Now that you have formed your charity for should take the following actions:

  1. Bank Account – Every charity needs to have its own bank account. To open and charity bank account you will need to take the company incorporation certificate or trust deeds into the bank.
  1. Bookkeeping – It is a requirement by the Companies Act and Tax Law that up-to-date bookkeeping records are kept for all organisations including charities. HMRC recommend that these are updated once a week. We would suggest that you use an online bookkeeping system or for a very small charity our free bookkeeping spreadsheet.
  1. Charity Communications – It is important that any communications from your charity shows the charity name, number and the registered office. This includes stationery, email footers, website and business cards.
  1. Insurance – You should consider the need for the charity to have insurance. This includes, employer’s liability, public liability, and professional indemnity insurance.   You should review the need for insurance periodically.
  1. Payroll – If the charity is paying anyone then you will most likely need to register for PAYE with HMRC. Green Accountancy can take care of this for you, prepare the payslips and file your monthly RTI with HMRC.
  1. Benefits in kind – if the charity buys anything for trustees or employees including drinks and meals then there may be a benefit in kind taxable on the employees and additional employers national insurance payable by the company.
  1. VAT – If the charity is trading and sales exceed £85,000 (2018/19) for the last 12 months you have to become VAT registered. However, it may be beneficial for you to register voluntary before this time. This is particularly true if your customers are also VAT registered.
  2. Use of home as Office – If the charity uses your home for business then it may be suitable for you to make a use of home as office claim. If this is the case then you should have a written agreement in place between you and the charity.

If you would like to discuss any of this in more detail please book a chat.