Have you received an email from the Commission?

The Charity Commission for Northern Ireland has this week issued emails to 2,036 charity trustees to highlight the new facility on the annual reporting system to “backfill” charity accounts and reports for financial years beginning before 1 April 2022.

In recent years, some charities have not been under a legal duty to submit their accounts and reports to the Commission each year. However, this has now changed with all charities legally required to report annually to the Commission – for further information on the financial years to which this applies please click here.

While it is now a legal requirement for all registered charities to submit their accounts and reports each year, the Commission would also encourage charities to backfill accounts and reports for years which they may not have had to submit reports, if this is a feasible option for them. The backfilling of accounts and reports is not a legal requirement but is considered to be best practice by the regulator and would support the charity in demonstrating it is open, transparent and accountable to the public - including the charity’s own supporters, funders and service users.

Please note that if you choose to ‘skip’ the submission of the annual monitoring return for previous years, you will not be able to complete that annual monitoring return or submit accounts and reports for those years at a later date.

As highlighted in the email, the Commission has developed a system which will allow charities to “backfill” accounts and reports for financial years prior to those beginning before 1 April 2022. Further information on this is available in the video, online here, which has been shared with relevant charities via the email.