Resources / Charity annual return preparation checklist
Charity annual return preparation checklist
The annual return is due 10 months after your financial year end, and whether you filed on time is displayed publicly on the register — it's the first thing many funders look at. The return itself is mostly assembly; the pain is hunting for the pieces. Gather these first.
Gather before you start
- Approved accounts for the year (and the independent examiner's or auditor's report where required)
- Trustees' annual report, including the public-benefit statement
- Total income and expenditure, and the split the return asks for (government grants/contracts, overseas income and spend)
- Current trustee list — matching what the Commission already holds (fix mismatches first)
- Staff and volunteer numbers; any employee earning over the disclosure threshold
- Safeguarding answers: policies in place, DBS checks where required, any serious incidents reported
- Details of any trading subsidiary, connected-party transactions or trustee payments
The traps
- The questions change. Check the current year's question guide — don't reuse last year's answer sheet blind.
- "Received" ≠ "submitted". Filing accounts at Companies House (for charitable companies) does not file them with the Commission — they're separate.
- Trustee mismatches block you. If the register still lists someone who left in 2024, resolve it before the deadline week, not during it.
- Serious incidents. The return asks whether anything reportable happened and whether you reported it — the honest answer is much cheaper when the incident was reported at the time.
Timing rule of thumb: accounts approved at the first board meeting after year-end audit/examination → return filed the same month → at least two months of slack retained. If the deadline is doing the scheduling, the schedule is backwards.
Scope: registered charities in England and Wales with income over £10,000 (all CIOs must file regardless of income). Thresholds and questions are those current at the reviewed date above — always check the live guidance.