Blog: A friendly reminder to file your charity’s annual return on time
By Cristiana Lobato
As Monitoring and Compliance Officer at the Charity Commission for Northern Ireland, I wanted to send a friendly reminder to all registered charities (excluding newly registered ones) with a financial year ending 31 December 2024: the 31 October deadline for submitting your annual monitoring return, accounts and reports is fast approaching.
So far, just under 700 charities - about 34% of the 2,057 due to file - have already submitted. A big thank you to those who’ve filed early. It really helps us keep things running smoothly. But if your charity hasn’t submitted yet, now’s the time to get started.
From my experience working with charities, I know how easy it is to underestimate how long it takes to prepare and upload documents. That’s why we’re encouraging everyone to start early and avoid the last-minute rush. Here are a few practical tips to help:
- Start now – the monitoring and compliance team is here to help, but, we have limited resources so response times may be slower closer to the deadline.
- Check your documents – make sure your accounts and reports meet the required format. We’ve got guidance online to help.
- Respect GDPR – please don’t include personal information unless it’s legally required or you’ve got consent.
- Plan for hiccups – tech issues or delays in getting sign-off can cause unnecessary stress, and the deadline is set in the law so we can’t give extensions.
- Reach out – If you’re unsure, contact us or one of the helper groups listed on our website.
- Keep your status green – the traffic light system on the register of charities shows how up-to-date your charity is. Filing on time keeps your status green, which reflects well to funders and the public.
You can submit your return here, and if you’re having trouble logging in, check out our help sheet.
Let’s work together to keep our charity sector strong, transparent, and compliant.