Toni Hunter's SuperBlog

The Finance Act 2010 introduced a new definition which Charities (and Community Amateur Sports Clubs) will need to adopt in order to ensure it remains entitled to tax relief.

Management Condition

The new definition introduces the term ‘management condition’ and states that managers must be deemed to be fit and proper persons to manage the charity.  The term manager is deemed to relate to any person who has day to day control over the running of the charity and any persons who can assert influence over its running. 

Fit and Proper Declaration

An individual is considered ‘fit and proper’ if they ensure that charity funds and tax reliefs are used only for charitable purposes.  HMRC have advised that all managers should sign a declaration as to whether they are ‘fit and proper’ they suggest a person declares the following:

1. I am not disqualified from acting as a charity trustee
2. I have not been convicted of an offence involving deception or dishonesty
3. I have not been involved in tax fraud
4. I am not an undischarged bankrupt
5. I have not made compositions or arrangements with my creditors from which I have not been discharged
6. I have not been removed from serving as a charity trustee or been stopped from acting in a management position within a charity
7. I have not been disqualified from serving as a Company Director
8. I will at all times ensure the charity’s funds and charity tax reliefs received by this organisation are used only for charitable purposes

More paperwork….

For most people this will not be too onerous a declaration and will only be a question of form filling to ensure you have the paperwork in place should it ever be requested. Red tape that could prevent your charitable status from being challenged, which could have catastrophic tax consequences.

The information provided in this blog illustrates my opinions and experiences, it does not constitute advice and I do not accept responsibility for any actions taken or refrained from as a result of reading this post.

On Wednesday 24^th March the Chancellor, Alistair Darling gave what could be his last budget. Many are saying how the budget was a waste of time, being so close to an election and the lack of assistance to small businesses or real attempt to recover from the significant budget deficit certainly supports this view.

Businesses however, should consider reviewing their own budgets and make sure they are set appropriately. As someone a lot wiser than me once said ‘failing to plan is planning to fail’.  Just as sinful is spending time creating a business plan and annual budget and not reviewing, updating or revising them on a regular basis.

Budgets are an important tool for anyone in business and at least an annual review should be considered. Many businesses approach their accounting year end at this time of year so it is an ideal time to appraise how your business is doing and what you wish it to achieve in the future.

Here are a few tips to consider when reviewing your budgets for the year:-

• Are you producing management accounts on a regular basis, if not, what financial information can you easily extract from your accounting system that would help you monitor the business?
• Business forecasts and cash flow projections should be prepared for a minimum of twelve months giving you something to monitor performance against;
• You should ensure budgets are realistic in the current climate,
• Are there any costs that can be trimmed back? Do you know which of your costs are fixed and which are variable, in reality in the short term most costs are fixed, if you need to go through a cost cutting exercise you need to know which costs can be varied and when.
• Is cash flow behaving as expected? Are you likely to need further banking facilities at some point in the future?  Are your debtors and creditors being managed appropriately?
• If you are selling a product, it is important to know at what point the business is generating a profit, following the recession with pressure on prices the break even point can be higher than you realise, you need to be aware of this.
• If you are selling a service, do you know how many of hours of time you are invoicing out a month, you may feel busy but is it resulting in billable income.
• How are you generating new business, and what is this costing you in terms of time and resources.  Are you being realistic about how much new business can be won?

Focus your attention

Reviewing your businesses budget can be a very valuable exercise.  It will focus your attention on how your business is doing and help you to keep control of costs.  It should also give you a target to achieve for the future.

If you are in business on your own, it may be beneficial to speak through your budgets with someone who understands your business, like your accountant, for example as this may help you to look at the bigger picture, question your processes or brainstorm ideas.

The information provided in this blog illustrates my opinions and experiences, it does not constitute advice and I do not accept responsibility for any actions taken or refrained from as a result of reading this post.