This section includes a series of documents already issued by the General Synod Office to assist Vestry members deal with the specific requirements of the regulations. There are also links to the various pages on the Office of the Scottish Charity Regulator (OSCR) website.
The documents included in this section are in PDF format only meantime. It is intended that revised versions of the documents will be made available in Word and Excel formats to assist congregations prepare their 2008 accounts and returns to OSCR.
Information Note (October 2007 Edition)
Uploaded 14 February 2008
This Information Note introduces and highlights some of the implications for congregations of the Charities and Trustee Investment (Scotland) Act 2005. The Information Note will be regularly reviewed and updated to reflect current guidance. Please note that OSCR has issued a Guide to the Charities References in Documents (Scotland) Regulations 2007 during February 2008 and this should be read in conjunction with guidance shown in paragraph 10 in the Information Note.
Accounts Pack
Uploaded 23 February 2008
The following documents were included in the pack issued to treasurers:
- Covering Memorandum
- St Worship’s - simple style of Receipts and Payments Accounts that will be particularly helpful to small Charges.
- St Albion’s - a slightly more detailed style of Receipts and Payments Accounts which was used as case study at the seminars. Working through the case study and the final version of the accounts prepared should be helpful to Charges with different funds and larger levels of income and expenditure to account for in their accounts.
- Receipts and Payment Accounts Checklists - A set of four checklists to help monitor and record progress on the completion of the accounts.
- Receipts and Payment Accounts Guidance Notes - Some notes to assist in the preparation of Receipts and Payment Accounts.
- St Mary’s, Anytown - Will be helpful to the Charges involved in preparing fully accrued/SORP compliant accounts. Guidance Notes for SORP compliant accounts included.
- Independent Examination - Some notes to assist in the preparation of the independent examination of accounts. The aim of such external scrutiny is to give readers a degree of confidence in the words and figures presented in the accounts and to confirm that they have been prepared in accordance with the appropriate regulations and accounting guidance.
- Independent Examiner’s Checklist - A sample Independent Examiner’s Checklist for Receipts and Payment Accounts is included. It provides the trustees with some background information on the areas to be covered during the independent examination.
Office of the Scottish Charity Regulator (OSCR)
Uploaded 23 February 2008
The OSCR website is a useful source of information on issues relating to charity accounting and other charity matters. The following documents on the website may be of particular interest to Vestry members:
Duties of charity trustees under the Charities and Trustee Investment (Scotland) Act 2005 - OSCR issued guidance during August 2006 on the duties of charity trustees under the Charities and Trustee Investment (Scotland) Act 2005.
Annual Monitoring and Accounting - Since April 2006, all charities are required to submit their accounts to OSCR with their Annual Return form and (where issued) the supplementary Monitoring Return form. Submission will take place according to the charity’s financial year end. OSCR sends out Annual Return Forms soon after a charity’s Accounting Period End Date. Charities must submit accounts for the Accounting Period End Date and send them to OSCR at the same time as the completed Annual Return form. Detailed Guidance Notes are provided to assist with completion of the Monitoring Return.
Charities References in Documents (Scotland) Regulations 2007 - OSCR issued guidance on the Charities References in Documents (Scotland) Regulations 2007 during January 2008. As well as outlining the information which must be stated on certain documents specified in the Regulations, this guidance offers practical examples of the type of documents which must comply with the Regulations, indicating a requirement that is mandatory by law. The guide also lists examples of documents which it is recommended should comply with the Regulations, although this in not a legal requirement.
Files available for download:
