Preparing for Your Charity Year-End and Independent Examination
As your charity’s financial year comes to a close, it’s important to be organised and prepared for the Independent Examination process. At Beeston-Clarke Accountants, we help charities with an income under £1 million navigate this critical part of the year with confidence and clarity.
What is the Year-End Process?
The year-end is your opportunity to take stock of your charity’s finances, ensure all transactions are recorded correctly, and prepare for submission of your annual accounts. Whether you manage your books in-house or work with a finance team, here’s a checklist to get started:
- All financial transactions are entered into your bookkeeping system
- All bank accounts are fully reconciled
- Funding allocations reviewed and confirmed any year end remaining balances
- Individual reports for funders prepared
- A clear summary of restricted funds, including income, expenditure, and year-end balances
- All grant funding and contracts documentation is available
- Payroll reports retrieved from your bureau (if applicable) or your software
- Any outsourced finance support informed of internal deadlines
These steps not only ensure accurate financial reporting, but they also form the basis of what your Independent Examiner will review.
Planning for the Independent Examination
It’s essential to agree a start date with your Independent Examiner in advance. From there, work backwards to set internal deadlines to gather everything needed.
The Independent Examination provides external assurance that your charity’s funds are properly accounted for and that you are meeting your legal duties as trustees. For charities with an income over £250,000, the examination must be carried out by a member of one of the accountancy bodies on the Charities Act 2011 approved list – make sure you check their qualifications.
Unlike a full audit, an Independent Examination is a more ‘light touch’ form of scrutiny, but it still requires transparency and well-kept records. The examiner will need access to more than just your numbers - they’ll want to see supporting documentation that reflects how your charity is run and check that your processes and procedures are being followed.
Documents Your Examiner May Request:
- Access to cloud-based or manual bookkeeping records
- Trustee meeting minutes (for the full year and up to the date the accounts are signed
- Grant agreements, budgets, and service level agreements documentation
- Year-end bank statements and reconciliations (including PayPal, Stripe and credit cards)
- Purchase invoices
- Payroll reports
- Details of restricted funds, bad debts, prepayments, and income in advance
- Gift Aid claims, VAT records, and stock or investment valuations (if applicable)
- Risk registers, and any related party transactions
- And probably more!
Each charity is unique, so there may be other documents requested depending on your activities and circumstances.
Need support?
If this all feels a bit overwhelming - we’re here to help. At Beeston-Clarke Accountants, we work exclusively with charities, bringing expert knowledge and a friendly, down-to-earth approach to your financial year-end. View our step-by-step guide here or get in touch at team@beestonclarke.co.uk to find out how we can support your charity.