Receipts and payments accounts: a UK treasurer’s year-end
A receipts and payments account is the year’s money in and out of the bank, grouped into headings, with the balance at each end, plus a statement of what the organisation owns and owes. In England and Wales a charity that is not a company may present its accounts this way while its gross income is £500,000 or less, for financial years ending on or after 30 September 2026 (£250,000 or less before). In Scotland the limit is under £250,000, and in Northern Ireland £250,000 or less.
What goes in it
Two statements. The first is a statement of receipts and payments: the money that came into and went out of the organisation during the year, grouped into headings, with each kind of fund kept apart. The second is a statement of assets and liabilities at the year end: money owed to the organisation, bills it has not yet paid, the equipment and any investments it holds.
There are no accruals. A receipt is counted when the money arrives and a payment when it leaves, so a grant received in March counts in March even if it pays for work in May. That is what makes the format readable at an AGM — and why it stops being allowed once a charity is large enough that timing matters.
Who can use it
In England and Wales, a charity that is not a company — a trust, an unincorporated association or a CIO — may prepare receipts and payments accounts while its gross income is £250,000 or less for financial years ending before 30 September 2026, and £500,000 or less for years ending on or after that date, unless its governing document asks for accruals accounts. Above the limit, accruals accounts are required.
A charitable company prepares accruals accounts at any size; company law does not allow receipts and payments. In Scotland, OSCR allows receipts and payments for a non-company charity with gross income under £250,000; in Northern Ireland, the Charity Commission for Northern Ireland allows them at £250,000 or less.
A club or society that is not a charity has no statutory format. Its own constitution says what the treasurer presents, and receipts and payments is the format most members find easiest to read. In Australia a small charity — revenue under $500,000 — is not required to submit a financial report to the ACNC and its basis can be cash or accrual.
The year-end, step by step
Get the bank statements for the whole year, and check that the opening balance is last year’s closing balance. Give every line a heading and a fund. Total the receipts and the payments under each heading. Check that the opening balance plus receipts less payments equals the bank balance on the last day, explaining anything in transit.
Then list what the organisation owned and owed at the year end for the statement of assets and liabilities: money still to come in, bills not yet paid, equipment, deposits. Send the accounts to your independent examiner if one is needed, have the trustees or committee approve them, and present them at the AGM or file them with your regulator.
A worked club year
Opening balance £3,640. Receipts: membership subscriptions £3,600, match and entry fees £980, bar takings £1,800, and a £4,000 grant for pitch drainage — £10,380 in all. Payments: drainage works £2,650, bar stock £1,450, venue hire £1,320, kit £1,250, referees £650, league fees £640 and insurance £600 — £8,560 in all. Closing balance: £3,640 + £10,380 − £8,560 = £5,460, which should be the bank balance on the last day.
By fund, the general fund went from £2,140 to £2,610, the restricted drainage grant from nil to £1,350, and the designated minibus money stayed at £1,500. Those three closing balances add up to the same £5,460 — the cross-check that tells you nothing has fallen between the funds. Restricted and unrestricted funds explains why the split matters.
Independent examination: when, and who
In England and Wales, a charity’s accounts need an independent examination or an audit once gross income is over £25,000 for years ending before 30 September 2026, and over £40,000 for years ending on or after it. The examiner must be professionally qualified once income is over £250,000 (before) or £500,000 (from). An audit is required over £1 million before, £1.5 million from — or over £250,000 with assets over £3.26 million before, over £500,000 with assets over £5 million from.
An independent examination is a lighter check than an audit: the examiner looks for specific matters and does not give a “true and fair” opinion. The examiner cannot be a trustee, and should not be the person who keeps the books. Whatever the size, the governing document or a funder can ask for more.
Unchanged by the 2026 thresholds: a registered charity sends an annual return within 10 months of its year end when income is over £10,000, or whatever its income if it is a CIO, and sends the trustees’ report and accounts with it once income is over £25,000.
Take it further
Every fund’s opening balance, receipts, payments and closing balance for any period, as CSV and in the year-end pack.
Try the receipts & payments →Paste a bank statement CSV and get receipts and payments by category, with the closing balance — for club and charity treasurers.
