Working With Charities

PracticeFlow supports a range of UK charity structures. The organisation type determines how the charity is added, the external regulator links available and which Smart Tasks apply.

See Organisation Types for more information about the different organisation structures available in PracticeFlow.

Adding a charity

Where the charity has a Companies House number, the best way to add it is using the Companies House search.

Go to Organisations > Add Organisation and search by name or Companies House registration number.

This applies to:

• Charitable Companies
• CIOs
• SCIOs

Select the organisation and PracticeFlow will import the information available from Companies House. You can then add or amend any other details before saving.

Charitable Companies

A company with a full Companies House registration is not automatically assumed to be a charity.

Add or import the company in the normal way, then switch Charity on and enter the Charity Number.

PracticeFlow will then treat the organisation as a Charitable Company while retaining its full Companies House connection.

If the company already exists in PracticeFlow, there is no need to create another organisation. Open the existing record, switch Charity on and add the charity information.

CIOs and SCIOs

CIOs and SCIOs have Companies House numbers and can be found using the Companies House search, although their Companies House listings are more limited than those of normal companies.

PracticeFlow identifies the organisation type from the Companies House information.

For both types, the charity indicator is set automatically and, where available, the charity number is also imported.

Charitable Trusts and Charitable Associations

Charitable Trusts and Charitable Associations do not have Companies House registrations and so need to be added manually.

Select the appropriate Organisation Type and enter the organisation name and charity details, including the Charity Number and relevant filing information.

Charity register links

The Charity Number provides a direct link from the organisation to the relevant charity register.

PracticeFlow supports links to:

• Charity Commission for England & Wales
• Office of the Scottish Charity Regulator (OSCR)
• Charity Commission for Northern Ireland

The charity register is linked for ease of access, not synced. PracticeFlow does not currently import or update information from the charity registers.

Where the organisation is linked to Companies House, Companies House information is updated separately through the Companies House sync.

Charity Annual Filing Smart Task

The Charity Annual Filing Smart Task manages the annual reporting cycle for a charity.

Depending on the charity type and its circumstances, the annual process may include:

• annual accounts
• Trustees’ Annual Report
• independent examination or audit
• trustee approval
• annual return or monitoring return
• submission to the relevant charity regulator

PracticeFlow applies the appropriate 9 or 10 month filing deadline automatically based on the organisation type and jurisdiction.

Charitable Companies

Charitable Companies retain the normal Accounts and Confirmation Statement Smart Tasks for their Companies House requirements.

The Charity Annual Filing Smart Task covers the additional annual charity reporting requirements.

Other charity types

For CIOs, SCIOs, Charitable Trusts and Charitable Associations, the Charity Annual Filing Smart Task can cover the full annual charity accounts and reporting process.

The separate Companies House Accounts and Confirmation Statement Smart Tasks do not apply to these organisation types.

Charity Annual Filing checklist

PracticeFlow includes a checklist template for the Charity Annual Filing Smart Task.

It covers the main stages of the annual process, including accounting and reporting requirements, scrutiny thresholds, accounts, Trustees’ Annual Report, independent examination or audit where required, trustee approval, HMRC filing where applicable and submission to the charity regulator.

The checklist is intended as a general starting point. It can be amended, items can be removed, or your firm can create its own checklist to reflect its procedures and the requirements of individual charities.

Setting the filing period

To generate a Charity Annual Filing task, PracticeFlow requires:

• a Year End date, and
• either a Charity Annual Filing Last Made Up To date or Trading Start Date.

Where available, enter the Last Made Up To date. This identifies the latest annual filing period already completed and allows PracticeFlow to generate the next task from the correct period.

If Last Made Up To is not entered, PracticeFlow uses the Trading Start Date together with the Year End to establish the first filing period. If the charity has been operating for several years, this may result in historical filing periods being created.

These details can also be added or amended after the organisation has been saved.

Tax Smart Tasks

Tax Return and Tax Payment Smart Tasks are switched off by default for charities.

They can be enabled where the charity has an HMRC filing or payment requirement.

Charitable Trusts use Trust Self Assessment and therefore have different tax return deadline rules from the other charity organisation types.

Community Interest Companies (CICs)

CICs are not charities, but are often grouped alongside charities and other social-purpose organisations.

CICs use the normal Accounts Smart Task. Their annual CIC34 Community Interest Company Report is filed with the accounts at Companies House, so you can add a CIC34 item to the standard Accounts checklist or create a separate Accounts checklist for CIC clients.