Expenses

The MPs expenses scandal in the spring of 2009 sparked a wider debate on executives’ expenses, and Charity Finance ensured the charity sector was not left out.  John Tate, a blogger for Charity Finance, suggested that the major umbrella bodies should lead by example and publish their expenses.  NCVO, NAVCA, the Institute of Fundraising, and CFDG complied by publishing their total claims, but Acevo chief executive Stephen Bubb said he did not see the need to disclose his publicly, only to his members.

Soon after, NCVO and CFDG set up a working group to devise best practice guidance for the sector on expenses disclosure.  It launched a two-month consultation and is due to publish its guidance by October 2009.

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Welsh government to investigate alleged abuse of charitable funds
News

Welsh government to investigate alleged abuse of charitable funds 2

Governance | Vibeka Mair | 20 Jan 2012
Tags: Expenses | Risk and crisis management

The Welsh government has launched an investigation into All Wales Ethnic Minority Association, which is mired in a trustee row over alleged misuse of charity funds by its chief executive.

A dearth of clear policies
Case studies

A dearth of clear policies

Governance | 25 Oct 2011
Tags: Leadership and strategy | Expenses

James Maloney explains the problem one charity was having with out-of-date articles of association and the steps taken to improve them.

Is the president taking liberties over travelling expenses?
Finance

Is the president taking liberties over travelling expenses?

Governance | 27 Apr 2011
Tags: Finance for trustees | Trustee roles and responsibilities | Trustee liability | Expenses

A finance director raises concerns over the president's jet-setting at the charity's expense, particularly as her unaffiliated husband reaps the benefits too.

Consensus on expenses: Sorp disclosure is sufficient
News

Consensus on expenses: Sorp disclosure is sufficient

Finance | Tania Mason | 25 Oct 2010
Tags: Expenses

There is little appetite among the UK’s largest charities for more detailed reporting of the expenses incurred by trustees and senior management, a new survey shows.

Sector's confidence in financial standing falls to all-time low
News

Sector's confidence in financial standing falls to all-time low

Governance | Vibeka Mair | 29 Sep 2010
Tags: Budgeting | Expenses | Funding | Spending Cuts and Recession

Nearly two-thirds of charity leaders expect their organisation’s financial situation to worsen over the next year, according to the latest Charity Forecast Survey from NCVO.

Charity expenses story 'highlights risk to public trust'
News

Charity expenses story 'highlights risk to public trust' 1

Governance | Tania Mason | 12 Apr 2010
Tags: Expenses | Accountability and transparency

The story in last week’s national newspapers accusing directors of the charity E-Act of making extortionate expense claims proves that the expenses issue remains a threat to the sector’s reputation, according to IT consultant John Tate.

Expenses guidance due next month
News

Expenses guidance due next month

Governance | Tania Mason | 5 Jan 2010
Tags: Expenses

The independent expert panel that is devising guidance for the sector on whether and how its trustees and senior executive staff should report their expenses, has further postponed the publication of its recommendations until February.

Charity Commission team publishes expense claims on website
News

Charity Commission team publishes expense claims on website

Finance | Tania Mason | 20 Oct 2009
Tags: Expenses

The Charity Commission has published the detailed expense claims of all its directors and board members on its website, ahead of any guidance for the charities it regulates from the independent expenses group.

Expenses group interviews people with technical or policy views
News

Expenses group interviews people with technical or policy views

Finance | Tania Mason | 7 Oct 2009
Tags: Expenses

The Independent Expert Group on charity expenses is seeking out people who might have a view on the subject and interviewing them in order to gauge their views.

NCVO chief to recommend publishing expenses
News

NCVO chief to recommend publishing expenses

Finance | Tania Mason | 24 Jun 2009
Tags: Expenses | Remuneration | Accountability and transparency

National Council of Voluntary Organisations chief executive Stuart Etherington is planning to recommend to his organisation's audit committee that the expenses of all senior management and trustees be published online.

