at some point face financial uncertainty. The aim of this guidance is to provide advice to charity trustees, outlining steps that may be taken to lessen the risks of insolvency, and describing charity trustees’ legal position.
- CC19 - Charities' Reserves
All organisations need to carry some funds in reserve – to cover unforeseen costs, provide cash flow, and to invest in activities ahead of attracting funding for them. Many provide for this by putting aside, when they can afford it, some of their current income as a reserve against future uncertainties. In recent years there has been concern that some charities are sitting on large sums of money, and this has lead the Charity Commission to issue clear guidance on what it sees as a legitimate and prudent reserve for a charity to hold.
- Charity Finance Directors Group
The Charity Finance Directors' Group is a membership organisation, specialising in helping charities to manage their accounting, taxation, audit and other finance related functions.
- Charity Finance Directors’ Group Document Library
The document library on this site includes sections on finance and income generation.
- Charity Finance
Charity Finance magazine, for charity sector professionals, is published ten times a year. Addressing key concerns that affect charities, it covers information on finance, law and management for charity professionals and trustees.
