Charity Finance Virtual Conference

Don’t miss ACCA’s 2024 Virtual Charity Finance Conference! Stay current on the latest sector developments and best practices, and gain valuable insights.

Who should attend:

This conference is essential for finance professionals working with or advising charities, as well as trustees and treasurers. It's also an excellent refresher for those who occasionally work with charitable organisations.

These events were recorded 03 and 04 October 2024

Day One

Day Two

Latest developments for Charities and Non-Profits reporting on sustainability issues

Overview

This session covers the latest developments in sustainability reporting for charities and non-profits. You'll gain insights into emerging standards, best practices, and strategies for effectively communicating your organisation's sustainability efforts to stakeholders. Stay informed on how these changes impact reporting requirements and enhance transparency in the sector.

Key features

• A recap on what is sustainability reporting- ISSB and other frameworks
• SORP framework and sustainability reporting- now and in the future
• Stakeholder interest in sustainability reporting
• Telling the story - emerging practice- some charity examples drawn from the UK and Ireland
• Next steps for trustee Boards
• Resources - incl' an ACCA Factsheet
• Delegate Q&A

Speaker

Nigel Davis

Overview

Given decision making can be so challenging for even the best of us, learn from the Master of Decision Making – Mr Walt Disney himself! A great approach to cover all angles.

Key features

• Apply this empowering approach to decision-making
• Get the foundations for action right
• Use the dreaming process of decision-making
• Make the plan a reality
• Positively stress test & challenge the decision plan
• Plan to use the Walt Disney method in your own teams for stronger decisions & outcomes
• Apply to real situations & decisions!

Speaker

Nikki Wild

Overview

This one and a half hour online course is designed for accounting professionals who produce accounts for charities. It is also suitable for those who wish to further their knowledge of charity accounting and the legislation surrounding it. The course focuses on recent changes in UK legislation over the past two years, ensuring that participants are up-to-date with the latest developments.

Key features

1. Recent Legislative Updates for Charities

• Overview of key legislative changes affecting charity accounting and reporting.
• Updates to the Charities Act 2011 and their implications for financial reporting.
• Changes to the Charities Statement of Recommended Practice (SORP).
• Introduction of new fundraising regulations and their impact on financial disclosures.
• Governance changes for charities: Key updates and responsibilities.

1. Financial Reporting and Compliance

• Overview of the latest SORP requirements for charities.
• Reporting requirements for smaller charities under the Charities Act 2022.
• Impact of COVID-19 on charity accounts: Going concern and reserves policies.
• New requirements for reporting on public benefit and impact.
• Handling donations and grants: Recent updates and best practices.

1. Financial Management and Governance

• Best practices in managing restricted and unrestricted funds.
• Updates on risk management and financial oversight for charity trustees.
• Understanding the implications of new ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance) reporting requirements.
• Implementing effective financial controls in response to legislative changes.
• Enhancing transparency and accountability in charity finances.

1. Future Trends and Emerging Issues

• Anticipated changes in charity legislation: What’s on the horizon.
• The impact of digitalisation on charity accounting and reporting.
• Emerging trends in charity governance and their financial implications.
• Preparing for the future: Key takeaways and action points for professionals.

Speaker

Darren Leiser

Overview

This one-and-a-half-hour online course is designed for professionals who audit charity accounts and those who produce charity accounts that are subject to audit. It is also suitable for those who wish to further their knowledge of charity accounting and the legislation surrounding it. The course focuses on recent changes in UK legislation over the past two years, ensuring that participants are up-to-date with the latest developments.

Key features

1. Introduction to Charity Auditing

• Importance of charity audits.
• Legal requirements for auditing charity accounts
• Recent changes in audit thresholds

1. Understanding the Charities Act 2022

• Key provisions affecting charity audits
• Impact on governance and reporting
• Practical implications for auditors

1. Recent changes in Governing Documents

• Statutory power for changes to governing documents.
• Commissions authority for regulated alterations
• Repeal of statutory powers for small unincorporated charities

1. Disposal of Charity Land

• Provisions for selling, leasing or disposing of charity land
• Requirements for statements and certificates.
• Delays in implementation (due to changes in force date).

1. Charity Mergers and Gifts

• Rules for charity mergers
• Gifts to merged charities
• Repeal of statutory process for small unincorporated charity mergers

1. Charity Mergers and Gifts

• Commission’s power to authorize trustee payments
• Equitable payment decisions
• Ex grata payments (not yet in force)

Speaker

Darren Leiser

Overview

It is a common misconception that charities pay no tax. This session will look to drive a coach and horses through that assumption. So saddle up and enjoy the ride as we canter through a mixture of 'back to basics' points along with more recent developments that impact charities.

About the Charity Tax Group

The Charity Tax Group is a body that represents charities as their voice on tax through the provision of relevant information, dialogue with HMRC and Government and generally ensuring that charities are aware of tax legislation as it impacts them.

Speakers

Kerry Sykes

Trudi Amy

Overview

The UK's corporate governance landscape continues to evolve. In addition to a revised UK Code of Corporate Governance (January 2024) and sharper focus on public interest entities and large privately-owned businesses, a public consultation was launched this year to refresh and reshape the Charity Governance Code. This session considers both the role of trustees and the collective responsibility of the trustee board. It looks at the Charity Code and the current consultation process and considers the likely direction of trave, and also provides practical tips and advice for those working in or advising charities on how to establish good corporate governance.

