Annual Return 2025: Charity Commission launches ‘question guide’
· Posted on: June 16th 2025 · read
The Charity Commission has produced a question guide to help charities better understand what information they will need to prepare in completing the Annual Return.
The guide covers eight section and detailed below are some of the key points regarding two of those section, Income and Spend:
Income
The components of gross income vary depending on whether a charities accounts are prepared on a receipts and payments basis of an accruals basis, but both approaches include the removal of any new endowments received in the year (as these are unavailable for spending) and the adding back of any existing endowment funds transferred into income during the year. Any gains on revaluation of fixed assets or gains on investments do not form part of gross income for these purposes.
The total value of contracts/grants is calculated by adding together the value of all the contract/grant income received from central government (being the United Kingdom government and all departments therein and associated executive agencies, and the NHS) and local authorities (being a county council, a district council, a London borough council or a parish council in England, and a county council, county borough council or community council in Wales) during the financial period.
Not for Profit
Read more about Not for ProfitRead moreSpend
Again, the definition of gross spending depends on the basis of preparation; for receipts and payments it is total payments recorded in a charity’s statement of accounts, and for accrual accounts it is total expenditure per the Statement of Financial Activities.
Only if grant making is the main way a charity carries out its purposes should it answer this question. The value of the grants made and the total value for each type of recipient is required.
In addition to the above there are also sections on, Activities outside of the United Kingdom, Trading subsidiaries, Property, Employees and volunteers, Governance, and Safeguarding and risk.