Expenses update - a view from the top and an ex-MP
Blogs

Expenses update - a view from the top and an ex-MP 10

Governance | John Tate | 23 Jun 2009
Tags: Expenses

John Tate is unconvinced that charity expenses can't be abused as easily as MPs' expense claims.

Bubb's consistency of argument seems a little challenged
Blogs

Bubb's consistency of argument seems a little challenged 4

Governance | John Tate | 12 Jun 2009
Tags: Expenses | Leadership and strategy | Accountability and transparency

A new group of charity leaders headed by RNID chief executive John Low has met to discuss the role of the chief executive in corporate governance, ACEVO announced today. The group, which met on Tuesday, is to work to improve performance, accountability and professionalism in the sector, and will respond to recent comments from ex minister Alan Milburn, who is chairing the Joint Committee on the draft Charities Bill. Speaking at an ACEVO conference on May 6, he warned charities that they "cannot consider themselves immune from the general loss of confidence in corporate governance", and said that the sector should adopt "governance structures capable of guaranteeing probity and professionalism".

Bubb responds
Blogs

Bubb responds 3

Governance | John Tate | 10 Jun 2009
Tags: Accountability and transparency | Expenses | Umbrella bodies

So we have heard from Stephen Bubb – chief exec of Acevo. He has commented on the expense issue on his blog - 1,459 words, no less. Almost a book! To cut to the chase, if I read his blog correctly, he will publish his expenses to his members but not to a wider audience. A step in the right direction perhaps but with over 75% of those who responded to the Charity Finance poll saying they would like expenses published this is disappointing.

Come clean on expenses
Blogs

Come clean on expenses 2

Governance | Simon Hebditch | 9 Jun 2009
Tags: Expenses | Accountability and transparency

It was only a matter of time before someone picked up on expenses in the charity sector.

A culture of openness makes abuse much less likely
Blogs

A culture of openness makes abuse much less likely 3

Governance | John Tate | 5 Jun 2009
Tags: Accountability and transparency | Expenses

Very interesting debate. Having worked in the charity sector for nearly 20 years as a consultant I am afraid I have come across too many examples of where chief execs of charities have abused expense systems for this to be ignored. I am pleased to say that this is very much the exception rather than the rule and I am sure the vast majority of expenses claims are fair and reasonable. However there are cases when the exception applies. So let’s be transparent and above board on expenses. At the least it might stamp out some of this abuse. I think it is time for charities to be much more transparent across the board and this would be a good step in the right direction.

Good, bad and ugly
Blogs

Good, bad and ugly

Finance | John Tate | 28 May 2009
Tags: Expenses

Whether we like it or not, some charities waste their IT investment. John Tate looks at the reasons.

Clarifying trustee payments and expenses
News

Clarifying trustee payments and expenses

Governance | Dorothy Dalton | 1 Aug 2008
Tags: Expenses | Remuneration | Accountability and transparency | Charities Act 2006

The Charities Act 2006 brought in changes which allow charity trustees to be paid for providing their charities with goods and services, and guidance published in June 2008 by the Charity Commission clarifies how boards should handle both these types of payments and general trustee expenses.

Removing the cap on under-recovered input tax
In-depth

Removing the cap on under-recovered input tax

Finance | 25 Feb 2008
Tags: Taxation | Expenses | VAT

Sally Hutchings and Socrates Socratous review an important recent VAT decision

Visiting dignitaries
Finance

Visiting dignitaries

Governance | Neal Green | 1 Jul 2007
Tags: International | Trustee roles and responsibilities | Expenses | Charities Act 2006 | Finance for trustees

A trustee who has recently joined the board of an international charity registered in England is expected to visit one foreign project every other year and is embarrassed to ask about who pays for the cost of these visits.

My support is woefully inadequate
Opinion

My support is woefully inadequate

Governance | 1 Sep 2006
Tags: Expenses | Trustee boards | Chairs

A chair of trustees with woefully inadequate support seeks advice on what level of assistance the charity is able to provide them.

Displaying 1 to 20 (of 20)