2Fin for club treasurers →The club’s money in books of its own, ready for the AGM
Receipts and payments account →A small charity’s or club’s cash-based accounts: money in, money out, and the balance.
Independent examination →The lighter check of a smaller charity’s accounts, instead of an audit.
CIO (charitable incorporated organisation) →A charity with its own legal identity, registered only with the Charity Commission.
Common questions
What is the difference between receipts and payments and accruals accounts?
Timing. Receipts and payments counts money when it moves through the bank; accruals accounts count income when it is earned and costs when they are incurred, so money owed at the year end in either direction is included. Accruals accounts follow the Charities SORP and are required for charitable companies and for charities over the income limit.
Does a club that is not a charity have to produce accounts?
Its own constitution decides. An unincorporated club has no statutory format; the constitution says what the treasurer presents, usually at the AGM, and whether a member or an outsider checks the accounts first. A club that pays Corporation Tax on trading or investment profits keeps the records HMRC expects for that too.
Who can be a small charity’s independent examiner?
An independent person the trustees reasonably believe has the ability and practical experience to do it. They cannot be a trustee, and should not be maintaining the records they examine. Above £500,000 of income for years ending on or after 30 September 2026 (£250,000 before), they must be a member of one of the accountancy bodies the Charities Act lists.
When does a charity in England and Wales file its annual return?
Within 10 months of the end of its financial year, when its income is over £10,000 or it is a CIO. The trustees’ annual report and accounts go to the Charity Commission too once income is over £25,000. These two thresholds did not change on 30 September 2026.
What if the closing balance does not match the bank statement?
Find the difference before anyone signs. The usual causes are an opening balance that is not last year’s closing figure, a line typed twice or missed, and items in transit — a cheque written but not yet cleared, or takings banked after the year end. List anything in transit so the reconciliation shows exactly how the two figures meet.
Sources
- Charity Commission — Threshold changes at a glance — every accounts threshold before and from 30 Sep 2026; updated 16 Sep 2026, read 11 Oct 2026
- Charity Commission — Charity accounts: rules for trusts and unincorporated associations — the two statements a receipts and payments account is made of; updated 16 Sep 2026, read 11 Oct 2026
- Charity Commission — Charity accounts: rules for charitable companies — all charitable companies prepare accruals accounts; read 11 Oct 2026
- Charity Commission — Charity accounts: rules for CIOs — receipts and payments up to £500,000 for years ending on or after 30 Sep 2026; read 11 Oct 2026
- Charity Commission — Independent examination of charity accounts: guidance for trustees (CC31) — what an examination is, and who can carry it out; read 11 Oct 2026
- GOV.UK — Send a charity’s annual return — within 10 months; income over £10,000 or a CIO; read 11 Oct 2026
- OSCR — Receipts and payments accounts — Scotland: non-company charities under £250,000; read 11 Oct 2026
- Charity Commission for Northern Ireland — Annual reporting — Northern Ireland: accruals accounts over £250,000; read 11 Oct 2026
- ACNC — Charity size and financial reporting — small charities under $500,000: no financial report required, cash or accrual; read 11 Oct 2026
General information computed from published government guidance, not personal tax advice.
More on clubs, ptas & charities
Restricted funds are money given for a stated purpose — by a donor, a funder or the terms of an appeal — and they can be spent only on that purpose. Unrestricted funds are everything else: money the trustees or committee can spend on anything within the organisation’s purposes. A designated fund sits inside the unrestricted money: the trustees have earmarked it for something, and they can release it again.
The treasurer handover checklist: what to pass on, and whenA clean handover is a reconciled bank balance, books that already belong to the organisation rather than to you, the bank mandate changed with the new treasurer added before you come off, every login and paper passed on, and each restricted fund explained — what is left, and what it is for. Do it in the weeks around the AGM, while the outgoing treasurer is still there to answer questions.
How a small charity claims Gift Aid, step by stepA charity or CASC recognised by HMRC claims back 25p for every £1 an individual gives, when the donor has made a Gift Aid declaration and paid at least as much UK Income Tax or Capital Gains Tax as will be claimed. Keep a declaration for each donor, list the gifts on HMRC’s schedule spreadsheet — up to 1,000 lines — and submit it through Charities Online within 4 years of the end of the financial period the gift arrived in.
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