[skip to content]

Producing year-end receipts and payments accounts

Download this page as a pdf

 

Keeping records

Receipts (income received) - all bank transactions should be supported by records and bank or building society statements and these should be made available to the independent reviewer/examiner.

Payments - these must be supported by receipts or signed petty-cash slips, and clearly numbered. This reference must be recorded against the transaction in the records. These must be made available to the independent reviewer/examiner.

When preparing the annual accounts statement please bear in mind the following.

  • All receipts and payments must be shown in full. However, when calculating in which band your income/expenditure reporting requirement falls, the amount corresponding to the annual subscriptions paid with the census form can be deducted from the total income and total expenditure. Weekly subscriptions to pay for unit expenses should be counted.
  • All bank accounts which relate to the general purposes of the unit must be combined into one annual statement. General purposes include camp, holiday, fundraising and Trading accounts.
  • The same rule applies to the area accounts, but a District or Division does not have to combine the accounts of its Friends of Guiding group into its annual statement. If a group has its own constitution and has almost complete control over its fundraising and distribution, in consultation with the appropriate adult members of Girlguiding UK, it keeps its own accounts and produces its own annual accounts statement within the same guidelines as a unit.
 

Statement of public benefit

The [County] is a branch of Girlguiding UK, which with its branches forms the United Kingdom's largest voluntary organisation for girls and young women. A report on Girlguiding UK's public benefit activities during the previous year can be found in its latest Annual Report. 

The [County] has continued to provide its own public benefit activities in particular by providing organisational and administrative support and training to subsidiary branches of Girlguiding UK within the County, and organising activities principally for the benefit of those branches, and also promoting more broadly the charitable objects of Girlguiding UK for the benefit of girls and young women.

 

Statement of assets and liabilities

Guiding units must comply with a new charity accounting requirement to produce a statement of assets and liabilities at the end of the year (not applicable in Scotland, information and advice can be given by Scottish HQ). This is a simple statement to complete, and it should be prepared along the lines of the receipts and payments form outlined on the Finance and insurance page. It should include the following:

  • Cash and bank balances - these will be the same figures that are included on your receipts and payments account.
  • Equipment and other assets - land or buildings, investments and any valuable equipment should be recorded. In order to include these, it would help to keep a record of any relevant expenditure on equipment during the year. Cost or current value need be shown only if it is known.
  • Any other amounts, which are owed either to the unit or by the unit, at the year-end.

Units with annual income or expenditure exceeding £10,000 must have an independent examination of their accounts. You should seek advice on this from your County, Division or District Treasurer as it involves a more formal examination of the accounts than the required independent review for income below £10,000.

 

Units with a separate endowment or restricted fund

A unit can have more than one distinct fund. Most units will have only a general fund, which can be used for any of the general purposes of the unit (including camps, holidays and outings). Some units may also have either an endowment fund, which is permanent capital and from which only income can ever be spent, or a restricted fund which is held in trust for some special purpose rather than for the general purposes of the unit.

The existence of these different funds must be evident from the accounts statements. The receipts and payments account should either be presented with different columns for each distinct fund, or a separate receipts and payments account should be prepared for each fund. The statement of assets and liabilities should show which fund an asset or liability belongs to.

 

Branch Associations

Members of Branch Associations should follow local legislation.

 

Further help

Any queries or problems should be addressed in the first instance to your local Commissioner. If she is unable to help, she will refer you to the appropriate person at your County, Country or Region, or CHQ.

At the end of the year, a statement similar to the independent examiner’s report form, outlined on the Finance and insurance page, should be prepared.

Page last updated: 12/22/2011