Key features

• Corporate governance overview
• Legal foundations - the role and responsibilities of trustees
• Review of the Charity Governance Code
• Creating an effective Board
• Charity Code consultation process - the key areas and likely direction of travel
• Recent cases considered

Speaker

Steve Giles

Overview

This session will provide a general charity law update.

Key features

• Key issues for the sector
• Charity Commission update - what’s new and what’s on the horizon?
• Charity Commission powers - how they have been exercising them?
• Charity Commission investigations – triggers, hot topics and trends
• Update on Charities Act 2022
• Sector general developments including fundraising, governance and tax
• Other legislation which may affect your organisation

Speaker

Augustus Della Porta

Nigel Davis

Nigel is a volunteer member of the HFMA NHS Charity Finance Group, ACCA Charity Trustees’ Panel and the IFR4NPO Practitioners’ Advisory Group and he joined the ACAT Board in May 2023. He is also a part-time professional consultant advising on charity financial reporting, regulation and governance. Previously he held a number of senior roles at the Charity Commission for England and Wales (2001-2022), latterly Assistant Director, Accountancy Services, and he was also a Joint Chair of the Charities SORP Committee (2014-2022).

Nikki Wild

Following a successful 18-year career as an accountant and Finance Director, Nikki uses a unique blend of financial, management, coaching & NLP qualifications to take her course participants to the next level & give them the motivation to succeed.

Darren Leiser

Darren Leiser is a Freelance Lecturer and Consultant specialising in Financing, Budgeting and Management seminars, which includes Financial Reporting (under UK GAAP and IFRS), Pension Schemes. Charities, Corporate Finance, Budgeting, Auditing, Finance for Non-Finance Managers, Quantitative Methods, Corporate Governance, Costing and Effective Management Processes.

Darren holds a BSc (Hons) degree in Mathematics and a MSc in Finance. He is a Fellow of The Chartered Association of Certified Accountants (FCCA) and obtained the Auditing Practicing Certificate. He is also a member of the Pensions Research Accountants Group.

Darren has over twenty years of experience in the profession, having worked for several of the largest accountancy practices in the UK along with several smaller ones too.

As an auditor with a top five UK firm Darren was involved with auditing some of the largest pension schemes in the UK that are linked to many national and international companies.

As a Senior Technical Manager with another leading UK accountancy practice Darren was involved in teaching throughout the firm and externally, writing technical articles, creating audit manuals and systems, technical advice and trouble-shooting, audit file quality reviews and making whistle-blowing reports to financial regulators on behalf of the whole firm.

He has taught both throughout the UK and internationally presenting courses in many countries including UAE, Oman, Switzerland, Italy, Saudi Arabia, Greece, and Georgia to name a few. He has taught on the CPD circuit for the major accountancy Institutes including the ICAEW, ACCA and ICAS. He has also presented various in-house courses for organisations such the National Audit Office and European Space Agency.

Darren was a Teaching Fellow at Durham University (a World top 100 University) and lectured at the University of Hull.

Kerry Sykes

“Young, enthusiastic and dynamic” are just some of the words Kerry uses to describe himself. In reality he is a 50 something tax specialist who has devoted his life to working for and with the charity sector. His experience includes working for HMRC, a short spell of 17 years as Head of Tax at the University of Cambridge, a few years at KPMG and he is now an independent consultant at Big for Tax. In this latter role, Kerry also provides technical support to the Charity Tax Group.’

Trudi Amy

Trudi has been looking after charities and their tax for over thirty years, firstly as an adviser in top ten accountancy firms, and, more recently, working in house at a large UK charity. Trudi is also a director of the Charity Tax Group and was recently profiled in AB magazine

Steve Giles

Steve Giles is a chartered accountant with over 30 years’ experience of advising business leaders on governance, risk and compliance. Whilst at Deloitte he gained experience in audit, forensics and risk management, running sensitive and high- profile assignments in the UK, continental Europe and the United States.

After leaving Deloitte in 1997, Steve set up and ran two companies, helping executives in various business sectors to achieve success. Now an independent consultant, he works with organisations of all sizes to improve their performance and governance, including board evaluations, mentoring and development.

He is an experienced non-executive director. He was Chair of a company in the voluntary sector for nine years and is currently an independent NED of a LATCo, where he is Chair of the Audit and Risk Committee.

Steve is an international speaker on corporate governance, risk management and financial reporting. His engagements range from chairing and presenting at conferences to lecturing for bodies such as the ACCA and the London Stock Exchange. He has been a member of the tutor faculty of the Institute of Directors since 2016.

He is much in demand for running training courses and workshops because of his expertise and engaging delivery style. He runs in-house courses and seminars for a wide variety of enterprises both in the UK and internationally.

Steve holds an MA in Modern History from Christ Church, Oxford and is a Guest Lecturer at Royal Holloway University, London. He is the author of two books: “Managing Fraud Risk” and “The Business Ethics Twin-Track”, published by John Wiley & Sons in 2012 and 2015 respectively. Steve is also a regular contributor to the ACCA’s “About Business” magazine.

Augustus Della-Porta

Augustus Della-Porta is a charity lawyer with over 15 years’ experience advising on commercial and charity law matters, including constitutional and governance issues, structures and restructures, mergers, operating overseas and spinning out from local and central government. He works across a range of sectors and in particular faith-based organisations, public sector services, trade associations and membership organisations, and international not-for-profit organisations. He is recognized as a key lawyer for charities by Legal 500 2024. He is also a member of the Charity Law Association and a trustee of Educate A Child – International.