Hackles rise at Commission's rebuke on late accounts

Finance | Gareth Jones | 1 Jun 2006

Charity accounting experts have hit back at the Charity Commission's criticism of the sector's record on filing accounts on time. The Commission has revealed that 11 of the top 100 charities failed to file their accounts on time last year, and that a quarter of all charities failed to submit within the statutory ten-month deadline.

Richard Weaver, charities partner at haysmacintyre, pointed out that the current delay in filing might be linked to the late issue of the example accounts for the new Sorp.

Charles Cox, charities partner at PKF, said he was worried that charities were being coerced into complying with best practice, which added a resource burden. "Some charities have a structured meetings schedule that means their AGM has been on a particular date for many years and difficulties would be caused by moving the date. Others do not have the extra resource to enable the timetable to be speeded up."

The Commission said that research into the biggest charities showed that late submission was avoidable. "While trustees promptly sign off properly audited accounts, many then fail to send them to the Commission within deadline," a spokesman said. "Evidence suggests this may be due to a common misconception that accounts must be signed off at an AGM before they can be filed. This isn't the case and many auditors file charity accounts as soon as they're signed off and before the AGM. Late submission might simply be down to a lack of forward planning."

The Commission also said figures showing that half of all charities take over eight months to file accounts were "disappointing", and has launched a practical guide called File Early.

Commission chief executive Andrew Hind said: "The timely submission of accounts says a great deal about how your charity is run. Demonstrating your efficiency in this way may help you access funding and will help you avoid criticism from those whose views you care about."

Directory: Charity Commission | haysmacintyre | PKF (UK) LLP
Who's Who: Richard Weaver | Andrew Hind

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