Restricted funds that do not tie
A grant arrived with conditions. Twelve months later nobody can show how it was spent.
Charities & CICs
Accounts that keep the board, the funder and the Commission calm.
Charity SORP, restricted funds and a treasurer who is not doing this at midnight.
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What this sector actually gets wrong
Not-for-profits live on trust. Messy restricted funds, late filings or a Gift Aid file that does not tie out can undo a year of programme work. We act for charities, CICs and community groups in Lancashire and Cheshire that need SORP-aware accounts and a named accountant who has sat through a trustee meeting.
Treasurers who did not sign up for this
A volunteer with a day job should not be the year-end plan.
Funder packs that take a fortnight
You need figures in their format, not a generic P&L.
You probably need this if
The charities, CICs and community groups who call us
- Restricted funds live in one bank account and a memory
- A funder has asked for a pack you cannot produce this week
- Gift Aid does not tie to the donor records
- The treasurer is a volunteer with a day job
Not for Profit
Who we act for
Registered charities
SORP accounts, and an examination or (through our partner firm) an audit that fits the thresholds.
CICs and community groups
Community interest, not a company pretending to be one.
Tired treasurers
The board still governs. We do the midnight work.
What sits in the monthly fee.
4 lines, all included
- SORP-aware year end
- Incoming resources, restricted and unrestricted, presented as trustees expect.
- Independent examination
- Where an audit is not required, an examination that still has teeth.
- Gift Aid
- Claims that match the donor records.
- Board papers
- A pack a non-finance trustee can actually read.
Then the calendar takes over.
- 01
Map the funds
Every pot, every condition.
- 02
Monthly or quarterly close
So year end is a check, not an excavation.
- 03
File and brief
Commission, Companies House, and a 20-minute trustee walkthrough.
From the files
The next grant application went out with figures the funder did not send back.
What actually happened
A Lancashire CIC that had three ‘pots’ and one bank account
We rebuilt the fund tracking in Xero, restated the prior year, and gave the board a one-page restricted-fund report.
In plain English
Not for Profit accounting, written properly
Trust is the product. The accounts have to match it.
Charities, CICs and community groups in Lancashire and Cheshire live on restricted funds, Gift Aid and a board that is not full of accountants. Messy pots, late filings or a SOFA that a funder cannot follow will undo a year of programme work. We prepare SORP-aware accounts, independent examinations where an audit is not required, and a one-page pack a non-finance trustee can actually read.
Grant income is not a donation with a nicer name
Performance-related grants, deferred income and conditions that last longer than the financial year. Those are the lines that go wrong. We map every pot in week one, close monthly or quarterly, then file with the Commission and Companies House without a Sunday excavation.
Not for Profit questions
Only if you cross the charity audit thresholds or your governing document demands it. Many smaller charities need an independent examination. We will tell you which.
We can do the work a treasurer usually dreads. Governance still sits with the board.
Yes, including deferred income and performance-related grants that should not hit the SOFA too early.
Both offices
One number. Whichever desk you land on.
01925 670289Or message us on WhatsApp- Warrington
- Ragan House, 674 Knutsford Road, WA4 1JHMap
info@countplus.co.uk
Monday–Friday, 9:00–17:00. Same-day response before 4pm.
Write to a human
Accounts, tax or consultancy. Pick a topic.
Countplus Accounting, since 2019
Talk to an accountant who already works with charities, CICs and community groups.
A monthly number in a minute, or a conversation with the person who would do the work.
Get a quote, or call the desk on 01925 670289, Monday to Friday, 9 to 5. Write before 4pm and a named person answers the same day.