The following are some of the main variations but there are others. If you are unsure where your charity fits in please call the helpline given at the end of this publication. Charitable companies must prepare accounts under the Companies Acts and must file accounts and reports with Companies House. The requirements for the annual report are those in the Charities Act. The Charities SORP applies to companies as well as unincorporated charities.
Exempt charities have to keep proper accounting records and prepare statements of account as before.
They must provide copies to members of the public on request, but need not submit them to us. They may register if they choose, in which case they are treated as any other registered charity. If they do not register they must still produce annual accounts in the same way as a registered charity but do not have to submit them to us. The governing document of any charity may contain specific provisions about the external scrutiny of the charity's accounts. In such cases the charity must follow whichever of the statutory framework and the governing document requires the higher standard of scrutiny.