Clear, compliant reporting to meet Charity Commission requirements
Every registered charity in the UK has a legal responsibility to prepare a Trustees' Annual Report. This report is a key part of your charity's year-end reporting and provides a transparent overview of your activities, achievements, governance, and financial performance.
Charity Commission
Compliant Reports
A Trustees' Annual Report is a narrative report that explains:
It sits alongside your annual accounts and helps the Charity Commission and the public understand how your charity is being run and the difference it is making. It is a key part of your overall annual reporting package.
Narrative overview of activities
Financial statements and balances
Submission to Charity Commission
Yes. All registered charities must prepare a Trustees' Annual Report as part of their statutory reporting.
Charities with income over £25,000 must submit their Trustees' Annual Report to the Charity Commission as part of their annual return.
Smaller charities must still prepare the report internally, even if they don't need to submit it to the Commission.
The report must be consistent with your annual accounts and financial records. This is why accurate bookkeeping is essential.
This is why having accurate bookkeeping for charities throughout the year is essential — the report must reflect your actual financial activity.
Most Trustees' Annual Reports include the following key sections:
Explain the purpose of your charity and what it exists to achieve.
Describe what your charity has done during the year and the impact achieved. This section demonstrates public benefit.
Summarise your financial performance, including income, expenditure, and key movements. This section must align with your charity accounts.
Include details of legal structure, trustee names, governance arrangements, and decision-making processes.
Explain how funds have been used and your reserves policy.
Outline your plans, priorities, and objectives for the coming year.
To help charities, the Charity Commission provides a free Trustees' Annual Report template based on SORP (FRS 102).
Official Charity Commission Template
The official template is available as a Word document that you can customise for your charity.
Download Template from GOV.UKThe Trustees' Annual Report is more than a compliance requirement. It plays a key role in:
Show stakeholders that your charity operates openly and with accountability.
A professional report strengthens your case when applying for grants and funding.
Demonstrates to donors and stakeholders that their contributions are well-managed.
Highlights the real-world difference your charity makes to beneficiaries.
It forms part of your full statutory reporting package alongside your accounts and filings.
Many charities struggle with preparing their Trustees' Annual Report. These issues are usually the result of weak or inconsistent bookkeeping.
Uncertainty about which sections are required
Difficulty connecting accounts to narrative
Disorganised records throughout the year
Meeting all regulatory requirements
These issues are usually the result of weak or inconsistent bookkeeping for charities, which affects both accounts and reporting accuracy.
Without accurate financial records, preparing an accurate Trustees' Annual Report becomes significantly harder.
This is why investing in proper bookkeeping services throughout the year pays dividends when it comes to annual reporting time.
While the Trustees' Annual Report is the responsibility of trustees, it relies heavily on accurate financial information and properly prepared year-end accounts.
At Charity Accountants, we support charities by ensuring the financial foundation behind your reporting is correct, compliant, and complete.
We do not usually draft the Trustees' Annual Report itself. However, we ensure your accounts and underlying financial data are accurate so trustees can complete the report confidently.
By getting the foundations right, your Trustees' Annual Report becomes significantly easier to prepare and far more accurate.
If you are preparing your Trustees' Annual Report, it is essential that your accounts and filings are correct and up to date. We can help you with:
By getting the foundations right, your Trustees' Annual Report becomes significantly easier to prepare and far more accurate.
Find answers to common questions about Trustees' Annual Reports for UK charities.
Still have questions about your Trustees' Annual Report?
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