Accounts

Summary

 

Every year you must send to OSCR your:

• Annual report and accounts (this includes your trustees’ annual report)
• External scrutiny report (audit or independent examination), and an
• Online annual return.

Do we have to submit accounts to both regulators?

Yes, the same annual report and accounts must be sent to OSCR and CCEW. The accounts submitted must meet the requirements of legislation in both England and Wales and Scotland. 

The format of accounts between the two sets of regulations is very similar, especially for fully accrued accounts. However, there are differences in the external scrutiny requirements and filing deadlines – see the tables below.

Filing of accounts

	Scotland	England and Wales
Deadline for filing accounts with charity regulator	9 months from the date of the financial year end	10 months from the date of the financial year end

 

Format of accounts

Gross income	Scotland		England and Wales
Less than £25,000	Non-company  charities: receipts and payments accounts	Charitablecompanies: fully accrued accounts	Non-company charities: receipts and payments accounts	Charitable companies: fully accrued accounts
£25,000 - £250,000
£250,000 and above	Fully accrued accounts		Fully accrued accounts

 

External scrutiny of accounts

Where there is a requirement for audit within a charity’s governing document or any applicable law that sets out this requirement, this takes priority over the income and asset thresholds outlined below.

 

Gross income	Scotland		England and Wales
Less than £25,000	Non-company charities: independent examination by a person with requisite skills (where receipts and payments accounts are prepared)	Charitable companies:  independent examination by a qualified person	N/A
£25,000 - £250,000			Independent examination by a person with requisite skills
£250,000 - £500,000	Independent examination by a qualified person		Independent examination by a qualified person
Over £500,000	Audit		Independent examination by a qualified person
Over £1,000,000	Audit		Audit
	Audit also required where accrued accounts are prepared and gross assets are more than £3.26m for accounting periods		Audit also required where income is £250,000 or more and gross assets are more than £3.26m

Guidance for auditors and independent examiners of cross-border charities

Independent examiners acting for cross-border charities may wish to refer to the CCEW guidance on independent examination which contains example independent examiner’s reports for cross-border charities. See the guidance from CCEW for more information:

Independent examination of charity accounts: trustees (CC31)

Independent examination of charity accounts: examiners (CC32)