The average amount of time it takes the top 100 largest charities in the UK to file their accounts with the Charity Commission is 7.2 months, while 26 per cent of all charities that file on time do so in the tenth month.

Data collected by Charity Finance magazine looked at the average time the top 100 largest charities take to file accounts with the Charity Commission and worked out the average time these charities take to file across the last three years (7.2 months). The data has also revealed that the most recent set of accounts were filed on average 7.4 months after the year end.

This underscores data provided by the Charity Commission, which revealed that of the 86 per cent of accounts submissions in 2014 which were on time (within the ten month deadline), 26 per cent of charities filed within the tenth month.

Almost 15 per cent filed in the ninth month and just over 10 per cent filed in the eighth month.

The data also revealed that many charities file their accounts with Companies House significantly earlier than they do with the Charity commission.

The feature, Quicker off the Mark, asked whether quicker filing times can positively impact a charity.

Julia Grant, portfolio director at Impetus-PEF, said that the time a charity takes to file accounts can impact the organisation’s decision of whether or not to invest in a charity.

She went on to say that submitting accounts “in a timely and effective manner can act as an indicator of the effectiveness and transparency of the organisation”. 

• The April issue of Charity Finance looked at the impact of filing speeds of charities. Online subscribers can read it here. Find out more about subscribing to the magazine here.