Annual reporting deadline reminder for charities

Charities with an annual reporting deadline of 31 January 2023 have just under two weeks to submit their annual return to the Charity Commission for Northern Ireland.

Registered charities, which have financial years ending 31 March 2022 and were registered after May 2019, must submit their annual reporting information to the regulator by the end of January - no later than 10 months after the end of their financial year.

While this deadline only affects 140 Northern Ireland charities, there are a further 2,013 charities which were registered by the Commission prior to May 2019 which also have a financial year ending 31 March 2022.  Although these annual returns are not legally required, the regulator is encouraging these charities to file their annual reporting information voluntarily.

“Annual reporting is a vital part of the work of each and every charity in Northern Ireland, supporting them in sharing information on their activities and finances with the public, including their own supporters, services users and funders,” advised Orla Waterson, Commission Monitoring and Compliance Manager.

“Charities which wait until the last minute to file their annual return run the risk of not having the right documents or information ready and could end up missing their deadline,” she continued.

“In issuing this reminder, I encourage charities to take some time to ensure they have all they need to hand – not only will this help the process go smoothly, but there have also been some recent changes to the annual reporting form they should be aware of before beginning.”

The recent changes include the addition of six new question areas related to risk areas such as safeguarding, the processing of personal data and fundraising. The return is streamlined by income, with smaller charities required to complete fewer questions than larger charities.

All charities must also now provide contact details for the trustees including their individual email address and mobile telephone number. This is a key step in the Commission’s commitment to communicate and engage better with individual charity trustees in matters relating to their charity.

The Commission has produced new guidance on the annual monitoring return. This is a practical guide that sets out what you need to have to hand before commencing the return, and only takes about 10 minutes to read. ‘ARR05 How to complete the Annual Monitoring Return – 10 minute guide’ can be found on the Commission’s website here.

“Charity trustees often delegate the task of filing the annual return to a single trustee, another person within the charity or to someone external to the charity,” Orla added.

“This is understandable but please remember that charity trustees are the ones with the ultimate, overall responsibility. They should be aware of the information requirements within the return, satisfied with the information provided on their behalf and have good oversight that the return is competed and submitted on time,” she concluded.

For more information on annual reporting or to view the Northern Ireland register of charities visit www.charitycommissionni.org.uk

Ends

For more information, please contact Shirley Kernan, Commission Communications Officer, on telephone: 028 3832 0169 or email: shirley.kernan@charitycommissionni.org.uk

Notes to editors

The Charity Commission for Northern Ireland is the independent regulator of charities in Northern Ireland, established under the Charities Act (Northern Ireland) 2008.

The Commission has statutory objectives to ensure trustees comply with their legal obligations in managing charities, and to increase public trust and confidence in charities.