Parish Accounts and Reporting
Every PCC needs to prepare accounts, and report on its activities to people in the parish. As a PCC is a charity anyone has a right to ask for a copy of the accounts. Guidance about the form and content of accounts is contained in the book 'The Charities Act 1993 and the PCC' 3rd edition 2006
Since this book, and the shorter version that focuses solely on receipts and payments accounts, was published the income thresholds above which accruals accounts must be prepared have increased from £100,000 to £250,000. PCCs with income below £250,000 may opt to use accruals accounting, and this is the better option to fulfil the obligation for accountability to our wider community.
The role of PCC treasurer is very important, and treasurers need to be people with a strong sense for numbers, an eye for detail and good organisational skills. However finance is the responsibility of the whole PCC and a treasurer should not be left to feel that money is their responsibility alone. The national church website Parish Resources has some very helpful information about the role of treasurer, the skills someone needs in that role, and some advice about good practice. This can be found at www.parishresources.org.uk under the section called For Treasurers.
Accounts are prepared for each legal parish. Where there is a single parish and with more than one place of worship the accounts that meet the statutory requirements must be produced at the parish level not that of the individual churches. These can produce accounts to help with budgeting and accountability to the congregation at the individual churches, but the statutory financial accounts should be done for the parish as a whole.
The Association of Church Accountants and Treasurers, ACAT, also provide useful information and support for PCC treasurers who join their organisation. Further information can be found at www.acat.uk.com
As well as preparing accounts PCCs are asked to make returns that are used by the National Church for statistics about church attendance (Statistics for Mission form) and parish finances (Return of Parish Finance). These forms are now online.
Further guidance on other parish financial issues can be found on the Parish Resources website . This includes information on issues such as parish reserves, budgeting and funding guides.
Some useful tools!
Example Annual Report (PDF 35.34kb)
The Charities Act 1993 and the PCC 3rd Edition (PDF 964.08kb)
Budget Example (PDF 13.87kb)
How to prepare a Parish Budget (PDF 52.69kb)
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