What Does Your Charity Need to File? – Accounts, Independent Examination, Audit & Compliance Checker
Answer a few simple questions and get a personalised report showing the accounts you must prepare, whether you need an independent examination or a statutory audit, which SORP applies, your Charity Commission and Companies House deadlines, plus your HMRC, payroll and workplace pension obligations — with a clear compliance calendar and a plain-English explanation for every result.
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This page explains, in plain English, the rules the checker uses to decide what your charity must prepare and file. It covers the charity accounting thresholds from 30 September 2026, the new £40,000 independent examination threshold, receipts and payments accounts, SORP 2026, Charity Commission filing, Companies House, HMRC, payroll and workplace pensions.
The rules differ for charities registered in England and Wales compared with Scotland, Northern Ireland and charities regulated overseas. This checker applies England and Wales rules only.
Short answer: For financial years ending on or after 30 September 2026, a charity with gross income of more than £40,000 must normally have an independent examination (or an audit). For years ending before that date the threshold was £25,000, subject to any stricter requirement in the governing document, a funder's agreement or a Charity Commission direction.
An independent examination is a lighter-touch review carried out by an independent examiner. It is not an audit. If income exceeds £500,000 (for years ending on or after 30 September 2026), the examiner must be a professionally qualified independent examiner. Below the audit threshold an examination is usually the appropriate form of scrutiny unless a stricter requirement applies.
Source: Charity Commission and legislation.gov.uk — see the official links in your results.
Short answer: From 30 September 2026 a statutory charity-law audit is required where gross income exceeds £1,500,000, or where gross income exceeds £500,000 and gross assets exceed £5,000,000.
The change applies to financial years ending on or after 30 September 2026, not to earlier years. Note that a governing document, funding agreement, company-law requirement or a Charity Commission direction can still require an audit even where the statutory threshold is not met.
Source: legislation.gov.uk and Charity Commission guidance for England and Wales.
Short answer: For financial years ending before 30 September 2026, a charity-law audit was required where gross income exceeded £1,000,000, or where gross income exceeded £250,000 and gross assets exceeded £3,260,000.
The previous thresholds also set the independent examination trigger at more than £25,000, with professional-qualification requirements for examiners where income exceeded £250,000.
Source: legislation.gov.uk (Charities Act thresholds for England and Wales).
Short answer: For financial years ending on or after 30 September 2026, a charity with gross income over £40,000 is normally required to have its accounts independently examined (or audited). Gross income of £40,000 or less does not, by itself, trigger statutory scrutiny under charity law.
Where income exceeds £500,000 and an examination (rather than an audit) is permitted, the examination must be carried out by a professionally qualified independent examiner.
Source: Charity Commission and legislation.gov.uk.
Short answer: Receipts and payments accounts may generally be prepared by qualifying unincorporated charities and CIOs where gross income is £500,000 or less (for years ending on or after 30 September 2026; £250,000 or less for earlier years), provided the governing document does not require accrual accounts and no other rule requires them.
A charitable company limited by guarantee must not use receipts and payments accounts — it prepares accruals accounts under company law and charity accounting requirements.
Source: Charity Commission guidance on receipts and payments accounts.
Short answer: Accrual accounts are required where gross income exceeds the receipts and payments limit, where the governing document requires them, where the charity is a company, where accruals are needed for the charity's circumstances, or where the charity is required to prepare them for another reason.
Accrual accounts must be prepared in accordance with the applicable Charities SORP unless a sector-specific SORP applies.
Source: Charity Commission and the Charities SORP.
Short answer: Charities SORP 2026 applies to reporting periods starting on or after 1 January 2026. It introduces changes relating to income recognition, lease accounting, trustees' annual reporting, reserves and future plans, social investments, provisions and contingencies, and scaled disclosure by tier.
SORP 2026 uses three tiers: Tier 1 (gross income up to £500,000), Tier 2 (above £500,000 up to £15 million) and Tier 3 (above £15 million), with disclosure requirements scaled accordingly.
Source: the official Charities SORP website.
Short answer: Yes. All CIOs have annual Charity Commission filing obligations even at low income levels. This is a key difference from some unincorporated charities.
The Charity Commission filing deadline is normally 10 months after the charity's financial year end. Charities with gross income over £25,000 must generally send accounts and a Trustees' Annual Report, while the annual return obligation applies above £10,000 (these thresholds are unchanged by the 30 September 2026 accounting threshold reform).
Source: Charity Commission guidance.
Short answer: The Charity Commission filing deadline is normally 10 months after your financial year end. For example, a year end of 31 March 2027 gives a filing deadline of 31 January 2028.
The checker calculates the exact calendar date and shows what you must send, and what you must still prepare even if it does not need to be uploaded.
Source: Charity Commission guidance.
Short answer: Yes. A charitable company limited by guarantee must file accounts with Companies House as well as meeting its Charity Commission obligations. Companies House accounts are normally due 9 months after the accounting reference date for an established company, with special rules for first accounts.
Charitable companies must also file a confirmation statement, and directors have identity-verification responsibilities under current Companies House requirements. Company-law audit requirements are checked in addition to charity-law thresholds.
Source: Companies House guidance.
Short answer: Not automatically. Charities generally benefit from tax exemptions where the statutory conditions are met, but a return must be submitted when HMRC issues a notice to file or where the charity believes tax may be payable.
Where a Company Tax Return is required, the standard filing deadline is 12 months after the end of the Corporation Tax accounting period, and payment is normally due 9 months and 1 day after the period end unless quarterly instalment rules apply. Be aware of the requirement to use HMRC-recognised commercial software for filing Company Tax Returns and accounts.
Source: HMRC guidance.
Short answer: The trustees collectively retain overall responsibility for the charity's financial management and compliance. Delegating work to an accountant, treasurer, CEO or finance manager does not remove the trustees' overall responsibility.
Trustees should ensure proper accounting records exist, review financial information, approve the annual accounts and Trustees' Annual Report, ensure filings are made, maintain financial controls, monitor solvency and going concern, review reserves, comply with the governing document, and oversee tax, payroll and pension compliance.
Source: Charity Commission guidance (CC3, CC15 and related).
Short answer: No. The treasurer usually takes a lead on financial reporting, budgets, accounts, financial controls, working with accountants and liaising with the independent examiner or auditor — but the trustee board remains collectively responsible.
The checker produces a responsibility matrix setting out which role usually handles each task, while making clear that legal accountability rests with the trustee board (and, for charitable companies, additionally with the directors).
Source: Charity Commission guidance on trustee duties.
This checker is a regulatory decision engine, not just an income-threshold calculator. Every conclusion is produced by applying configurable rules drawn from the sources below, so that thresholds can be updated when the law changes without rewriting the tool.
Information reviewed by
Charity accounting specialists, Charity Accountants by Taxwise Accountancy
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Sources
Charity Commission, Companies House, HMRC, The Pensions Regulator, Charities SORP and legislation.gov.uk
This checker provides general guidance based on the information entered and the published rules for charities in England and Wales. A charity's governing document, funding arrangements, group structure, activities or individual circumstances can create additional requirements. Trustees remain responsible for ensuring that the charity complies with applicable law and should obtain professional advice where the position is uncertain or complex.