Charity accounting is not a once-a-year task. It runs from day-to-day bookkeeping through to the annual accounts, trustees' annual reports and whatever level of external scrutiny your organisation needs. Our accounting services cover the full financial year, not just the parts that are due for filing. Here is what those services include for any organisation we work with.

• Charity annual accounts prepared to the Charities SORP
• Independent examinations and charity audits
• Gift Aid claims and reconciliation
• Charity VAT, including VAT on charity shops and fundraising
• Fund accounting for restricted, unrestricted and designated funds
• Trustees' annual reports and management accounts for trustees

Each of these services is available on its own, or as part of a full accounting service, so you only pay for what your organisation needs help to manage.

Annual Accounts, Trustees' Annual Reports and SORP Compliance

We prepare your annual accounts and trustees' annual report to the standard the Charity Commission expects, and we have prepared trustees' annual reports for charities of every size and structure. That means accounts prepared to the Charities SORP, the Statement of Recommended Practice, whether your charity uses receipts and payments accounts or full accruals accounts, are always kept in line with charity compliance requirements.

From accounting periods starting on or after 1 January 2026, that also means working to Charity SORP 2026. It sorts charities into three reporting tiers by gross income, so a charity with a few thousand pounds coming in is not held to the same reporting bar as one with millions. We handle the extra detail this adds so it does not land on your desk as a surprise at year-end.

Alongside your annual accounts, we prepare your charity's annual returns for the Charity Commission and, where your charity is also a company, the filings needed at Companies House. We can also put together short trustee reports through the year, so your board sees the numbers well before the annual returns are due.

Independent Examinations and Charity Audits Handled By Specialist Accountants

If your charity's income sits between the independent examination threshold and the audit threshold, you need an independent examination rather than a full audit. We act as an independent examiner for charities across that range, and we also carry out full charity audits once income or gross assets go above the audit threshold.

From 30 September 2026, those thresholds are changing under charity law. The independent examination threshold rises from £25,000 to £40,000, and the income audit threshold rises from £1 million to £1.5 million. The asset threshold that can also trigger an audit rises from £3.26 million to £5 million. The government expects around 2,000 charities to fall out of the mandatory audit requirement altogether once this takes effect. If your charity sits near any of these figures, it is worth checking which rules apply to your next set of accounts.

Gift Aid Claims, Charity VAT and Other Charity-Specific Tax Work

A qualifying £1 donation becomes £1.25 once Gift Aid is claimed, but only if the claim is submitted correctly and the records back it up. UK charities received around £1.7 billion in Gift Aid in the year to April 2025, part of roughly £6.7 billion in total tax reliefs for charities and their donors. We handle Gift Aid claims and the record-keeping behind them, along with charity VAT questions such as VAT on charity shops, VAT on fundraising activities, and VAT partial exemption.

Corporation Tax for trading subsidiaries, intercompany transactions between a charity and its trading arm, and group charity accounts also sit under this part of our work. So does payroll for charities, including pensions and allocating staff costs correctly between funds. However you currently manage your charity's finances, we can usually slot in around it.

Fund Accounting, Grants and Financial Reporting to Funders

Restricted funds, unrestricted funds, designated funds and endowment funds each have to be tracked and reported on separately. Get this wrong, and your accounts will not reflect the charity's activities as they actually happened, or how the money was meant to be spent.

We prepare grant accounting and financial reporting for funders, including budgets set against actual expenditure, so you can show a funder exactly what their money achieved. Reconciling online fundraising platforms and donation processing fees also falls into this part of the job, and it is one that catches a lot of charities out.

Charity accounting fees vary by income, complexity, and the level of scrutiny your accounts need. Based on recent projects, an independent examination for a small or medium charity typically costs somewhere between £300 and £900.

Preparing full charity accounts alongside that adds to the total, and a full statutory audit for a larger charity generally starts from several thousand pounds. Very small charities with simple receipts and payments accounts often pay towards the lower end of the range, sometimes less. Larger charities with several income streams, staff, property or a trading subsidiary will usually sit higher.

This is a rough guide, and the actual cost varies depending on your charity's size, records and specific requirements. We give every charity a fixed, upfront quote after a free consultation, so you know the cost before any work starts. Sound financial management should not come with a nasty surprise on the invoice, and our services, compliance support, advice and guidance are all included in that fixed price, with no hidden extras to focus on later.

We start with a free consultation to understand your charity's income, structure, and what level of scrutiny your accounts need. From there, we give you a fixed quote, so there are no surprises later. As an experienced accountancy firm, we make sure the process is clear from the outset.

Once you send over your records, whether that is a full set of accruals accounts data or a simpler receipts and payments summary, we prepare your annual accounts and trustees' annual report, carry out the independent examination or audit if required, and file your annual returns with the Charity Commission and Companies House where applicable.

Throughout the year, we can also put together simple trustee reports so meetings do not turn into a guessing game about the numbers. Charity law across the sector expects trustees to understand their own finances, and short, regular reports make that much easier.

We flag any technical issues in your figures early, while there is still time to fix them, rather than at the last minute. Support does not stop once the accounts are filed either. We are on hand through the year for effective advice on anything from a new grant to a change in your charity's structure.

Our team brings genuine expertise in charity compliance, so questions about VAT, payroll or a new funding stream get a straight answer, not a guess. That is the kind of advice and guidance most charities only find once something has already gone wrong.

If you are a trustee, treasurer, or finance lead looking for a charity accountant who actually understands charity accounts, get in touch with Vexo Accounting. Book a free consultation, tell us about your charity's mission and its specific needs, and our team will come back with a free, fixed quote and clear guidance on the services you need, whether that is annual accounts, an independent examination, a full audit, or ongoing charity finance support.

Request your free quote and free consultation from Vexo Accounting today, and let our charity accountant team take charity accounting off your list of things to worry about.