Working for charities requires a very different mindset to that of the business world. You are often trying to disperse money as quickly as you bring it in. And with public expectations of charity performance and accountability so high, organisational issues go far beyond the problems of funding.
Mazars is highly experienced in providing relevant, sector-specific advice as laid out in the Charities Act 1993. Our team provides a wide range of services to meet the individual needs of each charity, including:
- audit and accounting expertise - including effective statutory audits, tax and VAT planning, due diligence, regulatory compliance, business plan advice, accounting system advice and receiver management.
- tax planning and advice - tax can be a grey area and charities can be caught out, owing direct tax or VAT. For example, although charities are tax exempt, there may be tax implications when transactions or activities move outside of charitable objectives.
- management advice - on issues such as sound governance, social reporting, viable business plans, IT systems, acquisitions and disposal and good management.
- mergers - we recently merged two rough sleeper charities. One was very old, but good at fund-raising; the other was younger and more dynamic with cash-flow problems.
- social reporting - funders increasingly want to fund outcomes that make differences in people’s lives, rather than charity programmes. Our work in this area has given us a valuable insight into this emerging science.
